Welcome

Camp Sequoyah in Weaverville, NC was founded by C. Walton Johnson in 1924. “Chief” operated the camp for the next 43 years until his death in early 1967. His son Bill kept the camp operating for the 1967 season, and then leased the camp to Bruce Capps, who ran the camp for another 11 years. The camp closed its doors after the 1978 season, but for the past 45 years, there has been a vibrant alumni presence devoted to preserving the property and the memories. This website is devoted to remembering those formative camp experiences from the youthful part of our lives.

Camp Sequoyah Timeline

1923

Beginnings

C. Walton Johnson (“Chief”) purchased camp property in 1923. At the time, it was a beautiful apple orchard. Camp opened with 27 boys attending in June 1924.

1928 to 1929 and 1940 to 1943

Camp Sequoyah for Girls

In 1928 and 1929, and then again from 1940-1943, Chief devoted the first weeks of the summer to a 2-week camp session for girls. The boys camp occupied the remaining 8 weeks of summer.

1931 to 1941

French Broad Canoe Camp

The original canoe camp was operated along the French Broad River downstream from Hot Springs, NC. The site was rented from the American Zinc Company for $5 per week on an old prospect mine that apparently never panned out. Campers used the commissary building for storage and a kitchen and stayed in canvas tents along the riverfront.

1933 to 1937

Pawley’s Island Coastal Camp

In the early years (1930s), Chief offered a 10-day “coastal camp” option for Sequoyah campers on Pawley’s Island, SC. When campers came for 8-weeks during the summer, the coastal camp could provide a nice break from camp life in the mountains.

1949 to 1976

Lake Nantahala Canoe Camp

Lake Nantahala (originally called Lake Aquone) was built in 1942, and Chief moved canoe camp to this site in the years that followed. The canoe camp lodge was built in 1950.

1951 to 1976

Tsali

In 1951, the Tsali program was created for boys 14-17 years as an extension of the woodcraft program in main camp. Tsali provided a unique life experience based on advanced woodcraft and outdoor living skills, along with counselor training and wilderness leadership.

1957 to 1967

Junior Camp

A separate camp with a specialized program and facilities for younger boys 7 to 10 years old was opened on the hill heading up toward Inspiration Point. In the Bruce Capps years, this was known as Chickasaw Hill.

1967

Passing

Chief died at 80 years old in January, 1967. Mrs. Chief died in 1973. Chief ran the camp for 43 years – 1924-1967. Camp had a total of 80 buildings on 125 acres at its peak. Chief’s son, Bill Johnson, ran the camp for the 1967 season.

1968 to 1978

Renewal

Bruce & Bettie Capps leased the property and ran camp from 1968-1978. Canoe Camp’s final summer of operation was 1976. 1978 was the final summer of Camp Sequoyah.

1997

Uncertainty

The property remained with the Johnson family for many years but was idle. During the 1980s and early 1990s, several attempts by others to purchase and reopen an active camp failed. In 1997 Katherine Lauder purchased the property. She and son Barry Durand began to save and protect what they could. Katherine started a summer day camp for children but eventually sold the property. Under their watch, the first alumni reunion was held in 1999 celebrating 75 years.

2009

New Directions

Claus & Debbie purchased the property in 2009 from an investor who owned it for a short time after buying it from Ms. Lauder. They purchased the camp as a family retreat and home with the goals of 1) preserving the land, 2) honoring the history and legacy of the camp, and 3) for future use and enjoyment by others. Alumni reunions continue to be held every two years. Through the efforts of Katherine Lauder, Barry Durand and the current owners, 25% of the original camp property is now in a conservation easement as part of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy’s Woodfin Watershed conservation easement project that now protects 1800 acres of land from the camp property up to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

2024

Preservation

Saving and preserving camp structures was and is an ongoing process. The owners arranged for a local saw miller to set up a portable saw mill in the Senior Camp riding ring to mill lumber from the Camp property to use during repairs. Timber for preservation work was milled from several of the giant old growth hemlocks that died in the Hemlock Woody Adelgid outbreak in the early 2000s. Salvageable material from cabins was also reused. All cabin and closet doors were removed and saved (see photo archives) as were the remaining cabin plaques that are now displayed on the walls of the dining hall and the camp store. Today, Camp Sequoyah’s sense-of-place is well-maintained.

