The first Woodcraft "Tribe" was established at
Cos Cob, Connecticut,
United States of America, in 1901. Seton's property had been vandalized by a group of boys from the local school. After having to repaint his gate a number of times, he went to the school, and invited the boys to the property for a weekend, rather than prosecuting them. The unique feature of his program was that the boys elected their own leaders: a "Chief", a "Second Chief", a "Keeper of the
Tally" and a "Keeper of the
Wampum".
The Red Lodge or Medicine Lodge also existed for a time, it was for men over the age of 21 interested in a more spiritual approach to Woodcraft. There were many local Woodcraft groups in the United States in the early part of the 20th century. Camps following the Woodcraft Program in the United States and
Canada were also founded by friends and students of Seton. The Woodcraft League influenced the formation of
Lone Scouts inspired in 1912 by
John Hargrave. In the United Kingdom, the Woodcraft League influenced the
Order of Woodcraft Chivalry formed in 1916, the Kindred of the
Kibbo Kift formed in 1920 and
Woodcraft Folk formed in 1925 and Camp Fire Girls (UK). When Seton passed away in 1946, Ellsworth Jaeger, an author and curator of the Buffalo Museum of Science, and a founding member of The Woodcraft League of America, wrote a letter to Seton's wife suggesting how to keep the Woodcraft League going. Seton's family was not interested in doing so and the League dissolved. Seventy-five years later, in 2021, Ellsworth Jaeger's great-great-nephew Bob Yeager of western Pennsylvania started a new Woodcraft League of America. Programs include Little Sprouts (4–6 years of age), Forest Explorers (7–9 years of age), Junior Woodsmen (10–11 years of age), Young Entrepreneurs (11–18 Years of Age), Apprentice Campers (12+ years of age), Journeyman Campers (14+ years of age), Journeyman Woodsmen (16+ years of age), and Master Woodsman (18+ years of age). ==See also==