-Caveat Lector-
an excerpt from:
Territorial Masonry
Ray V. Denslow
The Masonic Service Association of the United States�1925
Southern Publishers, Inc.
--[2]--
CHAPTER III
MASONIC PATHFINDERS
"FREEMASONRY follows the flag."
However, the Freemasonry of terri-torial days did more than this�it car-ried
the flag with it; it was represented at the transfer of the Territory in St.
Louis, and from that moment its devotees assumed leadership in everything
tending to develop the Territory. Freemasonry has no cause-to hang its head
at mention of its representatives during the year, preceding statehood; they
journeyed into all parts of the Great West, discovering new sources of
supply, new routes, and opening up the vast wilderness for colonization.
The great fraternity had naught to sell; it did not carry the cross in one
hand and the sword in�the other; its purpose was then, as now, to spread the
doctrine of the Brotherhood of Man, irrespective of race or religious creed,
and from the history and tradition which have come down to us, we know that
our early brothers were true exemplars of the tenets of our
profession�Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.
MERIWETHER LEWIS AND WILLIAM CLARK
FOREMOST of all Masonic pathfinders was General Meriwether Lewis, leader of
the
Lewis and Clark Expedition, with whom was associated General Wm. Clark. Both
were hon-ored members of the Masonic fraternity and of the same lodge�St.
Louis No. 111, under charter from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Lewis had
received his degrees in the old Widow's Son Lodge in Virginia, and after his
return from this expedition became the first Master of St. Louis Lodge No.
111, his name appearing first on the application for Dispen-sation. General
Clark was buried by St. Louis
Lodge No. 20 with full Masonic honors.
The exploration of the Territory west of the Mississippi was the pet hobby of
President Thomas Jefferson; in 1792 he proposed to the American Philosophical
Society that some suitable person be secured to explore the region "by
ascending the Missouri, crossing the Stony (Rocky) Mountains, and descending
the nearest river to the Pacific." According to Jefferson, Captain Lewis,
then stationed at Charlottesville on recruiting service, warmly solicited the
execution of this purpose; he was to take with him but one man that he might
not give undue alarm to the Indian tribes. Andre Michauz, a Frenchman, was to
accompany him; both set out, but were overtaken in Kentucky by orders to
return.
Captain Lewis was later made private secretary to President Jefferson, who in
1803, in a confidential message to Congress, recommended the sending of an
exploring party to trace the Missouri River to its source and find a
satisfactory route to the Pacific. Congress approved the plan and
appropriated money for the purpose. Lewis was named to head the party.
President Jefferson in speaking of the choice said:
I had now had opportunities of knowing him intimately; of courage undaunted;
possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but
impossibilities could divert from its direction; careful as a father of those
committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order and
discipline; intimate with the Indian character, customs and principles;
habituated to the hunting life; guarded by exact observation of the
vegetables and animals of his own country, against losing time in the
description of objects already possessed; honest, disinterested, liberal, of
sound understanding, and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he
should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves-with all of these
qualifications, as if selected and implanted by nature in one body for this
express purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to
him.
To our Worshipful Brother, General Meriwether Lewis, was intrusted a letter
of credit, signed by the President of the United States) the like of which
has never been seen before or since. It is written in the President's own
handwriting:
Washington, U. S. of America.
DEAR SIR: July 4, 1803.
In the journey which you are about to undertake for the discovery of the
course and source of the Missouri, and of the most convenient water
communication thence to the Pacific Ocean, your party being small, it is to
be expected that you will encounter considerable dangers from the Indian
inhabitants; should you escape those dangers, and reach the Pacific Ocean,
you may find it imprudent to hazard a return the same way, and be forced to
seek a passage round by sea in such vessels as you may find on the western
coast; but you will be without money, without clothes and other necessaries;
as a sufficient supply cannot be carried with you from hence, your resource
in that case can only be the credit of the U. S. for which purpose I hereby
authorize you to draw on the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War
and of the Navy of the U. S. according as you may find your draughts will be
negotiable, for the purpose of obtaining money or necessaries for yourself
and your men, and I solemnly pledge the faith of the United States that these
draughts shall be paid punctually at the date they are made payable. . . .
And to give more entire satisfaction and confidence to those who may be
disposed to aid you, I, Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States of
America, have written this letter of general credit for you with my own hand,
and signed it with my name. TH. JEFFERSON.
To Capt. Meriwether Lewis.
