Chapter VIII
EXTINCT LODGES OF NEVADAAmong the lodges which were organized in the early days of Nevada's history, are several which flourished "like the green bay tree," filled their niche in the Masonic activities of the state, and with the decline of local progress, and the eventual abandonment of the districts in which they operated, passed into oblivion, and exist in memory only.
Among these, Washoe No. 2, Virginia No. 3, Esmeralda No. 6, Austin No. 10, White Pine No. 14, Steptoe No. 24, all of which have been referred to at length in individual chapters in the compiled history of the constituent lodges of Nevada, have long been extinct. At one time, however, they enjoyed a glorious existence and were dominant factors in the Masonry of Nevada.
Silver Star No. 5, Valley No. 9, and Searchlight No. 31, were consolidated with other lodges in their respective districts, when they had outlived their Masonic activities, and are also numbered with the extinct lodges of Nevada, possessing only what may be termed an "absorbed identity." But Oasis No. 11, Humboldt No. 17, and Palisade No. 20, in time forfeited their charters; each had more or less of a colorful existence, but they too, long since passed into oblivion; they perished with the districts which gave them birth.
OASIS LODGE NO. 11
BELMONT, NEV.As one glances through the mining records of Nye county, the names of mining districts almost forgotten are found: Blue Springs, Empire, Silver Point, Jackson, Summit, Toiyabe and Belmont are now but a memory, and the traveler who stumbles onto these old long since abandoned camps, finds only remnants of old decayed cabins and tottering workings. Among these old camps is one which retains a vestige of its one time prosperity - the ghost camp of Belmont - whose decayed buildings and decrepit mine workings evidence a bygone activity, and attest days when silver was "king" and this old camp resounded to the hum of industry, and prosperity smiled on this district.
But Belmont has long since been abandoned as a mining camp, and its few scattered residents are interested only with cattle and farming industry in that vicinity, while its mills have long since been looted of all useful machinery, and their walls have crumbled and sagged until they have become a playground for wild things, while the wind chants a requiem as it sweeps and moans through the ruins of what were once masterpieces of mechanical construction. However, back in 1865-1866 Belmont was a settlement of several hundred inhabitants, the center of a promising mining district, with stamp mills, stores, boarding houses, and a large company commissary, and gave every indication of becoming one of the prosperous and progressive mining camps of Nye county.
With the arrival of sturdy men who came in search of fortune and adventure, Masonry found its way into the camp, and the sojourning brethren who had followed adventure to this out of the way section of the state, soon became known to one another, after customs and practices familiar to the Craft; finally they measured their numerical strength, and it was found there were enough in the town to organize a Masonic association, and maintain quarters where they might enjoy fraternal contact, and observe the landmarks of Masonry; but riper reflection convinced them that the wiser procedure would be to organize a lodge to which eventually the worthy might apply for membership, and another unit of Masonry be added to the contituent lodges of Nevada.
To reflect was to act, and in the latter part of November, 1867, a meeting was called to frame a petition to the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Nevada, who at that time was John C. Currie, asking for permission to establish a lodge in Belmont, under dispensation.
The reaction to this petition was favorable, and on December 18, 1867, the prayer of the petitioners was granted, and a dispensation issued to John G. Riddle, A. W. Stone, G. R. Alexander, M. D. Fairchild, D. C. Turner, George W. Merrill, James Kennedy, Daniel M. Cutts, S. Goldstein, E. A. Pullen, E. Pertit, John Sharps, J. A. Rall, Peter Conroy, and James O'Brien. On September 7, 1868, Oasis Lodge held its first meeting, and the following officers were chosen: James M. Kennedy, worshipful master; Daniel W. Cutts, senior warden; S. W. Goldstein, junior warden; John. G. Riddle, treasurer; John Sharpe, secretary; E. A. Pullen, senior deacon; E. A Pettit, junior deacon; James O'Brien and Peter Conroy, stewards, J. A. Ball, tyler.
The building acquired by Oasis Lodge for a meeting place was unique, and unusual, in that it had no windows.
J. F. Miles, for many years assessor of White Pine county, told me about it the first time I visited Ely in 1912. Several years later business took me to Tonopah, and while there I drove over to Belmont. I had no trouble in locating the building. While standing in front of it, wondering as to the "why and wherefore" of its construction, I saw a white haired, grizzled, bewhiskered little old man coming down the road, leading a burro, loaded with a pack saddle, and the unmistakable outfit of a prospector.
As he came abreast of me, I bade him the time of day; with a smile he stopped, and giving me the "once over" said: "You live here, stranger?"
I told him I did not, but was just wondering about the building without any windows.
"Funny lookin' aint it? Used to be the Masonic hall, I knows, fur I wuz borned and raised here-but that wuz a long time ago. Want t' hear about that old shack?"
Sensing a story of interest, I asked him if he was hungry, and would like to join me in eating lunch, while he talked to me. He replied that he would. I brought some sandwiches, pickles and potato chips from the car, together with a quart size bottle of beer, and after he had put some oats in a nose bag, and strapped it to the bridle of the burro, we sat down on the running board of the car, and he started to eat, and talk between drinks from the bottle. I give here the gist of his information, although I shall not try to repeat his quaint expressions and lingo, but will frame the story in my own language.
