Camp Scott, 1977: How three Girl Scouts are remembered in Oklahoma

If you've just moved here or you're raising a daughter who wears the green sash, you will hear about the summer of 1977 sooner or later. Parents still lower their voices when they say the names Lori Farmer, Michele Guse, and Denise Milner. Over one stormy night between June 12 and the morning of June 13, 1977, the three girls were killed at Camp Scott outside Locust Grove in Mayes County. The case shook church basements, troop meetings, and living rooms across the state. The camp never reopened. What remains is the ache families carry and the steady work of remembrance communities do here, year after year.

People ask me two things most often. First, what exactly happened and where. Second, how to remember the girls without turning grief into spectacle. This guide answers both in plain language, with concrete steps any Oklahoman can take to learn, to pay respects, and to talk with a young person about what this story still means.

What happened at Camp Scott, and what is its status now?

Camp Scott was a long-running Girl Scout camp in the Cookson Hills, a few miles south of Locust Grove. On the first night of camp in 1977, the bodies of three campers were found along a camp trail. The murders led to a statewide manhunt and, later, a high-profile trial in Pryor. The defendant, Gene Leroy Hart, was acquitted on March 30, 1979, then died of a heart attack at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on June 4, 1979, while serving time on earlier, unrelated convictions. No one has been convicted in the case, and law enforcement has revisited the evidence over the decades with newer techniques. Officially, the murders remain unsolved in the legal sense. For families, the loss was never in doubt, only the path to peace.

Here is the practical part people don't always know. The former Camp Scott property is private land. It is posted and closed to the public. There are no public tours, visiting hours, or sanctioned memorial walks on the site. Local and state trespass rules apply, and property owners in that area do enforce them. If your first instinct is to drive out and see it for yourself, please choose a different way to honor the girls. There are respectful, public options that don't put you at a locked gate or on the wrong side of a "No Trespassing" sign.

If your goal is to understand the case, start with public collections rather than the site itself. Two places that are set up for quiet, careful learning are the Mayes County Historical Society's museum in Pryor and the Oklahoma Historical Society's Research Center in Oklahoma City (details below). Both are open to the public and welcome researchers and families who want to learn without sensationalizing.

Where do Oklahomans go to remember the girls today?

There isn't a single official statewide memorial. Instead, remembrance here looks like small, steady practices: a line in a church prayer list every June; a Girl Scout leader choosing the safer campsite and explaining why; a parent looking for accurate history to share with a teenager who found a documentary online.

For those who want a public, factual setting near where the events occurred, the Mayes County Historical Society's Coo-Y-Yah Museum in Pryor is the local history stop many families choose. It operates at 815 S. Mill St., Pryor, with regular hours of Thursday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission is free, with donations accepted. For planning a small group visit, the museum lists a meeting space and a group seating capacity of 20, which helps church and troop leaders decide if it fits their needs. You will find exhibits centered on county history and context for the Locust Grove area rather than a sensational display. If you're bringing youth, call ahead and tell the volunteers what you hope to cover so they can point you to the most appropriate materials.

For deeper research or to verify something you've heard, the Oklahoma Historical Society's Research Center in Oklahoma City is open to the public Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4:45 p.m. There is no charge to use the Research Center. While you're there, some families also choose to visit the adjacent Oklahoma History Center museum. Museum admission, as posted, is $12.50 for adults, $9 for seniors and students, and there is a $35 family admission option for up to six people. The split between a free research room and a paid museum lets you tailor a visit to what you need, whether that is a quick check of newspaper microfilm or a fuller day with exhibits.

Some families prefer to talk with the Girl Scouts themselves. The council serving the eastern part of the state operates from the Hardesty Leadership Center in Tulsa at 4810 S. 129th East Ave., Tulsa. The in-house Girl Scout Shop keeps public hours of Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma also list regular office hours of Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. If you're a leader or parent looking for how the organization frames camp safety and remembrance today, calling during office hours is the most direct way to get current, council-approved guidance. For girls considering joining, the posted annual membership due is $35, and the council notes that financial aid is available upon request. That single number comes up often in kitchen-table talks as families weigh cost and value alongside safety and trust.

How can I learn more without turning grief into a spectacle?

Start by choosing places and processes that are built for public access and respect. Museums and archives exist to make hard history available without the theatrics that can attach to online discussion. If you want documents, photographs, or court filings, request them through a public counter rather than chasing unofficial scans.

For case files held by public bodies, Oklahoma's Open Records Act sets standard copy fees. Agencies commonly charge $0.25 per page for standard copies and $1.00 per page for certified copies. If you happen to need county-level records tied to Mayes County, the courthouse in Pryor posts office hours of 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at One Court Place. If you prefer to handle requests by mail or email, ask for the office's fee schedule up front. It avoids surprises and helps clerks pull exactly what you're after. When a family or church history committee budgets for an exhibit panel, those per-page figures and hours make a practical difference.

For families who want to incorporate remembrance into a youth meeting or a Sunday school class, set clear guardrails. Keep the girls' names central and skip the conjecture. Use timelines and clippings from the Research Center instead of rumor. Build in a minute of quiet. For troops, the Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma can point leaders to current safety practices and age-appropriate ways to address difficult history. Calling the Tulsa office during the posted 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays makes sure you're getting current guidance rather than something borrowed from another council or a past era.

