Scouting in North Dakota

Scouting in North Dakota has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.

Early history (1910-1950)

Recent history (1950-1990)

Boy Scouts in North Dakota was organized into 4 councils from ?? until 1974. The four Councils (and their headquarters) were:

• Red River Valley Council - Fargo; covering EC & SE ND and NW MN
• Lake Agassiz Council - Grand Forks; covering NE ND and NW MN
• Missouri Valley Council - Bismarck; covering Bismarck/Mandan area
• Great Plains Council - Minot; covering Western ND and NE MT

In 1974 the four Councils merged into a single council, Northern Lights Council.

Scouting in North Dakota today

Northern Lights Council

All of North Dakota is in the Northern Lights Council (NLC), formed in 1974 when several councils (Red River Valley Council - Fargo, Lake Agassiz Council - Grand Forks, Missouri Valley Council - Bismarck, and Great Plains Council - Dickinson) were merged into one.

As of 2006, Northern Lights Council serves all of North Dakota, and parts of South Dakota, northwestern Minnesota and northeast Montana.

• Flickertail District
• Frontier Trails District
• Great Plains District
• Lake Agassiz District
• Lakes District
• Northern Sky District
• Oxcart Trails District
• Roughrider District
• Tomahawk District
• Voyageur Trails District

Camp Wilderness
Northern Lights Council is home to Camp Wilderness, which is located in Northern Minnesota on Bad Axe Lake, located near Emmaville, Minnesota just north of Park Rapids. Founded by Herman Stern and some other businessmen in the region in 1946, Camp Wilderness is a 2,400 acres (9.7 km²) camp. On August 18, 2006, the camp celebrated its 60th Anniversary by opening the Butler Wilderness Outpost, a Cub Scout camp for the scouts to attend. Camp Wilderness is, in area, the largest Boy Scout camp owned and operated by an area Scouting Council, although the National Council owns the much-larger Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico, and the slightly larger Charles L. Sommers Canoe Base, also located in Minnesota.

Pa-Hin Lodge #27

Pa-Hin Lodge 27 is the local lodge of the Order of the Arrow for the Northern Lights Council. The Pa-Hin Lodge was chartered in 1976 and serves Boy Scouts in the states of North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, and South Dakota.

The Pa-Hin Lodge started on January 1, 1976 through the merger of four lodges.

The four Lodges which merged to form Pa-Hin were:

• Thunderbird lodge (371) (last charter expired on December 31, 1975)
• Chan-O-Wapi lodge (52) (last charter expired on December 31, 1975)
• Minniduta lodge (176) (last charter expired on December 31, 1975)
• Chatoka lodge (183) (last charter expired on December 31, 1975)

Girl Scouting in North Dakota

See Scouting in South Dakota for more information.

There are two Girl Scout district offices in North Dakota in Fargo and Bismark and two field offices in Minot and Grand Forks.

Patch of a previous council

Camps in North Dakota are

• Camp Owettii, Minot, ND
• Camp Sakakawea, Pick City, ND
• Camp Ocankasa, Mandan, ND
• Camp Neche, Bismarck, ND
• Camp Tonweya, Valley City, ND

See also

Scouting portal

• Scouting in Manitoba
• Scouting in Saskatchewan

References

• Northern Lights Council Site
• Pa-Hin Site