Section G13W History

Section G13W is part of the Order of the Arrow’s Gateway Region. Our Section is currently comprised of 4 Lodges from three States in BSA National Service Territories (NST) 2 and 3:

Nebagamon Lodge (Las Vegas Area Council)
Papago Lodge (Catalina Council)
Tiwahe Lodge (San Diego-Imperial Council)
Wipala WIki Lodge (Grand Canyon Council)

1957 – First Area Conference

The Section began as Area 12-F (also self-referenced as Area 7 of Region 12) when Area 12-A was split into multiple Sections in 1955. The first known Area 12-F Conference was held in 1957 at Camp Lawton with Papago as the host Lodge.

1973 – Change To Section W4C

Area 12-F continued through 1972. At this time, the BSA reorganized from 12 Regions to 6, and the Order of the Arrow changed locals Areas to local Sections. On January 1, 1973, Section W4C was born. The Section selected the name, Sinagua (Spanish for “without water”), with the totem being the horned lizard.

As part of this change, “Area Chiefs” became known as “Section Chiefs,” and Area Conferences became known as Section Conclaves.

1979 – Designation As Section W5A

As part of a Region realignment, the Section was known as W5A from 1979 to 1987, before reverting back to the W4C designation in 1988.

1992 – 1993 Lodge Mergers

In November 1992, Ashie Lodge and Pang Lodge merged to form Tiwahe Lodge # 45. At the time, the Lodge was a member of Section W4B.

In 1993, the Grand Canyon and Theodore Roosevelt Councils merged, and as a result, Chee Dodge Lodge # 503 was absorbed into Wipala Wiki Lodge # 432.

2008 – Section W6W

During another BSA Western Region reorganization, Section W6W was formed. The designation came from being a part of the Western Region Area 6. The Section retained the name, Sinagua, while creating a new totem of “Robbie” the Roadrunner.

2011 – Tiwahe Lodge Joins Section W6W

When the Western Region reorganized in 2008, San Diego-Imperial Council was a member of Area 6. However, the Order of the Arrow Lodge stayed organized with then Section W4S in Southern California. This continued until 2011, when Tiwahe Lodge voted to join W6W, and the alignment of the Lodge matched with their Council alignment. The Lodge said goodbye to Section W4S at their 2011 Conclave, and a month later, joined Section W6W at their 2011 event.

2023 – Change To Section G13W

In 2022, the BSA moved from 4 Regions to 16 National Service Territories. The Order of the Arrow, consequently, changed from 4 Regions to 2 Regions, with this group moving to the Gateway Region. The local Section was given the designation of Section G13. On August 1, 2023, the Section designation was modified to Section G13W.

Section Region and National Leadership

The current Section’s service area has a long history of service on the National level with numerous DSA recipients and 11 National Officers:

Michael Hoffman (National Vice-Chief, 1985)
Jack Stephens (National Chief, 1989)
Michael Southall (Western Region Chief, 1989)
Louie Monville III (Western Region Chief, 1991)
Scott Beckett (National Chief, 1994)
Joseph Scionti (Western Region Chief, 1995)
Patrick Murphy (National Chief, 2005)
Kieran Thompson (Western Region Chief, 2006)
Chad Wolver (Western Region Chief, 2007)
Joseph Garcia (Western Region Chief, 2011)
Jose Garcia (Western Region Chief, 2016)

In addition, Jack Hess, served as the Chairman of the Western Region Committee and advised a number of Western Region Chief. Numerous members have served on the Western Region Committee, including James Arriola, Karl Brandenburger, Timothy Malaney, Michael Minnis, Jeff Posey, and Gene Wadford.

Future History Is Made Now

Being the traditional last Conclave to be held in the country, the Section has made a name for itself because of its successful service history and hospitable Fall climate.

But this history is just the beginning. Over the next century, our members will continue to serve the Order and make our Section proud.

Acknowledgements

The following have contributed to this history:

James Arriola
Daniel Carman
Tracy Schultze

The Section has also expanded and contracted over the years. Gila Lodge in El Paso was briefly in Section W4C, making a section that stretched from Eastern California to Western Texas. Pang Lodge was a member of Area XII-F and W5A before joining Section W4B. Ashie was a member of Area XII-A and W4B, and Tiwahe Lodge was a member of W4B and W4S before agreeing to join Section W6W in 2012.

The first Lodges to be formed in our service area were Victorio Lodge 177 (Cochise Council) in Douglas, Arizona, and Sinawava Lodge 312 (Boulder Dam Area Council) in Las Vegas. Sinawava was disbanded in January 1950 when it allowed it’s dues to lapse.

Nisjaw Lodge 338 was formed in 1946 (Three G Council) in Safford, Arizona, but was disbanded by 1947.

The 1950s saw the forming of stable Order of the Arrow Lodges throughout the current Section’s service area. Ashie 436 (San Diego County Council) and Wipala Wiki 432 (Theodore Roosevelt Council) were both formed in 1950.

Papago Lodge 494 (Catalina Council) followed in 1953 and Chee Dodge 503 (Grand Canyon Council) followed in 1953 and 1954, respectively. Nebagamon Lodge 312 (Boulder Dam Area Council, later Las Vegas Area Council) established a permanent OA presence in Las Vegas in 1955.

The last set of Lodges to join the Section’s service area were Pang Lodge 532 (Yuma Imperial Council, later Desert Trails Council), Na-Ko-Na in 1961, and Salado Lodge in 1965. In 1964, Victorio would be absorbed by Papago Lodge. By this point, every BSA Council in our current geographical area had a permanent Order of the Arrow presence.

In 1977, Salado Lodge was absorbed into Wipala Wiki Lodge.

Formation of Lodges

The 1940s and 1950s saw the first major wave of Lodges being created in the Southwest. The earliest Lodge was Victorio 177 created in 1940. Sinawava Lodge 312, a predecessor of Nebagamon Lodge, was chartered in 1945. Other Lodges would soon follow:

1950: Wipala Wiki Lodge 432
1950: Ashie Lodge 436
1953: Papago Lodge 494
1954: Chee Dodge 503
1955: Nebagamon Lodge 312 (rechartered from the original Sinawava Lodge)
1957: Pang Lodge 533
1961: Salado Lodge 551 (rechartered from the original Na-Ko-Na Lodge)

2022 – Section G13 Is Born

The BSA reorganized the regions to where there were only two, Gateway Region and Eastern Region. With this reorganization of regions and some mergers, a new section numbering system was introduced and the previous section W6W was relabeled as Section G13. The sections territory did not change. The “G” in G13 stands for Gateway region. There is no significance to the number 13 since Areas were disbanded and the region is now broken up into Territories.