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Goodman - Early Years of OA

Urner Goodman enjoyed much success in the early days of his career as a professional Scouter. Good with people, a gifted writer and speaker and an effective organizer, he knew how to motivate volunteers and staff.

Early on he attracted the attention of national BSA leadership. Only on the job for a year, he and Carroll Edson attended the national meeting as observers. During one of the large sessions, he was pleasantly surprised when Chief Scout Executive Dr. James E. West called on him to describe the success Scouting was having in Philadelphia.

In 1917 Goodman was selected as Scout Executive for Philadelphia. World War I had just started, and he was called to the Army, where he became a regimental personnel officer soon before the war’s end, never going overseas – he joked later that he fought "the battle of Georgia."

He returned to the council in 1918, and oversaw the growth of the Order to other lodges in the east, and the formation of the Grand Lodge in 1921. He wrote a ceremony for the Vigil Honor, as well as penned the Song of the Order.

Other councils also had honor societies, usually organized around the council summer camp. These were sometimes cliquish and not in line with the council program. At the 1922 national meeting of Scout Executives, some professional Scouters opined that camp “fraternities” should be abolished. Goodman and Edson spoke about the positive experience the Order had been in Philadelphia, and Chief Scout Executive West said he had no objection to groups like the Order, so long as they grew naturally without promotion by the Scout Executives.

During the summer of 1923 Goodman contracted tuberculosis, and upon doctor’s orders took the remainder of the year off to rest in a sanatorium.

By 1927, Goodman’s work as Scout Executive in Philadelphia had become so well respected that the Chicago council offered him its top spot.

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Organizational Meeting

Following the success of the Wimachtendienk W.W. during the summer of 1915 and reflection upon the experience at Treasure Island it was decided that this new Honor Campers Society needed to be formalized and moved forward.

To that end, he wrote an invitation to all 25 inductees from that summer at Treasure Island. It was a short letter dated November 4, 1915 and signed by Goodman as Nuwingi – Chief of the Fire. It said:

My dear Brother:

The Fall Conclave of the Wimachtendienk will be held on Saturday, November 13^th, at Camp Morrell, starting at 4 o’clock.

An informal reunion before the supper, followed by a business session and initiation ceremonies after supper, will constitute the program.

Endeavor to be on hand and bring supper with you.

Nuwingi

-Chief of the Fire-

Attest: C. A. Edson -Sachem-

According to records, there were nine of the summer inductees that attended this meeting. In the business session, it was moved and passed that a permanent organization be formed. George Chapman was appointed chairman of the Constitution Committee, Harry A. Yoder was appointed chairman of Membership Committee, and William Spaeth was appointed chairman of the Ceremonial Committee. The three committee chairmen formed an Organization Committee that Chapman chaired.

Records do not mention the “initiation ceremonies” proposed in the Nuwingi/Goodman invitation.

The Camp Morrell meeting led to the official organizational framework of the Wimachtendienk.

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First Officers Elected

The Constitution of Wimachtendienk defined the Offices of the Order. The Camp Director was assigned the office of Medu, Chief of the Fire. The Assistant Camp Director was the Vice-Chief of the Fire called Pow wow. These two offices along with the Scout Executive and any past Camp Director or Assistant Director made up the Advisory Council. These were the adult leadership offices of Wimachtendienk. With the passage of the Constitution of Wimachtendienk, the first order of business was to elect the youth officers. All Arrowmen other than members of the Advisory Council could vote. In 1916 that meant that only youth Arrowmen were voting and that all elected officers were youth. George Chapman was elected Sakima, Chief of Wimachtendienk the first youth officer of the Order. Barrett H. Culin was elected Olomipees, the Recorder (scribe). Louis Moss was elected Mawachpo, the treasurer and Harry A. Yoder was elected Nutiket, the Sergeant-at-arms.

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George Chapman

George W. Chapman is most remembered for being the first Chief in the Order. He was elected Sakima, Chief of Wimachtendienk in 1916. E. Urner Goodman had felt that it was important that a youth leader led the WWW.

