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 Masonic quotes by Brothers

THE BUILDER MAGAZINE

september 1920

volume 6 - number 9

MEMORIALS TO GREAT MEN WHO WERE MASONS

JOSHUA BARNEY

BY BRO. GEO. W. BAIRD P.G.M DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

JOSHUA BARNEY, an American Naval officer, whose Masonic history is recorded in the History of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, page 96, was born in Baltimore in 1759 and died in Pittsburg in 1818.

During the War of the Revolution he was appointed a Master's Mate in the Navy, and ordered to the sloop of war The Hornet. In 1776, when only 17 years of age, he was promoted to a lieutenancy for gallantry on board The Wasp which vessel had captured the brig Tender in Delaware Bay.

His next ship was the Sachem, and he was later placed on board a prize ship as Master, was captured by the Perseus, but soon afterwards exchanged.

In 1777 he joined the frigate Virginia which vessel ran aground and was captured before she could get afloat. Barney was again exchanged, after which he joined a privateer which sailed for France and, on her return, took a valuable prize and reached Philadelphia in 1779.

His next ship was the Saratoga, of sixteen guns, which captured the Charming Molly and two brigs. Barney led the boarders who boarded the Molly and was placed in command of one of the prizes, but the next day they were all retaken by the Intrepid, a frigate of seventy-four guns. Barney was sent to a prison in England where he remained for a while, but managed to escape and made his way back to Philadelphia, where he arrived in March, 1782.

He was given command of the Hyder-Ali, of sixteen guns, and in this vessel encountered the General Monk just outside the capes of the Delaware, and after a hot fight captured the Monk, twenty guns. For this the Pennsylvania legislature presented him with a sword. He was ordered to command the Monk, and sailed for France in November, 1782, where he received the money loaned by the French Government and brought it back to Philadelphia. He then heard of the preparations for an armistice. Barney was commisioned a Captain in the French service, in 1795, but gave up his command in 1800 and returned home.

For want of funds with which to pay salaries the Navy was dismantled at the close of the war, all of the officers except John Paul Jones were mustered out with their crews. John Paul Jones, a good French scholar, remained in France as Commissioner to settle the accounts arising out of mixed American and French crews, questioned ownership of prizes, etc.

When war was again declared, in 1812, Barney was appointed by Congress to command the flotilla of the Chesapeake and its tributaries. He took part in the fight at Bladensburg (in defense of Washington City) where he was severely wounded. Congress voted him a sword and the legislature of Georgia gave him a vote of thanks.

Barney was buried in the First Presbyterian Church cemetery in Pittsburg, but his body was afterward removed to the Allegheny cemetery, in a circular enclosure which was called "Mount Barney," and at the head of the grave there was erected a modest stone shown in the frontispiece.

The (District of) Columbia Historic Society in 1910 induced Congress to consider a bill to name one of the little public circles in Washington, near the eastern branch of the Potomac "Barney Circle," but the bill, like many others, expired on the calendar after being reported. Like many other such bills it had the merit to be approved by all the members, opposed by none, but not reached.

Joshua Barney was always a gentleman: like so many seafaring men of his time he was fearless, but unlike many of them he was religiously inclined, never indulging in profanity nor excesses of any kind, evidently observing the tenets of Masonry.

The inscription on the modest little memorial is now nearly illegible. It reads:

Commodore Joshua Barney, U.S.N., Born in Baltimore July 6,1759. Died in Pittsburg December 1, 1818.

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF MASONIC HISTORY

BY BRO.H.L. HAYWOOD, IOWA

This essay was written at the request of the Committee on Masonic Research of the Grand Lodge of Iowa and is being published in pamphlet form by that Committee under the title "A Vest Pocket History of Freemasonry." It is intended to be given by lodges to newly-raised candidates.  Prepared for such purpose, it does not attempt to be inclusive, though it is more than a mere introduction to the subject.  The author makes no claim to authoritativeness or to finality, yet the view-point of the whole is supported by the most notable of modern writers.  The rich and varied story of Freemasonry in America is barely mentioned and other equally important chapters of the great History of Freemasonry have been entirely omitted.  The Research Committee has announced that other pamphlets intended to cover omitted subjects with equal simplicity and informality will follow.

Modern scientists have given us a new method for studying the past.  We do not interpret the history of the Greeks, the Romans, the Hebrews, or any other ancient people, as once we did.  All the records have been newly judged. We may be thankful that the records of Freemasonry have been likewise critically examined because we have gained thereby a clearer account of the beginnings of the Order.  The books left us by the earlier Masonic writers are usually admirable in spirit and purpose but their historical portions must be received with caution: historians, archaeologists, philologists, and other scientists have given us so many new facts and have disproved so many time-honoured traditions, that we must learn to read Masonic history with a new mind.  In this brief and simple account of the matter the writer has attempted to follow these scholars as closely as possible.

But this does not mean that the present, or any other modern account of our history, is to be accepted as final.  Far from it.  It is too early to write such a history.  In spite of all our discoveries much fog still hangs over our beginnings.  The records since the organization of the first Grand Lodge in 1717 are usually reliable and fairly complete, but for the history prior to that date such facts as we have are mixed up with a vast deal of myth and guesswork. One must feel his way through the dark, and it is therefore better to remain content with the facts, few as they are, than to yield to the influence of any one of the - numerous fantastical theories which trace Freemasonry back to every nook and corner of ancient times; back to Noah's ark, for example, or to the creation of the world.  In the present essay, modest as is its scope, an attempt will be made to indicate what we may safely believe concerning our ancestry; but even so this account is not in any sense offered as the last word on the subject.

Also it is wise to leave alone those enthusiastically held theories, which are usually as vain as they are numerous, that trace our Fraternity's beginnings to magic, or to some other form of occultism.  Most of us are content to achieve results by familiar and natural methods; but there have always been men who have believed that back of the normal forces of Nature there are hidden mysterious forces which are known only to a few of the initiated, and they have tried to use these "forces" as a short cut to power.  Instead of digging gold out of the ground as sensible men do, they have tried to create it by the transmutation of iron, or copper, or tin; instead of building up health of the body by the means known to all of us: simple living, rest, exercise, and the like, they have sought the Elixir of Life; instead of learning wisdom as all of us men are obliged to learn it they have hunted around for the Philosopher's Stone.  There have been many societies in existence in the past for the purpose of teaching to initiates the so-called "secrets" of this kind of thing, and these societies are called "Occult Fraternities" because what they have practised is "occultism." There were many such fraternities in ancient times and in the Middle Ages, and some of them possessed a certain amount of wisdom and true lore; some of them, no doubt, contributed something to the evolution of Freemasonry; but it is all wrong to suppose, as some do, that Freemasonry was created by these occultists or that Freemasonry itself is a form of occultism.  It is nothing of the kind, for it has grown out of, and is builded upon, the same normal experiences of everyday life.

