Camp El Tesoro

Camp Fire Camp El Tesoro is a 223-acre (0.90 km²) year-round camp located in Granbury, Texas southwest of Fort Worth. It has been accredited by the American Camp Association (ACA) for over 60 years.

Camp Fire Camp El Tesoro (Spanish for "The Treasure") was first established in 1934 near the De Cordova Bend of the Brazos River, an area rich in legends and history.

Programs offered at Camp Fire Camp El Tesoro include:

• Overnight Camp
• Day Camp
• Grief Camp
• Outdoor Education for Schools
• Family Camping
• Group and Retreat Rentals
• Challenge Course Team Building

Activities offered include swimming, canoeing, kayaking, horseback riding, fishing, archery, high and low ropes challenge course, arts, crafts, outdoor cooking, Frisbee golf, tennis, soccer, basketball, geocaching and more.

Outdoor Education offers TEKS based day and overnight programs for school groups of all ages with programs focused on the natural world at El Tesoro, such as:

• Fossil Finders
• Habitats and Tracks
• Finding My Way
• Birds at El Tesoro
• Tree ID
• Wild About Wildflowers
• Math Outdoors
• The World of Insects

History

Camp Fire Camp El Tesoro is owned and operated by Camp Fire First Texas.

It is one of the oldest camps still in operation in North Texas and the only Camp Fire camp in Texas.

El Tesoro, which means "the treasure", was established in 1934 when 90 acres were purchased for $12 an acre to provide a place for the growing camp program of Camp Fire Girls in the Fort Worth area. The first campers at El Tesoro arrived in July 1934; there were 12 staff and 60 campers that summer.

Stone cabins (now known as Live Oak) were constructed in a circle in the original part of camp; no two are exactly the same size. The cabin Rio was not on the plans, but a mistake by the builder gave us that cabin.

The Youth Conservation Corps built the original tables and benches in the Main Lodge, many of which still remain.

During the early years, mail was sometimes delivered by a small airplane which dropped letters from the sky.

Campers swam in Shannah's Lagoon, a part of Fall Creek, until the first swimming pool was built in 1938. That pool had no filtration system, so each week it was drained and the counselors cleaned the pool by hand before the pool was filled with water again for the next week.

During the construction of the lower pool, there was a heavy rain and a horse called "Sweet Preserves" fell into the rain-filled excavation and drowned. He was too heavy to get out, so the pool was built on top of him.

By 1939, first year counselors were paid $1.00 per week - and those in "major responsible positions" might earn up to $15.00 per week.

Additional acreage for El Tesoro was purchased from the sale of doughnuts in 1942. This purchase included land on the Brazos River; total camp area increased to 223 acres.

The cabin currently occupied by the camp director is Casa Salud, so named because it was the first health house.

1943 was an eventful year, as the water pump broke and it was necessary to get water from the pool to use in flushing toilets. Campers bathed in the creek - and for some reason, there was a new cook each week.

Three junior cabins (now known as Cedar) were built in 1946; senior unit cabins were built in 1947 at the site of the present Discovery Cabins. Redwood Cabins were built in 1952; they were not built of redwood, but were originally painted red.

The first swinging bridge over Fall Creek was constructed in 1953; it would wash away and have to be re-built every 13 years - 1966, 1979 and 1992, when the height was raised. Since that time, the water in Fall Creek has not risen above the bridge. Campers have had sleepovers on the bridge, which has become an icon of El Tesoro.

El Tesoro was accredited by the American Camp Association for the first time in 1953, one of the first camps in Texas to gain such accreditation. It has maintained that accreditation by ACA ever since. El Tesoro and First Texas staff and volunteers have held leadership positions on the state and national level for the ACA.

The stables and tennis courts were added in 1954 and were used continuously until the Equestrian Center was built in 2012 and the sports court in 2013. The new camp office sits on the site of the original tennis courts.

In the 1960s, the plan for a CIT Lodge was sketched in the dirt and built from that sketch; it has always been one of the most popular cabins. A large Mickey Mouse shaped rock has sat by the fireplace in the CIT Lodge for more than 40 years, repainted by CITs as needed.

