Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

BOY SCOUTS RUCKSACK

Date

1929

Materials

CANVAS, METAL

No. Pieces

1

Length

65

Width

47

Description

TAN CANVAS RUCKSACK. THE FRONT HAS TWO SMALLER POCKETS WITH METAL SLIDER CLOSURES. THE MAIN TOP FLAP HAS TWO CLOSURE BELTS WITH METAL SLIDERS. THE TOP OF THE SACK HAS A BROWN DRAWSTRING STRUNG THROUGH EYELETS AROUND THE TOP OF THE BAG. THE FRONT HAS “CANADA” AND A MAPLE LEAF UNDERNEATH STAMPED IN BLACK BETWEEN THE TWO FRONT POCKETS. THE EDGES ON THE FLAPS ARE FINISHED WITH DARKER BROWN MATERIAL. ON THE BACK, THERE ARE TWO SHOULDER STRAPS WITH METAL SLIDER ADJUSTERS. THE STRAPS ARE SEWN IN LOOPS AROUND AN OUTSIDE SEGMENT OF THE DRAWSTRING, AND ON THE BOTTOM ARE STITCHED TO THE FRONT OF THE BAG. AT THE TOP ON THE BACK OF THE BAG, “294” IS WRITTEN IN BLACK INK. ON THE INSIDE, THE TAG SAYS “OFFICIAL DESIGN SUPPLIED BY THE STORES DEPT. BOY SCOUTS ASSOCIATION DOMINION HEADQUARTERS OTTAWA—CANADA”. ON EITHER SIDE OF THE TAG, THERE ARE TWO ROUND LEATHER PIECES AROUND THE DRAWSTRING. THE BAG IS STAINED, THE FLAP EDGES ARE VERY WORN, THERE ARE SMALL HOLES IN THE CANVAS, AND THE METAL PIECES ARE OXIDIZING.