In Egyptian mythology there is a story singularly like our legend of Hiram Abif.  Confucius spoke of a "square and compass man," and Mencius, another great Chinese teacher, sometimes talked like a Mason.  There is much said in Hebrew tradition about builders.  Amid the Pompeiian ruins was found a pedestal on which were engraved certain familiar symbols. In Peruvian architecture archaeologists have discovered series of three, five and seven steps.  Among the American Indians there have been secret societies that have used symbols and rites something like our own.  Once was when these fragments and hundreds more like them out of antiquity were accepted as certain proof that Freemasonry has existed from time immemorial.  This cannot be disproved but a more reasonable reading of the facts suggests to us that these were merely accidental likenesses.  Masonic symbols, most of them at least, as has already been said, are natural and human, and of such a character that early mankind came upon them naturally and inevitably.  There was no need that a Masonic institution exist in order that men express themselves so.  Such symbols grew up out of the human mind as grass springs from the sod.  The causes which create secret societies in modern times created secret societies in ancient times.  Ancient fraternities and teachers of symbolism prepared the way for modern Freemasonry and contributed many elements to the making of its philosophy and ritual, but it is going too far to say that our Order can trace a straight line of ancestry back to ancient Egypt, or beyond.  Looking back upon early movements of this kind the Freemason of today can say, "That which our Fraternity is now trying to do those early brethren were trying to do, and what they did helped make it possible for our Fraternity to come into existence; by studying them I can the better understand Freemasonry as it now exists."

The first of these early anticipations of Freemasonry to claim our attention, is the Men's House, of which Professor Hutton Webster has given us so exhaustive an account in his "Primitive Secret Societies." According to this excellent authority the primitive tribe was in reality a secret society, at least so far as the men were concerned.  At the centre of the village stood a large building; in this the unmarried men had their quarters; the chiefs and elders held their deliberations; and it was here that the boys, when they were come of age, were initiated into the secrets of the tribe.  These secrets were probably the knowledge of the arts of war, of the arts of the chase, and of the revered traditions.  The initiation was an arduous ordeal, barbaric in character, and sometimes so severe as to cause death.  The youth who shrunk from it was sent back to live with women and children.  This ancient institution is of interest to us because it exhibits in a very early form the human necessity for initiation and for secret organization.

The next manifestation of what we may call the human instinct for Freemasonry (using the word here in a broad sense) occurred in the Ancient Mysteries, of which examples were found among most of the early nations.  Of these the best known are the Egyptian, built up around such myths as those of Isis and Osiris; the Greek, more especially the Eleusinian; and the cult Mithraism, which gained such a hold on the Romans, especially the soldiers, as to prove a powerful rival to Christianity. These cults, as needs not be said, differed among themselves in many important respects but some things they had in common.  Meetings were held in secret; the candidate was symbolically clothed; he participated in an acted allegorical drama, the centre of which was a dying and a rising again; the new member was bound to his fellows by a solemn obligation; the rites and teachings had a religious foundation; and each member always stood ready to lend assistance to any fellow at any time.  In some of the early cults of this kind the candidate was briefly taught a certain kind of knowledge; in a few cases the organization achieved fame as a centre of philosophical and scientific teaching, as those of Egypt for example, to which Plato, Pythagoras, and other great Greek thinkers went seeking light.

It does not appear that the early Hebrews had any such cults in their midst though the Levites, and in some cases, the Schools of the Prophets, approximated to the secret society in their forms of organization.  The only famous Jewish cult, the Essenes, came at a later day. The first mention of the Essenes as a distinct sect was made a century and a half before Christ. Essenism was a religious order, the members of which practised celibacy, taught a puritan morality, and lived in common, sharing all things equally. Their influence was so vital a leaven that it carried many of their teachings and much of their language into popular usage.  "Much of the Sermon on the Mount," says one authority, "is expressed in the phraseology of the sect." Certain of their tenets, no doubt, passed over into that stream of tradition later inherited by Freemasonry but our Order did not originate with the Essenes, though some have argued in behalf of such a theory, the learned Dr. Krause, for example.

Other cults could be mentioned: the Druses of Mt. Lebanon, for example; the Druids, who flourished during the early Dark Ages; the Culdees, that fraternity of Ireland about which so little is known; the Pythagoreans, founded by the followers of Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher.  It may be that Freemasonry owes something to some one of these, or, it may be, to all of them, but if so the indebtedness is too slender to warrant further discussion thereon.

There is another of these obscure cults, however, about which a word may be said; we refer to the Dyonysian Artificers, a fraternity which, if our very slender sources of information are to be trusted, was organized about the rites and emblems of architecture.  According to Strabo, an old Greek historian, and fairly reliable, this fraternity originated in Greece but later migrated to Phoenicia, which lies just west of the country inhabited by the Hebrews. This fraternity, it appears, soon possessed such a monopoly of the building trade in that country, that when King Hiram of Tyre, a great Phoenician, undertook to build for King Solomon the latter's royal temple at Jerusalem, lodges of the Dyonoysian Artificers were sent to Jerusalem to do the work.  Afterwards these Artificers migrated into Italy, whence they carried with them traditions concerning the building of Solomon's Temple, some of which, it is believed, may have been preserved until this day. Also, it is worthy of note, the Dyonysian Artificers probably had something to do with the rise of the Builders' Collegia in Rome.  Of these Collegia more must be said.

A Collegium ("Collegia" is the plural) was an association of not less than three men, organized for some specific purpose under the laws of Rome. They began to be fanned during the first century of our era, and they reached their greatest development during the fourth century.  Most of them were Burial Clubs, and existed in order to give the member a respectable interment; others were strictly religious in nature, as in the case of the first Christian societies, which were Collegiate in form; others still were strictly social in nature, like our Shrine; and then there were a great many of miscellaneous character about which nothing need be said.  The Collegia which interest us most were those organized by men engaged in the building trades. Each branch of that trade had its Collegia, and these Collegia, aside from their purely fraternal and charitable features, no doubt preserved the secrets of architecture.  Members were received by ballot; were admitted through an initiation ceremony based on religion and much like our own; there was a common treasury to which each member paid annual dues; each member was placed under oath to keep the secrets of the organization; and the ritual was usually based on a religious myth which had to do with the death and the rising again of some god.  The Masonic reader, as we need not say, already sees the points of similarity with modern Freemasonry and we may agree with all our Masonic scholars in looking upon the Collegia as the Freemasonic lodges of their day and as having contributed much to that long stream of evolution which culminated in our modern Fraternity.

