Eisenhower's Challenge to the Boy Scouts
In 1956, President Eisenhower contracted the Boy Scout of America to hike the Appalachian Trail from start to finish. His request was that scouts carry a log and make notes about the condition of the trail as there had been no reports of this nature since the construction by the CCC. I believe that the log was later used by the government to pinpoint needed repairs when issuing contracts to companies along the length of the trail.
When the Scouts accepted the challenge it was decided by the national headquarters that the trail would be sectioned off to approximately ten-mile links. All troops along the east coast were asked for volunteers to hike a segment.
At the time I was a member of Troop 8 in Winston-Salem, NC. Fourteen of us jumped at the chance to participate. With careful coordination with our parents and the scout master, we departed by car early in the morning of our predetermined 'leg' as we headed to Newfound Gap NC, with an enjoyable stopover in Cherokee where we met with the tribe Chief. He instructed us in Indian history and showed us how to carve kerchief rings to wear with our Scout uniforms and using the oils from around our nose to polish the wood. Sticking to a preset schedule, we proceeded on our adventure to meet and relieve the scouts who were arriving from Georgia as they completed their designated trek.
After a night spent in one of the original lean-two's built by the CCC, we headed out on our journey. There was one scout who had perfected knife throwing, so he went ahead of us so that he could kill any snakes that might be threating to our group (a youthful idea that was totally unnecessary). One of the fun things was when walking many spots of the trail, or left foot was walking in Tennessee and our right in North Carolina. Much of the trail seemed to always be uphill, mostly on sticks, gravel and some on turf. Laughingly there seems to be no memory of hiking downward.
One outstanding memory was that of encountering Charlie's Bunion. We had a choice of continuing around the rear of the rock outcrop through the woods or taking the more dangerous route on a foot-wide ledge around the face. Of course, all of us being young, between 12 and 16, we decided to tackle the face route. Since we were carrying 55 pound packs on our backs full of food, camping and cooking gear as well as tents, we thought it safest to proceed by making a chain holding hands with our faces against the rock. Unfortunately the scout in the lead lost his footing just as he was stepping back onto solid earth where the path widened back into the woods. He was able to grab a tree root that was growing out of the side of the mountain so that only he went completely off the path. The second scout lost his footing as well, but only with one foot. Three of us on the rear of the line went back a few feet to run around the rear of the stone to help everyone back on solid ground. Shaken, we hiked about fifty feet into the woods and made camp for the night.
There were a lot of berries available so we decided to make a pie. In those days, pie crust sticks were available and one scout had some. Water was retrieved from a footprint and sterilized with a purification tablet. But, no one had any butter for greasing the pan. It was decided that Ivory soap was 99 and 44/100th percent pure, so it was swiped around the pan to avid the crust sticking. That was definitely one of the best pies that we had ever eaten and luckily no one got sick (much to my adult amazement today).
At another encampment two baby bears were spotted so some of us stupidly tried to play with them. At least we did until mama bear saw us, came down from a tree, and headed our way. A narrow escape, but she didn't seem to be too upset with us as she rounded-up her little ones and we walked backward from her all the way to the camp.
For several nights we were lucky enough to sleep in the lean-two's. They looked a lot like a small log cabin. I don't know if they still exist, but they were a big improvement over our tents. They were made of logs on all four sides with the front wall only three feet tall. Logs were stretched the width of the shelter at the three foot level from the back to within two feet of the front. These were shaved almost smooth so that laying in a sleeping bag on them was very comfortable. I believe they were built to accommodate maybe four people on the 'shelf'. But we managed to squeeze all fourteen of us in without too much trouble. My only incident while sleeping in the third shelter along our route was when I was awakened in the middle of the night by a rat running across my forehead.
Several days later we reached Spivey Gap to hand-over the log book to a new troop. This was repeated every ten or so miles all the way from Georgia to Maine. I was lucky enough to cover three legs of the hike. So, about a year following my experiences, I received a letter from the president. It congratulated me for taking part in the project and for being the only participating scout to cover as much distance as I did in my nearly month-long walk. Wish I still had that paper. It probably would be worth a small fortune since Eisenhower himself had signed it.
I also miss the five-foot, relatively straight hiking stick I found at the beginning of the trek and each evening I would carve a ring around the top. I kept it for a long time as a memento. Unfortunately it was lost when we moved to Florida in 1957. These are some memories that have stuck with me ever since.
