1.
Rhodesia
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Rhodesia, commonly known from 1970 onwards as the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territorial terms to modern Zimbabwe. With its capital in Salisbury, Rhodesia was considered a de facto successor state to the former British colony of Southern Rhodesia, the UDI administration initially sought recognition as an autonomous realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, but reconstituted itself as a republic in 1970. Following a brutal guerrilla war fought with two African nationalist organisations, Rhodesian premier Ian Smith conceded to bi-racial democracy in 1978, however, a provisional government subsequently headed by Smith and his moderate colleague Abel Muzorewa failed in appeasing international critics or halting the bloodshed. It finally achieved internationally recognised independence in April 1980, the nation was renamed the Republic of Zimbabwe. A wholly landlocked area, Rhodesia was bordered by South Africa to the south, Bechuanaland to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, the state was named after Cecil Rhodes, whose British South Africa Company acquired the land in the late 19th century. The official name of the country, according to the constitution adopted concurrently with the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, was Rhodesia and this naming dispute dated back to October 1964, when Northern Rhodesia became independent from Britain and concurrently changed its name to Zambia. The Southern Rhodesian colonial government in Salisbury felt that in the absence of a Northern Rhodesia, Salisbury went on using the shortened name in an official manner nevertheless, while the British government continued referring to the country as Southern Rhodesia. This situation continued throughout the UDI period, the shortened name was used by many people including the British government in the House of Commons. Southern Rhodesia subsequently gained international recognition of its independence in April 1980, in 1922, faced with the decision to join the Union of South Africa as a fifth province or accept nearly full internal autonomy, the electorate cast its vote against South African integration. In view of the outcome of the referendum, the territory was annexed by the United Kingdom on 12 September 1923, shortly after annexation, on 1 October 1923, the first constitution for the new Colony of Southern Rhodesia came into force. By colonial standards, public services were well-organised and praised for their efficiency, as it began to appear that decolonisation was inevitable and indigenous black populations were pressing heavily for change, the federation was dissolved in 1963. Rhodesian colonials initially balked at the suggestion, some felt they had a right to political control, at least for the time being. The authorities were also disturbed by the chaos which was plaguing other African nations at the time. Harold Wilson and his incoming Labour government took a harder line on demanding that these points be legitimately addressed before an independence agenda could be set. By 1964, growing dissatisfaction with the ongoing negotiations ousted Salisburys incumbent Winston Field, replacing him with Ian Smith, Smith, the colonys first Rhodesian-born leader, soon came to personify resistance to liberals in British government and those agitating for change at home. Emboldened by the results of referendum and the subsequent general election. Harold Wilson countered by warning that such a procedure would be considered treasonous, although he specifically rejected using armed force against the English kith. Wilsons refusal to consider a military option encouraged Smith to proceed with his plans, on 11 November 1965, following a brief but solemn consensus, Rhodesias leading statesmen issued their countrys unilateral declaration of independence
2.
Selous Scouts
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The Selous Scouts was a special forces regiment of the Rhodesian Army, that operated from 1973 until the reconstitution of the country as Zimbabwe in 1980. Named after the British explorer Frederick Courteney Selous, its motto was pamwe chete—a Shona phrase roughly meaning all together, together only or forward together, the charter of the Selous Scouts directed them to the clandestine elimination of terrorists/terrorism both within and without the country. The period during which the Selous Scouts were most active was during the Rhodesian Bush War and this was a war of annihilation through terrorism and insurgency waged by black guerrillas with the goal of ending white minority rule in Rhodesia, a nation led by Prime Minister Ian Smith. However, it was a nation of a few hundred thousand whites, principally farmers. As a land-locked nation, that had recently declared its independence from Britain, Rhodesia was quickly isolated by the United Kingdom. Ultimately, these led to the creation of its counter-insurgency unit. This concept of unit was similar to the Portuguese Flechas, operating in the nearby territories of Angola. The Selous Scouts had many black Rhodesians in their ranks who were from 50%–80% of its ranks, many times, due to their intelligence collecting, the HUMINT side of the Selous Scouts was more up to date than the guerrillas. Compartmentalization was key, and the basis was strictly enforced. While on a mission to assassinate Nkomo they had to observe operational security and this consisted of using code words to tell a handler when one was out of money or to warn the agent if the authorities were aware of his activities in Zambia. This message would tell the scout whether he had to leave Zambia the traditional route of using buses or cars or if he had to leave Zambia through the bush. Part of the problem in the days of the Selous Scouts and Rhodesia, was that the security forces. If the guerrilla were injured in a skirmish, the first thing would be to make sure no one knew of his existence. While still wounded the guerrilla would be brought into the Selous Scouts fort, with the realisation that his life was being saved, a feeling of gratitude would normally follow. The next step was to send a former guerrilla or tame terr to visit him in the hospital. He would next be examined by the Selous Scouts only, in order to ensure loyalty, if passed, additionally, and where possible, the guerrillas family would be moved into protection where they would receive free rations, housing, education, and medical care. In most cases the guerrilla chose to side with the security forces, the Selous Scouts had to make a final, difficult decision on whether to allow the turned guerrilla into their group or not. This decision had largely to do with their gut feeling of how the guerrilla presented himself, was he trustworthy or was he just biding his time
3.
