SigMT

36 | SIGNATURE MONTANA MEMORY LANE Masonic aprons are a badge symbolic of the aprons worn by stone and brick masons in medieval Europe. Each new Mason receives an apron to wear during ceremonies and rituals. In times past, members wore their aprons to reveal their Masonic affiliation while traveling in dangerous situations. e Lewis apron is hand-sewn with Masonic symbols and other significant emblems painted on its silk front. e unknown artist was likely someone close to him. In the fall of 1809, Captain Lewis was en route from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., to plead his case to the government over nonpayment of expenses incurred during his term as Governor of Louisiana Territory. He also carried the expedition's journals, hoping to make final publication arrangements in Philadelphia and $200 in cash. But Lewis died of gunshot wounds at Grinder's Stand, a wayside inn along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee. e trail, known as the "Devil's Backbone," was a dangerous route famous for its criminal activity. Mysterious circumstances certainly surrounded Lewis's death, and the Lewis family always suspected foul play. ere were no eyewitnesses to the shooting, but Mrs. Grinder supplied several unwrien contemporary accounts describing two gunshots. Lewis did not succumb immediately. He lived for several hours, finally crawling into his bed, where he died. He had one bullet in his abdomen and another in his head. e cash he carried was missing and never recovered. According to the Lewis family, the apron was in Captain Lewis's pocket when he died. Aer an unceremonious hasty burial nearby, a brother traveled to Grinder's Stand to retrieve Lewis's belongings. He gave them to his mother, Jane Lewis Anderson, who distributed them to family members. Seventeen-year-old William Lewis Anderson, as the eldest nephew, received the silver pocket watch and Masonic apron. Great Falls artist Olaf C. Seltzer's 1938 painting, "First Masonic Meeting in Montana on Mullan Pass," depicts the informal lodge meeting that may represent the "3" in the vigilante warning "3-7-77." Grand Lodge of Montana. Portions of the dangerous Natchez Trace in Tennessee, now the Natchez Trace State Parkway, were little more than footpaths that led Lewis on his last journey. Library of Congress. e treasures passed through various close family members until the last, Eugene Brown, a "near relation," possessed the apron and the watch along with an official affidavit describing them. When Brown died in 1924, his widow sold the apron to the Grand Lodge of Missouri. What became of Lewis's silver watch is unclear, but the apron temporarily remained in Missouri, an appropriate resting place. As territorial governor, Captain Lewis helped organize the first Masonic lodge in the Louisiana Purchase at St. Louis in 1808. In 1809, fellow explorer William Clark became a member of that same lodge. Before his travels west, Lewis joined Lodge Number 44 in Albemarle, Virginia, in 1797. He rapidly advanced to Royal Arch Mason by 1799 and most certainly possessed the apron before the expedition began in 1804. He would have carried it with him throughout his travels.

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