by I was listening to a YouTube video by Ian of Forgotten Weapons when I discovered an organization called the American Boy Scouts, Having been a part of the Boy Scouts of America as a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and, for a short time, an Explorer, I was both mystified and intrigued by this organization. Indeed, as Ian pointed out, Remington even made a single-shot rolling block .22 rifle for the American Boy Scouts. It was the Remington 4-S and was marked American Boy Scout.
Interestingly, the American Boy Scouts were founded in 1910 only a few months after the Boy Scouts of America were founded. Both were based upon the Scouting movement founded in Great Britain by Lord Baden-Powell. Organized by publisher William Randolph Hearst in May 2010 and incorporated a month later, American Boy Scouts were Hearst’s concept of what Scouting should be in the United States. The American Boy Scouts had a more militaristic concept of what Scouting should be than the Boy Scouts of America and included military drill with the Remington 4-S as part of their activities.
Soon after its founding they were urged to unite the American Boy Scouts with the Boy Scouts of America by Ernest Seton and Edgar Robinson. Those two were part of the early founders of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). This was rejected and the American Boy Scouts started organizing first in New England and then the Midwest and West Coast. However, it appears there was quite a bit of conflict within the organization. Hearst left by the end of 1910 over a funding dispute and the New England Division left soon after citing mismanagement.
In 1913, the American Boy Scouts renamed themselves the US Boy Scouts to avoid confusion with the BSA. During World War I, these Scouts performed military drills and sold war bonds. Prior to the US involvement in the war, the US Boy Scouts sought a federal charter but were unsuccessful unlike the Boy Scouts of America. Since the BSA had received a federal charter and USBS did not, the Boy Scouts of America requested the US Boy Scouts to change their name without success. Eventually the matter ended up in court as the Boy Scouts of America sought an injunction to prevent their rivals from using the term “Boy Scouts”. In 1919 a New York court granted the injunction and the US Boy Scouts were barred from using many terms including “scouting”, “boy scout”, and “scout”.
After the lawsuit, the US Boy Scouts renamed themselves American Cadets and later the US Junior Military Forces. While I cannot find the exact date of dissolution, both of these groups faded into the sunset long before World War II.
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