When the Barbarians swept down upon Rome the Collegia, like all other organizations and institutions in the Empire, suffered beyond description; most of them went out of existence entirely and others lingered on, changed beyond description.  Among those that suffered most were the architectural bodies, for, according to such slender evidence as we possess, they were almost completely destroyed, so that it appeared that architecture, or Masonry as it used to be called, was a lost art.  And yet, at the end of the Dark Ages there began to appear in Europe the most marvellous buildings that have ever been erected by the wit and ingenuity of man.  Who preserved the builder's intricate and difficult art during that long lapse from civilization? For a long time the historians of architecture were at a loss to explain this mystery but of late there has grown up a hypothesis which more and more claims the allegiance of learned men.  It is called the Comacine Theory, and thus far the ablest and most exhaustive presentation of it has been made by a woman, Leader Scott, in her volume entitled "The Cathedral Builders." According to this reading of the matter, a guild of architects fled from the Barbarians at the time of the Roman invasion and took refuge on the fortified island of Comacina in the midst of Lake Como, which lies in Lombardy, and which region was at the time the one free place in Italy.  These master builders preserved the secrets of their art and passed it on to their sons, generation after generation, until such time as the new rulers of Europe were themselves sufficiently civilized to demand suitable houses and beautiful public buildings.  Then it was that the Comacini began to spread their influence about.  They organized schools in which youth were taught the rudiments of letters and something of building, and they superintended the erection of walled towns, of highways, palaces, and cathedrals.  As the arts of peace gained on the arts of war these builders became more and more in demand until they had spread over much of Europe, and even as far as England, and perhaps as far as Ireland.  "They were the link," writes Leader Scott, "between the classic Collegia and all other art and trade guilds of the Middle Ages.  They were Freemasons because they were builders of a privileged class, absolved from taxes and servitude, and free to travel about in times of feudal bondage."

As time went on through the Middle Ages, other kinds of guilds were established, as in the Roman Empire, and along with these others, the various branches of the building profession gradually became organized; quarrymen, stone-cutters, wallers, plasterers, etc., each group had its own guild.  But gradually it came about, owing to causes operating at the time, which causes cannot be here explained through lack of space, that the majority of these builders' guilds became purely local in nature, and therefore stationary.  The builders' organization in one city was distinct and separate from the similar organization in an adjoining city; workmen were not permitted to move about at will seeking employment because the feudal system did not permit it. Among all these organizations was one guild, descending from the Comacine Masters, which stood apart from the rest; this was the Cathedral Builders.  To erect a cathedral was an art in itself which required peculiar skill and special knowledge of architecture and therefore the mere local craftsmen were unequipped to work on these and similar structures; accordingly the Cathedral Builders were exempted from the municipal and feudal restrictions and were permitted to move about from place to place.  Many of our scholars believe it was from these particular guilds that Freemasonry has descended and some of them, G. W. Speth for example, believe that the word "Freemason" came into use because these builders, or "masons," were "free" to move about from town to town.

Be that as it may, it is certain that Freemasonry traces back to the medieval builders' guilds that which is most characteristic of itself, its system of symbolism organized about the arts of architecture. The Masonry of these guilds was "operative," that is, it was engaged in the actual building processes, and in that regard was fundamentally different from our own symbolical variety, which is called "speculative"; but in most other regards the modern speculative lodge is strikingly similar to the associations of operatives.  Like us the Each community had its own building traditions.  But operative masons had lodges, and usually a well-guarded building in which to meet; they convened in secret; they were governed by masters and wardens; members were admitted by initiation, and were taught to make themselves known to each other by grips and signs; and the candidates were instructed by a system of symbols and emblems.  When a youth presented himself for membership he was carefully examined, then admitted as Apprentice, or learner, and his name was entered on the books, whence our term, "Entered Apprentice." He was then placed in charge of a Master Mason, lived perhaps in that brother's home, and remained under his tutelage for a period of years, usually seven.  At the expiration of this term he was examined, he had to produce a masterpiece, and, if found worthy, was initiated as a "Fellow of the Craft," or Master Mason, the two terms being interchangeable in those days.  These guilds had certain traditions sometimes kept in writing, and they used "charges" to the candidates; some of these interesting old documents are still extant, and the curious reader will find a well edited collection of them in W. J. Hughan's little book, "Ancient Charges." These documents are quaint in form, uncritical in their account of the origins of Masonry, and in many other ways on a level with their age; but in respect of morality they inculcated a standard far in advance of their times.  No modern Mason has any cause to feel ashamed of this ancestry.

It would be in order now to turn to the Steinmetzen, a powerful German association of builders, or to the Companionage, a French association of travelling Masons, because all our Masonic historians believe that we owe many things to these two great fraternities; but the reader must be referred to Gould's four volume "History" for a full account of these; the restrictions of space compel us to hasten on to the causes which led in the sixteenth century to a breakup of the old builders' guilds in general and the Cathedral Builders in particular.  Our attention will be confined to England because that country became the home of the evolution of Freemasonry from this time on.

A long drawn out Civil War exhausted the people in spirit and finance.  The monasteries, long-time patrons of architecture, were dissolved.  Puritanism came on the scene with an intense hatred for architecture and its demand for plain barn-like structures.  Simon Grynaeus, a contemporary of Martin Luther, rediscovered Euclid's treatise on geometry and published it to the world, thereby "giving away" many of the trade secrets of the Masons.  For these, and for many other less important reasons, the Cathedral Builders rapidly declined in power and prestige and were finally driven to engage in domestic architecture in order to make a livelihood; and to maintain their dwindling lodges they gradually came to admit members who had no intention of engaging in actual Masonic work. These latter were called "accepted" Masons, and their Masonry was called "speculative."

What led these "accepted" Masons to join the Craft? Something of a mystery hangs over the matter but it is supposed that these men, most of whom were well-to-do and some of them, like Elias Ashmole, were learned, were attracted to the fraternity by its wealth of ancient lore, its marvellous system of symbolism, its fine traditions of brotherhood, its inherent democracy, its morality, and its noble spirit.  At first the Speculative Masons were in a minority; but in time, at least in the neighbourhood of London, they came to equal, or even outnumber the operatives; and at last they gained complete control and transformed the whole Fraternity into a speculative system.

