The honor society of Camp Mitigwa, The Old Guard Honor Society, began in 1931 by Scout Executive J.C. Underwood.  The stated purpose of the Old Guard was to assemble veteran and qualified campers to maintain and perpetuate the ideas and traditions of Camp Mitigwa.

In 1951, the Council Executive Board approved the petition for membership into the Order of the Arrow, which was integrated into the Boy Scout movement in 1948.  So began Mitigwa Lodge #450.  The members of the Old Guard were first inducted in the summer of 1951 by special ceremonies performed by an Illinek Lodge #132. Our summer inductions at camp have continued to this day.

In 1970, BoQui Lodge, of the former Southern Iowa Area Council merged with Tall Corn Area Council to form the Mid-Iowa Council, merged into Mitigwa lodge and formed Golden Eagle Chapter to make Mitigwa Lodge as it is today.

In 1998 and 2004, Mitigwa Lodge served as the Service Lodge for the National Order of the Arrow Conference held at Iowa State University in Ames Iowa.  In 2004, The National Order of the Arrow discontinued using numbers to designate lodges thus while we can still use #450 it has no meaning.  The Mitigwa Lodge is recognized as serving the Mid-Iowa Council #177.

In 2001, the Mitigwa Lodge celebrated its 50th Anniversary of existence.  It was celebrated with a commemorative gold lodge flap which was presented as the Lodge Service Award.  The Lodge re-issued the original Green Border, white background Mitigwa Flap with the dates 1951-2001 stitched into it. .

Lodge Chiefs and Terms

A.J. Olson – 1951
Bob Nixon – 1951-1952
Byron Swedburg – 1952-1953
Lee McMillan – 1953-1954
Richard Barbour – 1954-1956
Harold ‘Butch’ Hammer – 1956-1957
Mark Stacey – 1957-1958
John Millen – 1958-1959
Robert Horn – 1959-1960
Russ Nussbaum – 1960-1961
Steve Clarke – 1961-1962
Dave Pollock – 1962-1963
Craig Wells – 1963-1964
Mike Thornhill – 1964-1965
Allen Andersen – 1965-1966
Bob Thomsen – 1966-1967
Glen White Jr. – 1967-1968
Phil Hassel – 1968-1969
Bob Skow – 1969-1970
Mike Douglas – 1970-1971
Rich Cave – 1971-1972
Craig Reid – 1972-1973
Jim Stewart – 1974-1975
Greg Nichols – 1975-1976
Jim Edmonson – 1976-1977
Jeff Edmondson – 1977-1978
Rick Biddle – 1978-1979
Jeff Fazio – 1979 (Did Not Serve)
Phil Douglas – 1979-1980
Royal Spragg – 1980-1982
Ron Hodges – 1982-1984
Steve Palm – 1984-1986
Khushal Wardak – 1987-1987
Dave Pellegrino – 1987-1989
Steve Huber – 1989-1990
Chris DeSaulniers – 1990-1992
Kyle Brown – 1992-1993
Mike Guthrie – 1993-1995
Robby Kinsey – 1995-1996
Joe Samo – 1996-1997
Robert Gideon – 1997-1998
Paul Vogtlin – 1998-1999
Ryan Risse – 1999-2001
Andy Herzberg – 2001-2002
Ross DeBorg – 2002-2003
Pat Hon – 2003-2004
Chris Baldon – 2004-2006
Andy DeBoard – 2006-2010
Charles Abel – 2010-2011
Jeff Flowers – 2011-2012
Matt Epperson – 2012-2013
Nick Wallace – 2013-2014
Garret Davies – 2014-2015
David Konfrst – 2015-2017
Tyler Krugler – 2017-2018
Jaret Norton – 2018-2019
Dalton Ballard – 2019-2020
Jakob Hoffmann – 2020-2021
Alexzander Harris – 2021-2024
Rebecca Murphy – 2024-present

Lodge Advisers

Julius Fidler – 1951-1970
Bill Darby – 1970-1974
Dennis Dowell – 1974-1975
Jim Goodding – 1975- 1994
Robert Trusty – 1994-2007
David Meisinger – 2007-2012
Michael Weber – 2012-2014
Dana Danks – 2014-2019
Gregory Jones – 2020-present

Source: Scouting in Iowa-The values Endure by Paul W. Lewis