El-Ku-Ta Lodge History

The El-Ku-Ta Lodge was founded in 1956 as part of the Summer Camp Program at Camp Steiner, which is one of the camps in the high Uinta mountains in northern Utah. The Lodge is part of the Great Salt Lake Council and was chartered by the National Order of the Arrow as Lodge #520. Several years ago, the National OA did away with Lodge numbers and now refer to Lodges by their names and/or Council number, which for the Great Salt Lake Council is #590.
The name El-Ku-Ta comes from the famous Rocky Mountain Elk and Utah, or Elk of Utah. The Elk has been chosen as the totem for our lodge and is seen on almost all of our patches and logos that have been produced over the years. The El-Ku-Ta Lodge flaps are known to have two Native Americans facing each other as a sign of Brotherhood, with an Elk in the middle and high mountains in the background representing the High Uinta mountains where we were first founded.
Over the years, the El-Ku-Ta Lodge has become known for its great youth leadership. A special weeklong JLT was established in 1986 called "Coup Trail" which has been the basis for raising and training our own youth Arrowmen to assume the positions of leadership on the chapter and lodge levels. This course has had some highs and some lows, but it has endured the test of time and is very strong today in teaching the values and principles of youth leadership with a focus on the OA and its programs.
The El-Ku-Ta Lodge is a member of Section W2W of the Western Region of the BSA. Our lodge has produced several Section Chiefs and Section Officers to date, as well as two Western Region Chiefs, Ryan Mecham in 1990 and Brandon Fessler in 1998. The El-Ku-Ta Lodge is also proud to have produced the 1996 National Chief, Ryan Pitts.
We share membership in Section W2W with four other lodges, Tu-Cubin-Noonie Lodge from the Utah National Parks Council, Awaxaawe' Awachia Lodge from the Trapper Trails Council, Shunkah Mahneetu Lodge from the Grand Teton Council, and Ma-I-Shu Lodge from the Snake River Council.
The El-Ku-Ta Lodge is presided over by an Elected Lodge Chief and several Lodge Vice Chiefs as well as other Lodge officers as needed. All Lodge officers are under the age of 21 years old.

        To find out more about El-Ku-Ta Lodge and its rich history, visit here!

Founders Awards and Vigil Honor Recipients

In 1987 the National Order of the Arrow introduced the Founders Award. This award is the highest honor that can be given to one of its members.  All Founders Award recipients must be approved and endorsed by the National Committe based on dedication and commitment to the order, and the principals it was founded on, in its highest levels.  Each year the number of Founders Awards that a lodge can petition for is based on the total number of members in the lodge that year. At least one Founders Award must be presented to a youth Arrowman. Also each year the Lodge is also allowed to choose a certain number of its members to receive the Vigil Honor, which is the highest level of Order of the Arrow membership. One must have been a Brotherhood member for at least two years and a current dues paid member to be considered for this honor. 

List of Founders Award Recipients from the El-Ku-Ta Lodge  List of Vigil Honor Recipients from the El-Ku-Ta Lodge

 El-Ku-Ta Lodge Chiefs

1987-89        Steve Sugden 
1989-90        Michael McBride 
1990-91        Ted Neilsen 
1991-92        Jasemaurice Feichko 
1992-93        Bradley Mecham 
1993-94        Rand McMullin 
1994-95        Ryan J. Pitts 
1995-96        Weston Blaney 
1996-97        Brandon Fessler 
1997-98        Chris Hereth 
1998-99        Michael Duven 
1999-01        Landon Huber 
2001-02        Aaron Anderson 
2002-03        Tyler Engh 
2003-04        Eric Greene 
2004-05        Shawn Condie 
2005-06        Tyson Meyer 
2006-07        David Engh 
2007             Josh Clements 
2008-09        J. Ellis Hunsaker 
2009-11        Caleb Cannon 
2011-12        Kyle Palmer 
2012-13        Christian Mickelsen 
2013-14        Kaden Baker
2014-15        Hayden Taylor
2015-16        James Anderson
2016-17        Nathaniel Rodgers
2017-18        Karson Baker
2018-19        Max Wolfe

2019-20     Coleman Hunsaker

El-Ku-Ta Quick Links

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El-Ku-Ta Lodge Advisers

1956-1958      Unknown
1958-1961      Ralph Howes
1961               Vernon L. Mattsen
1962-1976      Dr. Bryce Fairbanks
1976-1980      Bert Holfeltz
1980-2011      David E Halliday
2011-2014      Cal Condie
2014-2017      Brad Mecham
2017-Present   Blair Hope