Rhodesian Light Infantry
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Barely a year after its creation, it was relocated to Cranborne Barracks where its headquarters remained for the rest of its existence. An all-white regiment, the RLI was made up wholly of professional soldiers until 1973, Foreign volunteers from across the world, many veterans of foreign conflicts, also joined and became a key part of the Regiment. So prominent were the airborne aspects of typical RLI operations that the battalion became a regiment in 1976. The RLI served under the government of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979. After serving under the new government of Zimbabwe for a brief period, the RLIs tactics and training contributed to repeated successes in its counter-insurgency operations. Says United States Army Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Grossman. added up to nothing less than total tactical superiority, the regiment was assembled into a Headquarters and four company-sized units called Commandos, One, Two, Three and Support. As a premise, a commando could have five troops, of only four troops were normally activated. However, with the arrival of Intake 150 the commandos were up to strength for the first. Some of the commandos mustered five troops until the end of 1976, with the university students demobbing at the end of 1976, the commandos reverted back to four troops. The troops in each commando relayed R&R consistently one at a time, depending on the deployment and/or purpose, troops were divided into a small headquarters and either two patrols or three sections. Support Commando had a history dissimilar to all the units and. Battalion Headquarters — Front and Rear — was called Base Group, Base Group imparted logistical, operational and tactical support at the Front, through specialised sub-units, and organised administrative support at the Rear. A sizable portion of the support was performed by other military services stationed at Cranborne Barracks for that purpose. Signals Troop and Tracking Troop were specialised sub-units that interpolated into Support Group or Base Group, Signals Troop focused on front line communications in support of special operations and airborne forces, but also provided other essential services for the Battalion. A high percentage of Signals Troop had served in one or more Commandos before being selected and trained as communicators, during the early planning stages for proposed changes to Support Group, it was accepted that Base Group was more suitable as the cynosure for all signals. So Signals Troop was scattered but still functioned as the organ that connected all the detachments in the network. The majority were transmigrated to Support Group where they became known as Reconnaissance Troop after the change to a Commando was actualised. As mentioned, Support Commando had been called Support Group and came from the original Headquarters Company, consequently, they had some additional skills, Support Commando had a Headquarters and four cross-trained Troops, Mortar, Assault Pioneer, Anti-Tank and Reconnaissance
4.
