Montana's Masonic history subject of talk at Travelers' Rest
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LOLO - Capt. William Clark left a lasting reminder of his presence in Montana on July 25, 1806 - an inscription of his name and the date on Pompeys Pillar in the Yellowstone Valley.
As far as we know, Clark's co-captain, Meriwether Lewis, left no such physical trace behind. But there is something Lewis left here.
On display in a climate-controlled container in Helena is one of Lewis' ceremonial, hand-painted Masonic aprons. No one's claiming he carried it with him on the expedition. But it is believed to be the one he had in his pocket when he died in Tennessee in 1809.
Daniel Gardiner, administrative assistant at the Masonic Grand Lodge of Montana in Helena, won't bring the apron with him to Lolo on Thursday.
"I will not be traveling with the case, which is monstrously huge and prohibitively expensive to travel with," Gardiner said Tuesday with a laugh. But the public is welcome to see it at the Masonic museum at 425 N. Park Ave. in Helena.
Gardiner will have a comparable apron with him when he presents a program on Lewis' and Montana's rich history of freemasonry. It's the featured part of the monthly meeting of the Travelers' Rest Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Lolo Community Center. All are welcome. Donations from non-chapter members are encouraged.
Lewis was initiated and received his ceremonial apron in Aberemarle County, Va., in 1797, at the early age 23. He became the first known Mason to enter what became Montana in 1805, and later helped persuade Clark to join the Masonic fraternity in St. Louis.
Gardiner will share stories and insights on the apron and its symbols, as well as the history of freemasonry. And he'll dispel some myths about Masons and the Montana Vigilantes.
Masons wear their aprons at all Masonic meetings and rituals. Lewis' is made of hand-painted silk backed with linen and measures 14.5 inches by 16.5 inches, according to Joe Musselman's "Meriwether Lewis, Master Mason" on lewis-clark.org.
It was passed down from Lewis' mother to his sister Jane, and through Jane's descendants to the Grand Lodge of Missouri. In 1960 Joseph Hopper bought it and donated it to the Grand Lodge of Montana in Helena.
Gardiner said the apron can be seen as "a representation of all that culminated here in Montana" in freemasonry. The Helena museum is a repository for a dazzling array of artifacts of many of Montana's most prominent men in its formative years.
Cornelus Hedges, Nathaniel Langford, Wilbur Fisk Sanders, Hezekiah Hosmer, Paris Pfouts, William A. Clark ... the list goes on and on, Gardiner said.
"We have artifacts of all of them here because they were all active Masons, and many of them were Grand Masters," Gardiner said. "Basically it's a Who's Who of all the early famous pioneers of Montana."
Read more: http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/montana-s-masonic-history-subject-of-talk-at-travelers-rest/article_77acb1da-04f4-11e1-8dc6-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1cZdp8aKZ
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