Anthony Wayne. Pit Lake Trek Deer Hollow Trek. Mastodon Trek POKAGON - KEKIONGA TRAILS NOTICE ANTHONY WAYNE RESERVATION

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1 ANTHONY WAYNE RESERVATION POKAGON - KEKIONGA TRAILS NOTICE Send to: This form must be filed with the Trail Committee Pokagon - Kekionga Trails Inc. at least five (5) days in advance of hike. P.O. Box 192 or call: (260) or (260) Angola, IN Phone: (260) or (260) The following scout group under the proper adult leadership will be hiking the Mississinewa Trail. UNIT NUMBER Date of hike We will will not camp Estimated time of arrival Estimated departure time Leader s Name Age Phone Address: City, State, Zip In consideration of the benefits to be derived, and in view of the fact that the BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA is an educational institution, membership in which is voluntary, and having full confidence that every precaution will be taken to insure the safety and well being of this unit on this activity, I hereby agree to our participation and waiver all claim against the Pokagon-Kekionga Trail Committee Officers, Agents, Property Owners and Representatives of the Boy Scouts of America. March 2010 Anthony Wayne Reservation Pit Lake Trek Deer Hollow Trek Mastodon Trek SERVICE PROJECT OF POKAGON-KEKIONGA TRAILS COMMITTEE, INC. TROOP Angola TROOP 303 -Ft. Wayne

2 ABOUT THE TREKS These treks were developed so that your unit will have a laid-out area for first and second class hike requirements, and also to acquaint your scouts with the history of Anthony Wayne Reservation. THE CHALLENGE In 1970 the Anthony Wayne Council asked the Pokagon-Kekionga Trail Committee to open three treks and one trail at the Anthony Wayne Reservation. The Trail Committee accepted this challenge. On June 20, 1971, the Trail Committee opened two treks, Pit Lake Trek and Deer Hollow Trek. In 1972 the Committee opened the Mastodon Trek and the Chief Little Turtle Trail. The Trail Committee will lay out, maintain and administer the operation of the treks and trails. DEER HOLLOW (marked in blue) The name of the Deer Hollow Trek was arrived from the large number of deer present on the camp property. Hike quite, and you may see them. TRAIL AWARDS Hikers completing the Trek requirements are entitled to wear the Trek patches pictured on the face of the folder. There are NO trail fees. Trail awards are purchased on a voluntary basis. Check trail application for prices and address to order awards. Any profit from the sale of patches after maintenance and administration costs will go for needed materials or repairs at camp, thus helping scouts in still another way. LOCATION OF CAMP Check map in folder for location of camp. START OF TRAIL The treks start and end at the Camp Little Turtle Office (see maps). Units coming to camp for the day to hike the treks should park in the parking lot across from the office. TRAIL REQUIREMENTS 1. The treks may be hike by boy or girl scouts. 2. Axes and sheath knives ARE NOT PERMITTED on treks. This requirement is for your safety. 3. The requirements in this folder and on the Camp Permit must be met before the trail awards can be rewarded. 4. Units traveling a distance of 250 miles or less from home should have a Local Tour Permit. If the unit is traveling a distance beyond 250 miles they should apply for a National Tour Permit. -1-

3 5. Fires will be build only in designated areas. Some parts of our property are such that fires will go underground and burn indefinitely. NO SMOKING IN WOODED AREAS. 6. Swimming will be permitted. The leader in charge must show the Camp Ranger or Campmaster his Safe Swim Defense Certificate, which has been issued at camp the last several years to troops completing the Safe Swim Defense Instructions. The Safe Defense Plan must be followed. Check with the Ranger or Campmaster for a site. 7. The lakes are open for fishing. Everyone over 18 will need a valid Indiana fishing license. Pit Lake is self-contained and on private property - for Pit Lake no license is required. 8. Vehicles are limited to the camp roads and parking area. Do not drive off these roads onto the trails or cross country. Our desire is to maintain a rugged wilderness camp area. Reservation speed limit is 15 M.P.H.. 9. Check in with the Camp Ranger or Campmaster when arriving andcheck out when departing. 10. The unit must hike together at all times. Each scout must be within seeing and hearing distance of the unit leader at all times. STAY TOGETHER. 11. The Trail and Treks will be closed on Easter weekend, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day or weekend, and New Years Day. Also during hunting season in November, check with council office for these dates. ANTI-LITTER REQUIREMENT The fact is that litter is unsightly, is a health and safety hazard and contributes to pollution. The Pokagon-Kekionga Trail Committee is making an Anti-litter Project part of the requirements for these treks. Each unit is to pick up litter (paper, cans, etc.) as they hike the treks. If the treks are clean, take time out to pick up litter around the parking area, lakes, or in the -2-

4 camping areas - LOOK FOR IT - As your unit checks our the Camp Ranger or Campmaster, show him the litter so he can sign your application. Units in summer camp should check out the litter with the camp office. We suggest each unit have a plastic garbage bag for litter. We ask each unit to take about a half hour on the project. CAMP USE PROCEDURE A. UNITS HIKING THE TRAIL WHILE IN CAMP. Units that want to hike the trail while at summer camp can do so at their own convenience. B. UNITS COMING FOR THE DAY TO HIKE THE TRAIL Obtain a day use permit at Anthony Wayne Area Council, seven days in advance. Anthony Wayne Area Council, Boy Scouts of America 8315 W. Jefferson Blvd. Fort Wayne, IN Phone: Toll free: Fax: C. UNITS THAT ARE CAMPING FOR A SHORT TERM (one, two or three days) Contact seven days in advance: Anthony Wayne Area Council, Boy Scouts of America 8315 W. Jefferson Blvd. Fort Wayne, IN Phone: Toll free: Fax: Upon receiving your application for Short Term Camp Permit and camping fee, we will return your Short Term Camp Permit. Read the rules on the back of the permit. UPON ARRIVING at the camp, present the Short Term Permit the Camp Ranger or Campmaster with your Tour Permit for out-of-council units. The quick way to get a day use or camping permit is to call the Council office ten days before the hike. They will send you the permit form. -3-

