A Legendary Scout Camp

Camp Miakonda, which was purchased and built in 1917, is the sixth oldest Boy Scout camp in America. Miakonda means "crescent moon" and the camp originally had 78 acres of land.The first building erected in 1917 still exists. The camp from the late 1930's through the early 1950's is considered by some to have been the greatest Boy Scout camp in the country during that period.

Its facilities were legendary. Miakonda had the world's longest swimming pool, which was 480 feet long, was spring fed and was built in a ravine. It held over one million gallons of water. The camp also had a tree house campsite, which included eight treehouses with built in bunks that were 32' in midair and had staircases that went to the top of each one. The camp flagpole during those years was the main mast off a Great Lakes freighter, which had a crows nest halfway up that the camp bugler used to open and close each day of camp.The majestic eight-sided Council Lodge building was built to have campfires inside of it and remains a centerpiece of the camp.

Thomas DeVilbiss, a famous Toledo industrialist, was Miakonda's first major benefactor in the 1920's. During the Great Depression many of the camp's facilities were built by the federal government as work projects. One of these was the creation of Lake Sawyer, which didn't exist when the land was purchased.

The Tribe Of Gimogash

The Tribe of Gimogash was created in May 1914 in Kansas City by J. St. Clair Mendenhall and brought to the Toledo Council in late 1914 when he transferred here. J. St. Clair Mendenhall was the Toledo Council's first full time Scout executive, serving here from 1914-1919. The Tribe of Gimogash is the oldest known honor program in the national history of the BSA, predating the Order of the Arrow by one year. The Toledo Council was the home of Gimogash for years. Many other councils used the Gimogash program to keep older boys interested in Scouting and advancement. The program is known to have existed in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and other locations. When other Tribes were organized they would come to Toledo to receive the initiation ceremony. Those ceremonies are believed to have taken place at Camp Miakonda. Gimogash means "the silent power" which was service to others. There were three degrees of membership and three focal points; honor, leadership and service. Each member received a triangle patch with a rising sun on it. There was an annual trip for all Gimogash members who achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and many did. The greatest growth years of Gimogash to other councils was in the 1920's.

Jake the Goose

Over the years, Camp Mikaonda has had a number of camp mascots but the most famous was a goose who took up year round residence at Miakonda in the early 1950s named Jake the Goose. Jake came into Miakonda one day from parts unknown and spent the remainder of his life there. He lived at Miakonda year round and followed Camp Ranger Don Fanning around the property as he worked each day. Ranger Fanning fed Jake during the winter months and Boy Scouts kept him fed during the summer months. Jake often attended chapel services during the summer camp season where he would join in, honking during hymns. When Scouts would line up for a hike around camp, Jake and a neighboring beagle would line up as well and beagle, goose and boys could be seen walking around camp together. Jakes dark side would come out though when an unsuspecting Scout would be walking with food in hand within eyesight of the goose. Jake would then chase down the scout like a coyote pouncing on a rabbit. Mario Andretti would have been proud of the speed some of the Scouts reached while evading Jake.

The mystical goose died in 1956 and was buried by Ranger Don Fanning on a hill overlooking Lake Sawyer and the camp chapel where Jake had spent much of his life. Jake was immortalized in 1957 when the first Order of the Arrow Lodge at Camp Miakonda was named in his honor and his image became the totem of the newly organized Order of the Arrow Lodge 522 at Camp Miakonda. The lodge was named Wa-Be-Wa-Wa which meant Goose in Flight. Nearly all of the patches issued by Order of the Arrow Lodge since 1957 have included an image of a flying goose.

On June 2, 2007 during the camps 90th anniversary event, a five foot tall black granite tombstone weighing three quarters of a ton was placed on the burial spot of the fabled goose. The marker includes the story of the goose and an etching of it from a photograph taken in the early 1950s. Beneath the marker on the hillside below a large twenty foot diameter concrete camp logo was imbedded into the hillside to mark Jakes Hill. Ten tons of crushed white marble was placed around the hillside logo.

Camp Miakonda Scouting Museum