The U.S. Congress chartered the Boy Scouts of America in 1910, and two years later three Van Alstyne boys, Rowland Barnett, Otis White, and Rae Nunnallee, received a Boy Scout storybook. After Barnett made a Christmas wish, the Van Alstyne troop received its charter in March 1913, becoming one of the first in the state, with W.F. Barnett, Rowland's father and the Van Alstyne school superintendent, as its first scoutmaster. Within a few years, Troop 1 helped establish other Boy Scout troops in the area, beginning in Anna and Elmont, and from its founding served the community. Through the 1920s, the troop joined a citywide cleanup to control disease and insect population. In the 1940s, its number changed to 44, and in 1948 the city donated land for a scout hut that has since been used for meetings. In 1959, the troop took part in relaying the Pan American Games torch as it traveled from Mexico City to Chicago. The troop also became the first integrated troop in the Texoma Valley Council. Beginning in 1917, Van Alstyne's First United Methodist Church became an official sponsor, and the troop has since been sponsored by other local organizations and churches while continuing to receive Methodist support. Its leaders included many men and women from the community, among them Rae Nunnallee, whose interest began with the 1912 storybook; active in the troop for 70 years, he served as a boy and later in key local and national roles, and the chapel at nearby Camp Grayson was named in his honor for his dedication and service.