Lewis was faithful to the trust imposed in him; his party left St. Louis May
14, 1804, returning almost two years later, their mission fulfilled. Their
accomplishments are set forth in all histories, and trophies of the
expedition to-day occupy a prominent place in the great Jefferson Memorial
Building in St. Louis.
CAPTAIN ZEBULON PIKE
STANDING second in the list of exploring expeditions is that of Captain
Zebulon Montgomery Pike, a member of our fraternity.
There were two Pike expeditions; the first explored the sources of the
Mississippi in 1805-1806, and the other, in 1806-1807, went up the Missouri
and Platte Rivers, crossed the mountains and reached the Arkansas River, some
of the party going down the river in canoes to New Orleans. Several other
Freemasons were in the party, probably the most distinguished of whom was Dr.
John H. Robinson, son of David Robinson of Western Star Lodge No. 107, at
Kaskaskia; Robinson, Jr., had joined Lodge No. 13 in Virginia, later
affiliating with Western Star and finally with Louisiana Lodge No. 109 at St.
Genevieve, Mo. Pike and Robinson discovered Pike's Peak and arrived in Santa
Fe March 2. 1807) the advance guard of an army of Missourians who were to
reach there during the next few years over the Santa Fe trail. Our story,
discussing only Territorial days, will not permit us to go into the work done
by such men as Kit Carson, David Waldo, Chas. Bent, Ceran St. Vrain, "Buffalo
Bill" Cody, and others who did so much to open up the Great Southwest for
American occupation.
MAJOR ANDREW HENRY
WASHINGTON IRVING, in his book "Astoria," says, "trading posts had been
established in 1808 in the Sioux country and among the Aricara and Mandan
tribes; and a principal one, under Mr. Henry (Major Andrew Henry), one of the
partners, at the forks of the Missouri; this Company had in its employ about
two hun-dred and fifty men, partly American hunters and partly Creoles and
Canadian voyagers."
The Andrew Henry mentioned was originally a member of the lodge at Kaskaskia,
but when a lodge was organized on the Missouri side, he became one of the
charter members. The old records bear witness to his wanderings, one
financial report stating "absent two years and six months; dues have been
remitted, $4.62." Francois Valle, formerly of No. 107, and also a charter
member of Louisiana No. 109, evidently accompanied Henry on this expedition,
for the same entry was made at the same time concerning him.
"Major Henry of the Mines" was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, about
1775, came to the Territory before the Spanish era, lived at St. Genevieve
and other of the lead mining towns along the Mississippi, and was one of the
first explorers to venture into the Rocky Mountains. His business must have
been profitable because by 1808 he amassed sufficient capital to become a
partner in the well-known Missouri Fur Co., an organization composed very
largely of Freemasons. Among the partners were Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and
William Clark, both members of St. Louis No. 111. An expedition sent out by
this Company in 1809 carried 150 well armed men and all of the partners
pledged to go and remain for a specified time. They reached the Rocky
Mountains at a place near Three Forks, where they found fur-bearing animals
in abundance and Indians who appeared very friendly. But such good fortune
was not to last; suddenly the Blackfeet began war against the newcomers' many
of the trappers and many of the other men returned, leaving Henry to bear the
brunt of the trouble with the Indians. He was unable to get far away from his
fort, which he succeeded in holding, but he lost thirty men in so doing. By
1810 he had abandoned the fort and moved to a newer site on the north fork of
Snake River, known as Henry Fork, losing more men in making the change. In
1811 Henry and his companions gave up hope and agreed to break up the party
and return home as best they could, Henry probably coming down the
Yellowstone.
We hear little of Henry from this time until 1822, when he associated himself
with General Wm. Ashley, planning a return to Three Forks. Misfortune
overtook the party on the start, one of the keel boats striking a snag on the
Missouri River and sinking with a cargo valued at $10,000. This did not deter
Henry, who finally reached the mouth of the Yellowstone, built a fort and
spent the winter. He was again attacked by Indians, as was General Ashley,
who had started out with a second party; Henry came to Ashley's relief and
was ordered to return to the Yellowstone, only to be attacked again. It was
while engaged in this expedition that they discovered the South Pass through
the Rocky Mountains.
Henry returned to Missouri, settling in the territory south of St. Louis,
between Caledonia and Potosi, and died in February, 1833.
BARTHOLOMEW BERTHOLD, FUR TRADER
IN 1798 there landed in Philadelphia a gentleman of rare culture and
distinction; Bartholomew BERTHOLD, a Tyrolean. He became naturalized at once
and was soon admitted a member of the Masonic fraternity; we find him in the
Mississippi Valley about 1808. Admitted as a member of Louisiana Lodge No.