Before going on to narrate this story it will be wise for us here to digress a moment in order to say a word about two or three other sources from which modern speculative Masonry undoubtedly derived certain elements. I refer to the occult societies which more or less flourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries such as Kabalism, Hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, etc.  We owe many things to these cults; some of our writers think we owe so much that they ask us to believe that Freemasonry was created in these circles. The present writer has no desire to underestimate our indebtedness in this instance but he believes that in occultism we find tributaries rather than the principal current. The operative Masons were not occultists; the occultists were not operative Masons; how then did the former come to be influenced by the latter? This is still a moot question but there are good reasons to believe that the non-operative Masons who were accepted in the seventeenth century were, many of them, more or less attached to schools of occultism, and that they brought some of it with them when they entered the Order. The reader who feels a keen interest in the matter is referred to such writers as Albert Pike and A.E. Waite and to the scholars who contributed to the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronate Lodge of Research.  All these men, especially the mystical and erudite Waite, have gone into the question thoroughly and have a right to speak.  A mere word about two or three of these occult groups will suffice for our present purpose.

In the first centuries of our era the Egyptian city of Alexandria was a great intellectual melting-pot.  To that centre Greeks took their philosophies; Egyptians carried their mythologies; the Jews their Old Testament, along with learned interpretations thereof; members of the Mystery Cults took their religious allegories; Christians their Gospel; and the common man carried with him an unquenchable curiosity to know about things mystical, occult, magical. Men were often very learned and almost always superstitious to a degree, and miracles were expected as a matter of course. Because of this extraordinary jumbling of things not a few thinkers undertook to fashion new religions and philosophies which would include all the various cults, creeds, and theories.  Out of Alexandria there came astonishing mixtures of thought; including certain occult systems, among the most prominent of which was Hermeticism.

This school traced its origin back to the so-called "Thrice Greatest Hermes," who was, it seems, in the hazy beginnings of Egyptian mythology, bookkeeper to the other deities. About this Hermes myth these occultists wove a mass of legend, theosophy and magic, all of which was set forth under a rich veil of symbolism.  Just what these men were intending to say or to do by means of all this it is not possible or necessary for us to say, but it does concern us that Hermeticism lasted long in the world, that it exerted a wide influence, that much of it was inherited by later schools, and that many of its symbols, such as the square and compass, triangle, oblong square, gauge, plumb-line, circle with parallel lines, etc., have found place in the system of Masonic symbolism.  It may be that a few of these came to us direst from Hermeticism through the speculative Masons who were accepted by Masonic lodges before the era of the first Grand Lodge.

Kabalism is another school of magic and theosophy to which Masonic historians have paid attention.  For some time prior to Jesus many Jewish scholars were in the habit of interpreting the Old Testament allegorically and mystically.  A number of Jewish rabbis who found their way to Alexandria carried these speculations with them, and later fused them with a number of pagan and possibly Christian elements wherefrom they built up the strange system called Kabalism. Needless to say many symbols were employed in the four or five books accepted as authoritative (the word "Kabala" means "accepted") and among these a Mason would be interested in the Lost Name, Solomon's Temple, the Shekinah, etc. Kabalism existed in out-of-the-way places during the Dark Ages and was brought into Europe by Arabian metaphysicians; falling upon a credulous and magic loving age it was eagerly studied, even by Christian theologians, and it is very probable that certain of its speculations and a few of its symbolisms found their way into the stream of Masonic traditions. At any rate Masonic historians so believe, and most of them number it among secondary Masonic sources.

Out of the mingled currents of Hermeticism and Kabalism was born, early in the seventeenth century, another school of occultism known as Rosicrucianism and so named, probably, because its members were called "Brethren of the Rosy Cross." What was meant by this name is now lost. The Bible of this cult was a strange German book issued in 1614 and called "Fama Fraternitas," which volume has been attributed by some scholars, Dr. Begeman for example, to a Protestant theologian, Dr. Andrea by name. The "Fama" declared that Rosicrucians were of the Protestant faith, honoured king and country, sought the Philosopher's Stone, and searched for the Elixir of Life.  One encounters familiar symbols in Rosicrucian pages, such as the globe, the compasses, square, triangle, level, plummet, etc.  It is difficult and often impossible to follow out the traces of this esoteric cult but it appears that its waters often washed the Masonic shores; just how much we are indebted to it must be left to future scholarship to decide.  As yet we know so little about the whole subject that it is wise to avoid positive statements.

One is tempted to go more thoroughly into these matters. Freemasons, for some reason or other, always have been, and even now remain, peculiarly susceptible to the appeal of the occult; we have had some experience in this country during recent years that prove this. No doubt a learned dustman can find particles of gold buried away in the debris of occultism and the true gold, even in small quantities, is not to be despised; but the dangers attendant upon trifling with the magical are a heavy price to pay for what little we can gain.  Those who have, with worn fingers, untangled the snarl of occult symbolism, tell us that these secret cults have been teaching the doctrine of the one God, of the brotherhood of man, and of the future life of the soul; all this is good but one doesn't need to wade through jungles of weird speculations in order to come upon teachings that one may find in any Sunday School. It behooves the wise student to walk warily; perhaps the wisest thing is to leave occultism altogether alone.  Life is too short to tramp around its endless labyrinths.  Moreover, there is on the surface of Freemasonry enough truth to equip any of us for all time to come.

Thus far we have rapidly traced our evolution from the beginning, down through the Roman Collegia, through the medieval guilds, into the beginnings of Speculative Masonry; we have glanced at a few of the currents of occultism from which we have received something; it is now in order to turn to the Grand Lodge era; and we can turn to it not without a sense of relief because we can, except in matters of minute detail, walk upon the solid ground of fact.

By the opening of the eighteenth century Freemasonry had almost lapsed out of existence; it was not dead but it was exceedingly dormant, and what few lodges were scattered here and there over England, Scotland and Ireland, had little in common except the name and the tradition of a great fraternity. In Scotland it came to pass that one man could make a Mason of another merely by giving him the so-called "Mason's word"; in Ireland conditions differed radically from those that obtained in England; what condition Freemasonry was in on the continent it is hard to say.

