Riverside County Council # 45 (1920 – 1944, 1945 – 1972)

Chronology

• 1919: First Riverside County Council Summer Camp is held at Gray’s Meadow in Idyllwild. It is here that Claudius Lee Emerson reveals plan to donate land to the Boy Scouts.
• 1920: First Summer Camp held at the property that would become Camp Emerson. Riverside County Council organized in October under the leadership of C.J. Carlson, former Police Chief for the City of Riverside.
• 1921: C.J. Carlson reports that the Council has 46 Troops and over 800 Scouts enrolled.
• 1922: G. Albert Mills becomes Scout Executive, replacing C.J. Carlson, who becomes the Scout Executive of Long Beach Area Council and later Executive of Region 12. Mills would serve only 3 months before becoming the Riverside City Clerk. H.K. Merritt becomes Scout Executive. First Riverside County Council Pow Wow is held.
• 1924: Howard K. Merritt listed as Scout Executive¹.
• 1926: C.B. Cantrell is hired as Scout Executive.
• 1928: Scout Executive C.B. Cantrell resigns. C.K. Radford is hired from Eureka as his replacement.
• 1929: Scout Executive Charles Knight Radford dies in a flight training accident. His flight student was injured but survived. John Leecing is hired as Scout Executive in his place.
• 1931: Council President and citrus industry magnate Fred Stebler is awarded the first Silver Beaver in council history.
• 1935: John H. Leecing listed as Scout Executive².
• 1937: Carl M. Helmick hired as Scout Executive from the Yuma-Imperial Council, replacing John Leecing, who became Scout Executive in Santa Barbara. Former Scout Executive C.J. Carlson is leading Region 12.
• 1938: Tahquitz Lodge # 127 with the Order of the Arrow formed in the Council.
• 1942: Redlands and Yucaipa Scouting leaves the Arrowhead Area Council to associate with Riverside County Council.
• 1944: Council renamed Riverside County and Redlands Council.
• 1945: Redlands and Yucaipa Scouting leave to form the Redlands Area Council. The Council reverts to the original Riverside County Council name.
• 1946: John E Jones is Council President (11/18/1946). At this point, 197 Scouts in the Council had become Eagle Scouts.
• 1954: In 1954, a Wiyot Clan was formed in Corona, tied to the Temescal District. On June 14, they performed at a Court of Honor for the neighboring Laguna District.
• 1972: Longtime Scout Executive Carl Helmick retires after 37 years as Scout Executive. John Dudley hired as new Scout Executive. Riverside County Council votes to merge with Arrowhead Area Council # 48, which formed California Inland Empire Council # 45 on January 1, 1973.