World Organization of the Scout Movement
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The World Organization of the Scout Movement is the largest international Scouting organization. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have over 40 million participants, WOSM was established in 1922, and has its operational headquarters at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and its legal seat in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the counterpart of the World Association of Girl Guides, WOSM is organized into regions and operates with a conference, committee and bureau. The WOSM is associated with three World Scout Centres, the World Scout Jamboree is held roughly every four years under the auspices of the WOSM, with members of WAGGGS also invited. WOSM also organises the World Scout Moot, a Jamboree for 17- to 26-year-olds, and has organised the World Scout Indaba, a gathering for Scout leaders. The World Scout Foundation is a perpetual fund governed by a separate Board of Governors, WOSM is a non-governmental organization with General Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. As a result of a conference held during the first World Scout Jamboree at Olympia, London in 1920. The first task of the bureau was to co-ordinate the discussions, at the 1922 Paris conference The International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement, its committee and BSIB were constituted by the founding member organizations. In 1961 The International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement reconstituted the organization introducing the name World Organization of the Scout Movement, the World Scout Conference is the governing body and meets every three years, preceded by the World Scout Youth Forum. The World Scout Conference is the assembly of Scouting and is composed of six delegates from each of the member Scout associations. If a country has more than one association, the form a federation for coordination. The Conference meets every three years and is hosted by a member association, at the World Scout Conference basic cooperative efforts are agreed upon and a plan of mutual coordination is adopted. The World Scout Committee is the body of the World Scout Conference and is composed of elected volunteers. The World Scout Committee represents World Scout Conference between the meetings of the full conference, the World Scout Committee is responsible for the implementation of the resolutions of the World Scout Conference and for acting on its behalf between its meetings. The Committee meets twice a year, usually in Geneva and its Steering Committee, consisting of the Chairman, two Vice-Chairmen and the Secretary General, meet as needed. Twelve, each from a different country, are elected for three-year terms by the World Scout Conference, the members, elected without regard to their nationality, represent the interests of the movement as a whole, not those of their country. The Secretary General and the Treasurer of WOSM are ex-officio members of the Committee, the chairmen of the regional Scout committees participate in the World Scout Committee meetings in a consultative capacity. The Bronze Wolf Award is the only awarded by WOSM
5.
Scouting
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During the first half of the twentieth century, the movement grew to encompass three major age groups for boys and, in 1910, a new organization, Girl Guides, was created for girls. It is one of worldwide youth organizations. In 1906 and 1907 Robert Baden-Powell, a lieutenant general in the British Army, wrote a book for boys about reconnaissance, in the summer of 1907 Baden-Powell held a camp on Brownsea Island in England to test ideas for his book. This camp and the publication of Scouting for Boys are generally regarded as the start of the Scout movement. The movement employs the Scout method, a programme of education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking. Distinctive uniform insignia include the fleur-de-lis and the trefoil, as well as badges, the year 2007 marked the centenary of Scouting worldwide, and member organizations planned events to celebrate the occasion. Scouting virtually started itself, but the trigger that set it going was the 1908 publication of Scouting for Boys written by Robert Baden-Powell, at Charterhouse, one of Englands most famous public schools, Baden-Powell had an interest in the outdoors. Later, as an officer, Baden-Powell was stationed in British India in the 1880s where he took an interest in military scouting and in 1884 he published Reconnaissance. These skills eventually formed the basis of what is now called scoutcraft, three years later, in South Africa during the Second Boer War, Baden-Powell was besieged in the small town of Mafeking by a much larger Boer army. The Mafeking Cadet Corps was a group of youths that supported the troops by carrying messages, the Cadet Corps performed well, helping in the defense of the town, and were one of the many factors that inspired Baden-Powell to form the Scouting movement. Each member received a badge that illustrated a combined compass point, the badges logo was similar to the fleur-de-lis shaped arrowhead that Scouting later adopted as its international symbol. In the United Kingdom, the public, through newspapers, followed Baden-Powells struggle to hold Mafeking, and he was urged to rewrite this book for boys, especially during an inspection of the Boys Brigade, a large youth movement drilled with military precision. Baden-Powell thought this would not be attractive and suggested that the Boys Brigade could grow much larger were Scouting to be used and he studied other schemes, parts of which he used for Scouting. In July 1906, Ernest Thompson Seton sent Baden-Powell a copy of his 1902 book The Birchbark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians, Seton, a British-born Canadian-American living in the United States, met Baden-Powell in October 1906, and they shared ideas about youth training programs. In 1907 Baden-Powell wrote a draft called Boy Patrols, in the same year, to test his ideas, he gathered 21 boys of mixed social backgrounds and held a week-long camp in August on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset, England. His organizational method, now known as the Patrol System and a key part of Scouting training, in the autumn of 1907, Baden-Powell went on an extensive speaking tour arranged by his publisher, Arthur Pearson, to promote his forthcoming book, Scouting for Boys. He had not simply rewritten his Aids to Scouting, he omitted the military aspects and transferred the techniques to non-military heroes, backwoodsmen and he also added innovative educational principles by which he extended the attractive game to a personal mental education. At the beginning of 1908, Baden-Powell published Scouting for Boys in six fortnightly parts, the reaction was phenomenal, and quite unexpected
6.