But the time for a great awakening had come and the first gleams of a new day brightened the horizon in the year 1716 when certain members of a few lodges in or about London "thought fit to cement under a Grand Master as the centre of Union and Harmony." How many of these "Old Lodges" were concerned we do not know, but Dr. James Anderson, a Presbyterian minister, whose story of the period is "the only official account we possess of the foundations of the Grand Lodge of England, and of the first six years of its history," gives us the names of four, those that met in the following places:

1. The Goose and Gridiron Ale-House. 2. The Crown Ale-House. 3. The Apple-Tree Tavern. 4. Rummer and Grapes Tavern.

To quote Anderson, whose "The New Book of Constitutions" was issued in 1738:

"They and some other old Brothers met at the said Apple-Tree, and having put into the chair the oldest Master Mason (now the Master of a Lodge) they constituted themselves a Grand Lodge Pro Tempore in due form, and forthwith revived the Quarterly Communication of the Officers of Lodges (called the GRAND LODGE) resolv'd to hold the Annual Assembly and Feast, and then to chuse a Grand Master from among themselves, till they should have the Honor of a Noble Brother at their Head.

"Accordingly, on St. John Baptist's Day, in the 3d year of King George I, A. D. 1717, the ASSEMBLY and Feast of the Free and Accepted Masons was held at the aforesaid Goose and Gridiron Ale-Hause.

"Before Dinner, the oldest Master Mason (now the Master of a Lodge) in the chair, proposed a List of proper Candidates; and the Brethren by a Majority of Hands elected Mr. Anthony Sayer, Gentleman, Grand Master of Masons (Mr. Jacob Lamball, Carpenter, Capt. Joseph Elliott, Grand Wardens) who being forthwith invested with the badges of Office and Power by the said oldest Master, and install'd, was duly congratulated by the Assembly who paid him the Homage.

"Sayer, Grand Master, commanded the Masters and Wardens of Lodges to meet the Grand Officers every Quarter in Communication, at the Place that he should appoint in the Summons sent by the Tyler."

George Payne became Grand Master in 1718 and caused "several old copies of the Gothic (i.e. manuscripts) Constitutions" to be "produced and collated," a fact which shows that they earnestly desired to adhere to the old traditions. Rev. J.T. Desaguliers was elected Grand Master in 1719, and George Payne received a second term in 1720.  During the year several manuscripts - copies of the old Constitutions, probably - were burned "by some) scrupulous Brothers, that these papers might not fail into strange Hands." In 1721 Grand Lodge elected to the Grand Mastership John, Duke of Montagu, "the first of a long and unbroken line of noble Grand Masters - and the society rose at a single bound into notice and esteem." So popular did the Order become that the learned Dr. Stokely, writing January 6, 1721, complained that "immediately upon that it took a run and ran itself out of breath through the folly of the members."

At first the Grand Lodge, the formation of which is above described, claimed no jurisdiction except over London and its immediate environs; but it was possessed of such vitality that there was nothing to stay its growth every whither.  In 1721 twelve lodges were represented at the Quarterly Communication; by 1723 the number had increased to thirty.  Gradually lodges outside London came into the jurisdiction and the Grand Lodge itself chartered new organizations here and there, one of which was the lodge in Madrid in 1728, the first on foreign soil.

But the growing authority of the Grand Lodge at London was not unchallenged.  In 1725 the old lodge at York began to call itself a Grand Lodge. In 1729 Irish Masons instituted a Grand Lodge of their own; and the Scotch followed in 1736.  Moreover, rivals sprang up in England itself so that at one time there were no fewer than four bodies operating as Grand Lodges and claiming full sovereignty as such.

One can easily lose himself in the details of the story of all this Masonic organization and re-organization; in the present connection we can safely ignore all except the account of the famous schism of 1753.  A number of Masons in London, mostly Irish, rebelled against the Grand Lodge there and finally set up a Grand Lodge of their own, averring that the older body had departed from many, ancient landmarks.  Calling themselves "Ancient" Masons they dubbed the others the "Moderns" and undertook a vigorous campaign which was, engineered by an exceedingly able man, Lawrence Dermott, who served as secretary of the "Ancient" Grand Lodge for thirty years and was tireless in furthering its aims.  It was he who published in 1756 its first book of laws, called "Ahiman Rezon," which title is supposed by some to mean "Worthy Brother Secretary." Dermott adopted the expedient of army lodges whereby men in service in every part of the world could be inducted into the Fraternity, and this in itself added power to the "Ancients," or Atholl Masons as they also came to be called, owing to the fact that the Duke of Atholl was made Grand Master.

For a long time there was constant strife between the two camps, but by the first decade of the nineteenth century overtures began to be made by one Grand Lodge to the other committees were appointed, and the spirit of unity began to win its way.  In 1813 a great Lodge of Reconciliation was held, at which meeting there were 641 lodges of the so-called "Moderns" represented, and 359 "Ancients." From this famous assembly Masonry emerged cleansed of all its feuds, united and triumphant.

Some time during the first quarter of the eighteenth century Masonry was introduced into America; at least, the earliest known records bear such a date.  With the organization of the Grand Lodge in England Masonry received a new impetus and spread rapidly over the colonies, north, south and west. Some American lodges were organized under warrant from the "Moderns," others under the "Ancients," and this fact in itself accounts for some of the variations in our rituals and customs.  Washington, Lafayette, Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Chief Justice Marshall, such were the names in early nineteenth century American Masonry; and from Revolutionary days until the present when such men as Theodore Roosevelt are proud to own their affiliation, the Craft has drawn to itself many of the noblest leaders of the nation.  The Order played a secret but important part in the Revolution, made itself vitally felt in the terrible years of the Civil War, and at the present labours without fear, fatigue, or failure in behalf of such principles as form the very structure of our nation.  What Masonry is to mean in the future no man knows, nor can know, but it is still filled with undying youth, and it so happens that in the very autumn in which this is being written a great Masonic Service Association has been launched by a large number of Grand Lodges through their representatives at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Of all these things it is impossible to write; nor is it possible to say anything of the Higher Grades, or of the work of the great individuals who have played such a part in the formation of American Masonry, and through it of the nation; such names as Albert Pike, Theodore Sutton Parvin, Albert Mackey, and many others of similar repute, would shine in any roster of great men.

Freemasonry is in its very nature profoundly religious but it is not a church, for, though it is friendly to all churches that preach the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man, and the Immortality of the Soul, it teaches no theological dogmas of its own.  It is not a political organization, whatever its enemies may allege, but it is vitally interested in the public life of the land and never sleeps in its efforts to keep American governmental life as pure as possible.  It preaches no program of reform but nevertheless lends itself to every effort made to lift the burdens of life from the common people, and it evermore holds before its membership the high ideals of service and of mutual helpfulness. It is a great body of picked men, in this country two million strong, who are bound together by sacred and serious obligations to assist each other, by means of fraternity, and through the teaching instrumentalities of ritual, to build in each man and in society at large a communal life which is not inadequately described as a Holy Temple of Human Souls.

