SigMT

SIGNATURE MONTANA | 37 Meriwether Lewis's portrait, c. 1805, shows him as he appeared at the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Library of Congress. The Masonic apron of Meriwether Lewis was likely carried across Montana on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1805-1806. His blood-stained apron includes the all-seeing eye and other symbols of Masonic significance. Image courtesy Grand Lodge of Montana. In 1960, retiring Grand Master Joseph Hopper of Billings purchased the apron for five hundred dollars and presented it to the Helena Grand Lodge. e apron's journey represents two important threads in Montana's history. e explorers le lile evidence of their Montana travels. Clark's signature on Pompeys Pillar and the 2002 archeological discoveries at Travelers' Rest (military buons, bullets, and a mercury-laced latrine) are the two known exceptions. e explorers also named Montana's waterways aer prominent individuals and the Wisdom, Philanthropy, and Philosophy (now the Big Hole River, Ruby River, and Willow Creek) aer names connected to Masonic ritual. Meriwether Lewis, likely the first Mason to set foot in Montana, le this evidence of his affiliation. Half a century later, in September 1862, an emigrant train from Minnesota under Captain James Fisk camped on the western edge of the Rocky Mountains. Nathaniel Langford, second in command of the Fisk party, along with Sioux interpreter George Gere and surveyor David Charlton, made their way to the summit of Mullan Pass. Official lodge meetings required a seven-person quorum, but the grandeur of the mountains in the clear September twilight bedazzled and inspired them to open and close an informal lodge meeting of Master Masons.

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