336 OUR FEDERAL LANDS 



cago bought property for many miles around, and 

 Denver bonded herself to acquire an imposing group 

 of mountains in a neighboring county. The people en- 

 thusiastically espoused forestry. State and local as- 

 sociations were formed. Technical forestry schools 

 were founded in universities. In Massachusetts, 

 towns everywhere are now establishing "wood lots," 

 and spreading the new idea joyously abroad. 



Social service kept abreast of the fast growing 

 times. The country home and woodland camp mul- 

 tiplied. A man named Perkins raised a dozen mil- 

 lions of dollars for an interstate park on the Pali- 

 sades of the Hudson where millions of New York 

 workers could vacation with nature at charges un- 

 believably low. In cities the playground was de- 

 veloped scientifically and the infection has since 

 spread like prairie fire to towns and villages the 

 country over. Dan Beard captured the American 

 boy and led him into the woods. Outdoor sports of 

 every kind were systematized, then organized, then 

 codified. Some one brought the Boy Scouts idea 

 from England to sweep the nation with its man- 

 making mission. The Girl Scouts movement prompt- 

 ly followed. Concurrently, questions of child wel- 

 fare, education, and national well-being in relation 

 to outdoor life attracted the close attention of spe- 

 cialist students and organizations. America was 

 taking her out-of-doors both seriously and joyously. 



The decade leading up to the national organiza- 

 tion of 1924 was ushered in by National Park ex- 



