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| "In September, 1910, 12-year-old Nelson Duller and his friends convinced his father, David M. Duller to organize the first Boy Scout Troop in Houston." | | "In September, 1910, 12-year-old Nelson Duller and his friends convinced his father, David M. Duller to organize the first Boy Scout Troop in Houston." |
| :: BSA councils and districts have had tons of changes in the last 3 years. Feel free to update as you see fit. Your info is probably much better than mine! [[User:MainTour|MainTour]] ([[User talk:MainTour|talk]]) 02:55, 2 August 2022 (UTC) | | :: BSA councils and districts have had tons of changes in the last 3 years. Feel free to update as you see fit. Your info is probably much better than mine! [[User:MainTour|MainTour]] ([[User talk:MainTour|talk]]) 02:55, 2 August 2022 (UTC) |
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| My source is a 20-year anniversary article in the Houston Chronicle (February 2, 1930). According to the article, David Duller said "Nelson came to me one afternoon, just after he was 12 years old, with a group of his youthful friends and told me of a new organization called 'Boy Scouts' they had heard of. They asked me to be what they called a 'scoutmaster' and take charge of a troop and accompany them on out-of-door trips. I didn't know what it was at first, but believing that it was for the pleasure and welfare of the boys, I accepted. We organized a troop of boys, mostly from Houston Heights, where we lived, that later grew to about 25 boys. This was the first troop in Harris County. Soon there were two troops in Houston. Other boys, hearing of the good times we were having, wanted to be in on the fun. The other two troops were organized by R.G. Crake of the Y.M.C.A and T.G. Black , assistant school superintendent, who was then principal of the Woodland Heights School." [CORRECTION #1: H.L. Crate of the Y.M.C.A.; CORRECTION #2: F.M. Black was principal of the Travis School which was located in Woodland Heights.]
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| DULLER'S HOUSTON BOY SCOUT TROOP 5 BEGAN IN 1911, NOT 1910.
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| 1) Yes, in his book Sam Houston Scouts (1985, page 12), Minor Huffman wrote that Duller's boy scout troop 5 began in 1910. However, most of what Huffman wrote about Houston's early boy scout troops is wrong. Here are a few of Huffman's errors: Houston's first Eagle scout, H. Palmer "Peg" Melton, did not get his Eagle rank in 1916. Troop 11 did not begin in 1912 with J. Alston Clapp as scoutmaster and First Presbyterian Church as sponsor. The Y.M.C.A. troop did not begin in 1912 with Roland Shine as scoutmaster. Minor Huffman's book is an invaluable reference, but many records were not available to him and he relied on what others remembered.
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| 2) Nelson Mark Duller was born on July 19, 1899 so he would have turned twelve in 1911. David Duller's quote from the Feb. 2, 1930 article explicitly says that the Duller troop began after Nelson Duller was 12 years old. This suggests that Houston's Troop 5 began in September 1911. And not in 1910.
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| 3) The Feb 2, 1930 Houston Chronicle article confirms that Houston's first boy scout troop began in 1911. The article says "The inception of scouting in Houston only a little more than a year after it was founded in America in 1910 came as the direct desire and love of a boy for the outdoors and of a father’s interest in his son." One year after scouting began in 1910 is 1911.
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| 4) Nelson Duller is recognized as the first Boy Scout in Houston. At the time, a boy had to be age 13 to join the boy scouts. Nelson Duller was 12. Is it possible that Nelson Duller was Troop 5's mascot for one year until he reached the proper age? Article in November 3, 1912 Houston Daily Post lists Tyler Duller as Troop 5 mascot. Was Tyler waiting until he turned 13?
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| Y.M.C.A. BOY SCOUT TROOP BEGAN IN 1910 AND WAS THE FIRST HOUSTON BOY SCOUT TROOP (MAYBE?)
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| 1) News article from Houston Daily Post (November 3, 1912) describes the Duller’s troop activity as "... the first hike made by the organization." If Duller’s troop really began in 1910, it would not have its first hike at the end of 1912.
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| 2) News article from Houston Chronicle (October 2, 1910) mentions the Y.M.C.A. boy scout troop and describes their uniforms. This 1910 article says the Y.M.C.A. troop went on hikes, studied woodcraft, parade drilling, signalling, and astronomy. Two Y.M.C.A. men worked with the boy scouts. Newspaper article (Houston Daily Post, September 15, 1911) identifies Herbert L. Crate as the adult leader on their hike to Galveston. Later article identifies H.L. Crate as scoutmaster.
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| 3) If David M. Duller had not identified his troop, Troop 5, as the first boy scout troop in Harris County (February 2, 1930, Houston Chronicle), I would assert the Y.M.C.A troop was the first in Houston. Houston was a small place back then, so David Duller would have been well aware of the Y.M.C.A troop.
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| FINAL THOUGHTS
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| My sources conflict and I cannot resolve. But Duller's Troop 5, the “Bob White” troop, began in September 1911, about a year and a half after the Y.M.C.A troop began. Why then, does David Duller (and everyone else) assert his troop was the first in Houston? I do not know.
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