Chapter VI
VALLEY LODGE NO. 9
Dayton, NevadaThe story of the discovery of the Comstock lade on the barren slope of Sun Peak (or Mt. Davidson) mountain, overshadows the discovery of any modern, or even ancient uncovering of silver and gold deposit; even the wealth of the famed mines of Solomon, king of Israel, dwindle into unimportance when compared with the wealth hidden in this treasure chest of nature. A wealth unbelievable in its vastness and richness, a treasure which made millionaires out of muckers, and was instrumental in a critical period of preserving the credit of our nation.
It is a story of hardship and privation, discouragements and disappointments, which led to the eventual uncovering of this treasure, and the ushering in of years of unprecedented mining and industrial activity, unequalled in the annals of American mining history.
The incidents leading up to the discovery of the Comstock, began back in 1847 when the pioneers halted in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, and a little later sent out sizable bands of settlers into outlying sections of the west, to establish new settlements, and build up and develop the country; such a settlement was made over in what is now Carson Valley in 1849-1850 - the location being named Mormon Station. In like manner, Ragtown and Halls Station came into existence. From these stations, the more venturesome and gold minded set out and prospected with indifferent success the streams and canyons adjacent to their parent settlement. But some wandered further afield, finally stopping to prospect in a rocky canyon down which trickled a tiny creek, at the head of which a wind swept, craggy mountain reared its barren head high into the sky. From a wandering Indian squaw, they inquired its name and were told, "him Sun Peak," a name which held no meaning nor suggestion for them, although, hidden in its rocky depths and embrace was the ransom of kings.
In this canyon the handful of sturdy toilers continued to prospect for weeks, but snow in the mountains drove most of them back to Carson Valley. However, Wm. Prouse, Nicholas Kelley and John Orr remained to pan the sands for gold, and one day John Orr was rewarded by finding a good sized nugget of gold in the sand; in his elation over his find, he named the place Gold Canyon. Here for succeeding summers the Mormons continued their search for the yellow metal, but at the best, all they could realize for their efforts was from one to two dollars per day in "gold dust" and the cost of living was excessively high.
In 1857, Brigham Young recalled his scattered people to "Zion" and truck farms, sawmills, cabins, mining claims and irrigation ditches which had been set up by "the followers of the 'prophet' " were deserted, and the return trek to Utah began. As a result of this exodus. Chinese labor took over these abandoned possessions of the settlers. and Halls, or Mormon, Station became "Chinatown," but the few remaining whites would not submit to this mongol appellation, and the place was rechristened "Mineral Rapids," which proving unpopular, was changed to "Nevada City," but as this in turn did not register, in time the town became "Dayton," and so it is known today, though, since the decline of ore production on the Comstock, the place has sadly retrograded. It was near Halls Station (where Dayton now stands) that the first prospecting for gold in Nevada was done by a party of emigrants enroute for California. Their efforts were negligible, and they hurried on their way; others took their place, and by the spring of 1857 it is claimed that 150 men were at work in the canyon, the real scene of operations being Johntown, a camp of shanties, huts and tents, about four miles up the canyon from Dayton.
It was from this primitive settlement that mining was developed on the Comstock, for from this jumble of huts and hovels, the prospectors wandered into outlying canyons upon the slope of Sun Peak Mountain, digging a gopher hole here, snatching a handful of promising looking sand there; down Gold Canyon they tested the ground to the south, up Six Mile eastward they worked, using pan and rocker to wash the yellow flakes from the gravel and sand, unconscious of the bonanzas which lay ahead, unmindful of the fact that the meager store of the precious metal they cleaned from their rockers, and washed from their pans must have come from a source high up in the ledges of decomposing rock, at the brim of the canyon.
But the story is long, and has to do not only with a great metal bearing lode, but deals with great men whose lives were woven into the development of the district, like a delicate, but suggestive pattern is woven into a priceless oriental rug; great men from out of whose ranks came leaders: Wm. A. Stewart, Adolph Sutro, John P. Jones, Wm. Sharon, Wm. C. Ralston, James G. Fair, John W. Mackay, James C. Flood, and W. S. O'Rrien, all of whom were industrial, commercial or professional giants, designed by fate to fill their individual niche in the affairs of the district.