109, at St. Genevieve, December 27, 1809) dimitting June 9, 1812, the records
noting that he had "withdrawn and removed." At a later date we find him
bearing the returns of this lodge to the Grand Lodge which met in
Philadelphia.
BERTHOLD was a business man who introduced business methods into the fur
business. In 1813 we find him prominent in the organization of the first
Territorial bank; in 1809 we note his advertisement as being associated with
Rene Paul in a grocery and dry goods store in St. Louis. This was dissolved
in June 1812, BERTHOLD going into partnership the following year in a similar
business with Pierre Chouteau, Jr., which interest he retained until 1817. In
the meantime he married the daughter of Pierre Chouteau, Sr. The firm of
BERTHOLD and Chouteau was in reality the foundation for what later became the
American Fur Co., rival of the Missouri Fur Co.; to this Masonic firm there
were later added John Cabanne and Bernard Pratte, Sr., whose son Bernard,
Jr., later became an officer of the Grand Lodge of Missouri. For many years
the American Fur Co. monopolized the fur trade of the upper country and laid
the foundation for many fortunes. BERTHOLD died April 20, 1831.
PIERRE CHOUTEAU, THE FUR PRINCE
No NAME is better known in and around St. Louis than that of Pierre Chouteau)
Jr., member of St. Louis Lodge No. I 11; he is described as "tall of
stature," erect, and of splendid proportions, his coal black hair tinged with
grey in his late years, his keen penetrating black eye, his sunny
countenance, his French vivacity, his voice strong, vibrating, accentuated,
made an impression at once lasting and agreeable." He is said to have had no
equal as a business man for nearly a half century; possessed of a genius for
commerce wise Judgment and bold spirit, he acquired a reputation throughout
the entire northwest which "made his name everywhere the synonym of
commercial honor and personal integrity."
Chouteau was the grandson of Pierre Liguest Laclede) founder of the City of
St. Louis; Stevens says in his "History of St. Louis," that "the indomitable
spirit, the grasp on immediate affairs, the keen foresight, which were traits
of Laclede, the founder, descended to his grandson, Pierre Chouteau, Jr." By
1827 Pratte and Chouteau had joined forces with Astor, to which a few years
later was added McKenzie, with his Columbia Fur Co. It is thought that
McKenzie was a member of the Craft, although the proof is not at hand.
Witness this celebrated treaty with the Assiniboine and Blackfoot Indians,
arranged by McKenzie for Chouteau and his Company:
We send greeting to all mankind. Be it known unto all nations that the most
ancient, most illustrious, and most numerous tribes of the redskins, lords of
the soil, from the banks of the great waters unto the tops of the mountains
upon which the heavens rest, have entered into a solemn league and covenant
to make, preserve and cherish, a firm and lasting peace, that, so long as the
water runs or the grass grows, they may hail each other as brethren and smoke
the calumet in peace and friendship. On the vigil of St. Andrew, in the year
1831, the powerful and distinguished nation of the Blackfeet, Piegan and
Blood Indians by their ambassadors appeared at Fort Union, near the spot where
the Yellowstone River unites its current with the Missouri, and in the
council chamber of the Governor, Kenneth McKenzie, and the principal chief of
the Assiniboine nations, . . . conforming to all ancient customs and
ceremonies, and observing the due mystical signs enjoined by the great
medicine lodges, a treaty of peace and friendship was entered into by the
said high contracting parties, and is testified by their hands and seals
hereunto affixed, hereafter and forever to live as brethren of one large,
united and happy band, and may the Great Spirit who watches over us all
approve our conduct and teach us to love one another.
THE MISSOURI FUR CO.
THE Missouri Fur Company, as organized in 1820, included the names of three
Freemasons, Joshua Pilcher, Joseph Perkins and Moses B. Carson. Major Joshua
Pilcher was a Virginian, a gentleman of intelligence and enterprise, Master
of Missouri Lodge No. 12, under charter from the Grand Lodge of Tennessee,
and a relative of Thomas F. Riddick, first Grand Master of Missouri, with
whom he was associated in business for some time. In the fur trade he secured
a thorough knowledge of the geography and resources of the Northwest
Territory. At the death of General Clark in 1838 President Van Buren
appointed him Superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis, which position
he filled until his death in 1843. Pilcher served as a second to Senator
Thomas H. Benton in his duel with Lucas. Joseph Perkins was in St. Louis as
early as 1804, having been a member of the first Grand Jury summoned at that
time; he was buried by Missouri
Lodge No. 1, January 25, 1824. Moses B. Carson was a brother of the
celebrated Kit Carson, and a member of the lodge at Old Franklin on the
Missouri River.