It seems, that in the early days of the camp, when lawlessness and recklessness were the order of the day, many of the residents of Belmont went about the streets, or at their work, with a "six gun" dangling in a holster from each hip, and a knife was carried in a scabbard hung from a belt. Three miners hailing from one of the river camps in California came to Belmont. They were "bad men" and each had cut, not one, but several notches on the handle of his gun, to check up on the men they had killed. They were accorded a hearty, though more or less violent welcome, by the other "bad men" of the camp, with whom they matched cunning with cunning, violence with violence, and "cussedness with cussedness."
That these men were at one time of the better order of men, and had had some experience in "meeting on the Level, and parting on the Square" developed when they incurred the scorn of their associates, and were hunted by the law for a series of law infractions, culminating in the kidnaping of a young girl of the camp, whom they outraged, and then beat so outrageously that she died. When the outrage was committed, instead of hiding the body in one of the shafts or tunnels which marked the site of unexplored mineral deposits out in the hills, the three ruffians carried the body to the windowless building, to which they had forced entrance, and dug a grave in a corner of the cellar, where they placed the body, and cunningly covered the grave so it could not be found, if search was started.
Unknown to them, however, their movements had been observed by a young man who had come off of the eleven o'clock shift that night, and was near the house when the body was carried in. He assumed that the men were carrying some drunken comrade to a place where he might recover from the effects of his carousal, and went his way thinking no more about it, although it being a moonlight night, he had recognized the "bad men", and had kept his own counsel.
In a day or two inquiries were started by the parents of the young lady, who had been working in one of the boarding houses, (and who had not been home as was her usual custom,) seeking her whereabouts, and it developed that she had not been at work for two days. The aid of the law was asked, and when she could not be found, the ire of the better class of the townsfolk was aroused, when it was noised around that foul play had been used to make away with her. The situation became tense, and finally the young man who had seen a body carried into the windowless building, went to the sheriff, told his story, and gave the names of the men who had been implicated, and they were taken into custody. A search of the building and the cellar was made, and the grave was found and opened, and the body identified. One of the outlaws weakened and confessed to the killing and outraging of the body. Public opinion flamed into high heat, and though the men had been placed in the town's calaboose for safe keeping, the only jail this side of Winnemucca, many miles away, mob violence followed. A Vigilante Committee was formed, and proceeded to the calaboose, and after taking the sheriff and a deputy into keeping, took the three guilty men to the windowless building, and after a hearing, and sentence was pronounced by the leader of the Committee, hanged them to a cross beam in the cellar. It was during their hearing, after sentence had been pronounced, that two of the men gave a sign which was recognized by one or two Masons who happened to be in the crowd, and upon questioning the culprits, it developed that at one time, all three, as young men, had been members of the Craft.
As to the windowless building, it had been built to be used as a meeting place for any fraternal societies that might be organized in the town, and without windows that the prying eyes of the curious might not see what they were not entitled to see.
The old gentleman concluded his story with these remarks: "Used ter belong 't the Craft myself. Jined St. John's lodge No. 37 in Yreka, Califforny, but drapped out years ago, count o' bein' in the hills so much, sometimes fur years at a time. Rut I see '0ld Troublesome' hes finished eatin' his oats, and I'll hev t' be movin'. It's a long hike ter Round Mounting, an' thar's whar I'm bound fur. Glad ter met yuh stranger, and thanks for the eats and that beer. It war a lifesaver."
I tried to learn his name, but he parried my question, by saying: "It aint no difference who I be stranger, but, the young feller what came off o' shift the night them raskils tuk the body o' thet girl into yon buildin' - he war my pappy. I've heard him tell about it many's the time. But goodbye, and good luck stranger," and he trudged off down the road, leading "Old Troublesome," his burro.
With the organization of the Masonic lodge in Belmont, the windowless building was taken over by the lodge, and after being fitted with a system of kerosene lamps, and furnished to conform with Masonic requirements, became the home of Oasis Lodge No. 11.
By the year 1877 the peak in membership was attained, the lodge at that time numbering fifty-three members. Succeeding years brought disaster to the camp, due to the decline of ore reserves, with the result that the camp started to retrograde. Steadily year by year the trend was downward, resulting in a gradual exodus of the inhabitants, until scarcely a hundred people remained in the town.
For several years longer the remaining brethren of Oasis lodge continued to carry on, but to no avail. The camp was doomed to oblivion, and the lodge to go the way other Masonic lodges had gone in some of the old mining camps of the state, whose ore supplies had become depleted. Finally came the day when the lodge was unable to muster a Masonic quorum to hold a meeting and with its membership scattered to the four winds of heaven, its treasury drained of its funds, and its fraternal spirit broken, it was realized that disaster was upon them. Believing it impossible to continue as a functioning unit of Masonry, at the Grand Communication of 1885, the charter of the lodge was declared forfeited, and it became extinct.