Such, in brief, is the Story of Freemasonry.  What a story it is! It began in a far fore-time in a few tiny rivulets of brotherly effort; these united into a current that swept with healing waters across the pagan centuries; many tributaries augmented its stream during the Middle Ages; and in modern times it has become a mighty river which sweeps on irresistibly.  And now, if we may venture to change the figure, its halls are the homes of light and life; therein men may learn how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Well may one unclasp his shoes and uncover his head as he enters a Masonic lodge; a symbolism white with an unutterable age is there, and voices eloquent with an old, old music, and a wisdom drawn from the thought and travail of a thousand generations!

* * *

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following books are recommended to the reader. Except in the cases of Oliver, Preston and Hutchinson the authors belong to the modern school of Masonic scholarship as described in the opening pages of this essay. All these volumes may be borrowed from Masonic Libraries. Except when out of print they may be purchased through the ordinary channels of the book business.

*"Concise History of Freemasonry" by Gould.

"Old Charges of Freemasonry" by Hughan.

"Hole Craft of Freemasonry" by Conder.

"History of Freemasonry" by Findel.

"Antiquities of Freemasonry" by Fort.

"Spirit of Masonry" by Hutchinson.

"Morals and Dogma" by Albert Pike.

"On the Mysteries" by Plutarch.

"Illustrations of Masonry" by Preston.

"Signs and Symbols" by Oliver.

"Masonic Symbolism" by Mackey.

"The Cathedral Builders" by Leader Scott.

"The Guilds" by Toulmin Smith.

* "The Philosophy of Masonry" by Pound.

* "Freemasonry before the Era of Grand Lodges" by Vibert.

"Study in Mysticism" by Waite.

"Primitive Secret Societies" by Webster.

* "The Builders" by Newton.

* "Speculative Masonry" by MacBride.

Transactions of the Lodge Quatuor Coronati.

* Mackey's "Encyclopedia of Freemasonry."

Waite's "Secret Traditions in Freemasonry."

The bound volumes to date of * "THE BUILDER," published by the National Masonic Research Society at Anamosa, Iowa.

The titles marked by (*) are especially recommended to beginners.

(A number of the books listed by Brother Haywood are out of print and second-hand copies unobtainable. Readers are referred to the monthly list published in the book review section of THE BUILDER for such books as are procurable through the Anamosa office. - Editor.)

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GERMAN MASONRY

(COMPILED BY BRO. ROBERT I. CLEGG, NEW YORK)

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Men best show their character in trifles, where they are not on their guard. It is in insignificant matters, and in the simplest habits, that we often see the boundless egotism which pays no regard to the feelings of others, and denies nothing to itself. - Schopenhauer.

A LODGE MEETS ON A HIGH HILL

BY BRO. ALFRED J. MOKLER, WYOMlNG

While our ancient brethren met "on the highest hills and in the lowest valleys" such meetings in these modern times are rarely heard of. Under a dispensation issued by M.’.W.’.Brother Arthur K. Lee, Grand Master of Masons in Wyoming, a Special Communication of Casper Lodge No. 15, A.F. & A.M., was held on the summit of "Independence Rock" located about forty-nine miles southwest of Casper, Wyoming, of which the following interesting account, written in advance of the meeting, is given.

ON THE Fourth of July, 1862, there were nearly a thousand men, women and children congregated at Independence Rock, the most of whom were traveling toward the setting sun, seeking fame and fortune, but not a few of these thousand souls who were there were on their way back from the new and wild country, retracing their steps to the "settlements," where the hardships were not so many, where hostile Indians were not to be found, and where life was more secure.

Independence Rock is in Natrona County, about forty-nine miles southwest from the City of Casper. It was the resting place for the emigrants in the early days, and it was here they all stopped for a few days to repair their wagons, rest their horses, mules and oxen, mend and wash their clothing, administer to the sick and weary, sometimes to bury their dead, and to do such other things that they could not do while traveling over the rough and rugged country in a "prairie schooner."

When the travelers who were headed for the Far West, that is to say, the Oregon country, reached Independence Rock, they estimated that they were half way between Westport, or Independence, near where Kansas City is now located, and the Pacific Coast, the distance being about 2,000 miles from their starting point to their destination.

On the particular day mentioned, which will have been fifty-eight years ago this coming Fourth of July, among the hundreds of people who had gathered at this interesting and historical spot on the desert, there were about twenty men present who could and did prove themselves as Master Masons, and it was decided by these men to hold a Masonic meeting on the summit of the rock, this being the first time that a Masonic meeting was to be opened and closed in form in what is now the State of Wyoming, and a communication from Asa L. Brown, a Past Grand Master of Washington Territory, to Edgar P. Snow, Grand Master of Masons in the Territory of Wyoming in 1875, thus explains how the meeting was planned and carried out:

"We had just concluded our arrangements for a celebration on the rock, when Capt. Kennedy's train from Oskaloosa, Iowa, came in, bringing the body of a man who had been accidentally shot and killed that morning. Of course, we all turned out to the burial, deferring our celebration until 4 p.m., at which time we were visited by one of those short, severe storms, peculiar to that locality, which, in the language of some of the boys, 'busted the celebration.' But some of us determined on having some sort of a celebration, as well as a remembrance of the day and place, and so about the time the sun set in the west, to close the day, about twenty who could vouch, and so to speak, intervouch for each other, wended their way to the summit of the rock, and soon discovered a recess, or, rather depression, in the rock, the form and situation of which seemed prepared by nature for our special use.

"An altar of twelve stones was improvised, to which a more thoughtful or patriotic traveler added the thirteenth, emblematical of the original colonies, and being elected to the East by acclamation, I was duly installed, i.e., led to the granite seat. The several stations and places were filled, and the Tyler, a venerable traveler, with flowing hair and beard of almost snowy whiteness, took his place without the western gate on a little pinnacle, which gave him a perfect command of view for the entire summit of the rock, so he could easily guard against the approach of all, either ascending or descending. I then informally opened Independence Lodge, No. 1, on the degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason, when several of the brethren made short, appropriate addresses, and our venerable Tyler gave us reminiscences of his early Masonic history, extending from 1821 to 1862. It was a meeting which is no doubt remembered by all of the participants who are yet living, and some of those who there became acquainted, have kept up fraternal intercourse ever since."