Preservation Efforts

Hoffman cabin – 2010
Camp office cabin – 2012
Dam – 2012
Garage/shop – 2012
Lodge – 2013
Chief’s home became “Chief’s bunkhouse” – 2016
Junior camp lodge – 2016 and ongoing
Stable repairs – 2017 and 2022
Owners build their new residence above athletic field near the council ring with design in keeping with other camp structures – 2018
Dining hall – 2020
Mountaineering cabin – 2022
14 adjacent acres are purchased to add to camp property

Preservation Projects funded and completed by alumni

The original CampSequoyah.org website was launched – 2000 (retired in 2020)
Camp Sequoyah Alumni Facebook page launched – 2008
Prior to 2009, a group of alumni tried to save the old-growth hemlocks from the hemlock wooly adelgid which was killing virtually every hemlock in the southeast. All hemlocks on the 150 acres were treated with chemical injections. Many were saved, but many were lost. The largest hemlock was lost, which was estimated to be >500 years old.
Chapel roof – 2014
Nature Den porch – 2015
Cabin 30 – 2016
Naiset-Awi porch – 2017
Cabin 15 – 2018
Chapel pews treated with tung oil – 2022
Cabin 11 – 2023
Three Tsali cabins including the “double-decker” – 2023
New Sequoyah website launched – 2023. (campsequoyah.net)

Camp Sequoyah in the News – 1912 through 1988

For more detail about the history of Camp Sequoyah, Steve Addison has compiled a timeline of newspaper articles about C. Walton Johnson and the camp from 1912 through 1988. Click here to access the 60-page document, or follow the link in the Archive section.

Photos

(Last updated – October 10, 2024)

Camp Sequoyah photographic memories from across the decades.

(More to come)

Click on the images or the links below. Then come on in and explore a while.

1940s

Camper diaries from the mid 1940s – Bill McGrew and Wilby Coleman (click on their names for a link to the diaries)

1950s

(Photos by Jim Bramlett. Linked to Jim’s website.)

1960s

(Photos by Mike Miller unless otherwise noted.)

1970s

(Photos by Pete Landry or Bruce Capps unless otherwise noted.)

1990s

(Photos by Barry Durand…I think. Sorry if I’m mistaken.)

Cabin Plaques

(Photos by Jim Bramlett (Links to Jim’s website)

Doors of Sequoyah

(Photos by Jim Bramlett. Linked to Jim’s website.)

Hurricane Helene

(September 27, 2024 – Weaverville is the left red marker on the weather map)

I’ve used face recovery software at various places in the photo archive, particularly in the camper and staff group pictures. Usually this is an improvement. But, depending on the original scan quality and other factors, face recovery can distort people’s face. If you don’t like the way your face looks, let me know and I can send you the original.

Videos

Camp promotional films from the 1970s and a film from the 1950s about the Tsali experience. Miscellaneous still photographs mixed in with the videos.

Camp promotional films from 1976 and 1977. Photographs from the 1940s and 1970s.

Tsali video from the 1950s. Camp promotional videos from 1973, 1974, and 1975.

Stories

Karen Conway – Growing up at Camp Sequoyah

Jim Bramlett interviewed Karen in 2016. She spoke about the early history of camp, her life growing up at a boys camp, and of some of the people who had a big impact on her life. (Click on Karen’s picture to visit Jim’s website and watch the videos.)

Camp Sequoyah Oral History Project

At the 2023 reunion, we asked for volunteers to share memories from their camp days, to talk about people who influenced them most while at camp, and to reflect on the impact camp had on their adult lives. Their stories are captured in the videos below. Click on the thumbnails or the names to hear what they have to say about Camp Sequoyah.

**Chuck McGrady**
(1960-1969, 1972-1973)

**Will Smithwick**
(1969-1972, 1976-1978)

**Patrick Fulton**
(1971-1975, 1977-1978)

If you would like to contribute your stories and memories to the Camp Sequoyah Oral History Project in a video interview, please contact me at wkuentze@gmail.com.

Archive

(Last Updated – January 9, 2025)

Timeline (1912 to 1988) – A collection of newspaper clippings documenting the history of C. Walton Johnson’s Camp Sequoyah – Compiled by Steve Addison.

(Click on the heading or the image below to view the Timeline)

Catalogs – 1934 to 1977 – Promotional brochures for camper and staff recruitment.

(Click on the heading or click on the covers below to view the full length catalogs.)

Camp Sequoyah for Girls – Chief ran a two-week girls camp in mid-June during the 1928 and 1929 seasons. In October, 1929, he entered a partnership with Col. L. L. Rice, who ran Camp Nakanawa for girls, and the colonel insisted that Chief discontinue the girls camp because of a conflict of interest. When Chief bought out Col. Rice’s ownership stake in the late 1930s, he again ran a two-week girls camp from 1940-1943.

