 In 1909 , Chicago publisher W. D. Boyce was visiting London , where he encountered a boy who came to be known as the Unknown Scout . Boyce was lost on a foggy street when an unknown Scout came to his aid , guiding him to his destination . The boy then refused Boyce 's tip , explaining that he was a Boy Scout and was merely doing his daily good turn . Interested in the Boy Scouts , Boyce met with staff at the Boy Scouts Headquarters and , by some accounts , Baden @-@ Powell . Upon his return to the U.S. , Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8 , 1910 . Edgar M. Robinson and Lee F. Hanmer became interested in the nascent BSA and convinced Boyce to turn the program over to the YMCA for development in April 1910 . Robinson enlisted Seton , Beard , Charles Eastman and other prominent leaders in the early youth movements . Former president Theodore Roosevelt , who had long complained of the decline in American manhood , became an ardent supporter . In January 1911 , Robinson turned the movement over to James E. West who became the first Chief Scout Executive and Scouting began to expand in the U.S. : 148 
