The First Rifle Ranges

Over the years, a variety of areas has evolved and transformed. We’ve looked at Camp Light, for instance. You probably haven’t given much thought though to how the Rifle Ranges have changed!

Shown here is one of the first ranges at Boxwell.  We don’t know if this was Stahlman or Parnell, but we do know they were both set up the same way.  Note that the range was simply a platform and the Scouts laid on cotton mattresses.  They still used .22 caliber rifles, but clearly the range was a simpler place.

It is also worth noting that most of the ranges have moved.  Stahlman’s is in the same location, but Parnell’s used to located across from Site 14 and Craig’s used to be… wait for it… in the basement of the dining hall!  Sadly, we have no photos of that set up, but what a treat that would be!

One of the first rifle ranges at Boxwell, ca. 1960. Collection of Perry Bruce.

The Bandy-Tyree Cemetery

As we have pointed out before, Boxwell is full of places that are both known and unknown.  If you’ve been at the Reservation awhile, you probably know of some of these locations.  For others, there are parts that are forever unknown.

One of the great “known unknowns” is the Bandy-Tyree Cemetery.  Located behind the compound, the cemetery has been part the Reservation from the very beginning.  Indeed, as Tom Willhite pointed out in an interview in 2002, originally there was “an agreement made the Boy Scouts would oversee that and keep it in good shape.  Over the years, they’ve failed to do that…” Indeed, for a long time, it was really only the OA that even knew about the site as the trail to a ceremony site basically ran right through the cemetery!

Nevertheless, in 2002, Troop 77 (Willhite’s troop after his retirement) took up the cause to maintain the site.  They cleared trees and built the wooden fence that surrounds the cemetery today.  Still, the cemetery is not much discussed and perhaps this is best.  This is not a location that needs to become a high traffic area…

The Bandy-Tyree Cemetery as it appeared this summer in June 2016. There are more grave stones in this area as well, some marked, some unmarked.

Murrey Families at Akers’ Cabin, 1971

The 2016 Summer Camp season ended this weekend.  Thus, the 2016 staff is no more.  While some may return, that particular group will never be together again.  And that got us thinking about family…

Back in the days of Camp Murrey, families stayed at Boxwell.  There were some who came and stayed for a week; other stayed for much longer.  Indeed, some families–those of the staff–generally stayed all summer long.  While not a staff, they experienced the same end of camp phenomenon the staff does.  When camp ended, they may not see some of those people again.  As we all know, a lot could happen during the “non-Boxwell” months!

So, to commemorate the end of the 2016 camping season, we look back 45 years to 1971.  Here is a photo of the families who stayed at Camp Murrey that summer, all posing at Akers’ Cabin (today, Fehrmann Training Center).  Ward Akers is in the back, far left.  In the second row, far left are the daughters of Reservation Director Ed Human and Ranger Bobby Smith.   Smith himself is hiding in the back middle (bald man!). Clearly there are others here, but the idea here is simple: here is a different kind of family, marking their time together before the summer ends.

There are several recognizable faces here. Ward Akers (far left), Ranger Bobby Smith (bald man, middle back), Charlie Ray Smith (DE, tall man, back right), Nell Human (wife of Ed, far right, hidden, back row), Leann Human (in Nell’s arms), Lisa Human, Joanna Smith, Cindy Human (three girls, second row, far left).