Chapman had joined Scouting in 1912 and attained the rank of Life Scout. Chapman was a charter member of WWW and was initiated on August 13, 1915. In November of 1915 he was selected to be the Chairman of the Constitution Committee and the Organization Committee at the first organizational meeting of WWW. On November 5, 1921 George Chapman kept his Vigil. He was the eighth overall Third Degree member in the Order. Chapman’s Vigil name Netami, “The First”, was chosen in reference to his service as first Chief.

Chapman served the Order throughout his entire adult lifetime. He served as the second Vigil Honor Secretary, a National Executive Committee / National OA Committee level position, from December 27,1942 until December 31,1952. He received the OA’s Distinguished Service Award in 1946, one of the first twenty recipients. After retiring as Vigil Honor Secretary, Chapman continued to serve the National OA Committee as Editorial Advisor. Chapman passed away in May 1970.

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W. D. Boyce

William D. Boyce was an American businessman and millionaire who owned numerous newspapers in the United States and Canada as well as a publishing company. In the early 1900s, he started to focus more on philanthropic projects than on business matters. It was during this time, as he was traveling around the world, that legend has it he was shown his way in London by an unknown Scout. The story goes on that the Scout refused gratuity, merely doing his duty as a Scout. The Scout is said to have then directed Boyce to the Scout headquarters.

We do know that Boyce did indeed go to Scout headquarters where Boyce picked up a copy of Scouting for Boys and other documents. Reading these books, he expressed interest in bringing Scouting to America and was given permission to use the British manual. More popular versions of this story have Boyce being guided by the unknown Scout after getting lost in the fog, and meeting Baden-Powell personally.

Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) on February 8, 1910. Boyce financially contributed to the BSA and appointed a permanent executive to run the organization. Boyce believed very much in the outdoor activities of the BSA and felt they were necessary and important to develop leadership and responsibility in boys, especially those boys who grew up in the cities, thus turning them into men. In 1915, Boyce created the Lone Scouts of America for Scouts who might not be able to participate in troops, which later integrated with the BSA in 1924. Boyce is also notable for having funded the organization and turning its ownership over to the executive board.

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Birthplace of WWW Opens

The island on which Treasure Island Reservation is located has been the topic of several historical investigations to confirm the ownership and the state to which the island belongs.

In 1783, commissioners appointed by the legislatures of Pennsylvania and New Jersey entered into a treaty, one of the purposes of which was to allocate to each State the islands lying in the Delaware River north of the falls of Trenton. The treaty was ratified by both legislatures in 1783. The part of the treaty that speaks to the island known as Treasure Island was that each island was annexed to the State to which it was physically closest.

To determine the proximity of the islands to the closest State a surveyor was employed to make a survey of each island and therefore determine the State to which the Island belonged. Reading Howell did the survey in 1785. The result of the survey placed Treasure Island in New Jersey. The survey identified the island as “Ridge’s Island.” It was called Ridge’s Island because from June 10, 1790, when the first formal deed was registered for the ownership of the island, the Ridge family owned the island.

In 1907 the island was conveyed to Topliff Johnson. Mr. Johnson and his wife conveyed the island to Oscar G. Worman and his wife in 1915.

The Treasure Island Camp, later known as Treasure Island Scout Reservation officially opened as a Philadelphia Council camp in 1913 when the Council signed a lease with Mr. Worman for use of the island as a summer camp. Mr. Worman was the Scoutmaster of Troop 46 and brought his troop to the island for camping.

In 1913, there was just one building on the island. It was a huge barn that was transformed into the mess hall. The camp offered every outdoor activity available to Scouts - swimming, nature, crafts, cooking and camping skills. In 1913 the cost of camp was $3.50 per boy per week. Supper was served in the Mess Hall and the other meals were cooked in the campsites by patrols. Treasure Island Scout Reservation replaced Camp Pequea that was located on the Susquehanna River below Columbia, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Worman and his wife conveyed the island to the Philadelphia Council of the Boy Scouts of America by deed dated March 24, 1920. Philadelphia Council registered a deed for the island in 1920 that officially changed the name from Ridge’s Island. In that deed it was referred to as “Treasure (formerly known as Ridge’s) Island”.