But, while these men stood out foremost among those by whose efforts the Comstock was to be made famous, and through whose magic touch unbelievable riches would be developed and made to flow into the channels of trade and finance, other brilliant men were to add their names and fame to the powerful coterie which brought fame and luster to the Comstock, among whom were: Mark Twain, Dan DeQuille, Bret Harte, Rollen M. Daggett, Jos. T. Goodman, Arthur McEwan, Alfred Doten, Charley Goodwin, T. E. McCarty and others, who were at some time or other, associated with The Territorial Enterprise, The Gold Hill News and the Virginia Chronicle. The names and lives of these men who afterwards gained literary fame, are written largely into the unusual history of the Comstock.
It was a great drama in which these mighty actors played their parts, and made their entrances and exits; it was a mighty stage on which this drama was enacted, a stage toward which the eyes of the world were turned, and although four score years have passed since first the curtain raised upon that hectic drama, and while thousands hastened from almost every section of the land to be present during the progress of the play, and the final curtain was long in being rung down, yet, when the last scene had been enacted, when the fabulous wealth had been garnered, and had been distributed to revive the drooping industries of the land, and the Comstock, robbed of its people, and shorn of its romance and glamour, was becoming but a memory, as the huge curtain rolled down, and the actors one by one left the stage, then, if never before, was it realized that the glory of the Comstock would be remembered, long after the men have been forgotten who gleaned their wealth from the ruthless tide of commercialism and frenzied finance, which broke against the wind swept slopes of Sun Peak mountain.
While geographically, the settlement at Dayton is a considerable distance from the site of Virginia City, and has but little to do with the real story of the Comstock, yet after all, it has a conspicuous part in the story, for it was on the site where Dayton stands, that gold was first found in Nevada; it was from this point that the Mormon brethren treked to lure the yellow metal from the soil, and it was from Dayton that the movement spread to Johntown, up Gold Canyon and through Six Mile to the final uncovering of the parent lode, and the ushering in of those halcyon days when wealth was power, and the Comstock was ruled by its Bonanza Kings.
Those who have followed the history of Masonry in Nevada, will remember that it was on January 15, 1865, that the eight Masonic lodges of Nevada, then holding their rites under the Grand Lodge of California, assembled at the invitation of Virginia Lodge No. Three, and Escurial Lodge No. Seven, in Virginia City, for the purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge of Masons in Nevada. With its purpose accomplished it adjourned to meet at the call of its executive board, the following year.
In the meanwhile, Masonic impulses had stirred the hearts of the brethren in various parts of the Nevada jurisdiction, to advance the cause and establish new lodges.
The first lodge to be established in the state under authority of the Grand Lodge of Nevada was Valley Lodge No. 9 of Dayton where, on the 20th of February, 1865, a number of sojourning brethren met for the purpose of launching steps towards the organization of a lodge; temporary officers were chosen, and application was made to the Grand Lodge for a dispensation to work as a lodge. The response to this application was not long withheld, for on the 7th of March the dispensation was granted with Chas. F. Brandt named as worshipful master; Henry Sweetapple, senior warden, and Albert Gallatin, junior warden. On the 13th of March the lodge was officially organized, and the officers named in the dispensation were duly installed into office, including also I. C. Hinds, who was elected treasurer; M. i. Henley, secretary, and Calvin Hall, tyler.
A suitable meeting place had already been procured, and it had been properly fitted to make it comfortable and in order for the reception of the new lodge, and for the performance of its labors. It has been said, "the little lodge room was not of unusual type, but it radiated good will, and inspired a feeling of genuine comradeship, which was further augmented and advanced by the fraternal efforts of the brethren." During the following weeks and months, before the severe cold of winter was upon the district, several new members were initiated, passed, and raised, with the result that soon a total membership of 25 was enrolled.
At the first annual communication of the Grand Lodge, held in Masonic Hall in Virginia City, in October, 1865, the Committee on Charters recommended that a charter be issued to Valley Lodge under dispensation, and that it be numbered in accordance with the date of dispensation.
Complying with this recommendation, a charter was duly issued on October 12, 1865. The journal of proceedings of that session does not report that any officer of the Grand Lodge, or an authorized deputy, had officiated at either the instituting or constituting of the baby lodge of the state, or installed the new officers of the lodge, nor are the records of the lodge available to indicate who performed that service in either case, although in both instances the officers were regularly installed, for the journal of G. L. proceedings show the following brethren of that lodge in service, viz: Daniel Kendrick, worshipful master; Francis H. Kennedy, senior warden; James E. Sabine, junior warden; John Hinds, treasurer; Michael Henley, secretary; Freedom H. Cowles, senior deacon; John Loftus, junior deacon; John C. Hazlett, marshal; Thomas W. Abrams and Mathew J. McCutchen, stewards; Calvin Hall, tyler.