The comedy which runs throughout the motion picture play, "The Covered
Wagon," has its origin in one of the expeditions of Andrew Henry. James
Bridger, a St. Louis product, joined the Henry expedition of 1822; he was a
real trapper with a wonderful sense of direction. He was never lost in the
wilds and disliked the cities. He married a Shoshone wife. Bridger is the
original of the character furnishing the comedy in the play; some of the
scenes are adapted from incidents which occurred on the trip in which Bridger
had no small part. Two members of the party were expert riflemen who could
shoot a cup of whiskey from the other's head at seventy yards. One of the
last exploits of this happy-go-lucky party was to shoot the heel off a negro
who had a protruding heel; the pleasantry came very near delaying the party
as the law took a hand in the matter.
JOHN HAY
OHN HAY, SR., was the last British Governor of Upper Canada; dying in 1785,
his son John, Jr., was thrown upon his own resources at the age of seventeen.
Through the influence of friends he was fitted out with an equipment and set
out from Montreal for the Northwest; by "equipment" is meant supplies of
guns, blankets, flints, powder, knives, etc., for trading with the Indians.
Starting in a birch-bark canoe, he made for the base of the Rockies; he
returned from this expedition with a sole Indian companion, whom he dismissed
on their arrival at Prairie du Chien. Hay came on to Cahokia in 1793, where
he engaged in business, later filling many public offices. He was listed as a
charter member of Missouri No. 1, coming from Western Star No. 107.
One of the first settlers of the old town of Cahokia, on the Illinois side of
the Mississippi River, was one John Hays, who while yet a youth engaged in
the fur trade up and down the Mississippi. Possessed of likable character, he
gradually built up a good business, and his boats made annual trips to
Prairie du Chien as well as other upper Mississippi River points. He became
Postmaster at Cahokia, a position which he held until the State was
organized; he also served as sheriff of St. Clair County, and in 1822 was
made Indian agent of the Potawatamis and Miamis at Ft. Wayne in Indiana. He
lived to a ripe old age and died respected by all who knew him; he received
his Masonic degrees in the old lodge at Kaskaskia, Ill., during February and
March 1806, on the same dates as did John Hay.
GENERAL HENRY DODGE
BEST known of all the members of Louisiana Lodge No. 109 was undoubtedly
General Henry Dodge, who by his own exertions rose from common surroundings
until he sat in the United States Senate at Washington, representing the
State of Wisconsin.
Dodge was initiated in Western Star Lodge No. 109 at Kaskaskia, Ill.,
December 6, 1806) receiving his other degrees the following year, and in 1807
petitioning, together with other residents of St. Genevieve, for a charter
from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. He later served as Master of his lodge
(No. 109) and at the institution of Unity Lodge No. 6, Jackson, Mo., we find
him acting as installing officer.
St. Genevieve was not at any time celebrated for its moral atmosphere, but
Dodge was a young man with ambition, not easily influenced; his education was
truly received in the University of Hard Knocks. He was intended for a
military life; in the war of 1812 he was engaged all of the time in defending
the frontier; he had previous to our entering the war been made General of
the Missouri militia. Having been placed in command of four hundred men, he
succeeded in removing the Miami Indians (without giving offense), to a place
on the Wabash River, lest they might be too easily influenced by other
hostile tribes. He became the first United States Marshal in Missouri on the
organization of the State, but in 1822, emigrated to Michigan Territory.
One of the greatest services rendered his government was during the Black
Hawk War; Dodge proved to be a most able defender of the frontier, organizing
all male persons for the defense of their firesides. He acquired quite a
reputation during this campaign, and at its close was made Colonel of a
regiment of dragoons; in 1833 he marched at the head of this regiment across
the plains to the Rocky Mountains, making treaties with many tribes, and
returning with his regiment intact. He became Governor of Wisconsin Territory
and Superintendent of Indian affairs, serving with distinction.
pps. 18-33
--[cont]--
Aloha, He'Ping,
Om, Shalom, Salaam.
Em Hotep, Peace Be,
Omnia Bona Bonis,
All My Relations.
Adieu, Adios, Aloha.
Amen.
Roads End
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