Bill Smith

[JonnyReb]

.  Bill Smith was the guy who really ingrained blackpowder into my head, back in the late 80's. If Bill is still alive, i feel sure he's been here to this forum and still visits, and so my post is both to tell of a special person in my early learning years and also an inquirery. If Bill Smith, my old friend Bill Smith, reads this, he'll know just who i am.

  Bill was the Range Officer at a Boyscout camp in the late 80's. He was a Nam vet who remained in the Navy long into his middle years. The Navy loaned him to the scouts every summer for him to run their range. I was about 16 when i went to camp in 87' and of course signed up for the rifle range. When i arrived at the range, our "drill Sargeant" Bill, was quick to whip us into shape. He screamed, hollered and cussed..and absolutely everyone knew who was in firm control. By my 4th 5rd clip of .22 into the bullseye, Bill quietly ask me where i learned to shoot. I told him my Dad taught me and i shot everyday. His 2nd statement was that my Dad was a fine man, and did i want a job? Of course i did and after a call to my Mom, was the newest Jr. Range officer in moments, and on my way to a 3 month adventure, at 22.00 a week plus a tent and all i could eat. It was the 2nd best summer of my life.

I quickly learned Bill was a Mountain man and when he could, lived his life similar. His oddball friends came to camp from wherever he had found them, folks who lived in teepees, did sweat lodges, knitted and sewed and blacksmithed..Bill had them put on the payroll of the BSA and these folks taught various classes to the scouts throughout the summer. They were EXTREMELY interesting people and Bill was one of them. His love of Blackpowder was most evident..he had a Flintlock .58 T\C that i cut teeth on(my first flint) and a Zouve, a huge smoothbore that he always had with him. I lit matches and he'd put em out. His job was to teach me and my job was to be quiet, listen and to clean guns every night. I quickly proved myself to Bill as an apt and able pupil.. and the next summer he arranged my hire at a different camp, truely this time, as an assistant.

  This 2nd summer he had prepared well. Bill had contacted most every ammo and U.S. arms manufacturer and ask for guns and ammo. I've leave out the cartridge guns but let me say that T\C had sent us 6 .50 New Englanders and 6 12 gauge versions. Goex donated a large amount of powder. Someone sent a LOT. of lead. I became proficient under his tutiledge, learned not only to teach the other scouts but how to run the range and most especially, how to REALLY clean a dirty muzzleloader :)

I have many many memories i'd like to tell but some i couldn't on this forum :) One of my favorite stories was when the outdoor cafeteria became infested with wasps nest and carpenter bees. We waited till saturday when the scouts were gone, and spent an afternoon with the New Englander smooth bores, loaded with about 40gr of powder, and a handful of sand tamped over it. We didn't bother with overshot wads, just immediately blasted every single nest and vaporized bee's under the covered tall roof all afternoon. Probably wasn't great for the barrels but it sure did a number on the bees :) Thank you Bill for that and hundreds of other fine memories. Thank you for mentoring me at a time when i needed it and providing a father figure when my own had disappeared(years earlier). You imparted tons of knowledge and by the end of that 2nd summer i had grown up a lot, and was one happy young man. I returned home with a scraggily beard, a dog, and an underhammer of dubious build, to add to my white mt. carbine Mom had bought me. Was the best summer of my life and if old Bill of the USS Jesse Browne happens to come across this, or one of his family does, I'd love to hear from you. thanks Bill.   J.

[Dogshirt]

If we don't ALL have a Bill in our lives, we SHOULD have!

[Watauga]

Thanks for sharing!
As a Scouter its good to know we are making a difference.
And helping people have better lives.
And have more fun!

I hope you find Bill.
If you get in touch with your old Boy Scout Council they can probably help.
Good Luck!

[JonnyReb]

 Your right dogshirt, every kid coulda really use a Bill. For me it was being imparted with responibility and expe,ctation, from someone i respected. Bill said he was a Drill Instructor just after the Nam years and his job was to whip kids into shape, quickly. He did that with me, and i regret losing contact with him some 25 years ago.WoW could it really have been so long? I seriously doubted that he is still living,as he smoked only slightly more than he drank, which was always .  on a more positive note, this thread and thinking back got me looking online and what do you know..the USS Jesse Brown has a webpage with all the crew(65,000) they ever carried and during the years from 70'-90' there were about 30 William Smiths..says they'res only a couple deseased and lists emails for all the rest. Might find Bill after all if i sit down and email all of them. Would love to see what hes up to now and to thank him. I'll post if anything ever comes from it. Still would bet though, that if he's alive, he's been here already or still is. This site would be right up his alley. If he's not living in a TeePee somewhere that is.. 

  Watauga, yes, to be sure the experiences scouting provided, mainly in the way of monthly camping trips, were incredible for those kids who enjoyed such things. For me it was the only way to experience places and people i'd have never met otherwise.. I still have one friend these some 25 years later who was in my troop, would never have met him or his family otherwise. Scouts was a good thing.

I appreciate ya'lls comments!  J.R.