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John Hurst, standing in front of his cabin around 1946 at Camp Mitigwa, was the naturalist and camp ranger at the popular Boy Scout camp from 1922 until his retirement in 1947. Camp Mitigwa is located near the Des Moines River in Boone County. Hurst was known to Boy Scouts as "Uncle Bade" and was a wonderful storyteller and instructor in Native American lore. He had spent much of his early life among the Fox and Sac Indians and members of those tribes actually paid visits to Camp Mitigwa in the 1920s. The reason for Hurst's "Uncle Bade" nickname is unclear. However, the Englishman Sir Robert Baden-Powell was the founder of the Boy Scouts; and it may be that Hurst portrayed Baden-Powell in one of his many camp tales. Hurst lived near Woodward. He died in September, 1952, and is buried in Sparks Cemetery which is located within a mile of Camp Mitigwa.