The property that became Cachalot Scout Reservation was purchased in early 1946 by the New Bedford-based Cachalot Council of the Boy Scouts of America, after a multi-year capital drive and consideration of several other properties. Prior to its purchase, the Cachalot Council used a combination of multiple facilities, including Myles Standish State Forest; the local Boys Club's Camp Maxim; the camp of the neighboring Fall River-based Massasoit Council, Camp Noquochoke; and its own small property on Rock O' Dundee Road in Dartmouth, Massachusetts for its year-round and summer camping activities. Camp Cachalot, as it was then formally known, opened for summer camping in the summer of 1946, with Roland Denault as the camp director, and has operated continuously since.