Best of the Best Montana, Utah and Wyoming Camp Patches and Histories

Focusing on Camp Memorabilia from the Teens through the 1940s

Camp Arcola of the Montana Council. "Camp Arcola has been serving scouts for over 30 years, and like so many hidden treasures, it appears to be a modest little camp, but opens up unmatched opportunities for adventure. The camp is located about 20 miles South of the town of Anaconda." (Courtesy of www.scouter.com)

Scan Courtesy of Jim Scherbarth C.

Camp Bear Lake of the former Tendoy Council. On the same property as Camp Nebeker, the camp was operated on Bear Lake and is part of the current day Nebeker Ranch located in Rich County, Utah. (SE corner of Idaho, just across Utah border). It has an elevation of 6000 feet.

Camp E-La-Ka-Wee. Was located high in the big horn mountains off Highway 16 in Wyoming. The camp was a summer camp run by the Central Wyoming Council until 1968. The trail hike was 25 miles each way in the Cloud Peak Wilderness area. It started near Camp Elakawee and over the top of cloud peak to Lake Solitude. 25 miles each way on a knife edge trail pulling a pack horse, all in 4 days. The badge was given only to those that completed the hike and we took only 80 Scouts per summer.

Camp Elmo was located on Flathead Lake in Montana.

Camp Flaming Arrow Scout Ranch of the Yellowstone Valley Council.

Camp Jefferson of the North Central Montana Council was located five miles above Neihart on the main fork of Belt Creek. Drive three miles beyond Neihart, turning off the main Highway where the large camp sign directs you. For 1931 there will be three periods of two weeks each, July 5th to August 16th. The camp fee is $14.00 a period with $1.00 of this amount paid as the registration fee and $13.00 just before leaving for camp. Scouts are furnished good tents and this year there will be board floors in the tents, also electric lights. The camp is equipped with a splendid swimming pool 20' x 60'. A complete stock of candy and equipment is carried in the Canteen. 10 cents a day is the limit that may be spent for candy or gum. Special hikes the first period for experienced campers. Over night hikes and a hike to the top of Mount Baldy, 9300 feet elevation, the first period for all who wish to take these trips. A six day hike to the Judith River in the second period of camp and a seven day hike to the Tenderfoot Country in the third period of camp. 

>Advertised as a 1921 Camp Jefferson Patch.

The patches below are in the Rudesill collection.

The 1935 patches belonged to a Scoutmaster from Great Falls, MT.

Camp Kiwanis of the North Central Montana Council. This was also a Boy Scout camp. I have a merit badge card for a scout who earned Bugling merit badge at this camp on June 10, 1933. This might be the current day Camp Kiwanis located South of Havre, Montana.

K-M Scout Ranch of the current Montana Council. Come experience Montana Council’s full program Boy Scout camp in the north Moccasin Mountains near Lewistown.  K-M has over 600 acres for you and your unit to experience the great outdoors and get into the outing of Scouting.

Camp Laramie Peak of the Longs Peak Council. "Camp Laramie Peak was purchased in 1920 by a group of volunteers wanting a place to take Scouts in the wilderness. The rugged terrain, rambling brooks, and mountain backdrop was the ideal location. Camp Laramie Peak is located northwest of Wheatland, Wyoming, near the base of Laramie Peak, in the Medicine Bow National Forest. The elevation at the Camp is approximately 6800 feet." (Courtesy of http://www.longspeakbsa.org/camps/CLP/ 4/2009)

Lions Camp of the Western Montana Council.

Camp Lowlands: Silver Bow Council, Butte, Montana. Red patch is circa 1939.

Scan Courtesy of Jim Scherbarth C.

Melita Island: A 64-acre island on Flathead Lake, located about one-half mile off the west lakeshore. It is accessible by boat from Walstead Park, a state-maintained landing off Highway 93, approximately 20 minutes north of Polson. For more information on Melita Island click here.

Camp Napi

Camp Nebeker of the Tendoy Council is no longer operating. On the same property as Camp Bear Lake of the Tendoy Council, the camp was operated on Bear Lake and is part of the current day Nebeker Ranch located in Rich County, Utah (SE corner of Idaho, just across Utah border). It has an elevation of 6000 feet.

Camp New Fork of the former Jim Bridger Council Utah-Wyoming.

Northwest Grizzly Base of the current Montana Council. Northwest Grizzly Base is more than just a camp, it's a gateway to unlimited outdoor adventure in northwest Montana. Within a 75 mile radius of camp you'll find the Flathead and Lolo National Forests, Bob Marshall Wilderness and Mission Mountain Wilderness areas, Glacier National Park, "Wild and Scenic" rivers, Flathead Lake and Hungry Horse Reservoir. If that's not enough try on the Columbia Falls Water Slides or a White Water Raft Trip or a visit to the Museum of the Plains Indians on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation. Grizzly Base is your place to star and adventure in the Big Sky Country. The camp is located on Montana HWY 35, 18 miles South of Columbia Falls. Wild animals such as grizzly bears, black bears, mountain lions and wolves are native and usually present little danger if proper precautions are taken.

Camp Paxson of the Great Falls Area Council (later renamed Vigilante Council) was located on Seeley Lake (earlier known as Clearwater Lake and before that "Moose Lake' according to the Seeley Lake Writers Club. "In 1918 Scoutmaster K.D. Swan started a rustic boy scout camp. In 1924 the tent camp (with a four-acre grant from the Forest Service) was assumed by the Western Montana Council of Boy Scouts. By the late 1930s a need for a more permanent facility was obvious. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), New Deal Programs vital to the nation's economic recovery during the depressed 1930s provided funds and manpower to construct the present camp. The rustic (og, shingle, brick, stone lodge) buildings were constructed in 1939-1940 under the direction of Forest Service engineer Clyde Fickes. (They currently are on the National Register of Historic Places). Designed to fit the natural landscape, the twenty buildings of saddle-notched native larch demonstrate excellent craftsmanship, remarkable since CCC workers were primarily “city boys” trained on the job. Several interior fireplaces of uncut native stone likewise reveal extraordinary masonry skills. Named for (a well known 20th century) Montana artist Edgar S. Paxson (1852-1929), the facility now serves as a center for drama training and retreats, children’s music camp, disadvantaged youth and other youth groups, family reunions, and community organizations." (Credit to Ramblin Ron http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3PKV 4/2009)

Camp Rotary of the North Central Montana Council was located about 5-6 miles south of Monarch, Montana and covers 6.1 acres of the Lewis and Clark National Forest. Currently a recreational camp operated and maintained by the Rotary Club of Great Falls, Montana, under Special Use Permit by the U.S. Forest Service.

Vigilante Council Camp.

>Scan Courtesy of Jim Scherbarth C.

Western Montana Council Camp.

Camp Wilderness of the Cache Valley Area Council Utah-Idaho-Wyoming.