The upper pool, Health House (by the swinging bridge) and Horizon Lodge were completed in the late 1960s.

Lake Granbury, just upstream from El Tesoro, was built from 1966 to 1969, with the De Cordova Bend Dam on the Brazos River. The proposed construction of the dam in the mid-1950s was the impetus for John Graves' book, Goodbye to a River, in which Graves mentions El Tesoro. Campers regularly canoe from El Tesoro to the dam and back, a total distance of about five miles.

In the 1970s, Pashuta, the current Discovery Cabins and Lodge and Spurck Arts and Crafts Cabin were built. The Louisa Haun Main Lodge was built in 1976; Phase II in 1977. The Haun Lodge was named after Louisa Haun, who served as executive director of Camp Fire First Texas from 1958–1978. Renovations were made to the Live Oak, Cedar and Redwood Cabins from the late 1970s through the early 1980s.

The first boys officially attended overnight camp at El Tesoro in 1978. Since that time, boys attendance at El Tesoro has grown to approximately 45% of the total camper population.

During the late 1970s, a baby goat named Rut-row was a popular addition to the summer camp program.

New casitas in Live Oak, Redwood and Cedar were constructed in the 1980s replacing the original facilities.

In 1983, over 1,500 people attended the El Tesoro 50th Season Celebration on June 4. During the celebration, the ceremonial site La Amistad (Spanish for "friendship") was dedicated in memory of Louise Fargher, one of the earliest and most influential of El Tesoro’s camp directors.

El Tesoro de la Vida, a one-week bereavement camp was developed in 1988 for children who had experienced a death in their family. El Tesoro de la Vida has grown annually and continues to serve over 100 campers each year.

The Chapel was constructed in 1997, a gift from Pat and Jack Shannon in memory of their parents. The Chapel has become an important place at El Tesoro; both weddings and memorial services have been held there.

RuLoHo was renovated in 2000 and transformed from a dining hall into the current arts cabin. RuLoHo is named after three former El Tesoro camp directors who were also council executive directors and went on to serve on the Camp Fire national staff: Ruth Teichmann, Louise Fargher, and Hortense Geisler.

El Tesoro has been recognized by national organizations for outstanding programs, including the 1988 Eleanor Eels Award for Program Excellence by the American Camp Association for El Tesoro de la Vidaand the 1993 National Organization on Disabilities Award for Inclusive Resident Camp.

In 2004, planning began for the future of El Tesoro. A master plan for camp was developed and in 2008, the council board voted to undertake a $10.3 million capital campaign for renovations at El Tesoro. The first improvement was the challenge course, completed in 2011, followed by the Equestrian Center in 2012.

Camp Fire Camp El Tesoro was featured on the August 15, 2009 edition of WFAA-TV's Good Morning Texas program

In March 2011, a massive tsunami struck Japan, leaving over 22,000 dead or missing. Through their association with the American Camp Association, Camp Fire First Texas staff were in contact with staff from the National Camp Association of Japan, who wanted to learn how to develop a grief camp for children affected by the tsunami. Four representatives of the NCAJ spent a week at El Tesoro de la Vida in 2011 for hands on training. NCAJ representatives returned in 2012 and will again in 2013. A strong bond was formed between El Tesoro volunteers and staff and our colleagues in Japan. Japanese art in the camp office was a gift from the NCAJ.

Lockheed Martin provided a film crew during the very hot summer of 2011 and developed a video for El Tesoro de la Vida's 25th anniversary. The video was named a finalist in the New York Festival’s International TV and Film Competition. During filming, cameras had to be iced down to work, as they were designed for temperatures up to 103; actual temperature was 114.

El Tesoro welcomed assistance from three AmeriCorps crews in 2012 and 2013.The first AmeriCorps crew completed extensive trail maintenance along the nature trail, along with other projects. In 2013, the second crew cleared undergrowth and dead trees between Horizon Lodge and the Brazos River. A third crew taught outdoor education classes during the spring of 2013.

References

External links

• Camp Fire Camp El Tesoro
• Camp Fire First Texas