Cambridge District Scout Archive
Pathfinder was a badge which in its composition reflected the largely urban base of Scouting. The 1919 requirements, below, place the urban requirements ahead of the rural; and this version is from a Canadian POR.
Pathfinding is distinct from map reading and implies a local knowledge not requiring the use of maps to show the lie of the land. The 1938 requirements stress ‘as a result of his own exploring’.
The more recent Local Knowledge badges at Cub level are not dissimilar. The Query ??? Competition, held intermittently from 1945, required similar elements of local knowledge. The questions were often a combination of knowledge and observation.
Elevators are storage silos for grain and stand as the tallest buildings in prairie land. They are essential landmarks for navigation.
Ken North, Kings Scout c 1926, described the Pathfinder badge as thew hardest that he completed.
JWR Archivist May 2019
Cambridge District Scout Archive 