If grief or fear gets stirred up, Oklahoma maintains a 24-hour statewide hotline, the Oklahoma SafeLine: 1-800-522-SAFE (7233), that connects callers with trained help for domestic and sexual violence and stalking. The number is statewide and confidential, the kind people keep pinned inside a church office or taped to a troop leader's planner. No one has to carry hard feelings home alone after a difficult conversation.

Visiting near Locust Grove: what is and isn't open to the public?

There is no public access to the former Camp Scott property. Respect the "No Trespassing" signs and choose a different plan. The best nearby public stop for context is the Coo-Y-Yah Museum in Pryor, with free admission and Thursday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. hours. Some visitors also build a second day into their plans to drive to Oklahoma City for the Research Center's Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4:45 p.m. window, especially if they want to check newspapers or oral history collections.

If you are bringing a small church group, the museum's listed group seating capacity of 20 is a practical ceiling for planning. Larger groups often split in half, rotating one half through the exhibits while the other half shares coffee next door or at a fellowship hall you've lined up in Pryor. If you need to greet everyone afterward in one place, book a room at your home church back in Tulsa, Claremore, or Okmulgee where people already feel safe to talk.

It may be tempting to leave flowers or a token at or near the old camp. Please do not. Instead, consider placing a note or a bouquet where your community gathers: the front steps of your church before Sunday service, the sign-in table at a troop bridging ceremony, or a small, labeled vase on a fellowship table. That keeps the act close to the community that will tend it, and it avoids the risk of leaving items on private land where they will be removed.

What lasting changes did this case bring to Oklahoma's community life?

Some changes you can see. Camps here, whether operated by the Girl Scouts or on church and city land, are built and run with layers of safety protocols. Leaders who were children in the late 1970s still keep their flashlights and headcounts close. Some changes you can only feel. The case added a sobriety to how adults talk about overnight trips. It taught countless Oklahoma parents the habit of asking where their child will sleep, what the ratio of adults to kids will be, and how a site handles a sudden storm.

It also raised the profile of victims' families when they interact with public institutions. If you request records about a decades-old case today, clerks are quick to share the cost and process rather than making you guess. When you see the figures-$0.25 per page for standard copies, $1.00 per page for certified-you're seeing the practical side of that culture shift. In living rooms and church libraries, people collect the paper trail needed to tell local history well, and the state has set predictable fees to make that work possible.

Finally, the Girl Scouts presence in eastern Oklahoma remains active. The Hardesty Leadership Center in Tulsa opens its shop to the public Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and keeps council office hours on weekdays. For a family considering whether to enroll a daughter, the posted $35 annual membership and the ability to ask local staff directly about camp practices can be the difference between hesitation and a clear yes. Memory and forward motion live side by side here.

Key things to know for planning a respectful visit

• The former camp site is not open to the public. Choose a public venue such as the Pryor museum or the Oklahoma Historical Society's Research Center.
• For a near-site stop, the Coo-Y-Yah Museum in Pryor is open Thu-Sat, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. with free admission and a small group capacity of 20.
• For research days, the OHS Research Center is open Tue-Sat, 10 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Research is free; the adjacent museum lists admission at $12.50 for adults, $9 for seniors/students, and $35 for a family of up to six.
• Open-records copies from public offices commonly cost $0.25 per page or $1.00 per page if certified. Factor that into budgets for church or troop projects.
• The Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma welcome calls during 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. weekday office hours and keep public shop hours Tue-Fri, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Annual membership is $35, with financial aid available.
• If this topic brings up strong feelings, share the Oklahoma SafeLine: 1-800-522-SAFE (7233) with your group. It's confidential and statewide.

Reader Q&A

Can I visit the old Camp Scott grounds to pay my respects?

No. The former Camp Scott property is private and closed to the public, with posted no-trespassing signs. Instead, consider a public stop like the Coo-Y-Yah Museum in Pryor, which is open Thursday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. with free admission, or plan a research visit to the Oklahoma Historical Society's Research Center, open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4:45 p.m.

Is there a formal memorial service each year that anyone can attend?

There isn't a single statewide ceremony. Remembrance here tends to be local and quiet, often within churches, families, and troops. If you want a community setting that welcomes the public, the museum in Pryor and the Research Center in Oklahoma City are steady options with posted hours and staff who can help you approach the topic respectfully.

What does it cost to get old newspaper clippings or court documents about the case?

Using the Research Center reading room is free, and many visitors find what they need there. If you request copies from a public office, the standard copy charge is $0.25 per page, and $1.00 per page for certified copies. Mayes County courthouse offices in Pryor keep 9 a.m.-5 p.m. hours if you need local records.

Who should a troop leader call for current Girl Scout guidance on discussing this?

Call the Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma during weekday office hours at the Hardesty Leadership Center in Tulsa, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. The public shop is also open Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Staff can help you match your approach to the girls' ages and today's safety practices, and can explain membership details like the $35 annual fee and financial aid.

When you weigh your options, start with your purpose. If you want to stand where the girls once stood, there is no legal, public way to do that. If you want to carry their names well, the small choices listed here will get you there: a free afternoon in a reading room, a quiet museum visit in Pryor, a phone call to the Tulsa council before a troop meeting. Choose the path that keeps their memory centered and your community safe.

Published: September 22, 2026 · Reviewed by the Oklahoma editorial team