Zimbabwe
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Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west and southwest, Zambia to the northwest, although it does not border Namibia, less than 200 metres of the Zambezi River separates it from that country. The capital and largest city is Harare, a country of roughly 13 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona, and Ndebele the most commonly used. Since the 11th century, present-day Zimbabwe has been the site of several organised states and kingdoms as well as a route for migration. The British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes first demarcated the present territory during the 1890s, in 1965, the conservative white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia. Zimbabwe then rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations—which it withdrew from in 2003 and it is a member of the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in 1980, when his ZANU-PF party won the following the end of white minority rule. Under Mugabes authoritarian regime, the security apparatus has dominated the country. Mugabe has maintained the revolutionary socialist rhetoric from the Cold War era, the name Zimbabwe stems from a Shona term for Great Zimbabwe, an ancient ruined city in the countrys south-east whose remains are now a protected site. Two different theories address the origin of the word, many sources hold that Zimbabwe derives from dzimba-dza-mabwe, translated from the Karanga dialect of Shona as large houses of stone. The Karanga-speaking Shona people live around Great Zimbabwe in the province of Masvingo. Zimbabwe was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia, and Zimbabwe Rhodesia, a further alternative, put forward by nationalists in Matabeleland, had been Matopos, referring to the Matopos Hills to the south of Bulawayo. In a 2001 interview, black nationalist Edson Zvobgo recalled that Mawema mentioned the name during a rally, and it caught hold. The black nationalist factions subsequently used the name the during the Second Chimurenga campaigns against the Rhodesian government during the Rhodesian Bush War of 1964-1979, major factions in this camp included the Zimbabwe African National Union, and the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union. Proto-Shona-speaking societies first emerged in the middle Limpopo valley in the 9th century before moving on to the Zimbabwean highlands, the Zimbabwean plateau eventually became the centre of subsequent Shona states, beginning around the 10th century. Around the early 10th century, trade developed with Arab merchants on the Indian Ocean coast, the main archaeological site uses a unique dry stone architecture. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was the first in a series of sophisticated trade states developed in Zimbabwe by the time of the first European explorers from Portugal and they traded in gold, ivory, and copper for cloth and glass. From about 1300 until 1600, Mapungubwe was eclipsed by the Kingdom of Zimbabwe and this Shona state further refined and expanded upon Mapungubwes stone architecture, which survives to this day at the ruins of the kingdoms capital of Great Zimbabwe
7.
The Scout Association of Malawi
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Established in 1931, the Scout Association of Malaŵi was disallowed between 1964 and 1996. Scouting in Malaŵi shares history with Zimbabwe and Zambia, with which it was linked for decades, the 4,000 member Scout Association of Malaŵi was reorganized in 1996 and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in September 2005. Scouting in the former Rhodesia and Nyasaland started in 1909 during the British colonial era, Scouting grew quickly and in 1924 Rhodesia and Nyasaland sent a large contingent to the second World Scout Jamboree in Ermelunden, Denmark. The great popularity of the Boy Scout movement was due to its outdoor program such as hiking, camping, cooking and pioneering, additionally, the training and progressive badge system was targeted towards helping others, leading to responsible citizenship. Because of the prevailing circumstances earlier in the 20th century, a movement was established for black Africans called Pathfinders. By the 1950s the time was considered to merge both movements into one Scout Association, since independence, as a Commonwealth member, Scouting in Malaŵi continued under The Scout Association, though it had the option to register directly with the World Scout Bureau. Scouting was re-introduced in 2001, after Malaŵi moved from a one-party state to a multi-party democracy in 1994, the Malaŵi Scout Association was officially relaunched in 2001, and its members are now building upon their newfound freedom of expression. On July 6,2003 Scouts from Northern Ireland visited Malaŵi, Northern Ireland Cub Scout Leader Margaret Qua made the presentation, which was received by the Chairman of the Malaŵi Scout Association, Ahabu Kafansiyanji. Making the presentation, Margaret said, We are pleased to be associated