In the summer of 1910, about two miles south of Hudson on the Wisconsin shore of the St. Croix River, 85 boys and several adults held an experimental week of camp to try out a new youth program called Boy Scouts. This first Scouting camp in the upper Midwest took place only months after the Boy Scouts of America was formed and only a week after the first Scout camp in upstate New York. The Hudson experiment was followed over the years by the formation of thousands of Scout units in the Midwest. Scouting contributed to the character of youth and adults and enhanced the quality of life in Hudson, its parks, and its families. Because of this early camp-out, Hudson is regarded as historically significant in the founding and growth of Scouting.