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Treasure Island

Treasure Island Scout Camp (also known as Treasure Island Scout Reservation) opened as a Philadelphia Council summer camp in 1913. The name Treasure Island had come from the popular Robert Louis Stevenson pirate novel of the same name published in 1883. Philadelphia used the pirate motif on some of their early promotional material. Treasure Island would become the longest continuously run Scout camp in the BSA and most notably, the birthplace of the Order of the Arrow.

Philadelphia Council originally leased the island from Oscar Worman, a Scoutmaster of troop 46 and shifted its summer camp from Camp Pequea on the Susquehanna River to Treasure Island located in the middle of the Delaware River. Treasure Island was later conveyed to the Philadelphia Council.

The below testimonial is excerpted from C.A. Wiese recounting the Treasure Island Experience:

Once on the island you become immersed in a paradise of a pure Scouting environment. The waters that surround it assure an incomparable experience. The Delaware River is why the island exists water dictates the encounter. The waters can be deep and fast or shallow and telling. To begin the journey you cross this mighty river from mainland Pennsylvania to the softly rounded stones that make up the shores of the island. A carefully guided barge trip makes the impossible, attainable. For young and old the passage provides a long look at the island from a distance and hints at the promise that is soon to be delivered. Then, you are there upon those shores and the wonderment is all around you for the entire time that you abide.

The Philadelphia Council was proud of its new camp and pushed hard for the troops in the Council to attend Treasure Island Camp. The first year was successful as many troops came to the island camp to see what it was all about. One of those keenly interested was Scoutmaster E. Urner Goodman. Mr. Goodman brought his Troop One from the Tioga Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia for summer camp in both 1913 and 1914.

In 1915 Philadelphia Council appointed Field Commissioners E. Urner Goodman Camp Director and Carroll A. Edson Assistant Camp Director in charge of commissary. In that capacity they founded the Order of the Arrow and built the Council Fire Ceremonial Circle. Soon after the founding, Unami Lodge commenced construction and built a lodge house on the Island. In the early years of the camp every Scout did not receive a patch. Instead, a Scout could meet a challenging set of requirements of various types of Scoutcraft to earn a camp monogram. Earning a monogram was the camp equivalent to earning a varsity letter. It was meaningful and only the more skilled Scouts could earn it. The original monogram had the letters “TIS” for “Treasure Island Scout”. In the Mid-1920s the monogram was changed to “TIC” which stood for “Treasure Island Camper”. The OA was a program that complemented the camp monogram system by focusing on spirit, leadership and service instead of Scoutcraft skills.

Through the years, improvements were made to the camp including the construction of multiple buildings. Treasure Island Scout Reservation actually consisted of two islands. Treasure Island is connected to, Marshall Island (also known as Eagle Island) by a small bridge. Marshall Island is where the rifle and archery ranges were located. By a quirk of geography, Marshall Island is slightly closer to Pennsylvania than it is to New Jersey. The ranges were located there because Pennsylvania gun laws were less stringent than New Jersey.

Treasure Island was the site for a portion of the first Grand Lodge Meeting in 1921, the 10^th anniversary Grand Lodge Meeting in 1925 and the 1936 National Lodge Meeting. The camp hosted numerous Area and Section conclaves and hosted the 50^th anniversary dedication in 1965. In 1996 the Philadelphia Council merged with Valley Forge Council and became the Cradle of Liberty Council.

