Sunday, April 7, 2013

What did the Kiasutha Lodge do with Chief Silver Tips ( John M. Phillips) Indian outfit where is it?

One of the honor  organizations with in  Boy Scouting is The Order of The Arrow also known as OA  it has 3 ranks  Ordeal, Brotherhood and Vigil  I made it to brotherhood in the Kiasutha Lodge which no longer exists and was renamed and merged over the years.


By time I was fully able to participate my work schedule often had me working weekends which kept me from attending  the weekend events ,and a certain family resented my belonging in the first place due to the fact on my mothers side of family they where deeply involved  with native Americans in the late 1700's . My 7th great uncle John Heckewelder  was a missionary who worked with Native American Tribes  right here in Western Pa. and wrote a book about them  and there customs and brought many to Christianity . He is one of our nations forgotten historical figures.
 Instead of welcoming me and my contributions I was often shunned by some because I had real Indian connections and they did not. The link below is a short bio on my uncle

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=184
  
Too bad for them and there ignorance and pettiness  no in fact Shame On Them for acting the way they did..

But I also suspect they are behind the disappearance of John M. Phillips   Ceremonial Chiefs Outfit.
He also worked with Indians  in the late 1800's and  early 1900's  and was known by them as Chief Silver Tip  the honorary name they gave him after rescuing a bear with silver tip  of fur on its head in one of his many western adventures. A boyscout district where I grew up  was named silver tip in his honor since he helped to start the scouting program but the name has since been changed.
The last time I saw his outfit was in 1977 while at Camp Guyasuta in Sharpsburg  helping out during a camporee and members of the Kiasuta Lodge  mostly who where with silver Tip district
 found it in storage  above the little store  called the outpost where scouts could buy refreshments and get swimming pool passes ,for the pool. It was in a large silver colored tin box about 4 ft long and 2 foot wide. It was supposed to be restored and displayed and never was.  It has never been seen  from again no one knows what happened to it and people who where  around with me when it was taken down have all scattered  or left scouting and everyone denies or can not remember  the meeting ever took place or has no idea what I am talking about  because it has been 35 years since it was last seen . I personally believe it was sold off to a private collector , for a huge sum.
Thats what council does sell things then take the money and waste it.  They operate like the big money no name no conscious corporations do around here .  Whats that again in the Scout Oath about Honest, Trustworthy  and Truthful or is that only when you where a scout growing up and now it no longer counts .
the OA and Scout Council  executive could not bother to show up at his marker dedication why should I be surprised about this.

I helped get Mr. Phillips his State Marker I would really like to find his outfit have it restored and properly displayed as would his relatives. 







More proof of lies and deciet by a scout council about Camp Semiconon and other matters

Abandoned Camp Semiconon bath house
Yes in the picture above sadly are the remains of the bath house at the now gone Camp Semiconon  which was run by Allegheny Trails council now known as Laurel Highlands council after several councils merged which was located in Butler county off  of Pa 68 -7 miles south  of  Lake Aurthur   how do I know its seven miles in the summer of 1977 I was on the camp staff as a Voyager and Ranger's Assistant .
 My God one of the most horrifying times of my life that summer I never ever served on a camp staff again an a friend of mine the same thing he will never again serve on a camp staff  as far as the camp Council execs told us it was sold to a hunting group to be turned into a hunting lodge  another lie as usual out of Flag Plaza  it was sold to a private family and most of the structures have just rotted away from non use as this picture shows . came across it on a Face Book group on old and abandoned structures in Western Pa.
That summer in 1977  myself and John  Z. ran the Shoe & Canoe program   a mini version of the Boot & Paddle program that was run out  of the now closed camp Tionesta  I did the Boot and Paddle 150 mile canoe program twice from Tionesta to Pittsburgh Via Allegheny River. with Shoe & Canoe   we would take scouts and there leaders on a seven mile hike  along back country roads to Lake Arthur also known as Moraine State Park  then get into canoes and go 2 miles across the lake to an old abandoned town of just stone and brick foundations camp overnight and do the reverse in the morning. One of my troop members Steve was also on staff as a rangers assistant . Utility persons they called us when not doing Shoe & canoe we where doing all kinds of repairs to the camp.  Both John and I had electrical backgrounds  which came in handy and we worked with Joe H. one of the greatest guys you ever wanted to work for. He passed away few years after  I was on staff and his wife got screwed by US Steel on his pension  where he retired from and moved up the road to a trailer park unfortunately joes oldest son would be in and out of trouble  with the law, do not know what became of any of them.They where such  a nice family.
 
That summer while on staff I ended up taking apart and tearing  Camp Tionesta  what a beautiful camp this was  located on  Allegheny National Park land . Flag Plaza said the government would not renew the lease once again a big fat lie. they also said the beautiful knotty wood cabins would be dismantled and moved and reused also more lies and deceit they sold them to a contractor for the wood to be used on various projects they where not preserved.The rest where just burned down.

They also lied about the missing 3 phase water pump for camp Anawanda in Greene County
we went to camp there one week end for a camporee for silver tip district and found no water running
we where told the pumps 3 phase motor had been stolen during the winter. My self and a friend Russ beaver offered to go looking around the local farms for it only so many places it could have been used around Greene county The execs said no hey did not want neighbors upset and with good reason the pump was not stolen I would be told many years latter by camp ranger sunny at camp guyasuta the pump was taken out and used at the new camp heritage.

There was also the time myself and other contractors gave  camp guyasuta all types of materials to be used at the camps and council turned around and auctioned it all off  instead of using it for the camps betterment .

Yes council lies they lie all the time.  and one the the first rules of scouting is a scout is truthful  except it seems when your a council executive.

They also as typical lied about food costs at the summer camps as well. They insisted on using the same institutional food supplier for all the camps and for them to make a delivery to Tionesta it was 175 miles one way in the days before the interstates where finished and it was100 miles to Semiconon  and 75 Annawana .  I asked the camp financial director why not just get Super Dupers super market  supplier down the  road in tionesta  and Butler  city to deliver. No they cost more and can not do it. Again total and complete lies . I noticed in trash one day when I emptied it some of the price lists on our weekend break we hitch hiked as a group to down town tionesta all of one block long and went over the bridge  to the super duper and talked to the manager not only could he beat the prices by as much as 65% he also had wider variety and would have loved to have done it all he had to do was order an extra trailer of supplies every week from his distributor near  Erie  less than 50 miles away .
Which in turn would have been a win win for him and the community by buying that much in bulk his in store prices would have been lower as well for the community. Well when I again asked why we where using this place in Washington county and why where we paying all this money dead silence and told non of my business you see this supplier was a big corporate contributor to council and some council members worked at the supplier . No collusion going on here whats that thing about a scout being truthful and honest. so we paid more to go to camp and a few execs  attaboys for dealing with a contributor right.
Let me tell you exactly what they call it its called crony capitalism and it borders on criminal  activity and is highly unethical but you never questioned and you still do not question  council and there back handed deals . What a dam shame ripping off the scouts there parents and yes you the taxpayer because federal funds go to the scouts in certain cases .