MACHEK N’GULT LODGE #375

The Order of the Arrow in the Oakland Area Council was established on July 1, 1947.  Because the Oakland Council did not have a lodge, the first arrowmen of the new lodge were inducted in other councils including Royaneh lodge, the San Francisco chapter of the Order of the Arrow.  The first five members of the new lodge that would be called Machek N’Gult Lodge 375 were Ralph Clement, John Musgrove, Paul Meier, Bill Hopachuk and Oakland District Executive Don MacDougal.  

In October of 1947, twenty-five more Scouts and leaders were inducted into the Machek N’Gult Lodge by members of Royaneh Lodge during ceremonies held at a dinner in the mess hall at Camp Dimond.  Some of these new arrowmen included BC Cain, Dr. Robert Adams, Frank Zografos and Bob Delaruelle.  When the initial bylaws of the new lodge were created in October of 1947 the original name created was “N’Gult Machek” and not “Machek N’Gult”. This difference in name was due to how its meaning was interpreted, “N’Gult Machek” stood for Bear Golden whereas “Machek N’Gult” stood for Golden Bear which is what the lodge name was meant to be.  The bylaws were changed to correct the name and the first lodge charter issued by the National Order of the Arrow Committee in January of 1948 indicated the correct spelling and meaning of the lodge.

The first official meeting of the Machek N’Gult lodge took place in January 1948 at the Camp Dimond mess hall when Paul Meier was elected Chief of the new lodge.  Machek N’Gult lodge would become of member of Section 12-B of the Order of the Arrow which also included the following lodges: Royaneh #282 (San Francisco), Kaweah #379 (Alameda), Stanford-Ojato #207 (Stanford), Mow-A-Toc  #262 (Eureka) and Swegedaigea 263 (Napa).

On October 31, 1948 the first annual business meeting of Machek N’Gult Lodge was held at the Camp Dimond mess hall.  This would also be the last meeting of the lodge held at Dimond due to the sale of the camp to the Oakland Public Schools.  At this meeting seven new ordeal members were inducted into the Order and the first brotherhood ceremony was staged by members Royaneh Lodge.  During its first year 78 members were inducted into Machek N’Gult Lodge.  With the closing of Camp Dimond in 1948, Dimond-O and Los Mochos became the two locations for ceremonies and ordeals by the Lodge.  Camp Dimond will always be known as the location where Machek N’Gult lodge was founded. Since Dimond-O could not be used during the winter months, Los Mochos was used as the main site for ceremonies during the winter months.

The Arrowpoint, the official newsletter of Machek N’Gult lodge was first published in January of 1949 as a way to provide additional communication to the members.  Some sixty years later, the Arrowpoint continues to be the newsletter of our combined lodges.

In July of 1949, Machek N’Gult Lodge had the honor of inducting a new lodge into the Order of the Arrow during ceremonies held at the Redwood Area Council’s Camp Tish Tang along the banks of the Trinity River in Humbolt County.  Machek N’Gult helped setup the ceremonies site and inducted the first 18 members into the new lodge that would be known as Mow-A-Toc lodge 262.  

On October 6, 1951, an ordeal was held at Camp Royaneh by Royaneh Lodge where Don MacDougal received the first Vigil honor in Machek N’Gult lodge.  Don MacDougal was the main motivating force behind the founding of Machek N’Gult in 1947 when the first 25 members were inducted into the Order of the Arrow and for his efforts he was honored as being the first vigil member of Machek N’Gult lodge.  At this same time the lodge had expanded from from those 25 members up to 249 arrowmen at the end of 1952.

One of the highlights of 1954 was the Area 12-B conclave held up in the town of Eureka.  Thirty-seven arrowmen from Machek N’Gult gathered for the two-day event.  The transportation to and from the conclave was courtesy of a United States Coast Guard plane which was flying an orienteering flight from Oakland to Eureka.  At the conclave Jim Johnson from Hayward was elected Area 12-B section chief. In October of the same year the members of Machek N’Gult lodge developed the council property across the creek from the main gate at Los Mochos.  This location would become known as Cardiac Hill due to the steep climb that was necessary to get to the site.  Ordeal and Brotherhood ceremonies would be held atop the second rock outcropping for forty years from 1954 until the 1990’s. For years smudge pots were placed along the trail that led the way up the hill.  

In January 1957 it was decided to divide Machek N’Gult into two Chapters.  Chapter 1 would handle the Sunset, Lake, Central & Castle districts while Chapter 2 would handle the Chabot, Arroyo, Redwood, South, Twin Valley & Mission Peak districts.  This was done to make the lodge operations easier to handle.  It was also in January of 1957 that the first pocket flap (known as the F1) was issued by Machek N’Gult lodge for a mere $0.40 a piece.  During this same timeframe Chapter 2 was named Eden Chapter and issued their own Chapter pocket patch.

Machek N’Gult once again had the honor of inducting a new lodge into the Order of the Arrow when over the weekend of April 24, 1963 at Camp Stuart near Saratoga, the Lodge inducted 88 youth and 9 adult members into Miwok Lodge 439 of the Santa Clara Council.

Seventeen years after Machek N’Gult was formed at Camp Dimond, the last official business of the lodge took place on December 13th of 1964, when a joint banquet and business meeting was held at Goodman’s restaurant at Jack London Square in Oakland to discuss and officially merge the two OA lodges associated with the recently merged Oakland Area Council and San Francisco Council.  Machek N’Gult Lodge 375 was officially retired on December 24th and its lodge number removed from the National charter of Order of the Arrow Lodges.  Royaneh Lodge 282 was also officially retired at this same meeting however its lodge number would be used for the new as of yet “unnamed” combined lodge.

During the first official meeting in March of 1965 that was held on Treasure Island, Achewon Nimat Lodge 282 would be the name chosen as the new combined lodge of the San Francisco Bay Area Council.