{"id":5578,"date":"2021-06-16T07:00:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T12:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/totscouting.org\/not-so-buried-treasure-indiana-jones-and-the-last-crusade-revealed-that-indy-is-a-life-scout\/"},"modified":"2021-06-16T07:00:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T12:00:20","slug":"not-so-buried-treasure-indiana-jones-and-the-last-crusade-revealed-that-indy-is-a-life-scout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totscouting.org\/not-so-buried-treasure-indiana-jones-and-the-last-crusade-revealed-that-indy-is-a-life-scout\/","title":{"rendered":"Not-so-buried treasure: \u2018Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade\u2019 revealed that Indy is a Life Scout"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/p>\n

A dozen Scouts on horseback meander through the Utah desert.<\/p>\n

\u201cDismount!\u201d their Scoutmaster calls. The Scouts do as asked and then scatter to explore their surroundings.<\/p>\n

Two of the Scouts, one named Herman and another named Indiana Jones, step inside a dark cave and soon discover they aren\u2019t in there alone. They watch undetected as some looters inspect a piece of treasure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the Cross of Coronado. Cortez gave it to him in 1520,\u201d Indiana whispers, already a history buff as a teenager. Then a realization hits. \u201cThat cross is an important artifact. It belongs in a museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the thieves have their backs turned, Indy \u2014 in full Scout uniform complete with the campaign hat \u2014 sneaks in and takes the Cross of Coronado. He bolts, and a 10-minute action sequence ensues involving horses, trains and snakes (why did it have to be snakes?!).<\/p>\n

The sequence ends with a clever cut from young Indiana, played by River Phoenix, to adult Indiana, played by Harrison Ford.<\/p>\n

This perfect prologue, part of 1989\u2019s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade<\/em>, reveals that the title character was a Boy Scout while growing up in Utah. The young Indiana Jones even earned the rank of Life Scout, as evidenced by the red-hearted rank badge on his uniform.<\/p>\n

This week marks 40 years since the first Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark<\/em>, was released.<\/p>\n

Fans had to wait another eight years \u2014 until the release of the third movie in the still-growing franchise \u2014 to learn that the loyal, helpful and brave title character got his start in Scouting.<\/p>\n

But you don\u2019t have to wait another moment to dive into the Scouting history behind everyone\u2019s favorite adventuring archaeologist.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Indy takes the Cross of Coronado, planning to deliver it to a museum where it belongs. \u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Flash back to the flashback<\/h2>\n

Last Crusade<\/em> begins with young Indy as a 13-year-old Scout in 1912 \u2014 just two years after the BSA was founded. Indy, whose troop wears yellow neckerchiefs, is exploring Arches National Park when he discovers thieves trying to take the jewel-encrusted Cross of Coronado.<\/p>\n

Even as a teenager, Indy recognized the value of this artifact and took it from the thieves to ensure its rightful place in a museum.<\/p>\n

From this flashback, we also learn how Indiana Jones got that iconic scar<\/a> on his chin. He was defending himself from a lion (as one does when one falls into a circus train car) and cracked a whip to try to scare the animal away. He hadn\u2019t yet perfected his whip technique, and the tail of the whip clipped his chin, drawing blood.<\/p>\n

On that same train, Boy Scout Indy fell into a crate of snakes, sparking what would become a lifelong fear of limbless reptiles: \u201cSnakes. Why did it have to be snakes?\u201d (No Reptile and Amphibian Study merit badge for this Scout.)<\/p>\n

\"\"
The July 1989 issue of Boys\u2019 Life<\/em> magazine covered the movie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Made by and starring Scouts<\/h2>\n

While some Scouting references in Hollywood films are blink-and-you-miss-them moments, like this one<\/a> from Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off<\/em>, others are much more apparent.<\/p>\n

That director Steven Spielberg would choose to devote the first 10 minutes of his film to a sequence involving Scouting should come as no surprise. He\u2019s a Distinguished Eagle Scout who says the Photography merit badge helped spark his interest in making movies.<\/p>\n

He even helped the BSA release the Cinematography merit badge (now known as Moviemaking) at the 1989 National Jamboree.<\/p>\n

But the prologue and director\u2019s chair weren\u2019t the only place where Scouts could be found in the Last Crusade<\/em>. Harrison Ford was a Life Scout himself and even served on summer camp staff<\/a> at Camp Napowan in central Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Howe, an Eagle Scout and one of Ford\u2019s fellow summer camp staffers, remembers a young man who was kind, shy and just fine around snakes. Ford even taught the Reptile Study merit badge at camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike the Indiana Jones portrayal, he was fine handling a snake,\u201d Howe remembers.<\/p>\n

Geeking out on the details<\/h2>\n

Because we love to analyze (and then overanalyze) details like these, here are a few notes worth mentioning:<\/p>\n