Beaver Valley Camp History

Camp Story

Beaver Valley camp was first used by Troop 9 in the 1930's when Walt Rosenow, former owner (a friend of the Scoutmaster Harold "Pappy" Whittier) agreed to let Troop 9 use of the land. The original Indian name given to this camp was WASKAWAHA NAWAKA, Chippewa for A WALK IN A PEACEFUL VALLEY.

In 1939 the Explorer Scouts with the help of Ferd "Dad" Rosenow, original owner of the land and father of Walt, built a small log cabin. In the years that followed Ferd "Dad" Rosenow used the cabin as his home with the Explorer Scouts going up weekends to continue improving the cabin. An addition was built, trees planted, trout pools built, smoke house built, and a garden planted. In 1950 an agreement was made with Walt Rosenow for Troop 9 to use the camp as their own with the cabin to be dedicated in memory of "Dad" Rosenow and to the four former Scouts who had helped build the cabin and were killed during or immediately after World War II.

In 1958 Walt was dying of Leukemia and needed money so he started selling parts of his land. The committee of Scout Troop 9 decided to organize a corporation, contact all former members of Scout Troop 9 and Explorer Post 9 and try to raise the money needed . Not enough money was raised this way but three committeemen furnished the balance of money needed with the understanding that the Scout Troop and Explorer Post plus additional donations would pay it back. The Corporation papers were certified by the Secretary of State on May 2, 1960 with the purpose to further youth activities, training, provide outdoor facilities, camping, recreation, adventure, foster conservation of natural resources, and to promote the welfare of youth, in fostering Boy Scout work and other programs for boys and young men. Final adoption of By-Laws, September 30, 1961, changed the name from Dad's camp to Beaver Valley Camp.

The camp is to be preserved as close to the natural state as possible. This meant keeping the "hand of man" to a minimum. There should only be such buildings and roads as are absolutely necessary. The forest should retain the appearance of wilderness rather than the cultured look of a state park. The cabin is primarily a winter facility and then providing simple shelter and little else. Stove, fireplace, benches, table, and a sleeping loft. Cars and trucks to kept off land except for hauling heavy equipment.

All groups to walk or ski in. The original idea was to have no excessive publicity or solicitation for the camp as it is not competing with the council camping program. The cost of development of the camp to be borne by Troop and Post 9 with help from donations from former members. As time went on members are being accepted from other groups upon meeting the requirements, approval by Board of Directors, and final approval at the Annual Meeting. Through paper drives, bean feeds, light bulb sales, doughnut sales, and other sales by Troop and Post 9, donations from former members, two of the original donors were paid off in 1963 and the third one in 1966.

The camp is divided into 4 dedicated sites, the "Dad" Rosenow Cabin and Trout Pools, the "Pappy Whittier Camp Site (original Troop 9 summer camp), the Springer Brothers Camp Sites (all the upper land and points used for camps, Lookout Point, Pioneer Point, Broken Axe Point, and Sawmill Point), the 4th site is called Tom Green's forty. A plaque in the cabin has been dedicated to the four scouts killed during WWII or immediately after and in 1965 a Plaque and Flag Pole was dedicated to Bill Hanna, one of the original members who put in many hours of work at the cabin with Troop 9 and with the East Side District in Scouting activities.

The following improvements have been made to the cabin:
1958- Inside wall between 2 rooms taken out, north door put in and windows improved.
1959- Cabin raised and footings and cement floor put in.
1960- Improved floor in sleeping loft, plywood and pine tongue a nd groove flooring.
1963- After three years work a huge fireplace was finished, con -structed out of native rock hauled in from Osceola.
1966- New cedar shingle roof put on.
1971- Cement floor covered with fir tongue and groove flooring.
1971- One modern item, a 30,000 Btu Propane stove was added due to requests from some members, with the thought of getting more of the dads to help out by staying with the Scouts at the cabin. This stove was removed after a few years and the cabin has been wood heated since.
1975- New storage shed built.
2011- New steel roof put on cabin.
2012- Cook stove chimney rebuilt.
2016- New out-house built at cabin.
2023 - New wood stove installed in cabin.

Over the years many different types of wood stoves have been used and tried, but none have worked as effectively as the half barrel stove built and installed by one of our members. The cabin has a peculiar problem as a small stove is needed, it must have a cooking surface sufficient for 15 people, it must heat quickly, and still burn large logs for overnight fires. Between 1960 and 1990 over 20,000 trees have been planted across the grounds.