CHAPTER XVII
PALISADE LODGE NO. 20
Palisade NVThe territory embraced within the boundaries of the Town of Palisade remained a barren tract long after other settlements along the Overland Trail had been made; its advantageous situation on the banks of the Humboldt river, and its desirable location as a distributing point, were not long overlooked by the railroad, when its rails were extended eastward, and resulted in a settlement being made at the base of the bluffs which flank the bend of the river at this point, and from which the town takes its name.
Ultimately, Palisade became not only a distributing point for supplies along the line of the advancing rails, but in time it also became the terminal of the Eureka Palisade railroad, a valuable feeder in the transportation of ore from the rich mines of Lander and Eureka counties to the south; as a center of distribution for the cattle and sheep industry of the adjacent ranges, it became a mecca towards which stockmen drove their herds for shipment to both eastern and western markets. These advantages gave to the town a prominence which attracted to it a sizable population, and as a result, it enlarged its area with the addition of new homes, new business houses and mercantile establishments which added to its financial solidity and importance, and for many years insured its stability and prospects.
With the joining of the rails at Promontory Point uniting the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroads in 1869, a new era dawned for the various settlements along the road, and with the stimulation of travel and its gravitation towards the west, notice was directed towards the settlements which gave the most promise of outgrowing their swaddling clothes, and taking on some of the habiliments of stability and progress.
In the resultant attention which was directed to some of the newer settlements along the rails, Palisade profited, and as the years passed, attracted to itself a population which lent not only dignity to the border town, but brought strength to its destiny, and in time it became, not only the terminal of a railroad, but was accounted one of the most promising and outstanding stations along the railroad.
In time, Palisade became a dominant railroad town, and harbored an outstanding class of citizens, the most of whom were employed by the railroads, among whom, hailing from various jurisdictions throughout the country, were members of the Masonic craft, who grew to know one another as brethren, and among whom was developed the urge to not only meet upon a common level, but to whom came the desire to find a sanctuary where they might gather and enjoy the fraternal contact so thoroughly appreciated by all Masons.
To this end, plans were formulated to bring to a focus their fraternal desires, and a meeting was called with the object in view of effecting some sort of a Masonic organization, either a Masonic club, or an association, or it might be to frame a petition to the Grand Lodge of Nevada for permission to organize a Masonic lodge under dispensation.
News of their activities had spread, and the brethren of Elko lodge No. 15 became aware of their intentions, and for reasons not altogether apparent today, protested the establishment of a Masonic unit in the junction town. This situation hung fire for one or two communications of the Grand Lodge, the cause of the brethren of Palisade being championed by Eureka Lodge No. 16, eventually, the prayer of the petitioners from Palisade was granted, and on June 3, 1876, a dispensation was issued to sixteen brethren to organize a lodge, naming T. F. Lawler as worshipful Master. The lodge worked under this dispensation until June 13, 1877. In the interim, Elko lodge had withdrawn its earlier objection, and being in full accord and sympathy with the brethren, joined with Eureka in recommending that a charter be issued the new lodge. Agreeable to this action of the two lodges, the Grand Lodge of Nevada under authorization of Merrill P. Freeman, Grand Master, directed that a charter be issued to the Palisade brethren, and that the lodge be given the number 20 on Nevada registry, and that Thos. F. Lawler be made worshipful master of the new lodge, Geo. Royal be named as senior warden, and James E. Marshall be designated as junior warden.
The authority to organize a lodge of Masons in Palisade was issued to the following brethren: Joseph H. Byers, John R. Burnett, Neil Campbell, Dudley L. Davis, John Dysert, Wm. S. Evans, John N. Hill, Jas. H. Hathaway, Wm. G. Hedges, John T. Hutchinson, Thos. R. Jewell, Daniel B. Lyons, Owen Jones, Thos. R. Moore, William Mousley, J. E. Marshall, Thos. Miller,Thos. McArdle, Wm. S. McLullan, Edw. Phoenix, Isaac Rice, George Royal, Joel Willard.
The lodge held its first meeting under the new charter July 28, 1877, and installed all elective and appointive officers, except Geo. Royal, and James E. Marshall, who in the meantime, had removed from the district. In their place, W. S. McLullan was installed as senior warden, and T. R. Moore as junior warden.
