Freemasonry's Journey West

 

 Once the young United States became established as a country and the march of time moved us past the first third of the 19th century, wanderlust captured the hearts of adventurous pioneers who who began moving westward. In a time before instant communication and fast travel, the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon Trails became the superhighways of the day. In St. Joseph, Missouri, hundreds of covered wagons lined up waiting to take the Francis Street Ferry across the Missouri River and into Kansas Territory to begin the long and treacherous journey west.

Masonic Brothers Joseph Hull, William Daugherty and P.G. Stewart were three of those pioneers who finally settled in Oregon City. Once established in their new homes, the three placed in an ad in the newspaper asking for local Brothers interested in forming a chartered Lodge to meet and begin the process. Seven Brothers met on February 21, 1846 and drafted a letter requesting the Grand Lodge of Missouri grrant a charter for what would be called Multnomah Lodge.

They gave the letter to Brother Joel Palmer who carried it back to Platte City Lodge 56 during the summer of 1846. He gave it to Brother James Spratt, who delivered it to the Grand Lodge, which granted the charter for Multnomah Lodge 84 in October, and sent it back to Platte City. It took over a year to find an appropriate Brother, Pierre Barlow Cornwall, who began his journey back west in April of 1847.

Along the way, Cornwall met and became friends with Joseph and Orrin Kellogg, who were also traveling to Oregon. The entire party barely survived when their wagon train was captured by Indians but they somehow made it out alive and went on to Fort Hull, Idaho, where the California and Oregon trails diverged.

The California Gold Rush was just getting started but it was the talk of the town at Fort Hull. Hearing about the Gold, Brother Cornwall decided to seek his fortune. He gave the Multnomah charter to the Kelloggs and literally headed for the hills. The Kelloggs completed the journey to Oregon, delivering the charter on September 11, 1848, two years and seven months after the Brothers in Oregon had made the original request.

Joseph Hull was so excited to receive the charter that he called a meeting that very day.  The Brothers set up the Lodge and fashioned podiums with a barrel of flour in the east, whiskey in the west, and salt pork in the south, with the contents representing corn, wine, and oil. Then, in a marathon meeting that lasted sixteen hours, the members consecrated the Lodge, elected officers, and held three Entered Apprentice, three  Fellowcraft, and two Master Mason Degrees. Hull became the first Master with the Kelloggs and Joel Palmer also filling offices.

Unfortunately gold fever swept up the Brothers at Multnomah Lodge 84 and the majority left for California, which left the Lodge in disarray.

One of those Oregon Brothers, Lot Whitcomb, started a steamboat company there and hired Brother John Ainsworth to pilot his boat. Ainsworth became disenchanted with the gold rush and, having heard about Multnomah from Whitcomb, traveled to Oregon, where he not only brought the Lodge back to life but started the Oregon Scottish Rite. As a result of Ainsworth's efforts, Multnomah Lodge became the first chartered under the Grand Lodge of Oregon and remains in existence.

Today, the ability to communicate instantaneously has become second nature to us. Any one of us could take the same months-long journey Joel Palmer or the Kelloggs took in less than a day. We take it for granted so much that it's hard to imagine the time, not to mention the danger of communicating and traveling back then. Under those conditions, however, Freemasonry blossomed and thrived, extending the length and breadth of the United States. The Grand Lodge of Missouri was at the center of this expansion. All-in-all it granted 37 charters to lodges in ten new jurisdictions, far more than any other Grand Lodge, earning it the title, as coined by iconic Masonic author H.L. Haywood, "The Magna Mater of American Freemasonry."