Unfortunately, the Delaware River, the singular feature that creates the uniqueness of the Treasure Island summer camp experience has proven to be the cause of the camp’s demise. Through the years there have been major floods that have inundated Treasure Island. Floods over the millennia are what created Treasure Island. Floods impacted the camp in the 1930s and 1950s (the flood of 1955 in particular). Then in the 2000s three so called “hundred year floods” occurred in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The camp was fully repaired, but the Cradle of Liberty Council still had millions of dollars of maintenance and repairs required for electrical and sanitation. And even if the money could be raised, there would be the risk of it all being wiped out again.

Treasure Island has not reopened since the 2008 summer camp season. Volunteers maintain the camp for the local council. Many still hope that the camp that Goodman watched over on that night in 1915 that he kept his vigil will one day serve Scouting again.

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Goodman Influenced - Story of Billy Clark

When the Treasure Island staff planned the first induction, Urner Goodman had one Scout in mind as the model of cheerful service he wanted for its members - Billy Clark.  Billy was a member of Philadelphia's Troop 1, led by Scoutmaster Goodman and is listed in their records as an “Assistant Scribe.” Years later Goodman described a troop campout at Treasure Island.

One time during our stay there, one of our charges came with a minor sickness. There was no medicine, no hospital on the island at all. So he had to stay in his tent and he had to be taken care of. Billy volunteered to be our live-in nurse for the two or three days he had to be there. And he did a good job of it.

Came to a crisis however the next morning. It had rained during the night. Now, there is a vessel used in hospitals they call a bedpan.  And it was time to take that thing to the latrine and Billy, of course, cheerfully took on the assigned visit. However, in going from the tent to the latrine he had a little upset. It was the wrong kind of bath, to be put lightly. But Billy got up smiling from it all, if you can imagine. Now that's the picture of cheerful service.

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Goodman & Edson Camp Directors

In April of 1915, E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson both were hired by Philadelphia Council and entered Professional Scouting at the age of 23. Philadelphia Scout Executive Walter S. Cowing appointed them both as  Field Commissioners (now called Field Executives). The following month the Philadelphia Council Camp Committee appointed Goodman as Camp Director at Treasure Island Scout Reservation and Edson as his Assistant Camp Director in charge of commissary. Together they prepared for the coming camp season and in their capacity as Camp Director and Assistant Camp Director determined that a camp fraternity might be a good idea for the camp.

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WWW Founded

Goodman and Edson had explained their plans for the establishment of a camp honor society to camp leaders at Treasure Island.

The date of the first induction had been set, July 16, 1915. Two of the Troops on the island had held an election of members.  George Chapman described the event in The Arrow and the Vigil as follows:

Friday, July 16, 1915, dawned bright and fair. In addition to the heavy heat, which often hangs in the valley of the Delaware, there was something else in the air. It was an almost indescribable feeling of expectancy and mystery. Only a very few of those on the island had been taken into the confidence of Goodman and Edson and this was done only to have sufficient personnel to carry out the planned program. So while everyone on the island was aware that Friday night was the big night, few knew exactly what was to take place and all waited with interest and an enthusiasm which was difficult to control.

The day wore on slowly. Ordinary camp activities provided little interest and the camp chores and duties were carried out with a total lack of enthusiasm. By sundown the air was charged with a tense excitement. Something that was to be a vital factor in the lives of uncounted thousands of boys and men was about to be started. The importance of this undertaking was unconsciously exerting a strange influence on those that were present.

The first members were inducted in a manner somewhat differently from the way in which the Ordeal is conducted today. All of the campers, obviously non-members, were witnesses to the induction. As darkness fell, Harry Yoder, who acted as first guide, lined up the campers in single file. In dead silence the campers followed the guide by a circuitous route to the Council Fire.

The path led under a fallen tree and the Council Fire was so located that as the boys approached the fire they had no knowledge of it until they passed under the tree and the Council Fire was suddenly revealed.