Subjects

PERSONAL GEAR

Historical Association

ASSOCIATIONS

LEISURE

History

KENNETH RUSSELL, WHO PASSED AWAY IN 1983, WAS A LETHBRIDGE BOY SCOUT IN HIS YOUTH; A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS; AND LATER BECAME A SCOUT LEADER AND SCHOOL TEACHER. HE WAS ONE OF 150 CANADIAN CONTINGENT BOY SCOUTS TO ATTEND THE 3RD WORLD SCOUT JAMBOREE IN ENGLAND IN 1929, ALSO CALLED THE “COMING-OF-AGE” JAMBOREE DUE TO IT FALLING ON THE 21ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE PUBLICATION OF “SCOUTING FOR BOYS”. ACCORDING TO A MAY 9, 1929 LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE, KEN RUSSELL WAS SELECTED TO ATTEND THE WORLD JAMBOREE BY THE DISTRICT BOY SCOUT COUNCIL ALONG WITH FELLOW LOCAL KING SCOUT NORMAN MIDDLETON. THE COST OF THE TRIP WAS COVERED THROUGH FUNDRAISING EFFORTS. A SEPTEMBER 7TH, 1929 LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE MENTIONED THAT THE ATTENDEES FROM CANADA TRAVELLED BY BOAT ABOARD THE ANTONIA TO ENGLAND, THEN CONGREGATED WITH AROUND 50 000 SCOUTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD IN A CAMP IN ARROWE PARK. THE JAMBOREE CONSISTED OF VARIOUS EVENTS AND INCLUDED APPEARANCES FROM FOUNDER OF THE SCOUTING MOVEMENT BADEN-POWELL, THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT, AND THE PRINCE OF WALES. ON SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2020 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN MET WITH SIBLINGS KENNA ASPLUND, DALE RUSSELL, GRAEME RUSSELL, AND CHRISTOPHER (KIT) RUSSELL TO DISCUSS THEIR LATE FATHER KENNETH RUSSELL’S BOY SCOUT ITEMS THAT KENNA DONATED TO THE MUSEUM. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS DERIVED FROM THEIR MEETING. DALE REMEMBERED A TRUNK FULL OF SCOUT MATERIALS BEING IN HIS GRANDPARENTS HOME AT AN EARLIER TIME: “I REMEMBER THE TRUNK WHEN IT WAS IN OUR GRANDFATHER’S HOME UPSTAIRS… DAD TOOK ME UP THERE TO LOOK AT IT. HE WAS PULLING STUFF OUT AND TALKING ABOUT IT BUT HE GAVE ME, AND I AM JUST NOW REMEMBERING, HIS RUCKSACK AND HIS SIDE BAG THAT IS AT HOME.” DALE CONTINUED: “…I GUESS [MY DAD] JUST LEFT THE BOX THERE [AT HIS PARENTS] FOR WHATEVER REASON. I…REMEMBER BEING UP IN MY GRANDPARENT’S UPSTAIRS BEDROOM AND HE OPENED UP THE BOX AND GAVE ME THE RUCKSACK... HE GAVE ME SEVERAL THINGS…” “HE DID NOT TALK ABOUT IT, HE JUST PULLED IT OUT AND SHOWED ME SOME OF IT. I WAS A SCOUT AT THE TIME. I JUST VAGUELY REMEMBER HIM GIVING ME THE BACKPACK.” “[THE RUCKSACK] WAS PART OF THE KIT [THE SCOUT HEADQUARTERS] GAVE HIM… IT SAYS ‘CANADA’ ON [IT].” KIT WENT ON ABOUT THE USE OF THE BACKPACK: “GRAEME WAS TELLING ME THAT THEY USED [THE BACKPACK] TO PUT OUT A FIRE WHEN THEY WERE CAMPING AS SCOUTS. THEY FILLED IT FULL OF WATER AND THREW IT ON THE FIRE TO TRY AND PUT A FIRE OUT.” KIT EXPLAINED HOW HE GOT THE BACKPACK WHILE HIS DAD WAS STILL ALIVE: “IT WAS IN THE BASEMENT AND I TOOK IT AND USED IT.” DALE COMMENTED ON KIT HAVING THE BAG: “HE TOOK IT FROM ME.” KIT POINTED OUT THE NUMBER WRITTEN ON THE BAG: “…YOU WILL NOTICE...IT SAYS 294.” “THAT WAS [MY DAD’S] NUMBER ON ALL OF HIS STUFF.” KENNA EXPLAINED HOW SHE WAS ACQUAINTED WITH A TRUNK THAT HOUSED THE SCOUT ITEMS: “…AS A CHILD I REMEMBER THE TRUNK IN…MY FIRST HOUSE IN DIAMOND CITY DOWN IN THE BASEMENT BY…STEEL CABINETS… I KNEW IT WAS A TRUNK OF DAD’S STUFF, BUT NOBODY EVER SHOWED ME AT THAT TIME WHAT WAS IN IT. IT WASN’T UNTIL LATER AT THE SECOND HOUSE WHEN WE TOOK IT OUT AND PUT IT INTO A ROUGH TOTE, THAT MOM EXPLAINED WHAT ALL OF THE STUFF WAS AND I HAD PINNED ON THINGS SO THAT I KNEW WHERE THEY WERE FROM.” WHEN ASKED IF THE OTHER SIBLINGS REMEMBERED SEEING THEIR FATHER’S SCOUT ITEMS AS KIDS, GRAEME RESPONDED: “I REMEMBER SEEING THEM BUT THEY WERE