5 COURTESY - UNIT LEADER Troops arriving on Friday night must arrive before 10:00 p.m. If later arrival is necessary, call the camp and make arrangements. (219) Notify the camp if you need to cancel out. Notification must be before stated arrival time. ANTHONY WAYNE RESERVATION After 35 years of camping at Big Island at Rome City, the property was worn out and the Council had grown to a size that demanded more than 80 acres. The Camp Development Committee was appointed and over a two-year period looked at may pieces of property, ranging from the upper peninsula of Michigan to Southern Indiana. The Camp Development Committee, as appointed by Council President William B.F. Hall, consisted of ; Cook Lougheed - Chairman, Ted Biberstine - Council Camping Chairman, Dr. Arthur Hoffman, Bill Hall, Oral Smith and Bill Copeland. The property - four parcels of land belonging to four farmers in Steuben County - was located in the spring of Money for the development of the property was given by business, industry and interested individuals throughout the nine-county council area. PIT LAKE (marked with red) In 1900, the Lake Shore Michigan and Southern Railroad made plans to remove gravel from an area north of Long Lake in Steuben County, Indiana. The gravel was to be used to make new track beds in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. The removal of the gravel from this area is what make Pit Lake, which is on the Anthony Wayne Reservation. The excavation started in 1905 and was done with horse and scoops. The gravel went out in railroad cars which were now owned by the New York Central Railroad. Hungarians from the east were used as laborers and lived in barracks on Long Lake. The barracks were like a town in themselves. There are stories of fights every night, but the laborers stayed in their own area and didn t disturb the local people. All top soil was scooped off and piled up to make what is now Hall s Hill. As the horses that pulled the scoops died, they were buried under the top soil. Horse skeletons have since been found by Scouts in this area. -4-

6 In 1912, steam shovels on railroad cars were used in place of the horses and scoops. All sand washed from the gravel was washed into Long Lake until about 1916 when the State stopped this practice. After 1916, the sans washed from the gravel was placed in a pile you now see south of Pit Lake. Water was hit in 1918, and the last gravel was taken by the railroad in We think you will agree this beautiful lake of ours had a colorful start. So, as you hike up the sand hill or around Hall s Hill, let your mind go back. You may hear the sound of the skinners working the horses and scoops or the sound of the steam shovels and railroad trains coming and going with the gravel. You never know. MASTODON TREK (marked with white) Mastodons, Boy Scouts and hiking: what is the relationship of these three? Everyone knows Boy Scouts and hiking go together, but MAST- ODONS?! Mastodon: a dweller of the spruce forests; name translated means nipple tooth from the conical shape of the cusps of the tooth; height at the shoulders One was tall and was found near Newbrugh, New York in It is now displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Mastodons roamed the earth for many thousands of years and may have been present after the last glaciation of the Ice Age. This would have been about 8,000 years ago. The Mastodon has played an important part in telling scientists about our earth s forest and plants of many, many thousands of years ago. Not only have fossil bones been found in large numbers all over the northern hemisphere, but many complete well-preserved animals have also been uncovered. Most have been discovered still frozen in the Arctic areas. One such Mastodon was found at Beremvka River, Siberia in May Just imagine the scientists task of traveling 2,000 miles by boat and dog sled across the Siberian wilderness, averaging only 15 miles a day at times. After this ordeal, geologists found a mastodon still covered by frozen earth with only a small part of the animal exposed. -5-

7 They believe the Mastodon was crossing a snow bridge and plunged into the deep crevice. The Crevice must have been several hundred feet deep. The animal broke its leg in the fall, was covered with tons of loose snow and remained in the frozen snow and ice for thousands of years until the natives discovered it by the odor of the small exposed part of the front leg. This find told the scientists many things about what the Mastodon ate, the size of the animal and where it lived. The mead of the frozen Mastodon was preserved as if it had been recently placed in a modern deep freezer. Other recent discoveries have also provided skeletons in perfect condition and bones with tendon masses still attached. Food from the last meal eaten has been found wedged between teeth and has provided clues to the plant life of the time. As forest dwelling animals, the skeletons of the dead Mastodons would usually decay quickly. Mastodons are so numerous that some people believe the animals might have outnumbered the buffalo, that later populated the Great Plains. We know they lived in the northernmost part of the earth and favored the boggy terrain. For an excellent book about Mastodons, we recommend Mammoths, Mastodons and Man, by Robert Silerberg. It is available at your school or local library. We have given you only a short summary about the Mastodon, but what does this have to do with the new hiking trek? Well! In the spring of 1969, workmen were busy laying water pipes to the wilderness camp area at the Anthony Wayne Reservation. Crossing the road along the bog near Means Canoe Base, the digger hit a large bone. Needless to say, it caused a great amount of excitement. Geologists were called and other bones were found. However, with summer camp near at hand, and with the discovery being in the middle of the road to camp, time was not available to do a proper job of excavating. So the site was covered and hopefully will be reopened someday to see if the entire skeleton is present. The lower jaw, part of the skull and small rib section have been preserved and scientist estimates that they are about 14, 000 years old. As yet we do not have the bones on display. Mastodon - the past; hiking - the present; and Boy Scouting - the men of the future. This all adds up to a great adventure. -6-

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