Sixty years ago, a Scoutmaster named Joe Williams was looking for a good program to involve the older boys of Boy Scout Troop 81 in Uvalde. He read about the Koshare Indian Dancers, led by Buck Burshears in La Junta, Colorado, and decided to start his own group, called Comanche Club Indians, in 1950.

The first performance was a three-minute dance for a Boy Scout Camporee on the Nueces River. It was a huge hit, and the group received calls to dance again and again. Just months after their first practice, the boys from South Texas stole the show at a Scout Circus in Fort Worth, where they thrilled a crowd of 14,000 at the Will Rogers Coliseum. One of those boys was a 13-year-old named Bill Dillahunty, who “joined two weeks after the founding, and been with them (almost) ever since.” The name of the group was changed to “Sahawe Indian Dancers” in 1952.

Joe Williams remained active with the group until his death in 1957, then F.W. “Chief” Calvert became the leader for a couple of years. Bill Dillahunty went off to college, then joined the military; the leaderless group was disbanded in 1959. When Dillahunty returned to Uvalde in 1962, several friends asked him to revive the group which had given them so many good memories. “We’ll help you whenever we can,” they told him. “I’m still waiting,” he says with a smile.

The Sahawe Indian Dancers have come a long way over the last forty-seven years. While Dillahunty earned a living in the retail business, he and the boys have devoted countless “spare time” hours to research, costume and prop design, practice and travel. Because most of the dances require girls, the Boy Scouts have teamed up with the Bright Feather Dancers of Girl Scout Troop 4042.

Twenty-four years after Joe Williams’ death, the Sahawes began construction on one of his dream projects: an outdoor theater in Uvalde. It has been in use since 1981, but has been continually updated and expanded. At present it seats 300 people, and it’s not finished yet.

The Sahawes do 60 to 70 shows on the road each year; they have performed in more than 200 Texas cities, plus venues in other states and in Mexico. Still, the theater is the best place to see the Sahawe shows, since some of their intricate costumes and heavy props don’t lend themselves to traveling. The Summer Ceremonials are held there for six evenings in late July; the Winter Ceremonials (the next big Sahawe event) are held inside the Weston Hall at Uvalde’s First United Methodist Church the last week of February and the first week of March. Once a year, the dancers are rewarded for their hard work with a trip to places of interest (Yellowstone, Disney World, etc.) around the country.

Several hundred boys, ranging in age from fifth grade through high school and even beyond, have gone through the Sahawe program. Many have gone on to become leading citizens, and the group has been designated as Uvalde’s “Ambassadors of Good Will.” Their show was recently named one of Uvalde’s top tourist attractions by Texas travel writers. That’s one very impressive Boy Scout program.