with Scouting in Malaŵi and she said that she was impressed with how Scouting in Malaŵi is growing and encouraged the leadership to work hard and reach out to more young people in Malaŵi. The African Regional Office gave the support to ensure that Malaŵi qualified for recognition by the World Organization of the Scout Movement. Since reforming, the Scout Association of Malaŵi has managed to rescue over 30 street children, the number of children who have benefited from the Scout Association of Malaŵi is around 1,000 across the country. The United Kingdom Africa Scout Fellowship launched an initiative to take British Scouts to Malaŵi in July 2007, the expedition to Malaŵi was designed to run in parallel with the World Jamboree, and took its title from the proposed Sunrise Ceremony. The objective of this expedition was to spend five weeks in Malaŵi, working alongside the Scout Association of Malaŵi, the region also has strong links with Scandinavia, and it was hoped that Swedish and Norwegian Scouts would join the UK expedition party, however this was not possible. Malaŵi hosted events on July 4,2007 to mark celebrations of the Scouting 2007 Centenary, Scout Association of Malaŵi Executive Director Steve Kanene said that when the rehabilitation work is finished, the centre will be able to accommodate 150 people, from its current capacity of 10. Malaŵi sent a contingent to the 21st World Scout Jamboree in Essex, after the initiative by Scouts in Scotland to raise money for SAM, another expedition has been arranged to return to Makwawa to do some work using the funds raised. Some of the money has already used to build the maize mill described by Steve Kanene in 2007. A team of 37 young people, aged 14–19, and 13 adult leaders have gathered from across Scotland to aid in this work. The Malawi Girl Guides Association Malawi to host Scout centenary celebrations Rhodesian News, 1950s travelog showing Nyasaland Scouts
8.
Zambia
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The capital city is Lusaka, in the south-central part of Zambia. The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the northwest, originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was affected by the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century. After visits by European explorers in the century, Zambia became the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia towards the end of the nineteenth century. For most of the period, Zambia was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company. On 24 October 1964, Zambia became independent of the United Kingdom, Kaundas socialist United National Independence Party maintained power from 1964 until 1991. Kaunda played a key role in diplomacy, cooperating closely with the United States in search of solutions to conflicts in Rhodesia, Angola. From 1972 to 1991 Zambia was a one-party state with the UNIP as the legal political party under the motto One Zambia. Kaunda was succeeded by Frederick Chiluba of the social-democratic Movement for Multi-Party Democracy in 1991, beginning a period of social-economic growth, after Mwanawasas death, Rupiah Banda presided as Acting President before being elected President in 2008. Holding office for three years, Banda stepped down after his defeat in the 2011 elections by Patriotic Front party leader Michael Sata. Sata died on 28 October 2014, the second Zambian president to die in office, Guy Scott served briefly as interim president until new elections were held on 20 January 2015, in which Edgar Lungu was elected as the sixth President. In 2010, the World Bank named Zambia one of the worlds fastest economically reformed countries, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa is headquartered in Lusaka. The territory of what is now Zambia was known as Northern Rhodesia from 1911 and it was renamed Zambia at independence in 1964. The new name of Zambia was derived from the Zambezi river, the area of modern Zambia is known to have been inhabited by the Khoisan until around AD300, when migrating Bantu began to settle around these areas. These early hunter-gatherer groups were either annihilated or absorbed by subsequent more organised Bantu groups. Archaeological excavation work on the Zambezi Valley and Kalambo Falls show a succession of human cultures, in particular, ancient camping site tools near the Kalambo Falls have been radiocarbon dated to more than 36,000 year ago. The fossil skull remains of Broken Hill Man, dated between 300,000 and 125,000 years BC, further shows that the area was inhabited by pre-historic man. The early history of tribes of modern-day Zambia can only be gleaned from knowledge passed down by successive generations through word of mouth, in the 12th century, major waves of Bantu-speaking immigrants arrived during the Bantu expansion. Among them, the Tonga people were the first to settle in Zambia and are believed to have come from the east near the big sea, by the late 12th century, more advanced kingdoms and empires had been established in most regions of modern-day Zambia
9.