In connection with this meeting, it may be stated that the jewels the officers wore were cut from tin cans, the square and compasses, as emblems of the fraternity, were cut from a pasteboard box, and the Holy Bible which rested on the altar, was a volume of the "Old and New Testaments, Translated Out of the Original Tongues," it being published in the year 1857. The volume was presented by Mrs. Jannette Parkhurst and R. P. Parkhurst to Edwin Bruce, and Edwin Bruce in turn presented it to Mr. Brown at Plattsville, Wis., August 15, 1858.

The records kept of the meeting, the officers' jewels and the emblems that were used were wrapped in a piece of oilcloth and placed in a crevice of the rock, there to remain for future ages, and about twenty years afterward a man named Gus Lankin found them, all of which were in perfectly good order and well preserved. Lankin turned them over to Tom Sun, whose ranch home was not far distant from the rock, and Mr. Sun presented them to Rawlins Lodge, No. 5, A. F. and A. M., where they remained for a number of years. It has been said that a provision was in the minutes to the effect that the Masonic lodge nearest to the rock should be the custodian of the records, emblems and jewels, but whether this is true cannot be absolutely stated, but whether true or not, they did not remain in the custody of Rawlins lodge, for James Rankin, a member of Rawlins lodge, without consent, took them to Cheyenne, where they were kept in the Masonic Temple, and later consumed by fire when the Temple burned. The Bible evidently was taken by Mr. Brown to his new home in Washington, and was later presented by him to the Masonic Grand Lodge of Wyoming, as indicated by the writings on the fly leaf in the book. The Bible was also in the Temple when the fire occurred, but it was among the few articles that were carried out of the building, and it was picked up in the street and returned to the custodian of the Temple without being damaged, except by the smell of the smoke. This highly-prized Holy Book is now in the possession of Grand Secretary Joseph M. Lowndes at Lander, and no doubt always will, as it should, remain the property of the Grand Lodge of Wyoming.

The writer had occasion to visit Independence Rock several times during the summer and autumn of 1919 in connection with some incidents he is preparing for his "History of Natrona County," and he is positive that he located the recess, or depression, on the summit of the rock where this meeting of Masons was held fifty-eight years ago, and one evening while standing in this depression the thought occurred to him that to hold another Masonic meeting on this same spot would be one of the most impressive meetings that could ever be held. The matter was brought before the Masonic Grand Lodge meeting held in Casper on October 8-9, 1919, and many of the members of that body enthusiastically approved the proposed meeting, declaring that they would not fail to attend, and it was their opinion that it would undoubtedly be one of the largest gatherings of Masons ever held in Wyoming.

Later on, at a meeting of the local lodge, the Grand Master was requested to grant a special dispensation to hold a meeting on Independence Rock on July 4th, 1920. This dispensation being granted, Brothers A. J. Mokler, L. A. Reed and J. J. Svendsen were selected as a committee to make appropriate arrangements for the memorable event, and while all the details are not yet perfected, it is proposed that the occasion shall be not only a Masonic affair, but the Fourth of July as well will be celebrated on this historical rock, and the wives and daughters of all Masons, together with the city and county officers, will be invited to attend the celebration.

The beautiful Sweetwater River is hard by, and it is an ideal spot for camping and picnicking, and quite a number of people contemplate going out the day before to enjoy the outing, as well as to avoid the fatigue of a long drive in one day, and it is proposed by this "advance guard" to take with them some fireworks and illuminate the rock and the sky in that vicinity as it was never illuminated before. There are others who will go out on the morning of the Fourth and remain over until the next day, and they will also celebrate the day and the evening in a manner befitting the occasion.

The Masonic meeting will be held promptly at 1 o'clock in the afternoon in the depression on the summit of the rock, which, of course, will be attended only by those who can prove themselves as Master Masons. The lodge will be opened, the dispensation will be read, the charter of the local lodge displayed, the Master will state the object of the meeting and an address will be made by Hon. William A. Riner of Cheyenne, but on account of the limited time no other addresses will be made, but a bronze tablet, with an appropriate inscription, will be cemented into the rock near the station of the Worshipful Master with impressive ceremonies.

Not only will prominent men and Masons from the State of Wyoming be present on this occasion, but a number from other States will be there. Automobiles will be driven from Laramie, Rawlins, Shoshoni, Lander and Thermopolis, and at least 100 autos from Casper will be there, and all the Masonic brethren who come to this city desiring to make the trip will be amply provided for.

The drive from Casper to Independence Rock will require between three and four hours. The roads are good, flags will be stationed along the route in order that strangers or those who have never been there may not lose their way, the scenery is beautiful and you pass by many intensely interesting and historical spots. There are two routes. If you care to go over the old Oregon Trail on the northwest side of the river, you cross the bridge about a mile west from the city; you pick up the old trail after traveling about three miles; seventeen miles out you go through Emigrant Gap, going by the way of Poison Spider and Poison Spring Creek, traveling over the old trail, almost in the very tracks that were made in 1842 to 1869, nearly forty miles, and along this forty miles it is estimated that there is a human grave every half mile of the route. The clearest idea and best description of this trail that has ever been printed is thus written by Capt. Chittenden:

"This wonderful highway was in the broadest sense a national road, although not surveyed or built under the auspices of the government. It was the route of a national movement - the migration of a people seeking to avail itself of opportunities which have come but rarely in the history of the world and which will never come again. It was a route every mile of which has been the scene of hardship and suffering, yet of high purpose and stern determination. Only on the steppes of Siberia can so long a highway be found over which traffic has moved by a continuous journey from one end to the other. Even in Siberia there are occasional settlements along the route, but on the Oregon Trail in 1343 the traveler saw no evidence of civilized habitation except four trading posts, between Independence and Fort Vancouver.

"As a highway of travel the Oregon Trail is the most remarkable known to history. Considering the fact that it originated with the spontaneous use of travelers; that no transit ever located a foot of it; that no level established its grades; that no engineer sought out the fords or built any bridges or surveyed the mountain passes; that there was no grading to speak of nor any attempt at metalling the roadbed; and the: general good quality of this 2,000 miles of highway will seem most extraordinary.

"Father De Smet, who was born in Belgium, the home of good roads, pronounced the Oregon Trail one of the finest highways in the world. At the proper season of the year this was undoubtedly true. Before the prairies became too dry, the natural turf formed the best roadway for horses to travel on that has probably ever been known. It was amply hard to sustain traffic, yet soft enough to be easier to the feet than even the most perfect asphalt pavement. Over such roads, winding ribbonlike through the verdant prairies, amid the profusion of spring flowers, with grass so plentiful that the animals reveled in its abundance and game everywhere greeted the hunter's rifle, and finally, with pure water in the streams, the traveler sped his way with a feeling of joy and exhiliration.

