Cowaw Lodge 9
Raritan Council

Cowaw Lodge 9 began in 1921 and soon became a significant part of the life of the Raritan Council program. The person who was largely responsible for the founding of the lodge was Mr. Fritz Abegg.  He was the Scoutmaster of Troop 6 in Perth Amboy.  Mr. Abegg wanted to form a Camper's Fraternity and chose to work with the newly formed Group in Scouting called the Order of the Arrow.

The name of the Lodge was chosen from the Delaware Indian language, and it means "little pine tree"  Thus the pine tree became the Lodge Totem and appeared on all the Lodge's patches and neckerchiefs.

In 1939, Cowaw Lodge formally moved to Camp Cowaw.  Raritan Council  had purchased the land, and Cowaw Lodge members worked long, hard hours to build a useable camp facility.  The camp was located on the eastern shore of the Delaware River in the Delaware River Gap.  The Lodge held its first Pow-Wow (conclave) in 1948 in Camp Cowaw.  The Lodge again hosted conclaves in 1953, 1963 and 1967.

The first Lodge official patch was designed by Mr. Jack Williamson, Scoutmaster of Troop 15 in Perth Amboy, and a member of the Lodge since 1940, when it moved to Camp Cowaw. The patch was a simple round design which included the pine tree in the center.

Cowaw Lodge merged with Sakawawin Lodge at the end of 1969. The new Lodge was named Narraticong, and retained the Cowaw Lodge number. In 1971, the new Lodge celebrated its 50th anniversary, but 48 of those years came from the long, proud history of the Cowaw Lodge.

Boots, Packs and Paddles
This is a book about the lodge written a long time ago.

Charter Members of Lodge 9

Raritan Council History
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