Editing Ernest Thompson Seton (section)

== Scouting ==

[[File:Scouting pioneers.jpg|thumb|Ernest Thompson Seton with [[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Baden-Powell]] ''(seated)'' and [[Daniel Carter Beard|Daniel Beard]] ''(right)'']]

Seton met [[Scouting]]'s founder, [[Robert Baden-Powell|Lord Baden-Powell]], in 1906. Baden-Powell had read Seton's book ''The Birch Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians'' and was greatly intrigued by it. The pair met and shared ideas. Baden-Powell went on to found the Scouting movement worldwide and Seton became the president of the committee that founded the [[Boy Scouts of America]] (BSA) and was its first (and only) Chief Scout. Seton's ''[[Woodcraft Indians]]'' (a youth organization) combined with the early attempts at Scouting from the [[YMCA]] and other organizations and with [[Daniel Carter Beard]]'s [[Sons of Daniel Boone]], to form the BSA.<ref name="Scott">{{cite journal|last=Scott| first=David C.| year=2006| title=The Origins of BSA's 1910 Handbook| journal=International Scouting Collectors Association Journal (ISCA Journal) | volume=6| issue=4| pages=6–13}}</ref> The work of Seton and Beard is in large part the basis of the [[Traditional Scouting]] movement.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.inquiry.net/traditional/index.htm | title =Traditional Scouting | publisher = American Traditional Scouting| access-date =July 18, 2007 }}</ref>

Seton served as Chief Scout of the BSA from 1910 to 1915 and incorporated what he believed to be [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] elements into the traditions of the BSA. He had significant personality and philosophical clashes with Beard and [[James E. West (Scouting)|James E. West]].

In addition to disputes about the content of Seton's contributions to the Boy Scout Handbook, conflicts also arose about the [[Women's suffrage in the United States|suffragist]] activities of his wife, [[Grace Gallatin Seton Thompson]], and his British citizenship. The citizenship issue arose partly because of his high position within the BSA and the federal charter West was attempting to obtain for the BSA requiring its board members to be United States citizens. Seton drafted his written resignation on January 29, 1915, but did not send it to the BSA until May.<ref name="ISCAjournal">{{cite journal| last=Scott| first=David C.| title=Ernest Thompson Seton and BSA&nbsp;— The Partnership Collapse of 1915| journal=International Scouting Collectors Association| volume=6| issue=2|date=June 2006| pages=10–16}}</ref> The position of Chief Scout was eliminated and the position "Chief Scout Executive" was taken on by James West. In 1931, Seton became a United States citizen.