Kia Kima Scout Reservation is a nationally accredited Boy Scout summer camp in in the foothills of the Ozarks in Hardy, Arkansas. The name "Kia Kima" means "Nest of the Eagles" in the Chickasaw language. Summer camp at Kia Kima generally begins during the 2nd week of June and runs through the second week of July. A Cub and Webelos Resident Camp is generally offered during the first week in June.
History
Bolton Smith, a Memphis investment banker and the first president of the Chickasaw Council, purchased and donated the original 160-acre (0.65 km2) Kia Kima site in 1916. He went on to serve as vice president of the Boy Scouts of America and is the only Chickasaw Council Scouter to ever receive the Silver Buffalo Award. The main campsite was to be situated on a bluff overlooking a riverfront on the South Fork of the Spring River, in Sharp County, Arkansas, near Hardy. The Hardy, Arkansas area was a logical choice for a summer camp as many Memphis families had vacation homes there, where they traveled to escape the summer heat in the city. Kamp Kia Kima first opened in 1917.
This area of Arkansas became a center of camping and outdoor activity. As one of the first camps in the area, Kia Kima attracted other camps and was instrumental in the continued development of north central Arkansas. The first Scout Executive of the Chickasaw Council was a young man named Edward Everett, who served as the first camp director of Kia Kima. His wife served as the director of a nearby girl’s vacation camp.
In the early days, Scouts came to the camp as individuals, mostly because in those days few Scoutmasters could arrange for a week off from work to accompany their troops to camp. The individuals were then put into lodges with other scouts whom they stayed with while they were there. Later, with growth in the scouting movement in Memphis, more and more troops began to come to camp as a unit, and learn and practice organizational skills as well as individual camping skills. A special sash was presented to Scouts who qualified as good campers at the old camp. The camp provided many activities including camping, cooking, swimming, pioneering, life saving, canoeing, rowing, handicrafts, archery, a rifle range, field sports and games and plenty of hiking.
As a result of transportation costs and a shortage of supplies and leadership, Kia Kima was closed for summer camping during the World War II years. The camp reopened in 1948. Also in 1948 the Chickasaw Council adopted the Order of the Arrow as a part of its camping program. Chickasah Lodge of the Order of the Arrow was founded at Kia Kima and held its first Ordeal Ceremony there that year.
The 1950s and 1960s were a tremendous growth period for the Scouting program in the Memphis area and the use of Kia Kima grew during those summers. The lodges were no longer the preferred method of Scout camping. By this time, most troops were coming to camp under their own leadership. Many more campsites were needed to accommodate the additional troops wanting to attend summer camp. There was little room left for expansion on the then existing 160-acre (0.65 km2) tract. By the early 1960s, the Council's Executive Board was seeking property alternatives.
West Memphis, Arkansas businessman John Cooper had owned property in the Hardy area adjacent to the existing Kia Kima property and in the late 1950s and early 1960s conceived and developed the Cherokee Village resort community near Hardy. Over the years Cooper supported the old camp in various ways such as providing a water supply pipe, a rifle range, a septic field, and numerous other services. The land where Kia Kima was located was in the heart of Cherokee Village, and Cooper's continued development of the community made his acquisition of the Scout property desirable.
In the fall of 1963, Cooper approached the Council's Executive Board with a proposal to exchange a 540-acre (2.2 km2) tract a few miles upriver from the old camp on the edge of the sprawling Cherokee Village for the 160 acres (0.65 km2) of the old Kia Kima property. In addition, his construction crews would build a dining hall, water system, other buildings, roads and a lake for the new camp. After deliberation, the offer was accepted and work began immediately on the new camp Kia Kima. The new camp was ready for its first camping season in 1964.
Facilities
Camp Osage
Camp Osage was originally the main camp and opened in 1964. It is the larger of the camps at Kia Kima Scout Reservation with 15 unique campsites. Camp Osage offers traditional camp programs including nature, ecology, scoutcraft, handicraft, shooting sports, the trailblazer 1st year program, and aquatics. All aquatic activities, including swimming and boating, are held at the Osage beach on the South Fork River. All meals in Camp Osage are served in the dining hall.
Osage offers a modern trading post which supplies campers with program supplies for merit badges, snacks, and Kia Kima memorabilia. Two shower facilities are offered on camp, Central and East. Osage is also home to Kia Kima's administration building.
Camp Cherokee
Camp Cherokee was established in 1965 as an “outpost camp”. While it is no longer an outpost camp, it does differ from Camp Osage. All troops that camp in Cherokee retrieve their meals from the centralized commissary and prepare the food in their campsites. Meal information is provided in advance so units may bring additional recipes and condiments to supplement their meals. Units are camped in a broad horseshoe shape around the camp. This allows for all program areas to be in sight of each other.
Cherokee is home to John Cooper Lake, the site of its waterfront, which includes small boat sailing, motorboating, and other merit badges available only at Cherokee.