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-Present

Lodge Advisers

1951-1970 Julius Fidler
1970-1974 Bill Darby
1974-1975 Dennis Dowell
1975- 1994 Jim Goodding
1994-2007 Robert Trusty
2007-2012 David Meisinger
2012-2014 Michael Weber
2014-2019 Dana Danks
2020-2021 Greg Jones

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