"But not so when the prairies became dry and parched, the road filled with stifling dust, the stream beds mere dry ravines, or carrying only alkaline water which could not be used, the game all gone to more hospitable sections, and the summer sun pouring down its heat with torrid intensity. It was then that the trail became a highway of desolation, strewn with abandoned property, the skeletons of horses, mules and oxen, and alas ! too often with freshly made mounds and headboards that told the pitiful tale of sufferings too great to be endured.

"If the trail was the scene of romance, adventure, pleasure and excitement, so it was in every mile of its course by human misery, tragedy and death. Over much of its length the trail is now abandoned, but in many places it is not yet effaced from the soil and may not be for centuries. There are few more impressive sights than portions of this old highway today. It still lies there upon the prairie, deserted by the traveler, an everlasting memorial of the human tide which once filled it to overflowing. Nature herself has helped to perpetuate this memorial, for the prairie winds, year by year, carve the furrows more deeply and the sunflower blossoms along its course, as if in silent memory of those who sank beneath its burdens.

"But if the trail, as a continuous highway of travel, has ceased to exist, the time will come, we may confidently believe, when it will be reoccupied, never to be abandoned again. It is so occupied at the present time over a large portion of its length. Railroads practically follow the old line from Independence to Casper, Wyoming, some fifty miles east of Independence Rock; and from Bear River on the Utah-Wyoming line to the mouth of the Columbia. The time is not distant when the intermediate space will be occupied, and possibly a continuous and unbroken movement of trains over the entire line may some day follow. In a future still more remote there may be realized a project which is even now being agitated, of building a magnificent national road along this line as a memorial highway which shall serve the future and commemorate the past."

For greater comfort and the saving of time it is not advisable to go over this route on this occasion, the better road, the shorter route and easier traveling being the southeast side of the Platte River. The scenery is just as beautiful and interesting, and there is no chance whatever of picking up a trail leading to some other place than your desired destination.

Just outside the city limits to the right of the road you pass the Standard and Midwest refineries, where 3,000 men are employed and the plants are in operation every twenty-four hours of the day during the whole year 'round. Ten millions of dollars have been expended in the erection of these plants, and thousands of gallons of gasoline and other products are produced every day, and these products are distributed to nearly every state in the Union.

Less than a mile further on, to the north, on the bank of the river, was located Fort Casper in the '60s, where Lieut. Casper Collins, in 1865, lost his life, being killed by the Indians, while attempting to rescue a number of soldiers who had gone out in an attempt to save a train of emigrants from being massacred. The City of Casper was named after this brave young soldier. The hills to the left of the road is where the Indians gathered in great numbers in the hope of finding the soldiers at Fort Casper off their guard so they could swoop down and destroy the fort, drive away the stock, take the supplies and kill the soldiers. A great many skirmishes occurred on these hills and in the valleys, and during the years that the fort was located here hundreds of Indians were slain, and no small amount of soldiers also met their death.

Twelve miles out from the city, on the north bank of the river, where Poison Spider Creek empties into the North Platte, is where the first cabin was built in what is now the state of Wyoming. In the early winter of 1812 Robert Stuart, with his six men, built this cabin with the intention of spending the winter there, but in less than a month after the cabin had been built and their store of meat had been gathered, the party was scared away by a band of marauding Indians. In the "glade" on the south side of the road is where Stuart's men killed the deer, elk and bear for their winter's supply. There was an abundance of buffalo on the plains north of the river, and many of these were also added to their larder.

After traveling about fifteen miles you approach the Platte River canyon. There are some places in this canyon where the river is fully 100 feet below the road and the water goes tumbling and roaring over the huge rocks in the bed of the stream in impetuous rapids and foaming cascades. To the left of the roadside great rocks are piled in the most fantastic crags and precipices, rising like gigantic walls and battlements to a height of hundreds of feet. Passing out of the canyon, the river is of a glassy smoothness and placidity, and far ahead you view delightful valleys, carpeted with green sward.

Eighteen miles out you pass a monument, which, from the inscription, would indicate that it is on the old Oregon Trail, but the Oregon Trail is far to the north, on the opposite side of the river. The Jim Bridger Trail, which was seldom traveled, and long since every trace of which has been obliterated, was in this vicinity. The board of county commissioners some day will move this monument to Independence Rock, which is on the Oregon Trail, and the proper location for the marker.

After passing numerous ranches along Bates Creek you cross the Platte River on the government bridge. This bridge was built by the reclamation service in connection with the Pathfinder irrigation project. Near here you can see the huge cleft in the rock at Alcova, where the rapid-running stream in countless ages cut a canyon through stone several hundred feet deep. At Alcova, about a mile ofl from the road to the left, is the wonderful hot springs, where the hot water comes boiling out of the rocks as though it was heated from the flames of a furnace.

Twelve miles west from Alcova and only a short distance to the south is the wonderful Pathfinder dam and reservoir, which required the federal government five years to build, employing the best engineering talent obtainable, dozens of skilled mechanics and several hundred laboring men, together with machinery that cost an immense fortune. This most wonderful piece of masonry cost more than a million and a half dollars.

Traveling about ten miles from Pathfinder dam you view Independence Rock, and to the west, to the south and the north the whole country is of wild and varied scenery, dominated by immense mountains, rearing their distant grandeurs and originality of views, all of which fills the traveler with awe and delight.

Independence Rock is an isolated mass of black granite, nearly one mile in length from north to south, more than one-half mile in width from east to west, 193 feet in height at the north end and 167 feet high at the south end. It resembles a large bowl turned bottom-side up, standing out on the plain, near the foothills of the Rocky Mountain range. Sweetwater River, one of the prettiest streams in the whole western country, flows immediately to the south of the rock.

The Indians came to this rock more than a century ago to paint their picture writing on its smooth surface.

There is no record of the exact date of the first white men to pass this way, but Rev. Samuel Parker, who was there on the 7th of August, 1835, says, "this rock takes its name from the circumstance of a company of fur traders suspending their journey and here observing, in due form the anniversary of our national freedom." Capt. Bonneville was here on or about the 14th of July, 1832, but the exact date cannot be definitely stated. I judge, however, from his notes, it must have been about this date, for he says: "On the 12th of July we abandoned the main stream of the Nebraska (now the Platte), which was continually shouldered by rugged promontories, and making a bend to the southwest for a couple of days, part of the time over the plains of loose sand, encamped on the 14th on the banks of the Sweetwater, a stream about twenty yards in breadth and 4