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38 | SIGNATURE MONTANA Ellen Baumler, retired after 26 years as the interpretive historian at the Montana Historical Society, continues her mission to tell Montana's lesser-known stories. She is the author of many books and dozens of articles on various Montana topics. This article is an edited excerpt from Hidden History of Helena, Montana, The History Press, 2019, co-authored with Jon Axline. S MT The Grand Lodge of Montana's Museum is at 425 N. Park Avenue in Helena. Author photo. William Bell's tombstone lies in Bannack's Boot Hill Cemetery. Bell's funeral may symbolize the "77" in the vigilante warning "3-7-77." Courtesy Findagrave.com. According to Masonic tradition, this first lodge meeting of the three Masons is one of three events some believe explains the well-known 3-7-77 vigilante warning. e "3" represents the informal meeting, "7" represents the quorum, and "77" represents the funeral of William Bell, whose demise of mountain fever on November 12, 1862, was Bannack's first natural death. Seventy-six Masons assembled for that first formal fraternal gathering; Bell himself was the seventy-seventh. Masons were of considerable importance to Montana's first white communities and helped lay the cornerstones of the new territory. Masons established some of the first fraternal organizations in the mining camps and applied for dispensation to establish a lodge at Bannack in April 1863. By the time permission arrived, potential members had moved to Alder Gulch. Lodges were subsequently established at Nevada City and Virginia City in 1864 and Helena in 1865. Several dark rust-colored stains mar the front of the apron. If it indeed rested in Captain Lewis's pocket at the time of his death, the stains could be his blood. With the permission and help of Grand Secretary Donald Schenck, in the 1970s, Dr. Eldon Chuinard obtained tiny water-dissolved samples of the stains and took them to the University of Oregon Medical School. ey tested positive for both deer and human blood. DNA, taken in 2012 and 2019, revealed several individuals unrelated to the Lewis family. Further testing could eventually reveal whose blood is on the apron. Many versions of Meriwether Lewis's fate have trickled down over time. His death is one of the country's most enduring mysteries. While many scholars insist that Lewis commied suicide, ample evidence suggests otherwise. In 1848, the Tennessee legislature authorized funds to memorialize Lewis's gravesite, but the grave and remains had first to be identified. A commiee, including longtime physician Dr. Samuel B. Moore, partially exhumed the skull and upper skeleton. e commiee reported that "assassination" was the most likely cause of death. Most historians commenting on Lewis's death fail to mention this finding. Further, in 1928, refurbishing of the Lewis monument accidentally exposed the skull, revealing a bullet hole in the back. Park Superintendent DeLong Rice reportedly commented, "Isn't it interesting that a man who killed himself, shot himself in the back of the head?" Only exhumation could finally determine the cause of Meriwether Lewis's death. One hundred sixty signatures of Lewis's closest descendants support the exhumation of Lewis's remains. A 1996 Tennessee coroner's jury agreed that exhumation was warranted, but the National Park Service, caretaker of the Meriwether Lewis Monument in the Natchez Trace Parkway, has denied the request. ank you to Montana's Grand Secretary, Daniel Gardiner, for his knowledge and assistance. Montana's Grand Lodge AF & AM Museum at 425 N. Park Avenue, Helena, is open M-F, 8:30-4:30. Please call ahead: 406-442-7774.

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