PACKED AWAY IN THE TRUNK. HE HAD A SPECIAL TRUNK THAT WAS HIS SCOUT TRUNK, AND THIS [DONATED] STUFF WAS IN THERE.” KENNA SAID HER MOM BRIEFLY SPOKE ABOUT THE SCOUT MATERIALS BEFORE HER PASSING: “…[MY MOM TOLD ME] THAT IT WAS [DAD’S] STUFF FROM THE WORLD JAMBOREE. SOMEHOW I KNEW BEFORE THAT HE HAD ATTENDED IT… THERE WASN'T ANYTHING SPECIFIC SHE SAID ABOUT ANY SPECIFIC ITEMS, BUT SHE SEEMED VERY AWARE WHAT ALL THE STUFF WAS.” KENNA EXPLAINED WHY SHE DECIDED TO DONATE THE ITEMS TO THE MUSEUM: “…ALTHOUGH MY MOTHER PASSED AWAY, HER HOUSE WAS NOT TOTALLY CLEANED OUT. SO WHEN GOING THROUGH ALL OF THE THINGS, SOME OF WHICH I ALREADY HAD AT MY HOUSE…AND REALIZING THIS WAS SOMETHING VERY COOL…I JUST THOUGHT IT WOULD BE [VALUABLE] TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA BECAUSE IT ORIGINATED HERE. IT ALL HAD TO DEAL WITH BEING A CANADIAN SCOUT AND BEING ABLE TO GO TAKE PART IN THIS [JAMBOREE]. THERE WAS ONLY [A RELATIVELY SMALL NUMBER OF] SCOUTS FROM CANADA. I FOUND A BOOK THAT TOLD ME…OUT OF ALL OF ALBERTA THERE WERE ONLY SIX THAT WERE ALLOWED TO GO.” DALE REMEMBERED ANOTHER ITEM BEING IN THE TRUNK AT SOME POINT IN TIME: “…THERE USED TO BE A ROPE IN THAT BOX ALSO, BUT I DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO IT. HE WAS DOING ROPE TRICKS WHEN HE WAS OVER IN ENGLAND AS A DEMONSTRATION.” DALE PROVIDED MORE DETAILS AND THE TEACHING HIS DAD SHARED ALONG WITH THE ROPE: “…[IT WAS] A WHITE BRAIDED COTTON ROPE. HE TOLD ME THE STORY THAT HE WAS ON A STREET CORNER IN LONDON DOING ROPE TRICKS AS PART OF THEIR ASSIGNMENT, AND A MAN CAME UP AND STARTED TALKING TO HIM WHO ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO BE FROM LETHBRIDGE. HE SAID THE…LESSON HE WAS TRYING TO EMPHASIZE TO ME AT THE TIME WAS, ‘NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE PEOPLE PROBABLY KNOW YOU [SO] ACT ACCORDINGLY.’ I DON’T KNOW WHERE THE ROPE IS, I HAVEN’T SEEN IT FOR YEARS, BUT I DID SEE IT ONE TIME IN THAT BOX.” DALE ADDED: “I WAS PROBABLY A SCOUT, ABOUT TWELVE [OR] THIRTEEN YEARS OLD [WHEN HE TOLD ME THE STORY].” KIT RECOLLECTED WHAT HIS FATHER SHARED ABOUT THE WORLD BOY SCOUT JAMBOREE: “…WHEN I WAS IN SIXTH GRADE [MY DAD] TAUGHT ME IN COALHURST, AND HE TOLD THE WHOLE CLASS ABOUT BEING IN ENGLAND AND…BEING SHOWN AROUND SHERWOOD FOREST. I CAN’T REMEMBER WHO HE SAID THE OWNER OF THE PLACE WAS, SOME DUKE OR EARL, BUT HE SAID THE GUY TOOK GREAT PLEASURE IN TAKING [THE SCOUTS] AROUND AND SHOWING THEM HOW IN SHERWOOD FOREST, THERE WERE CAVES THAT WERE COVERED IN VINES, WHICH ADDED TO THE MYSTIQUE OF ROBIN HOOD, SO TO SPEAK... [THOSE ARE THE MEMORIES] I HAVE.” KENNA ALSO REMEMBERED SOME FRAGMENTS HER DAD HAD TOLD HER ABOUT THE JAMBOREE: “…HE TOLD ME ABOUT RUNNING AROUND THE TENT AND RUNNING INTO THE PRINCE OF WALES, AND HOW EMBARRASSED HE WAS AND HOW ‘UN-SCOUT-LIKE’ HIS CONDUCT WAS… I DO REMEMBER HIM QUITE OFTEN MESSING AROUND AND PRETENDING TO DO THE SWORD DANCE USING STICKS AND THE STUFF HE HAD BEEN TAUGHT WHEN HE WAS IN ENGLAND. IT IS INTERESTING, BECAUSE I AM READING THIS ONE BOOK; IT IS WRITTEN BY LORD BADEN-POWELL BUT IT IS A SUMMARY OR A REPORT ON THE CANADIANS TO HIS EXCELLENCY COUNT WELLINGTON WHO WAS THE CHIEF SCOUT FOR CANADA. HE [TALKED ABOUT]...THE CANADIAN SCOUTS AND THE VISITORS THEY HAD TO THEIR CAMP AND…ABOUT HOW THE SCOTTISH CONTINGENT CAME OVER AND TAUGHT THEM ALL THEIR FOLK DANCING. I AM WONDERING IF THAT IS WHERE THAT CAME FROM, [HOWEVER MY DAD] NEVER ACTUALLY SAID THAT.” DALE SHARED ANOTHER OUTING HIS FATHER WENT ON WITH BOY SCOUTS: “…HE SPENT I THINK A SUMMER...IN GLACIER PARK WITH THE AMERICANS AND HE WAS SHORT HIS SWIMMING [BADGE] TO GET HIS EAGLE SCOUT ON THE U.S. SIDE. THE REASON HE COULD NOT DO THAT WAS BECAUSE HE