Camp Wallowa opened in 1939 as a Boy Scout camp when Pacific Power and Light Company donated the land to the Blue Mountain Council, it was deeded formally on June 12, 1947.
Although they were offered all the land from the existing camp property to the shores of Lake Wallowa, the Scouts chose to have
only the existing camp property. The lake was used for waterfront activities until 1981. Staff had to move boats and docks
from the camp to the lake and back again each camping season. Scouts participating in waterfront activities had to take a bus or
walk to the lake. Once there, they found the water extremely cold.
Fire destroyed the dining hall in the fall of 1965. Order of the Arrow members were there at the time to help close the camp
after a successful camping season. Scoutmaster Vern Harvey and Eagle Scout Steve Willi were sleeping in an area above the kitchen
where the fire started. They were killed in the fire. The dining hall was rebuilt and Scout camping continued, though to this day
we do not permit anyone to sleep in the dining hall under any circumstances.
In the mid 1970's a spring flood of the Wallowa river washed out the bridge which had been used for access to the camp. The bridge
was located at the bottom of the hill just about where the current bridge is located. This made access to the camp difficult, using
the service road that passed by all the summer homes. The same year, flood water from BC Creek destroyed the water supply to the
camp and piled dirt, logs and rocks against the uphill side of the dining hall. Use of Wallowa as a Scout summer camp was halted
after the summer of 1981.
Beginning in about 1984 the Order of the Arrow has taken a keen interest in camp improvements. Most of the rocks and junk around the
dining hall was cleaned up and removed. In the mid 1980's plans were made to improve the camp so that it could be used as a training
center and base camp for backpacking trips into the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area. Money for the projects has been limited and progress
slow. The new look to the dining hall is an example of this work.
The "A-frame" buildings called Headquarters, Pioneer, and Rotary and at the north end of camp were used for staff housing
and guest quarters. Pioneer is in very poor shape and we recommend you stay away from it. The Headquarters building where the First
Aid Lodge is located and is still in active use. Rotary is still used for Cub Resident Camp and other programs. When Wallowa was
still a summer camp, the A-frames were used for senior staff housing while a number of smaller cabins were used for housing junior
staff (all since removed).
A recent water improvement project by the town of Joseph provided the camp with a new water supply and the town as well. The water
tank high on the hill behind us and the fire hydrants around camp are part of this project.
In 1996, the Wheeler Memorial Footbridge was constructed by the Rotary Clubs of La Grande, Baker, and Wallowa Counties. This donated
bridge honors Wheeler, a US Forest Serviceman, Rotarian, and Scout Leader from Baker who was killed in the line of duty.
Landlocked salmon from Wallowa Lake still come to the base of the American Falls to spawn in the Wallowa River every fall.
The water there is very cold and the current very swift.
