Distinctly Montana Magazine

69 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m retary, for his part, was also a probate judge. As Allen observes, "The use of numbers signifying a link between the vigilantes and the Masons would have embarrassed both men." And for good reason, as American Freemasonry was about to enter its golden age. From 1870 until 1920, fraternal orders in America entered a "golden age." It is particularly telling to note that of the 45 presidents, 15 of them have been Masons, and, with apologies to George Washington and James Madi- son, most were after 1870. In these halcyon days of American Masonry, membership soared and many men across the United States grew to greet each other with secret handshakes that re- vealed their degrees. In short, Montana's Freemasons, at least for a while, sought to disassociate themselves from the actions of Montana's vigilantes. The spread of the Freemasons was only checked by the same decline that has threatened all social clubs and fraternal or- ders—fewer and fewer young people join the Elks, the Knights of Columbus, or the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Though Free- masonry remains by far the most famous and influential organi- zation of its kind, membership is overall on the decline. Today, Montana is replete with Masonic temples, if not with Ma- sons. Lodges persist in Montana's biggest cities, along with Philips- burg, Glendive, Anaconda, and more. Lodges in Pony, Baker, and Ismay have surrendered their charters and vanished into Masonic history, sometimes leaving once-grand buildings shuttered. Masonry will never really go away, though. Institutions on the scale of Freemasonry don't disappear, they wane. And when their season returns, they thrive once more. A new generation of young men might find in Freemasonry the answers to questions that they didn't know they were look- ing for. They might find companionship and the drive to im- prove themselves, a place where they can learn ancient secrets passed down to them over generations. A place, as their clarion call goes, to "make good men better." And those initiates, bonded and brothers and honor-bound, would do well to remember the words repeated during their first-degree initiation, the same words that were intoned by Meriwether Lewis, by Charlie Langford, and countless others. Most scholars maintain that the wording is metaphorical, not in- tended to be taken literally; even so, they are told, Freemasons should keep their secrets vouchsafed, or, having failed to do so: "...have my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by the roots, and my body buried in the rough sands of the sea at low wa- ter-mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours; so help me God, and keep me steadfast in the due perfor- mance of the same." Compared to a fate like that, a simple hanging rope seems like a tender mercy. MT CUSTOM LOG HOME 1/2H

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