The D.O.C. Loses Its "Coach"

FOR over two decades Dartmouth men have learned the lore of the trail, the forest and the stream from a man who is recognized as one of the finest outdoor guides in the country, C. Ross McKenney, woodcraft adviser for the Dartmouth Outing Club. In June, after 24 years of service to the College, McKenney retired, leaving behind a record that will be hard to match but taking with him the friendship of countless Dartmouth men.

A former lumberjack, fisherman, trapper and guide in the Maine woods, McKenney is widely known as America's only college coach of outdoor survival. Under his guidance, Dartmouth men have learned to make snowshoes, canoe paddles, packboards and other woodsmen's equipment and have acquired such skills as fly- and plug-casting, log rolling and outdoor cooking.

Several years ago, McKenney introduced a two-year, non-credit course for "Dartmouth New Hampshire Junior Guides." In 1947 he also initiated "Woodsmen's Weekend," Dartmouth's annual intercollegiate competition to test woodland and camping skills.

When McKenney came to Dartmouth in 1937 he brought with him a lifetime of experience in the woods. Born in the small town of Patten, Maine, the son of a Maine guide, he left school at the age of thirteen to cook for a party of timber surveyors. For seventeen years he followed the great log drives on the Maine rivers. Later he turned to trapping and became one of the best known guides in the northern woods. McKenney was the first president of the Maine Guides Association, and created an organization which served as a model for similar groups in other states.

Ross McKenney will continue to live in Hanover, and although officially retired, he is not likely to stay out of the woods or out of the lives of Dartmouth men.

Ross McKenney (center) chatting with parents after he was saluted on Class Day.