At the first induction, and on subsequent inductions during the first year of Wimachtendienk, Urner Goodman served as Chief of the Fire and Carroll Edson served as Vice Chief of the Fire. Both were dressed in black robes, similar to an academic robe, which had been made by Mrs. Cooper, the wife of a neighboring farmer. The Chief wore on his robe the totem of the Unami Clan of the Lenni Lenape Indians, a turtle, superimposed on a triangle, which denoted leadership. The Vice Chief of the Fire wore on his robe a turtle without the triangle.

The first candidates to be inducted into the organization were Robert Craig and Gilpin Allen. Goodman and Edson had no formal induction into the Order as it was felt that this was not necessary.

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Scouting Founded

Lord Robert Baden-Powell was born in London on February 22, 1857. As a child, he already had an interest in many of the skills that would become associated with Scouting. At times, he would skip class to go spend time in the woods tracking and trapping animals. In 1876, he joined the British army as a career officer. At various times, he was stationed in South Africa, where he improved the Scouting skills of his youth. He frequently enjoyed leading scouting missions into enemy territory. A few years later, he wrote Aids to Scouting to help train military reconnaissance recruits. His most notable service was during the Second Boer War (1899-1902), which saw Baden-Powell command a force holding the town of Mafeking; the siege lasted 217 days. When his force was relieved, he was declared a British hero and promoted to Major General. When he returned to Britain, he found that his book Aids to Scouting had become very popular with teachers and youth groups.

Following his involvement with the Boys’ Brigade, Baden-Powell set out to rewrite Aids to Scouting for civilian use. While doing this, he set up a camp for 22 boys on Brownsea Island in August of 1907 to test his scouting ideas (including the patrol method). The next year, Scouting for Boys was published. The book was very popular upon release, and became one of the best-selling books in history. While Baden-Powell had hoped established groups would apply the knowledge, groups called Scout troops started springing up across Great Britain. Many requested assistance from Baden-Powell. By accident, the Scouting movement had begun.

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Lord Baden-Powell

Lord Robert Baden-Powell, (February 22, 1857 - January 8, 1941) was a soldier, writer and founder of the world Scouting movement. He was the sixth of eight sons amongst ten children. His father served as the Savilian Professor of Geometry at the University of Oxford and died when Robert was just three years of age.

His first introduction to scouting skills was stalking and cooking animals, and avoiding teachers, in nearby woods, which were strictly out-of-bounds for the school that he attended. He also played the piano and violin, was an ambidextrous artist of some talent, and enjoyed acting. Holidays were usually spent on yachting or canoeing expeditions with his brothers.

Baden-Powell served in the British Army from 1876 until 1910 in India and Africa. In 1899, during the Second Boar War in South Africa, Baden-Powell successfully defended the town in the Siege of Mafeking. A Boer army of in excess of 8,000 men surrounded him and his troops. Although wholly outnumbered, the garrison withstood the siege for 217 days, and much of this is attributable to some of the cunning military deceptions instituted at Baden-Powell's behest as commander of the garrison. As a result, Baden-Powell became a national hero back home.

On his return home, Baden-Powell found that his military training manual "Aids to Scouting" had become something of a best seller, and was being used by teachers and youth organizations. Following a meeting with the founder of the Boys' Brigade, Sir William Smith, Baden-Powell decided to re-write Aids to Scouting to suit a youth readership, and in 1907 held a camp on Brownsea Island for 22 boys of mixed social background to test out some of his ideas, which is now seen as the beginning of the Scouting movement.

“Scouting for Boys” was subsequently published in 1908 in six installments. Boys spontaneously formed Scout troops and the Scouting movement had inadvertently started, first a national, and soon an international obsession.

Although he could have continued his military career, Baden-Powell decided to retire from the Army in 1910 on the advice of King Edward VII, who suggested that he could better serve his country by promoting Scouting.

Under his leadership, Baden-Powell brought Scouting to the youth of the world and the world Scouting movement grew. By the end of 1910, there were over 100,000 Scouts in England. In 1922, there were more than a million scouts in 32 countries and by 1939; the number of Scouts had grown in excess of 3.3 million. Baden-Bowell became appropriately known as the “Chief Scout of the World”

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