James P. Fitch was a Scouting

Scouting

Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....

 notable in the early history of the Boy Scouts of America

Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

 (BSA). During the first decade of the BSA, Fitch, a school teacher by vocation, was hired by the B.S.A. to travel with the Chautauqua

Chautauqua

Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...

 circuit, setting up Scout troops in the towns and cities he visited. In 1916, he was Camp Master at Owassipe Scout Camp near Chicago where he was the founder of "The Tribe of Owasippe."

In the Fall of 1919, Fitch was appointed Region Scout Executive for Region Nine (Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

 and New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

), and he served in that capacity until 1945. During these years, Fitch actively recruited supporters of the Scouting program. In 1938, one of these supporters, Oklahoma oilman Waite Phillips, donated part of his huge Philmont Ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico. This became Philturn Rocky Mountain Scout Camp. Three years later, in December 1941, just days after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Phillips donated the rest of his ranch to Region Nine. In 1945, when Fitch retired as Region Nine Scout Executive, Phillips insisted that Fitch be appointed the General Manager of Philmont Scout Ranch

Philmont Scout Ranch

Philmont Scout Ranch is a large, rugged, mountainous ranch located near the town of Cimarron, New Mexico, covering approximately of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of the Rocky Mountains of northern New Mexico...

 and Phillips Properties for the B.S.A.

In the early 1930s, Fitch visited the newly dedicated Worth Ranch Scout Camp near Palo Pinto, Texas, and made a handwritten copy of "The Worth Ranch Grace," a simple grace before meals used at the camp. This copy of the Worth Ranch

Wilderness Grace

The Wilderness Grace, also known as the "Worth Ranch Grace" and the "Philmont Grace", is the common name of a simple prayer recited before meals at many Boy Scout camps around the United States. The original version, the "Worth Ranch Grace", was written in 1929 by A. J...

 Grace is in the possession of Pete Normand of College Station, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. Normand is the son-in-law of Fitch's only son, William D. Fitch.

During his years as Region Nine Scout Executive, Fitch's office was in Dallas, Texas. During these years he was the Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

 advisor for the Alpha Omicron chapter of Alpha Phi Omega

Alpha Phi Omega

Alpha Phi Omega is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of approximately 17,000 students, and over 350,000 alumni members...

a Greek Letter Scouting fraternity.