For fifty years, the Ta Tanka Lodge has been "cheerfully" serving the San Gabriel Valley Boy Scout Council. First chartered as an Order of the Arrow Lodge on May 31,1952. The membership of 120 Arrowmen chose the Sioux word "TA TANKA" meaning Bull Buffalo as its name. They chose as their totem a White Buffalo. The number 488 was assigned by the National Order of the Arrow Secretary. Prior to 1952, the San Gabriel Valley Council had it's own "Tribe of Torqua". A special group of honor campers who attended summer camp at Camp Cherry Valley, on Catalina Island, California. The "Tribe" was instituted by Council Executive, H. Benjamin "Skipper" Robinson many years before. As a result, forming an Order of the Arrow Lodge took some time and met with some resistance.