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Camp Pokagon for boys was located on James Lake near Angola, Indiana. It appears to have been a Civilian Construction Corps (CCC) camp during the Depression. The camp building in the photograph we have looks like a CCC-built building. You see similar buildings with this stone constructions in state and national parks all over America. The CCC also built a tobogan run. There was a related Pokagon Girls' Camp on Lake James (1945-78). There is also a Pokagon State Park on the the James and Snow Lakes and the camp which is also attached to Little Otter, Big Otter, and Jimmerson Lake. These camps are name after thev Pokagon Band of Potawatomi tribe which inhabited the area. Indiana in the early 19th century was territory reserved for Native Americans when Ohio was being settled. We are not sure when the boy's cam was founded. We know it was operating in the 1950s and 60s. We note a single internet posting, "I worked as a counselor at the boys camp in 1961.Several of us borrowed some bikes from campers etc. And used them to ride down the tabogon run. Wheeeeeee! This was the greatest times of my life. Have been back from time to time and always go home sad !" Other wise we have been unable to find information about the camp.
Camp Pokagon for boys was located on James Lake near Angola, Indiana. This and associated camps se camps were named after the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi tribe which inhabited the area. Indiana in the early 19th century was territory reserved for Native Americans while Ohio was being settled.
We are not sure when the boy's camp was founded. We know it was operating in the 1950s and 60s. We note a single internet posting, "I worked as a counselor at the boys camp in 1961. Several of us borrowed some bikes from campers etc. And used them to ride down the tabogon run. Wheeeeeee! This was the greatest times of my life. Have been back from time to time and always go home sad !" Other wise we have been unable to find information about the camp.
It appears to have been a Civilian Construction Corps (CCC) camp during the Depression. The CCC was a New Deal Agency for unemoloyed out of chool youths. They did all kinds of work in parks and forests. The camp building in the photograph we have looks like a CCC-built building (figure 1). You see similar buildings with this stone constructions in state and national parks all over America. The CCC also built a tobogan run.
There was a related Pokagon Girls' Camp on Lake James (1945-78). There is also a Pokagon State Park on the the James and Snow Lakes and the camp which is also attached to Little Otter, Big Otter, and Jimmerson Lake.
The overall head of the camp was a Mr. Wallace, from Peoria, as I recall. He was called "Big Wally," and struck the fear of God into each of the kids who got close to him. Rumor was that he was a tough guy, but he was a pussycat in disguise! He was in charge of everything, while his dear wife, "Little Wally," was more like a grandma to them, and they loved her dearly. They loved every child. The manager was a 40ish guy named "Fuzzy," but I don't recall his last name. He was directly in charge of the counselors, who were college students from various colleges, mostly in Indiana.
A counelor tells us, "Mr. Phillips had the habit of using a student doctor (not yet graduated) as the "camp doc" in case of accident, etc. A fraternity brother of mine, a Dr. Kenneth "Pete" Dye, was the one for the summer of 1956. He recommended me to Mr. Phillips for the next year, and I gladly accepted. The pay was minimal, but the scenery and opportunity were exciting. I spent (part of?) the summer of 1957 as "camp doc," tending to minor injuries. We never had any major ones, but about 2 or 3 years before, they told me, a child or two were electrocuted when a sudden storm blew the sailboat and its aluminim mast into a power line crossing the edge of the lake - toward the eastern side, as I recall. They showed me the spot because I frequently took kids out in the boats.
The summer at Camp Pokagon was delightful. Maybe it was too good to go on forever, but my memories will stay for a very long time." [Merwin]
A counselor describes the campers he worked with. "I recall especially a child (or grandchild) of a doting couple who brought their little darling to camp in a limo amidst much ado, because of the importance of the family. Their little darling required "special care," I was told, and was to be allowed to have his way in everything. He was especially allergic to peanuts, which was rare in those days. The little guys were always getting into something they thought to be really risky, such as raiding the kitchen after hours. The adult staff left the counselors to tend them, while we drank Drewry's beer (because Little Wally insisted it was 'calorie-controlled', whatever that means, along with crackers, brick cheese, braunschweiger, mustard, and onion slices. (I still do that occasionally, with great nostalgia!) This happened only once or twice a week, and the evidence was carefully hidden. One midnight we raided the kids, most of whom had stolen into the pantry, and they got severely bawled out by Big Wally. Sitting on his behind right in the middle of them was the Lilly kid, with peanut butter smeared all over his face. He did not get sick from it, or from anything else." [Merwin]
A reader writes, "Except for my younger brother, Dave, my three other brothers and I attended the camp. Yes, the older buildings were built, maybe, back in the 1930's. A few years ago, I went back in the fall and made a video of the grounds, which is now called the Group Camp. The area always was part of the Pokagon State Park of Indiana. If I'm not mistaken, Hermon Phillips (of that area) rented or leased that part of the park for twenty-five years to run a boys camp. I went to it for six weeks each in 1955 and 1957. Our older brother, George, also went there, as did our younger brothers, Spence and Fred. By the time Dave was of age, the camp had closed. I think the park people didn't want (I'm guessing) to renew the lease, as the public couldn't use the facilities. Mr. Phillips also ran the Pokagon Girls Camp, which was across the lake (one of the three basins of Lake James. The girls have it over the guys, because they got a regular web stite with a lot a stuff on it. One of the staff members we called Lakie, as I think he was in charge down by the lake when we went swimming. After (I think) Mr. Phillips died, I think he kept the Pokagon Girls Camp going. Martha (Marti), a bit over a year older than I attended the Pokagon Girls Camp for at least a year (maybe two). And Ann (Rat Fink) went to the girl's camp for two (maybe three) years. In 1955, our dad was the president of the East Chicago Rotary Club (which has been defunct for several years). Hermon Phillips was, at that time, the head of the Indiana District of Rotary, International. I'm guessing that that's how dad knew of Hermon Phillips and his boys' and girls' camps.
Other attendees I think went to the boys' camp:
In 1955: the son of the governor of Ohio and one of the Smuckers sons. Also, last spring I contacted a Dr. Robert Oxley of Florida. Somehow, he had contacted one of the counselors at the girls' camp to inquire about the boys' camp. I'm going to send a copy of my video of the boys' camp to Dr. Oxley and the Smucker guy, one of the owners of the Smuckers company in Ohio. Wish I knew if other campers to we could trade stories and good times."
I just read your article about Camp Pokagon on James Lake, Angola, Indiana. My Uncle Leveret Wallace ran the boys camp and my aunt Inez Wallace ran the girls camp for Mr Phillips for many years. When I went there, my cousin Frank Wallace was the camp doctor. I think I went there in the late-40s and early-50s. It was a great place and the description of my anunt and uncle, were right on!! My uncle was a high school coach in Peoria, IL..at one time he played for the Chicago Bears, so he could look like someone you didn’t want to meet in a dark alley..but he was just love as was my father Tom Wallace, also a high school coach, big 10 referee and member of the basketball hall of fame. [Wallace]
Dalby, Bob. E-mail message, February 14, 2011.
Merwin, Dr. Ralph C. E-mail message, May 8, 2012.
Wallace, Tom. E-mail message, April 30, 2018.
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