Scouting History in the Viking Council    1910-1976

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In May of 1917 the Minneapolis Scouts received a telegram from Charles E. West, Chief Scout Executive in New Jersey, requesting cooperation of the Scouts in promoting the sale of World War I Liberty Bonds and Stamps.  They readily accepted the challenge.

The Scouts opened an office in the Metropolitan Building at Second Avenue and Third Street during 1917 which rented for $55 per month.  The movement continued to expand in Minneapolis and many more Troops were added.

The corporate name was changed in 1918 to the Minneapolis Boy Scouts of America.  Dayton's Department Store voluntarily published a bulletin called Boy Scout Tests and How to Pass Them, and the Minneapolis Scouts became messengers for the Local Liberty Bond Drive Committee.

In 1919, during Scout Week - February 9th-14th, the Minneapolis Scouts celebrated the 9th anniversary of Scouting and held a memorial service for former President Theodore Roosevelt, who died on January 6th that year. 

The Scouts undertook a "Bird Protection Plan" in 1919 following a report by Captain Frank S. Beach in charge of the Minneapolis Police.  He called attention to the year 1918 as being the worst in history for the destruction of park property.  In his report he said, "This increase in lawlessness is due to the flu epidemic ban against school attendance giving boys more leisure time to practice deviltry."  The Scouts took over 44 feeding stations in the public parks that winter and diligently provided feed for the birds.

On December 5th the Minneapolis Tribune printed an editorial containing this statement:  "It has taken sometime to convince the public of the importance of the Boy Scout movement but, to use the current business phrase, Scouting has been sold to the American public.  It is no longer an experiment or fad, or a trifling thing in the mind of anyone who knows anything about it.  It is a course of training in which it would be of infinite value to the country if every boy could have a part."

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Last Update March 28, 2004