YMCA Camps – Before Sequoyah, Chief ran two YMCA camps. He directed Camp Sherwood during his time working with the Portsmouth, Virginia YMCA. Camp Sherwood was named in honor of C. S. Sherwood’s grandfather (C. S. Sherwood III, the grandson, was a long time staff member at Sequoyah). The camp was located on 45-acres within (or in close proximity to) what is today the Yorktown Battlefield site of the Colonial National Historic Park.

When Chief moved to the Asheville YMCA, he ran Camp Powhatan, which was located on what is today the Bent Creek Experimental Forest. He directed the camp before Lake Powhatan was built, but you can read a reference in the brochure about the future construction of the lake.

You can also see that several staff members followed Chief from Camp Sherwood to Camp Powhatan to Sequoyah – e.g., J. Mansfield Bailey and Sam Myrick.

(If you want a full copy, click on the catalog you want and use the download link on the right side of the page.)

Thunderbirds – The Thunderbird was a periodic newsletter that included all kinds of information about Camp Sequoyah people and events during the summer and the off season. Chief also frequently used the Thunderbird to articulate his camping philosophy. The current collection contains 89 editions between 1959 and 1978. It’s not a complete set, so please send more if you got em! (wkuentze@gmail.com).

(Click on the heading above or the logo below to browse the Thunderbird archive.)

Annual Final Reports – At the end of the summer, the program director, head counselor, personnel director, tribal leaders, program area heads, and others submitted summaries of camp activities, operations, and suggestions for the future.

There’s a ton of information in these reports. For example the 1946 report includes all the Hobahcee sheets, or the daily program schedules with staff assignments. Beginning in the 1960s, they were weekly program schedules. We haven’t yet found all the Hobahcee sheets, but the ones we have provide an incredible record of daily camp life.

So, click on the links below and explore for a while.

Junior Camp Final Reports

~1930 Staff Program Reflections

Honors & Citations – Camper Awards

Prior to 1950, the awards were for the 8-week session. After 1950, awards were given at the end of each 5-week session. (Click on the links below.)

Camper Rosters – Most of these rosters were created from camper applications, which were bound together each year by string between two pieces of cardboard. Most of these booklets have survived in tact over time, so most lists should be complete, with a few exceptions (from mouse damage) noted. These rosters show the name and home town of campers (and occasionally staff members) who attended Camp Sequoyah in any given year.

[There are a few missing years (1956-1958, 1967-1969, and 1971-1974). If you have copies of these rosters, I hope you can share. See the email contact at the bottom of the page.]

Christmas Greetings from Sequoyah

This link shows a history of Christmas cards and Christmas Club letters mailed to Sequoyah campers across the years. It also includes the 1963 pamphlet of Christmas reflections written by Chief Johnson (pictured above).

Drama & Music Programs – Sequoyah during Chief Johnson’s time always maintained active music and drama departments. Here are the programs for a variety of evening concert and theater performances at camp that cover the years 1925 through 1963.

(Click on the heading or the image below to view the full length programs.)

Footnote to Sequoyah History – In 1948, a real estate firm in New York approached Chief about the possibility of selling Camp Sequoyah. At that time, Chief was blunt in turning them down. In 1965, however, Chief contacted the same real estate firm and enlisted their help. He said he was nearly 80 and was ready to retire, so he wanted to sell the camp by the end of the 1966 season. As we know, the sale never happened, but here is the correspondence between Chief and the Peck-Kerron Real Estate Company.

Reunions

(Last Updated – September 8, 2024)

Various owners of the Camp Sequoyah property have welcomed alumni back for camper and staff reunions on the property. These gatherings began in 1999 and happen every couple of years. We have been able to watch the decline and the renovation of camp over the years, and have been fortunate to continue sharing in the legacy and brotherhood of such a special place.

Click on the links below…You can watch a changing forest with many fewer hemlocks, cabins no longer standing, but…amazing preservation efforts to the core camp buildings. There is still a profound sense of place to the Sequoyah property.

Reunions from 1999 to 2023

Contact

Questions, contributions, announcements, suggested improvements, ID people in an image, remove an image…

Contact Walt Kuentzel at wkuentze@gmail.com

Don’t forget to check out the Camp Sequoyah Facebook page. (We have over 500 members.)