The Sagamore Service Troop was founded in 1923 by a small group of adults at the close of a training session on the H. P. Whitney estate in Wheatley Hills, Long Island. After training in woodcraft, Scout skills and Indian Lore, the men present decided to continue as an organized body, to endeavor to pass on the benefits of their training to other Scouters and to all Scout units requesting their help. They took the name Sagamore Troop, in honor of Sagamore Hill, the home of "Teddy" Roosevelt, the first Commissioner of the Nassau County Council, which was renamed the Theodore Roosevelt Council in 1997.
Since then, the Sagamore Troop has perpetuated as a brotherhood of trained adult Scouters, dedicated to lifetime service to Scouting. In its early years, the troop staffed a week long training camp equivalent to the present Wood Badge practical training. Today, Sagamores serve on the Council Executive Board, Council and District Committees, the Commissioner Staff, and as professional Scouters and unit leaders. Sagamores are "Prepared For Service" in a variety of Scout skills, staff training courses, demonstrate their specialties at roundtables and in units, and serving as merit badge counselors. The Sagamores coordinate the Council Campmasters Plan and assist the Camp Ranger at Mortimer L. Schiff Scout Reservation on weekends throughout the year. The troop maintains the telephone and electrical distribution systems in the council camps, and provide untold hours of maintenance and repair help on the Council properties and projects.
The Sagamores foster a spirit of fun, fellowship and brotherhood while trying to serve the aims of Scouting wherever and whenever possible. Even members who have left Nassau County carry on the "Sagamore Spirit" in other councils across the nation and abroad. Membership in the Sagamore Service Troop is by invitation. A prospective member must have at least five years in Scouting, three of which must be in the Theodore Roosevelt Council. He or she must have earned the Scouter's Key or Training Award, or equivalent, must belong to a religious organization must have a desire to encourage the noblest ideals through Scouting and the training of its leaders to assure a quality program.
The Troop meets formally four times a year, to work on projects, to conduct troop business and to plan future activities. Every Sagamore has a Scouting specialty, which is made available when requested by Packs, Troops, Crews, Posts, District or Council.