SAID THE WATER WAS TOO COLD AND HE KEPT LOSING HIS BREATH WHEN HE WAS DIVING IN THE WATER TRYING TO PASS THEIR SWIMMING REQUIREMENTS. OTHERWISE, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN AN EAGLE SCOUT IN ADDITION TO A QUEEN SCOUT…OR KING SCOUT, WHATEVER IT WAS AT THAT TIME. HE ALSO TALKED ABOUT THAT CAMP. THEY HAD A CUB COME INTO THE CAMP, SO THE BOYS FORMED A CIRCLE AROUND IT, THEY WERE GOING TO CATCH IT. SO THESE SCOUTS ALL GOT IN A CIRCLE AND WENT AROUND THIS CUB, THINKING THEY WERE GOING TO CORRAL [AROUND] IT, AND HE SAID THE CUB TOOK OFF AND IT JUST KNOCKED THE BOYS OVER. HE SAID, ‘NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE STRENGTH OF A BEAR’… I THINK THAT [STORY] AND BUILDING THE TRAIL ARE ABOUT ALL I CAN REMEMBER OF WHAT HE SAID…” WHEN ASKED TO SPEAK ABOUT THEIR DAD’S INVOLVEMENT IN BOY SCOUTS, KIT SAID: “…WHEN I BECAME A SCOUT LEADER, HE WAS TOTALLY SUPPORTIVE OF ME DOING IT ALL. HE REALLY LIKED THE SCOUT PROGRAM.” KIT WENT ON: “I THINK BECAUSE [SCOUTING] GAVE KIDS DIRECTION… IT GAVE PARTICULARILY CITY KIDS SOMETHING TO KEEP THEM OUT OF TROUBLE. IT GAVE THEM SOMETHING TO BE DOING THAT WAS WORTHWHILE. IT IS A WORTHWHILE PROGRAM.” DALE ALSO INTERPRETED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SCOUTS TO HIS DAD: “…HE WAS A VERY SMALL INDIVIDUAL. WHEN HE WENT TO UNIVERSITY HE WAS NINETY-EIGHT POUNDS. IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD THERE ARE MANY REFERENCES TO HIS AWARDS IN TRACK-AND-FIELD, SO HE WAS VERY ATHLETIC, BUT HE WAS VERY TINY. THE SCOUTING PROGRAM GAVE HIM SELF-CONFIDENCE. THERE ARE MANY ARTICLES WHEN HE WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL IN…THE PAPER…AT THE TIME, ACKNOWLEDGING HIS AWARDS IN TRACK-AND-FIELD.” DALE CONTINUED: “…I NEVER WENT VERY FAR IN SCOUTING. I ENJOYED IT, BUT I DID NOT ACCOMPLISH [EVEN CLOSE TO] WHAT HE DID...” DALE SPOKE ON HOW HIS DAD USED THE LESSONS HE LEARNT THROUGH SCOUTS IN HIS PARENTING: “…HE WAS VERY RETICENT TO PUSH HIMSELF FORWARD; HE PREFERRED TO BE ON THE BACK SEAT OF THINGS. HE HAD A LOT OF PRIDE IN [THESE OBJECTS] OBVIOUSLY BY KEEPING [THEM], BUT HE NEVER REALLY DEMONSTRATED IT… HE ONLY TALKED ABOUT IT IN PASSING WHEN THERE WAS A TOPIC THAT IT WAS RELEVANT TO. OTHER THAN THAT, HE DID NOT. FOR EXAMPLE, GIVING ME A LECTURE ON MY CONDUCT, EVEN WHEN I WAS AWAY FROM HOME, AND WITH THAT REFERENCE, THE ROPE TRICK. THAT WAS HIS STYLE, IT WASN’T TO TELL US HOW HE WAS ON THE CORNER DOING ROPE TRICKS, IT WAS TO TELL ME TO PAY ATTENTION.” KENNA ADDED: “AND I THINK THAT IS THE SAME REASON WHY I HEARD ABOUT HIM RUNNING AROUND THE TENT, WAS BECAUSE SOMETIMES I WOULD RUN TO THINGS OR PEOPLE HEAD-LONG.” KENNA CONTINUED TO SPEAK ABOUT GROWING UP WITH THEIR DAD UTILIZING LESSONS LEARNED THROUGH BEING A SCOUT: “…I JUST REMEMBER BEING REALLY JEALOUS THAT MY BROTHERS HAD THESE COOL [SCOUT] HATS… [I WAS] READING HIS JOURNAL…LAST NIGHT AND THEN I FOUND THIS NOTEBOOK THAT HE HAS HANDWRITTEN ALL THAT IS REQUIRED OF A SCOUT LEADER AND THE TRAINING COURSE... AS I WAS READING THROUGH IT, I REALIZED THAT THE TRAINING AND KNOWLEDGE THAT HE HAD, HE DID USE THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE. IT WAS LITTLE THINGS, JUST IN TEACHING YOU HOW TO WALK DOWN THE COULEE AND CHECK FOR RATTLESNAKES. A LOT IT WAS HIS KNOWLEDGE THAT HE HAD LEARNED AS A SCOUT AND AS A SCOUT LEADER. HE WAS JUST CALMLY PASSING ON, LIKE DALE SAID, AS THE MOMENT [WARRANTED] IT, NOT NECESSARILY AS A BIG THING.” FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR TO ACCESS THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE SEE THE DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20200029012

Acquisition Date

2020-09

Collection

Museum

Less detail