The Masons who pioneered the way in Valley Lodge No. 9 were men of high moral and intellectual attainments, and took a leading part not only in the activities of their lodge, but exercised a dominant influence upon the affairs of the Grand Lodge of Nevada, as well as upon the developments of the community in which they made their home. As an indication of the standing of the brethren, it may be related that the first worshipful master of the lodge, Charles F. Brandt, afterwards became a member of the Grand Lodge; at the laying of the corner stone of the Nevada State Capitol he was serving as Grand Warden, and during the period of his activity in the Grand Body, was chosen on some of the outstanding committees of the Grand Lodge. He also occupied positions of trust and confidence in the town of Dayton.
JAMES E. SABINE, junior warden of Valley Lodge in 1866, and Grand Pursuivant of the Grand Lodge the same year, took a leading part in the affairs of his community, as well as in the activities of the Masonry of the state.
FRANCIS H. KENNEDY afterward became a prominent factor in the politics of Lyon county. At the time of his entry into Valley Lodge he was a man in the full possession of his mental powers, and impressed all with whom he came in contact with his vigor and alertness.
In the local history of Dayton is found the names of many of the Craft, who were outstanding in the progress and commercial development of the town, among whom John C. Hinds, Freedom H. Cowles, John C. Hazlett, Richard Cook, Chas. D. King, John Loftus, Henry Sweetapple, Albert Gallatin, Eben D. Towne, and others, contributed not only of their efforts and influence to the upbuilding of Dayton, but extended their activities to the development of the resources of the surrounding territory, and to the creating of agencies which brought prestige and standing to Lyon county.
It was unquestionably a splendid membership roll, and the personnel of this lodge did much to create and promote such favorable impressions in the district, that the precepts and example of the brethren, their moral worth and integrity, drew the attention of those outside the lodge, and they, of their own free will and accord, sought sanctuary with the brethren.
Among those who later became members of Valley Lodge were brethren who were elected to positions of trust and confidence in municipal, county and state affairs. Time and space will not permit an enumeration of the abilities and qualifications of these brothers, but it was through their efforts and merit that the district from which they hailed attained prominence as the producer of able and mentally alert citizens.
Some of these brethren, those who became members of Valley Lodge in after years, are still living, at this date (1944 - ed.) and, although time has levied its tribute upon them, and their physical vigor has been sapped, yet mentally, they are keen. Throughout the years their devotion to the principles of Masonry has not waned, and as their physical strength will permit, they are consistent and loyal attendants at the meetings of their lodge; passing years have not quenched their thirst for Masonic lore and virtues, nor has Time robbed them of those fraternal impulses, which in the days gone by, prompted them to seek and find sanctuary in Masonry.
One of the best known and beloved Masons who was at one time a member of Valley Lodge, but who later demitted to Reno Lodge No. 13, is Brother Walter J. Harris, past master of Valley Lodge. The Masonic career of Brother Harris is familiar to all Nevada Masons, by whom he is respected and admired. His entry into the Grand Lodge of Nevada was the occasion of immediate notice by that body, and he was at once given a place in its deliberations. He served as Grand Master in 1906; to this office he gave that same degree of impartial, studious and capable attention that has always characterized his active and industrious business career.
In 1919 he was elected Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge, to which office he was re-elected year by year, serving in all for twenty-five consecutive years. He has also been chosen to preside over the Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons, as Grand High Priest, also serving as Grand Commander Knights Templar of Nevada.
He is a member of DeWitt Clinton Commandery No. One, of Reno, and a member of Kerak Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine.
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For sixty-one years Valley Lodge continued to diffuse Masonic light; it was accounted a unit of fraternal strength and integrity among the constituent lodges of Nevada, and was a potent factor for the dissemination of every Masonic virtue.
Eventually, disaster came upon it, through the removal of many of its members to other jurisdictions, or from demitting to other lodges of the state, due to the decline of local activities in the district, and the exhaustion of ore supplies in the mines adjacent to Dayton.
For months, the brethren struggled against this tide of events, but the struggle was a losing effort, and finally, with scarcely enough members left to constitute a Masonic quorum, and to properly open a lodge of Master Masons, and with no prospects in sight for a return to its one time prosperity, the remaining brethren sought, and were granted permission to consolidate with Amity Lodge No. 4, at Silver City. This consolidation was made effective in 1926.