Camp Timeline

Year Date Description 1829 Greenville Watson is born in Green County, Indiana. Captain of Kansas Cavalry Company F during Civil War. Served as Tax collector of Marin County from 1871 to 1873. Moved to ranch that bears his name in 1875. Dies in 1915 leaving his wife Sarah the Watson property. 1886 Raymond O Hanson, known as “The Chief”, is born in Minneapolis. 1916 June Oakland Area Council (council #21), BSA is organized. 1917 January San Francisco Council (council #51), BSA is organized. Raymond O. Hanson becomes 1st Scout Executive 1917 June San Francisco Council (SFC) holds first ever summer camp (called a Training Camp) at Mill Valley, CA in Marin County. 1918 June San Francisco Council holds Training Camp (1918-1919) at Olema, CA in Marin County, 1919 Camp Lilienthal opens at Pine Lake (Stern Grove) of San Francisco, CA as a weekend camp of the San Francisco Council. 1920 June San Francisco Council holds Training Camp (1920-1924) near Cazadero at Elim Grove, CA in Sonoma County. 1925 Camp Lilienthal closes at Pine Lake (Stern Grove) in San Francisco due to lack of funds. 1925 04/15 Watson Ranch in Cazadero is purchased by the SFC for use as a summer camp. Charles Watson will remain at the ranch as the caretaker. 1925 05/01 George Hart from SF Troop 54 wins competition for submitting the name of Royaneh for the new camp. 1925 05/11 Sarah Watson owner of Watson property, dies 1925 06/22 Camp Royaneh opens as the new summer training camp for the SFC 1926 Narrow Gauge rails from Duncan Mills to Cazadero replaced by standard gauge. 1927 First Pigeongram sent from Royaneh to Council Headquarters in San Francisco 1927 Marvin Landfield writes the words to the camp song “Roya-neh For Ever” 1928 01/23 Mortgage to Camp Royaneh is burned in a ceremony at the 11th annual dinner at the Clift Hotel. Scouts raised enough money to payoff the Camp Royaneh mortgage as well as purchase a new camp (Camp Lilienthal in Marin County). 1928 01/09 Charles Watson, son of Sarah Watson and first caretaker of camp property dies 1929 SFC - Camp Lilienthal opens in Fairfax, CA as a weekend and summer camp of the San Francisco Council. 1934 Last year the train was used to haul Scouts to Royaneh 1934 Clarks Grove is dedicated at Camp Royaneh 1937 Raymond O Hanson retires from SF Council 1938 04/13 Camp Royaneh is renamed in honor of the 2nd Council President (Charles C Moore). Camp CC Moore is name is used until 1951. 1939 East Austin Creek is dammed for the first time to create a new swimming hole (affectionately known as Roman’s Plunge) 1939 Bar H Ranch opens at Camp Royaneh. This is the first time horsemanship is offered at Royaneh. 1940 04/20 Knights of Dunamis Grove is dedicated at Camp Royaneh in honor of its founder, San Francisco Scout Exec Raymond O. Hanson. 1944 07/01 Chief Raymond O Hanson, first Scout Exec of the San Francisco Council and founder of the Knights of Dunamis, dies in Los Angeles 1946 Oscar Kirkham writes the words to the camp song “Dear Royaneh” 1948 Nick Schneider becomes Caretaker/Ranger at Royaneh. 1950 Carl F. Wente is elected to the San Francisco Council Board of Directors as Finance chair. 1951 The name of the Camp changes from Camp CC Moore back to Camp Royaneh. 1951 03/01 Work begins on construction of new entrance to camp from the Cazadero Hwy to be known as Scanlon Road. The new 16’ roadbed will also bypass the original road that ran adjacent to the creek next to Romans Plunge. 1951 10/01 Swimming pool is built for approximately $30,000 and dedicated to Lucie Stern. Walter Hass anonymously funded for the new pool. Before the pool was built, swimming took place down at the creek when a seasonal dam was put in place 1952 Carl F. Wente becomes President of the Bank of America after the death of L.M. Giannnini, brother of BOA Founder A.P. Giannini. 1953 Jim Wilkins becomes ranger at Camp Royaneh (1953 - 1976) 1953 Admin Building at Royaneh is dedicated to Raymond O Hanson 1953 Maintenance and Storage shed built next to Rangers Cabin on bluff 1954 60 foot well is sunk next to East Austin creek to provide pure water for the camp courtesy of Walter Haas. Previously the water for the camp was drawn directly from the creek. 