Scouting, Volume 41, Number 6, June-July 1953 Page: 9
40 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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By WEAVER M. MARR
National Director, Interracial Service
The Santa Fe freight ground to a halt on the
siding. Far down the main track the streamlined
El Capitan appeared as a speck on the Kansas
horizon.
"Tornado" bawled the fireman. "She's headed this
way — take cover." The train crew scurried into
an empty box car, and nearby section hands hit
the ditch. The twister snaked nearer, veered to one
side, then smashed its 700-mile-an-hour funnel
into the freight, coiling the mid cars into twisted
wreckage.
The tornado moved on picking its capricious way
across the plain, pulling chunks of Kansas into the
stratosphere. The train crew was in a bad way.
Some of the men were seriously injured. Their cries
for aid were answered by a young Navajo section
hand. He moved among them with confidence and
skill — stopping their bleeding and treating their
shock. By the time the El Capitan pulled alongside
this young Navajo had performed a timely miracle.
And where did he learn how to help people in
pain? Was it some magic of his people, or was it
training from the railroad? It was neither. This
young American like millions of others had learned
his first aid as a Boy Scout.
Today, there are 1153 Navajo boys in Scouting,
being served by 315 men in 35 Units in the Reserva-
tion and in the Intermountain Navajo School in
Brigham City, Utah.
In the new day that is gradually coming to these
wonderful people, Scouting is endeavoring to play
a part in helping the Navajo boys to find the way to
a more useful and happy life. Of all the programs
that have been offered to them, nothing appeals to
and captivates their imagination like Scouting.
Even though their whole life is in the outdoors they
find that Scouting helps to make that outdoor world
more meaningful.
The first real Council Camp planned and organ-
ized for Navajo Scouts was conducted last May at
the base of Tsailie Peak in the Lukachukai Moun-
tains in the heart of the Reservation in Arizona. One
hundred and fifty-seven Navajo boys were in at-
tendance for two weeks, representing twelve of the
twenty-one Troops in the Reservation.
Seldom does a Boy Scout Camp have a stronger,
more well-rounded staff than Camp Tsailie had.
Along with the usual Camp subjects that were
taught were soil erosion, fire prevention and control,
and other topics of special interest to Navajos in
their native country, all taught by experts. Two
Red Cross aquatic instructors were on hand to teach
swimming and life saving. 89% of the boys in Camp
advanced one grade in Scouting and the few First
Class Scouts won several Merit Badges.
Scouting in the Intermountain Navajo School is
destined to be outstanding. Nine Troops now with
270 boys, and 250 more boys knocking at the door
to get in offer a challenge to the District at Brigham
and the Council that must be met. The citizens at
Brigham are responding to the call for leadership
and Troop Committeemen. It is heartwarming to
catch the spirit of the local citizens as they respond
to the call to help these boys from the Reservation.
There are about 1100 boys in the school old enough
to be Boy Scouts. It is the hope of the Superintend-
ent, Dr. George Boyce, that eventually every boy in
the school who wants to be a Scout may become one.
The Boy Scouts of America owe much to these
native Americans. This democratic youth movement
should do all in its power to see that every aborig-
inal son gets a chance to taste and enjoy some of
the richness of its program.
FOR ALL SCOUTERS
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 41, Number 6, June-July 1953, periodical, June 1953; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth329217/m1/11/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.