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THE FOLLOWING IS AS STATED FROM THE
TSISQAN LODGE PLAN BOOK WITH EDITS ON SPELLING GRAMMAR FORMATTED FOR THE WEB
The Wallamet Area Council, under executive
Kenneth Wells, engaged Ralph E. Kalaher on March 1, 1943 as assistant Scout
Executive. Kalaher was an OA member of a Midwest lodge when he arrived and
together with the newly arrived Jud Compton, as Field Scout Executive, did a
strong promotional job on the OA story with the 1943 campers at Lucky Boy, the
principal summer camp on Blue River.
That fall, a petition was signed by a
group of interested campers asking for Council approval and requesting a
National OA Charter application. The Council Executive Board gave approval on
January 24, 1944 and submitted the application. On March 4, 1944 the original
Ordeal was held with Ken Wells, Ralph Kalaher, Jud Compton (all professional
Scouters), and Father Louis P. Barcelo of the University of Portland (also a
National Scout Commissioner and OA member from a lodge in the Midwest) as the
ceremony team.
This ceremony, for the original 31
members, was held in the Eugene Girl Scout Council house at 2021 Patterson
Street in Eugene. At this original Ordeal, Jim Vitus of Eugene was elected as
our first Lodge Chief, Donald Garretson of Roseburg was appointed as Scribe, and
Walter Banks of Eugene was appointed as Treasurer. On March 23, 1944 the first
Charter was issued for Lodge 253 in the name of Tsisqan, the Umpqua Indian word
for "deer." The "running deer" was chosen as the Tsisqan
Lodge totem.
Only one day previous, on March 22, 1944,
the several councils involved in the six counties were officially combined and
renamed "Oregon Trail." Tsisqan is the original, the Grandfather Lodge
of the Pacific Northwest, and was responsible for installing several other
Lodges in Section W-1A from 1944 to 1950, starting with Cole Snass Lamatai on
May 6, 1944, followed then by Mazama and Makualla in 1948 and Hyas Chuck Kah Sun
Klatawa in November of 1950. In November of 1945, the Lodge ceremonial team
drove to Burton, WA and inducted Quilshan Lodge of the Mt. Baker Council and
Kelcema Lodge of the Evergreen Area Council. Two other Washington lodges, Moskwa
of Fort Simco-Yaquina, and Kcum-Kum Lodge of Twin Harbors-Aberdeen were also
inducted by Tsisqan Lodge.
In November of 1951, Tsisqan invited
representatives from the other four Oregon lodges to our Annual Meeting at
Sherwood Lodge in Yachats, Oregon to organize the Beaver Section 11A.
At the Annual Meeting in September 1961,
Tsisqan Lodge was honored by the presence of the co-founder of the Order of the
Arrow, Dr. E. Urner Goodman. He was the principal speaker and guest of honor for
the event, held at Camp Baker. Tsisqan's 25th Anniversary Celebration was held
March 15, 1969 at the Thunderbird Motel in Eugene. The 30th Anniversary was held
October 19, 1974, also in Eugene. Both the 40th and 45th Anniversaries were
celebrated at Camp Baker. During the weekend of March 18-20, 1994, over 170
Arrowmen from Tsisqan Lodge gathered for the 50th Anniversary Celebration held
in Eugene. Day activities included Native American activities, history displays,
and 50 years of lodge fellowship reborn with the gathering of brothers from
across the continental U.S. and Alaska. The festivities culminated Saturday
night with a formal dinner and show. Featured were four previous and present
Lodge Chiefs as guest speakers. Jim Vitus- 1944, John Perkins- 1964, Jim
Stratton- 1974, Steve Early- 1976, and Kyle Johnson- 1994. In closing, all who
were present formed the Brotherhood circle and a re-dedication ceremony was
performed. The spirit remains strong to this day.
The following additions were added for
after 1999 by Thomas Regan:
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The history above only
goes through 1994. In 1999, Tsisqan Lodge celebrated its 55th Anniversary,
and produced another Service Square, like those in the past, to
commemorate the special occasion. To earn it, one had to perform extensive
amounts of service throughout the year.
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Jim Vitus, the first
Lodge Chief, is active in the Order to this day, and attends virtually
every Lodge function.
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Tsisqan Lodge is the
oldest continually running Lodge in the Western Region, something all of
its members are very proud of. Though it has both inducted and spun-off
lodges, the name, number, and totem that are held close to the hearts of
all Arrowmen in Oregon Trail Council have not changed in more than 55
years. May the Deer keep Running forever.
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