1954 Former parade grounds graded for use as Parking Lot and new Rangers Cabin 1954 06/10 Rangers Cabin is constructed next to parking area courtesy of Walter Haas 1954 09/03 57 acres of additional land is purchased at Royaneh courtesy of Walter Haas 1954 12/31 Carl F. Wente, receives the Silver Antelope Award. 1958 Thunderbird becomes the new Royaneh mascot and logo replacing the Indian Chief 1958 11/24 Canoe base recreation hall is constructed (60’ x 40’) courtesy of Walter Haas. It includes a kitchen, laundry area, fireplace, toilets and showers, 1960 Family camp recreation building dedicated at Royaneh. This was used for families of Scout Leaders with troops in camp. 1961 Barn and Corral are dedicated. Prior to the Corral the area was formerly used as the Archery range for the camp. 1963 10/11 Sherwood J Hall of Las Vegas donates 16 acres of land near Russian Gulch to the San Francisco Council 1964 02/08 Oakland Area Council and San Francisco Council merge to form the San Francisco Bay Area Council. 1964 06/24 Russian Gulch outpost camp is used for the first time. The 16 acre property was donated to the council earlier in the year. 1968 Klusman report recommends abandoning Royaneh as a major long term site due to the required capital improvements required 1969 05/07 Additional 127 acres is purchased at Camp Royaneh known as the Schneider property. The land is adjacent to East Austin Creek 1971 Carl F. Wente passes away and leaves a trust to the San Francisco Bay Area council to support Camp Improvements 1976 03/30 New sewage treatment facility installed on lower portion of property aboce the COPE program area. 1978 500 Gallon underground gas tank installed near rangers house for use in fueling camp vehicles 1978 12,000 acre fire burns Russian Gulch outpost site and close to camp 1978 03/09 Old cabin across from amphitheater is burnt down by Cazadero Fire Department due to being “unfit” for human occupancy. 1978 Amphitheater is rebuilt through monies generated by the Benson Memorial fund in honor of Ralph Benson. 1982 Winter Redwood tree from the Clark’s Grove falls during a storm and crushes the main support beam of the original 1925 dining hall forcing the dining hall to be demolished. 1982 Summer Quonset hut at Royaneh is used as the temporary dining hall until the new one is completed 1984 New Royaneh dining hall is completed in time for summer operations. 1985 07/24 Dedication ceremonies held for new dining hall 1986 Old Storage Shed removed at parking log, 500 gallon underground gas tank removed due to non use 1988 Bill Heinze becomes ranger at Royaneh (1988-2000) 1988 Original Rangers cabin built in 1954 is torn down 1988 10/12 New 1600 sq ft Ranger cabin installed, “Baywood II” 1989 08/10 Damming of Austin Creek is prohibited due to endangered shrimp which forced the closure of the Canoe base operations. 1992 New pool house is constructed to replace original wooden pool house built in 1951 2000 Scott Griswold becomes ranger at Camp Royaneh (2000 - Present) 2007 Pool and Pool decking are redone at Royaneh 2008 New septic and water systems installed at Royaneh. 2010 New Rangers Cabin is built to replace Baywood trailer that had been used 2011 New Stage is built at Royaneh to replace the old stage. The new one is twice the size of the old stage. 2017 10/01 Construction begins on new cooks cabin 2019 Road through camp is redone, additional fill is added to road next to pool to bring it up to grade 2019 Tree falls during winter wind storm and destroys Nature Glen area 2020 04/27 San Francisco Bay Area Council, Alameda Council and Mt. Diablo-Silverado Council merge to form the Golden Gate Area Council. 2020 06/01 Summer camp 2020 was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. first time Royaneh has not held a summer camp since it opened. 2020 09/01 Fires near Camp Royaneh require ranger (and neighbors) to be evacuated from the camp for a week. 2021 06/14 Summer camp resumes following numerous COVID precautions. 2021 08/14 Teshara Scoutcraft storage building is dedicated to Larry Teshara, long time supporter of Camp Royaneh