Contrary to expectations, Palisade lodge did not live up to the expectations of those responsible for its being. It is said that its maximum membership never exceeded twenty-five, a large percentage of its members being railroad employees, on night shifts, and due to this fact attendance at the meetings was never large, a factor which mitigated against normal progress, and consequent growth and activity was materially handicapped.
In addition to this, ore production in the district served by the Eureka-Palisade railroad fell off, and ore shipments were below normal, which reduced freight traffic, and affected the business activities of the town, and with the partial abandonment of mining industry in the district and a gradual removal of many who depended upon that industry for their support, the town was slowly but surely being depopulated.
Gradually, year by year, the town continued to retrograde, and by 1880 it had dwindled in importance as a railroad station, and it was inevitable that it would go the way of so many prosperous towns which came into existence in the early sixties and seventies, enjoyed a period of prosperity, then sank into almost obscurity.
As the years advanced, Palisade felt the force of depression, so, likewise did Masonry languish in the town until, by 1884, with only a remnant of its former membership left, the lodge was experiencing difficulty in holding meetings, due to the impossibility of assembling a constitutional quorum. Months passed by without a meeting being held, with the result that after repeated urging and endeavor on the part of the Grand Lodge to revive activities in the lodge, and to persuade the brethren to hold their charter, at the Grand Lodge session of 1886, the charter was declared forfeited, and the lodge became extinct. At the time of the forfeiture, the lodge is said to have had only five members left.
The illustration of Palisade lodge accompanying this chapter is taken from an old sketch apparently made only a few years before the charter of the lodge was forfeited. The circumstances surrounding its discovery were unusual, and were brought about as follows: The writer, when compiling the history of Ely Lodge No. 29, of Ely, Nevada, had access to the old records of the lodge, and in poring over the venerable books in search of possible data reflecting old items or accounts of interest to the brethren, and of value as to historical importance, unearthed an old book of printed receipts at one time used by the treasurer of Palisade lodge No. 20; also an old visitors register of early vintage.
In leafing through the book of receipts, of which but a few had been used out of two hundred fifty or more originals, over in the back part of the book the sketch from which the illustration was made, was discovered.
It was a treasured find, for there had never been a photograph taken of the Masonic building in Palisade that any brother knew about, and a destructive fire years ago had wiped out the row of buildings the artist had so painstakingly sketched in the long ago. As a matter of fact, inquiry by the writer who made an especial trip to the town of Palisade after the sketch was found to inquire if there was any remaining member of the old Masonic lodge of that place still living, and could verify the authenticity of the sketch, and give the exact location of the building, revealed that there was no such member of the Craft to be found, neither was it possible to locate any of the town's residents at the time - during the year 1937 - whose memory of the settlement went back to the date inscribed on the sketch. I found, however, an old lady whose brother, John Dysert, she said was sixteen years her senior, had at one time been a member of Palisade lodge, and with whom she had at one time gone as a young girl to attend a Christmas celebration held in the Masonic lodge hall, which she recalled was reached by climbing a flight of stairs, and that she had passed by several other buildings on the same side of the street on which the lodge hall was located. She recalled that the trip into town from their ranch home about twenty-five miles out from Palisade, had been made on horseback, that it was a bitter cold night, and she had glimpsed the building only after dark. She was certain, however, that the picture which was handed her, was a picture of the building in which the celebration was held the night she went with her brother.
How the old visitors register, and the partially used receipt book of the treasurer of Palisade lodge, in which the sketch was found came to be in the possession of Ely lodge No. 29, no one seems to definitely know. It is presumed, however, that they were picked up, or in some manner came into the hands of Brother Wm. C. Gallagher, who died many years ago, and who was at one time secretary of Ely lodge. It is presumed that the records were placed in his hands by some former member of Palisade lodge, after that lodge passed out of existence in 1888, who knew Brother Gallagher as a member of the Craft, and having occasion to come to Ely, decided to turn the old records over to him to dispose of as he saw fit.
At any rate, after years of concealment under a weight of old documents and records accumulated by Ely lodge, they luckily came to light to supply a link between the past and present, and to furnish a material evidence of the existence of a one time unit of Masonry, housed in a comfortable, if unpretentious structure, dedicated to the promulgation and practice of "those truly Masonic virtues: Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth."