It will be noted that many of the cottages and buildings of the Grove are named after Tribes and Chiefs of the Iroquois confederacy. The Long House was named by the Iroquois for their meeting place. The Tepee was always the source of the greatest warmth and comfort the Indian enjoyed.

On May 25, 1960, the Board of Directors of the AMA officially adopted the White Eagle as its corporate emblem. Our first inboard motorboat, a beautiful Century run-about, was christened the White Eagle. Our first out-board was the White Eaglet. Only July 2, 1962, the AMA Airstrip in Hamilton, New York was dedicated. At that time, AMA DC 3, the first member of our corporate air fleet, was christened the White Eagle by Mrs. Appley.

On many occasions, "The Sign of White Eagle" has been presented to AMA guest, either on the shores of Lake Moraine upon special occasions, or in the Field House of Colgate University when we have held functions on the Campus. "The sign of the White Eagle" is as follows:

The mightly Indian Confederacy has left its lasting influence on the development of our country. We in this area are particularly fortunate to be walking on the hallowed ground of the Oneidas, one of the five original nations of the strongest of all American Indian alliances.

We are certain that the many events which occurred in the hills, valleys, woods, and streams of this country side played an important and significant part in local, as well as national history. Of the many recorded events and legends of early days, there is one of specific interest to the American Management Association and its friends. It is the story of the great White Eagle.

This revered and honored leader of the bird kingdom is the official emblem of the American Management Association, and Indian tales inform us of a white eagle’s home on the Northwest shore of Lake Moraine in what is now known as the AMA Grove. The many strong characteristics that have made the eagle honored and respected all over the world give universal meaning to it as a symbol. Because the white eagle exemplifies all of the finer qualities found in the eagle family, he stands in all of his regal splendor as the spirit of AMA.

Realize, if you will, that you are now living in the land of the mightly Iroquois and witness with us "The sign of the White Eagle."

"Brothers of the Iroquois, I come in peace. Look not to the knife in your belt not the hatchet of war. Let me draw near to your fire; in its light you will see that my face is not painted for battle. I hold out this hand in friendship, but take it not; it is the hand of a spirit. Harken to me and open your ears to what I have to say. I come to you in peace from the great Castle of Spirits where your forefathers dwell, where darkness has driven from the Heavens and the light of Full Harvest shines over all and forever."

"White Eagle dwells here once again and guards this place as once he did before I was a spirit. Again he brings these things to all who look to him: integrity, resourcefulness, judgment, keenness of vision. Brothers, take him for your sign. See how he sheds the darkness and appears as Hiawatha and the wise men saw him-THERE!"

With sincere appreciation to Joe Huther whose dedication and loyalty captured and preserved this legend.

L.A.A.

In 1955, the late H.K. Bowers was the Division Manager of the White Eagle Division of Socony–Vacuum. At the time I was in Kansas City, he was a salesman. When the AMA opened in the Grove, I wrote and told Mr. Bowers about the White Eagle globe and asked him if there were any others. He found one other that is slight different in shape. More significantly, however, he discovered the original iron eagle after which White Eagle Petroleum was named and all the pump globes modeled. This beautiful fellow adorns the pedestal at the foot of the flagpole on the Grove waterfront (just beside Seneca Cottage)

That same Summer, the American Management Association moved into the Astor Hotel on Times Square in New York City, taking over three and one-half of its floor. Part of the tenth floor, that the AMA had completely remodeled for its meeting room facilities, had been occupied by the famous Belvedere Room, the Astor’s night club. The Belvedere Room was opened on April 22, 1904, which is the day on which I was born. Over the bandstand at that time was placed a huge white eagle with its wing spread wide. Hearing of our interest in eagles, the management of the Astor gave us this fellow and now he appears within the black, electrified iron fence enclosure at the main entrance to the Grove.

In the early days of the construction and development of the Grove and other AMA properties on Lake Moraine, many of our furnishings were in early American antiques. Mrs. Appley and I continually shopped the antique centers of Central New York State. In the course of our antique shopping, I was cluttered room of one unique place when I discovered, up in the rafters, a dust-covered Indian Chief. I purchased it for $35. Some weeks later, I took it to an art shop in Utica to have it cleaned and framed, only to be startled when the proprietor identified it to his wife as the long-sought original of Katie Fisher's "Indian Chief, White Eagle"—many copies of which are in existence throughout these Central New York Valleys. Offered a sum many times what I paid for it, I obviously clung to it with some emotion. It now hangs in White Eagle Lodge on the wall opposite the fireplace and lighted by the twenty-four hour glow of the original pump globe.

Let us not yet stop this story. My Mother, Mrs. Joseph E. Appley of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, visited the AMA Grove in the Summer of 1957, just preceding her 86th birthday, and heard the story of the white eagles. Thrilled as she was, it was obvious that something was tugging at the depths of her memory. Upon her return home, she went to my father’s library and in it found a book from my Grandfathers library, which is a government study of Indians and printed in the late Nineteenth Century. In this book is the history of Chief White Eagle, which discloses that he was originally one of the famous seven Omaha Chiefs, who later came to the Iroquois Confederacy to discover the secret of their successful government. He remained here as a part of it.

"I come to you from the Castle of your Ancestors, who hunted here in these rolling hills in the days before your grandfathers, who fished here in the days before your grandfathers – here, when this Lake was but a brook, rushing to join its brother waters in the mighty Susquehanna."

"Brothers, I am Sadakanahtie, nephew of Hiawatha, wise man of the Onondagas. My uncle sends me to you; Hiawatha bids me greet you as he greeted your forefathers gathered here in council beneath this tree. I, Sadakanahtie, know this place. It is a Hiawatha said. This was the sacred ground of the Oneidas. Here, the sachems of the Five Nations met to trade in wisdom and to forge the chain of brotherhood. Here met the worthiest of the Iroquois to plan for the common good, and in their planning all the nations prospered."

"There was a sign here, brothers, sent by the Powers beyond the clouds to mark this place. When wise men made their way to council here, a great White Eagle came to guard and to guide them. This was the place of the White Eagle. All nations, East and West, revered this bird and knew him for a sign."

"Lo" said the Oneida, "The White Eagle comes to us in council and lends us the strength of his wings and talons, oh brother Iroquois."

"See how he wheels and soars," said the Seneca. "The White Eagle is the most alert and resourceful of all created things. Let us be like him oh brothers!"

"His keen eye pierces the heavens," said the Cayugas. "He looks beyond the hills, for nothing escapes him. May our vision be as true and as far, oh brothers."

"Look to his boldness," said the Mohawk. "He soars above the clouds and bids us follow him. Let us be as resolute as the eagle-king and soar to heights unknown."

"Let him be a mark to us," said Hiawatha, the Onondaga. "Let all men know this: where the White Eagle spreads his wings, there will be wise and fruitful leadership, there will the crafts and skills of man be used for the good of all."

"Brothers, these were the words of the Iroquois Chiefs who gathered here to forge the chain of brotherhood in days before this Lake was born. Now hear this message sent to you from Powers beyond the clouds; this mark remains on all who meet in council here."

"Where the white eagle spreads his wings, there will be wise and fruitful leadership; there will be crafts and skills of man be used for the good of all!" (Iroquois legend)

It was my privilege to be with the Socony-Mobil Company from 1930 to 1941 (at the time, it was the Standard-Vacuum Oil Company). In the middle '30s, part of my work was helping to integrate numerous newly purchased subsidiary companies into the parent organization. For this purpose, I was in Kansas City, Kansas, for a number of months with the White Eagle Petroleum Corporation.

On every gasoline pump belonging to White Eagle Petroleum was a beautiful, molded glass white eagle. One of the unpleasant duties I had to perform was to get the newly-formed White Eagle Division of Socony-Vacuum to replace their eagle pump globes with a rather somber round globe with the official Socony seal on it. (This was before the days of the Flying Red Horse). The last evening before I left the White Eagle Division to return to New York, a few of my good friends there had a small dinner. The feature of this dinner was the presentation to me of one the white eagle pump globes, mounted on a wooden base and wired for lighting. This was a very precious souvenir to me and I have valued it greatly through the years. Even though it came from a subsidiary, it was one of the symbols of many happy years of affiliation with a great corporation. The White Eagle organization, furthermore, was a great group of men.

Much as I wanted to display this eagle pump globe in a prominent position in my home, I secretly agreed with Mrs. Appley’s opposition to the idea. The eagle, therefore, was relegated to the attic of our Summer cottage in Hamilton and there remained in a tenderly lined muslin and cotton box until 1955.

It was in 1955 that the American Management Association opened its headquarters at the AMA Grove on Lake Moraine in Hamilton, New York. This Grove is adjacent to the Summer cottage that Mrs. Appley and I have had since 1929. It is difficult to guess what happened when we discovered that a great Iroquois Indian Chief by the name of White Eagle once frequented this area and is said to have held tribal conferences either in, or in the vicinity of, the AMA Grove? Obviously, the main Lodge of the Grove was named White Eagle Lodge, and the white eagle pump globe came out of its seclusion and found its perch on the huge mantel over the fireplace, where it is lighted twenty-four hours a day. This, however, is just the beginning of the story.