On March 6, 1859 the Grand Lodge of Missouri granted a charter to Rocky Mountain Lodge No. 205. Rocky Mountain Lodge was the first organized Lodge of Masons in the Utah Territory, and Utah Masons celebrate its Sesquicentennial Anniversary today. (1)
Rocky Mountain Lodge was organized by the officers of Johnston’s Army. That army, commanded by Col. A.S. Johnston, was sent to Utah in August 1857 by President James Buchanan. They were charged with putting down the Mormon “rebellion” and to install and protect Federal appointees.
The members of Rocky Mountain No. 205 were the first Masons to be granted a charter, but they were not the first Masons to enter the valley. When the first wagon of Mormon Pioneers arrived on July 24, 1847, many of the men in the company were Masons. Many others soon followed.
The occupying soldiers and the beleaguered pioneers did not mix well. Both went out of their way to antagonize one another. The soldiers were convinced that the pioneers were godless secessionists. The Pioneers were equally sure the soldiers were moral degenerates.
The misunderstandings hardened and the enmity between the good people of these two organizations I love escalated until a rule banning Mormons from membership in Utah Masonic Lodges was passed in 1925. (2)
For men of the LDS Faith, the beginning of Masonry in Utah is 1984. That is when many of the men I now call brother voted to rescind that rule. It is fitting that the LDS Church President in 1984 was Spencer W. Kimball, grandson of Heber C. Kimball. Brother Heber was one of the early Mormon Masons, and a stalwart defender of Masonry all his life.
Tonight I will sit in my home Lodge in the Salt Lake Masonic Temple with my good brothers and I will ponder the evolution of Masonry in Utah.
I will consider those men who organized Rocky Mountain Lodge No. 205 and began a rich and storied tradition. I will reflect on the good that came from that beginning. I will also contemplate the good that could have come if the majority of the Utah population had not been denied membership for six decades.
Then, I will think fondly of those men who voted to allow those of my faith the benefits of membership in the Fraternity. I will also look around me at dear friends that I may never have known if it were not for my own membership. And I will be filled with gratitude, for I’ve been richly blessed by all these men and events.
(1) There is a link on this blog if you want to read more of the history of the rise of Masonry in Utah.
(2) Each Grand Lodge is sovereign and makes its own laws and regulations, and only the Grand Lodge of Utah had such a prohibition.
2 comments:
Very interesting facts about Masonry. Love you!
Great post! It is interesting how we as people can often become divided by the external organizations that "define" us as people in so many ways - whether, religious, fraternal, or political. The healing process can take decades.
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