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Camp Sol Mayer has a rich and colorful history.
The 300 acre camp on the San Saba River was given to the Concho Valley
Council, BSA by Mr. and Mrs. Sol Mayer in the spring of 1945.
Later, an additional 8,000 acres were placed in a trust to insure the maintenance
and care of the camp forever. The camp was dedicated on September
19, 1950. The camp is located about 20 miles west of Menard, Texas
and just 3 miles east of Fort
McKavett Historical Site. It was formerly known as the Brown
or Opp Ranch.
Sol Mayer, in 1880 as an eleven year old boy,
roamed the hills around Fort McKavett, swapping yarns and horses with the
soldiers on duty there at that time. At the age of 15 he became a
cowboy at a salary of $30 per month, and eventually, banker, rancher and
developer of Sonora, Texas. He was regarded as one of the real builders
of West Texas. The Mayers gave of themselves for others throughout
their lives! Their son, Edwin S. Mayer, served as President of the
Council from 1960 to 1962.
The digging of a well in October of 1945 was the
first improvement made on this beautiful natural camp site. In May,
1946, the first large-scale Scout activity was held when 350 Scouts and
leaders held a council wide camporee on the site.
A training lodge, which became the first dining
hall of the new camp, was begun in September, 1947, was completed in early
1948. The lodge was built of stones from the nearby Fort McKavett,
some of them from a frontier general store run by the Sol Mayer's father.
A camp ranger's home was also built.
The rock entrance gate was erected by Menard scouters
in 1948. A storeroom between the ranger's home and the training lodge
was built in 1948. G. H. "Buddy" Wyman was the first camp ranger.
The first summer camp was held during the summer
of 1947 with some 100 Scouts in attendance. The program was a high adventure
camp patterned after the Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico.
The program that first summer included horsemanship, rodeo, canoeing, swimming,
Indian lore, hiking, leather crafts, archery and scout activities according
to Edwin S. Mayer, camping chairman of the council. In the early days of
the camp the Scouts maintained a "perpetual" campfire during their summer
camp stay. The Scouts for many years did their swimming in
the San Saba River until a swimming pool was built. The camp offers all
kinds of aquatic programs, outdoor skills training, horseback riding, a
rappelling tower and recently a western cowboy program on the ranch part
of the camp.
The camp is the starting point for the six mile
Fort
McKavett Historical Trail. This is the only Historical Trail
in Texas that offers both a patch and a medal upon completion of the trail
requirements.
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OTHER
COUNCIL HISTORY LINKS
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