More than thirty years before Jimmy Morgan brought together a group of local conservationists who formed Friends of Dragon Run, there were already "friends" of the stream at work to preserve and protect this important waterway. Among these early "friends" of the Dragon were eight Explorer Scouts: Al Knapp, Andy James, Jr., Wendell Johnson, John Winters, Jimmy Hammer, Jimmy Hall, Bill Belcher and Larry Fields. These local scouts were led by Jimmy Morgan on a working expedition down the Dragon in the late 1950's. Their goal was to make the stream more navigable while still preserving its integrity. Some other "friends" who accompanied these Scouts were Jimmy's brother, Harvey, an Explorer Advisor, Sam Stanford, Sr., the Gloucester County Game Warden and Carter Harrison, a canoe enthusiast. On this overnight trip down the Dragon in 1958, the scouts removed some of the obstructions across the stream, and placed trail and campsite markers. As a result of their work, the beauty and serenity of the Dragon became more easily accessible to nature lovers and canoe enthusiasts. The trip down the Dragon could now be made in much less time than the previously required 24 hours that it had taken Jimmy and Harvey when they made their first trip in 1953. Navigability of the Dragon has evolved over the last forty years, however, due to the capriciousness of Mother Nature and her creatures, each year brings new challenges to paddlers. This depends on the number of trees downed by storms, the denseness of vegetation and the amount of beaver activity on the stream. This activity has has increased dramatically through the years. It is to the credit of Friends of Dragon Run and the early "friends" of the Dragon that, almost fifty years after the first "friends" took their maiden voyage down the stream, this pristine waterway is still offering joy to all who visit.

Editor's Note: Sharon Rhodes, who wrote the above article, is keeper of a wealth of pictorial and written history concerning the Dragon.