The Order of the Arrow was founded during the summer of 1915 at
Treasure Island Scout Camp, Pennsylvania. Dr. E. Urner Goodman was the
Camp Director and Carroll A. Edson was his assistant. These two men
originated the ideas that became the basis for this nationwide Honor
Camper Society of the Boy Scouts of America. These men wanted some
form of recognition for those Scouts who best exemplified the spirit of
the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives. They based this Honor
Campers' Society on the legends and traditions of the Delaware, or
Lenni Lenape, Indians who had lived throughout that area.
On Friday, July 16, 1915, the first candidates, having been
selected by members of their troops, and who had been previously been
called out and undergone an Ordeal, were inducted into the Order. From
that time forward, the Order of the Arrow has been centered in
the camping programs of hundreds of scout councils across the nation.
There are now over 500 lodges in the Order and over 9,000,000 Scouts,
Explorers, and Scouters have been inducted into the Order during the
past 85 years.
Membership in the Order is granted to boys and adults on the basis
of "not so much for what they have done, but for what they are
expected to do" in cheerful service to their fellow men.
