Great Sauk Trail Council

The Great Sauk Trail Council

serves Livingston County, Washtenaw County, Jackson County, Lenawee County, Hillsdale County, Monroe County, Eastern Calhoun County, and the city of Flat Rock.

The Great Sauk Trail Council was a result of a merger in 1993 between the Wolverine Council and Land O'Lakes Council. The new council was known as the Wolverine-Land O'Lakes Council until the Great Sauk Trail Council name was decided upon.

Districts

Chief Lenape Trails District serving Jackson County, Lenawee County, Hillsdale County, and Eastern Calhoun County
Three Fires District serving Livingston County
Running Waters District serving Monroe County and the city of Flat Rock
Huron Trails District serving Washtenaw County

Camps

Camp Munhacke is a camp located roughly 15 minutes north of Chelsea, Michigan, located on Bruin Lake. Camp Munhacke is the primary camp for the Great Sauk Trail Council, hosting Cub Scout Day Camp and Resident Camp during the summer. The camp features four cabins and 12 campsites. It is also borders the Pinckney Recreation Area and connects to the Pottawatami Trail.

Camp Muscootah is a camp located five minutes west of Hillsdale, Michigan. The camp offers 13 campsites, an open pavilion, and a large firebowl.

Camp Teetonkah

Camp Teetonkah is a camp located near Grass Lake, Michigan. Opened in 1912, it is the second oldest Boy Scout camp in America. The camp is located on Big Wolf Lake, and features a new dining hall, two cabins, Adirondack shelters, and seven campsites.

Camp Teetonkah is one of the oldest Boy Scout Camps still in existence in the United States. Camp Teetonkah originally contained about 50 acres. Their 1930 camp brochure states it will be Teetonkah's eighteenth season. It would seem that if you subtract 18 from 1930 you would come up with 1912 but that is incorrect. If 1930 was the 18th year and you count them backwards, their first year was 1913. Upon digging a little deeper, Teetonkah has operated on the same land since 1913 but the land was owned privately until the Jackson Council took official title in late 1916 or early 1917. Many early camps were not always owned or owned right away. Some councils rented or leased the land or simply had free use of it from the owners until they had the finances to buy it. The Jackson Council held their first summer camp operation there (at Teetonkah) in 1913 and continued to do so for the next eighty something years. It is now just a weekend camp as is Camps Belzer, Miakonda and Glen Gray. A number of local deceased Scouters have had their ashes scattered at Camp Teetonkah to be part of the camp for eternity. (Perhaps the ultimate form of camp loyalty.) I don't know if this is something unique to Teetonkah or if it has occurred at other camps as well. The list of those who will forever be part of the camp includes a former council president as well as a council executive. According to a 1921 news clipping the name "Tee-Tonk-Ah" means "Big Lodge" They had camp award patches there at least as far back as 1921.

In 1913, the Jackson Boy Scout Council held its first Summer Camp at Camp Teetonkah, and continued to hold summer camps for approximately 80 years. At that point in time, the camp stopped holding summer camps, and hasn't held any since. There is talk of plans to bring a summer camp back to Camp Teetonkah in the next few years.

Currently, Camp Teetonkah is a weekend camp. The camp is available for local troops who would like to hold a troop or patrol weekend camping trip. Only a few groups use the camp for more than a weekend campground including the National Youth Leadership Training, also called DeerTrails course for the Great Sauk Trail Council.

In 2006 and 2007 a new dining hall was built containing an industrial kitchen, several showers, bathrooms, and a large dining room.

Manitous Lodge 88

Manitous Lodge 88 is the Order of the Arrow lodge serving the Great Sauk Trail Council. Manitous is translated as Mystic Lodge in Ojibway, and the lodge totem is the medicine wheel. The four chapters in the lodge, Munhacke, Teetonkah, Tecumseh, and Allohak, correspond in location with their respective districts. Manitous holds two ordeals, one service weekend, and one winter banquet each year.

Camp Teetonkah is a Boy Scout camp in the Great Sauk Trail Council. Camp Teetonkah is located near Grass Lake, Michigan, and is located on Wolf Lake. Camp Teetonkah was founded in 1912 and the council took the title in 1916 or 1917. Originally Camp Teetonakah was located on a 50 acre piece of land, but now is a 200 acre camp. Camp Teetonah has had many challenges to face over the years, including temporary closure and an attempt to sell the camp by its council owners. However, fierce resistance and a fund raising campaign by Teetonkah loyalists to prevent its sale, forced the council to abandon the sale plan and eventually to invest in refurbishing existing facilities, construction of new ones, and reinstatement to very active use by the council and its membership. The camp is steeped in its long and substantial history of decades of affiliation with area members of the Boy Scouts of America's honor society, the Order of the Arrow.