Matt Gidney

Service Masculinity History

Davy Crockett: A Trailman’s Kind of Hero

There’s something about the frontier spirit that stirs a man’s soul. The call of the wild, the test of character, the proving ground of adventure—this is where boys become men. And few names loom larger on the American frontier than Davy Crockett.
Read More

Matt Gidney

Service Masculinity History

Raising the Next Great Generation: Why Remembering the Past Is the First Step Toward Building Strong Men

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.” —Laurence Binyon
Read More

Matt Gidney

Troop Adventures History

Two Nights Aboard the USS Yorktown: Hands-On History and Lessons in Duty

Imagine being 12 years old, bunking with your dad and best friends aboard a real aircraft carrier, drifting off to sleep after a full day of hands-on exploration. The creak of the ship, the distant hum of the harbor, the lingering excitement of standing where real sailors once stood—it’s the kind of experience that ...
Read More

Matt Gidney

Leadership History

Sir Robert Baden-Powell: Molding Christian Men Through Outdoor Adventure

In the summer of 1900, on the dusty plains of Mafeking, South Africa, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell surveyed his unlikely army. It wasn’t only the British soldiers stationed with him that caught his attention—it was a cadre of young boys, the Mafeking Cadet Corps, carrying messages and supplies through dangerous ...
Read More

Stephen Ashton

Masculinity History

Jim Elliot

"Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." —Jesus (John 15:13)— "Forgive me for being so ordinary while claiming to know so extraordinary a God," chronicled Jim Elliot in his journal. "We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth ...
Read More

Stephen Ashton

Masculinity History

William Bradford

"Our fathers were Englishmen who came over the great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice, and looked on their adversity. ... Let them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good, and His mercies endure forever. Yea, let them that have been ...
Read More

Stephen Ashton

Leadership Masculinity History

George Washington: Lead with Integrity

"O eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb, and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit . . . daily frame me more and more into the likeness of thy son Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time ...
Read More

Matt Gidney

Leadership Troop Adventures History

A Modern Corps of Discovery: Leadership and Brotherhood Forged on the Missouri River

“Twenty more miles,” Caleb murmured, feeling the weight of each stroke. The Missouri River stretched endlessly ahead, and he wasn’t sure how much more his arms—or spirit—could take. He looked over at Ricky, First Officer of the expedition, whose own strength and resolve seemed to bolster everyone’s spirits. Together, ...
Read More

Mark Hancock

History

The Iron in Their Blood: Rediscovering the Spirit of Thanksgiving

There was a time when boys dreamed of being heroes. Coonskin caps and six-shooters transformed backyards into the wild frontiers of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. Books told of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark carving paths through the uncharted West, while flannelgraph boards in Sunday school brought Noah’s ...
Read More