Red Arrow Camp on the shore of beautiful Trout Lake in Northern Wisconsin was founded in 1920, but the site has a fascinating history predating camp. Records show that RAC’s current location was the site of an established Indian village well before the 1800’s. There was a plentiful supply of fish from lake and hunting in the woods provided a meat supply. The site was excellent for gardening because the relative warmth of Trout Lake and the Trout River (Red Arrow’s southern boundary) protected the corn and potato crops from early frosts. Wild rice was harvested in the Trout River in the fall months. The many authentic arrowheads, which to this day are still found by campers at Red Arrow, further attest to the early presence of the Indian village. In that same era, traders came to this lake site and established a Hudson Bay Trading Post located within a stone’s throw of the village site. Rocks from the foundation of this trading post are still visible between the Mess Hall and the lake shore at Red Arrow. The middle 1850’s saw the boom of the logging business and around the 1870’s, the Courtney-Wright lumber company of Merrill, Wisconsin obtained rights to log the Trout Lake area and established their camp on the future site of Red Arrow. This was a very prosperous company and they built some true “luxury” accommodations for their lumberjacks. Five of these beautiful full log buildings are still a part of RAC today including the camp’s Mess Hall, Rec Hall, and Infirmary. Additionally, in the early 1900’s between the lumberjack era and the founding of Red Arrow Camp, these buildings were the basis of a fine resort called Williams Resort.

In 1920, a history teacher and coach from Country Day School in Milwaukee named Clarence “Razz” Rasmussen fulfilled his dreams and started a boys’ camp on this former Indian village-lumber company-resort site on Trout Lake. Razz was a very popular man at his school and many of his students’ parents offered to back him financially in this venture. Because of this he was able to have Finnish lumberjacks from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan come in and construct the beautiful log cabins that still house Red Arrow campers and their counselors today. Razz had served with the 32^nd, or Red Arrow Division, of the Wisconsin Infantry during World War I and no doubt that is where he got the name for camp. In order to provide the perfect summer experience for his boys, Razz enlisted the help of two key men. They were Paul Waterman (”P.W.W.” as he was known) who was the business manager and a math teacher at Milwaukee Country Day and Rollie Williams, a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin who was the school’s first nine-letter athlete. Rollie later became Head Basketball Coach at the University of Iowa. These two men became assistant directors and they helped forge the future of RAC. Between the three of them they recruited a staff of talented, gifted athletes to provide the needed outdoor experiences Razz felt was so important in the lives of his boys. Razz was the director and inspirational leader of the camp, PWW was the practical business manager (rumored to have been somewhat “tightfisted” with the money) and Rollie not only taught and coached sports at camp but also attracted many prominent college athletes to the staff. The mission was to build boys with good solid characters.

The motto “Don’t wait to be a great man, be a great boy” was established from the start as the camp’s guiding principle and that message is one that any Red Arrow boy past and present knows well. It was carved into some logs on the fireplace in the Rec Hall in the early years of Red Arrow and it is still there today. From the magnificent waterfront, to the splendid playing fields to the rustic log cabins where the boys all live, to the “Quad” which is the focal point of all camp life, Red Arrow is still vibrant with the foundations that these men established in 1920!

In 1953, Charlie Boesel, a former student under Razz at MCD and former counselor at Red Arrow, purchased camp from PWW. Charlie had two things camp needed: money and a long standing love for Red Arrow. For the third time camp had changed hands and the new owner/director was dedicated to making major improvements as well as to continuing the traditions of camp. Charlie had a fine sense of humor and was famous for the “games” he played with staff trying to catch them coming in late or taking an extra night out! One of the mainstays of Charlie’s staff was a man named John Runkel who first came to camp in the early 1950’s as a Cabin A counselor and was later to become program director through much of the Boesel era. “Runk,” as he became known, was most famous for his ballet number during Counselor Stunt Night each year.

In the mid-sixties, Charlies’ health began to fail and he initiated a search to find someone new to takeover his beloved Red Arrow. In 1967 fate brought him a young couple, Bob and Sue Krohn, both of whom were teachers and had extensive camping experience as well. They agreed to come to RAC that summer with an option to buy if they were so inclined. Charlie died of a sudden heart attack soon after camp that year and the decision was made. Once again Red Arrow changed hands and since that time to the present it has been Bob and Sue and Red Arrow too - a very compatible, happy and ideal marriage of tradition, experience, education and energy!