Dorsey (DEE) E. Evans, III CM
Melbourne, FL
When the Scouts accepted the challenge it was decided by the national headquarters that the trail would be sectioned off to approximately ten-mile links. All troops along the east coast were asked for volunteers to hike a segment.
At the time I was a member of Troop 8 in Winston-Salem, NC. Fourteen of us jumped at the chance to participate. With careful coordination with our parents and the scout master, we departed by car early in the morning of our predetermined 'leg' as we headed to Newfound Gap NC, with an enjoyable stopover in Cherokee where we met with the tribe Chief. He instructed us in Indian history and showed us how to carve kerchief rings to wear with our Scout uniforms and using the oils from around our nose to polish the wood. Sticking to a preset schedule, we proceeded on our adventure to meet and relieve the scouts who were arriving from Georgia as they completed their designated trek.
After a night spent in one of the original lean-two's built by the CCC, we headed out on our journey. There was one scout who had perfected knife throwing, so he went ahead of us so that he could kill any snakes that might be threating to our group (a youthful idea that was totally unnecessary). One of the fun things was when walking many spots of the trail, or left foot was walking in Tennessee and our right in North Carolina. Much of the trail seemed to always be uphill, mostly on sticks, gravel and some on turf. Laughingly there seems to be no memory of hiking downward.
One outstanding memory was that of encountering Charlie's Bunion. We had a choice of continuing around the rear of the rock outcrop through the woods or taking the more dangerous route on a foot-wide ledge around the face. Of course, all of us being young, between 12 and 16, we decided to tackle the face route. Since we were carrying 55 pound packs on our backs full of food, camping and cooking gear as well as tents, we thought it safest to proceed by making a chain holding hands with our faces against the rock. Unfortunately the scout in the lead lost his footing just as he was stepping back onto solid earth where the path widened back into the woods. He was able to grab a tree root that was growing out of the side of the mountain so that only he went completely off the path. The second scout lost his footing as well, but only with one foot. Three of us on the rear of the line went back a few feet to run around the rear of the stone to help everyone back on solid ground. Shaken, we hiked about fifty feet into the woods and made camp for the night.
There were a lot of berries available so we decided to make a pie. In those days, pie crust sticks were available and one scout had some. Water was retrieved from a footprint and sterilized with a purification tablet. But, no one had any butter for greasing the pan. It was decided that Ivory soap was 99 and 44/100th percent pure, so it was swiped around the pan to avid the crust sticking. That was definitely one of the best pies that we had ever eaten and luckily no one got sick (much to my adult amazement today).
At another encampment two baby bears were spotted so some of us stupidly tried to play with them. At least we did until mama bear saw us, came down from a tree, and headed our way. A narrow escape, but she didn't seem to be too upset with us as she rounded-up her little ones and we walked backward from her all the way to the camp.
For several nights we were lucky enough to sleep in the lean-two's. They looked a lot like a small log cabin. I don't know if they still exist, but they were a big improvement over our tents. They were made of logs on all four sides with the front wall only three feet tall. Logs were stretched the width of the shelter at the three foot level from the back to within two feet of the front. These were shaved almost smooth so that laying in a sleeping bag on them was very comfortable. I believe they were built to accommodate maybe four people on the 'shelf'. But we managed to squeeze all fourteen of us in without too much trouble. My only incident while sleeping in the third shelter along our route was when I was awakened in the middle of the night by a rat running across my forehead.
Several days later we reached Spivey Gap to hand-over the log book to a new troop. This was repeated every ten or so miles all the way from Georgia to Maine. I was lucky enough to cover three legs of the hike. So, about a year following my experiences, I received a letter from the president. It congratulated me for taking part in the project and for being the only participating scout to cover as much distance as I did in my nearly month-long walk. Wish I still had that paper. It probably would be worth a small fortune since Eisenhower himself had signed it.
I also miss the five-foot, relatively straight hiking stick I found at the beginning of the trek and each evening I would carve a ring around the top. I kept it for a long time as a memento. Unfortunately it was lost when we moved to Florida in 1957. These are some memories that have stuck with me ever since.
Dorsey (DEE) E. Evans, III CM
Melbourne, FL