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
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After having been educated at Charterhouse School in Surrey, Baden-Powell served in the British Army from 1876 until 1910 in India and Africa. In 1899, during the Second Boer War in South Africa, several of his military books, written for military reconnaissance and scout training in his African years, were also read by boys. In 1907, he held a camp, the Brownsea Island Scout camp. Based on his books, he wrote Scouting for Boys, published in 1908 by Sir Arthur Pearson. In 1910 Baden-Powell retired from the army and formed The Boy Scouts Association, in 1912 he married Olave St Clair Soames. He gave guidance to the Scouting and Girl Guiding Movements until retiring in 1937, Baden-Powell lived his last years in Nyeri, Kenya, where he died and was buried in 1941. Baden-Powell was born as Robert Stephenson Smyth Powell at 6 Stanhope Street and he was called Stephe by his family, He was named after his godfather, Robert Stephenson, the railway and civil engineer, his third name was his mothers maiden name. Baden-Powells father died when Baden-Powell was three, subsequently, Baden-Powell was raised by his mother, a strong woman who was determined that her children would succeed. Baden-Powell would say of her in 1933 The whole secret of my getting on, Baden-Powell attended Rose Hill School, Tunbridge Wells. He was given a scholarship to Charterhouse, a public school. He played the piano and violin, was an ambidextrous artist, holidays were spent on yachting or canoeing expeditions with his brothers. His first introduction to Scouting skills was through stalking and cooking game while avoiding teachers in the nearby woods, in 1876 Baden-Powell joined the 13th Hussars in India with the rank of lieutenant. During one of his travels, he came across a string of wooden beads. The beads were later incorporated into the Wood Badge training programme he started after he founded the Scouting Movement and he was posted in Malta for three years, also working as intelligence officer for the Mediterranean for the Director of Military Intelligence. He frequently travelled disguised as a collector, incorporating plans of military installations into his drawings of butterfly wings. In 1884 he published Reconnaissance and Scouting, Baden-Powell returned to Africa in 1896, and served in the Second Matabele War, in the expedition to relieve British South Africa Company personnel under siege in Bulawayo. This was an experience for him not only because he commanded reconnaissance missions into enemy territory in the Matopos Hills. Baden-Powell was accused of executing a prisoner of war in 1896, the Matabele chief Uwini
10.
Frederick Russell Burnham
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Frederick Russell Burnham DSO was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to the British Army in colonial Africa and he helped inspire the founding of the international Scouting Movement. Burnham was born on a Dakota Sioux Indian reservation in Minnesota where he learned the ways of American Indians as a boy. By the age of 14, he was supporting himself in California, while also learning scouting from some of the last of the cowboys, Burnham had little formal education, never finishing high school. After moving to the Arizona Territory in the early 1880s, he was drawn into the Pleasant Valley War and he escaped and later worked as a civilian tracker for the United States Army in the Apache Wars. Feeling the need for new adventures, Burnham took his family to southern Africa in 1893, Burnham distinguished himself in several battles in Rhodesia and South Africa and became Chief of Scouts. Despite his U. S. citizenship, his title was British. He had become friends with Baden-Powell during the Second Matabele War in Rhodesia, teaching him outdoor skills, Burnham returned to the United States, where he became involved in national defense efforts, business, oil, conservation, and the Boy Scouts of America. During World War I, Burnham was selected as an officer and recruited volunteers for a U. S. Army division similar to the Rough Riders, for political reasons, the unit was disbanded without seeing action. After the war, Burnham and his business partner John Hays Hammond formed the Burnham Exploration Company, Burnham joined several new wilderness conservation organizations, including the California State Parks Commission. In the 1930s, he worked with the BSA to save the big horn sheep from extinction and this effort led to the creation of the Kofa and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuges in Arizona. He earned the BSAs highest honor, the Silver Buffalo Award, in 1936, to symbolise the friendship between Burnham and Baden-Powell, the mountain beside Mount Baden-Powell in California was formally named Mount Burnham in 1951. Burnham was born on May 11,1861 on a Dakota Sioux Indian reservation in Minnesota, to a family living near the small pioneer town of Tivoli. His father, the Reverend Edwin Otway Burnham, was a Presbyterian minister educated and ordained in New York, he was born in Ghent, Kentucky. His mother Rebecca Russell Burnham had spent most of her childhood in Iowa, having emigrated with her family from Westminster and she hid Frederick in a basket of green corn husks in a corn field and fled for her life. Once the Sioux attack had been repulsed, she returned to find their house burned down, the young Burnham attended schools in Iowa. There he met Blanche Blick, whom he later married, Two years later, Edwin died, leaving the family destitute. For the next few years, Burnham worked as a messenger for the Western Union Telegraph Company in California
