Chapter XVIII
TUSCARORA LODGE # 21
Tuscarora NV
The story of the remarkable mineral productions from the treasure laden hills and mountains of Nevada, sounds like a tale from The Arabian Nights; and resolves itself into a story of two parts: the period of discovery and the era of productivity, and the period of decline, and of exhausted ore supplies.
To the first period belongs the mining of the unbelievable wealth which was taken from the fabulously rich mines of Treasure City, Austin, Eureka, Aurora, Virginia City, and later from Tonopah, Goldfield, Searchlight, and the mushroom towns of RhyoIite, Bullfrog, and other mining camps which were born on rich mineral slopes, existed for a short period, and passed into decay.
To the second period belongs the era of lack of supply and depression which followed in the wake of exhausted ore bodies, and brought into existence the "Ghost Towns of Nevada, of which there are many.
The wonderful mineral resources of Nevada were, however, not embraced entirely in the mineral zones surrounding the locations we have named, for in other sections of the state are, and have been found other treasure chests of nature which have brought fortune to those who have uncovered them, and wealth to the districts in which they have been discovered and developed.
Such a zone lies in Elko county near the head of a broad, imposing valley, through which traverses the road leading from the county seat to the town of Tuscarora, where lies a mineral district discovered by Beard brothers in 1867, and whose secrets and extent are yet to be fully probed and explored, although since this ore body was uncovered by those old prospectors in the long ago, it has yielded its wealth and brought fortune to those patient enough to mine its unyielding depths.
The most optimistic believe that sizable bodies of ore lie hidden somewhere within the shallow depths of the wind swept slopes around Tuscarora, and that some day their secrets will be opened to the genius, toil and determination of some lucky prospector, and when that day arrives, another rush of hardy men will result, another tent city may arise over night upon the site, and another district may resound to the hum of mining activity, as another old mining camp "comes back'' as if by magic, when news of another strike is heralded far and wide, and the trails leading up from the valley are darkened by men and women hastening to another El Dorado.
In recent years Tuscarora district has not been extensively mined or prospected, but in the late Seventies and up to the gay Nineties, much activity was developed in that locality, and human migration to that, and the Cornucopia districts, was extensive; but in any event, Tuscarora has had its period of mining excitement, and its ore production has brought forth favorable comment in high mining circles, for in the report of the Surveyor General for the year 1885-1886 is found this statement: "Tuscarora has mines in which ore is found of fabulous values; if this were found on the Comstock, it would produce an excitement eclipsing the old Bonanza mines."
In addition to its mineral deposits, Tuscarora is valuable as a ranching and stock raising district, and contains some extensive territory devoted to these enterprises, the most well known of which is that of T. T. Fairchild. a resident of this section of Nevada for many years.
There is interest to the Craft in the record of Tuscarora Lodge No. 21, organized in a community which for more than twelve years had been the arena for a brave and determined struggle to develop its mineral resources, and at the time of the organization of the lodge, saw in the development of its ore reserves the probable fruition of years of ungratified hopes, and entered upon the era of its existence with every promise of becoming a strong and commanding unit of Masonry among the constituent lodges of Nevada.
Any mining district with such promising prospects was certain to attract the attention of all mining classes, with the result that when the extent and value of the Tuscarora field became known, not only the mucker, the hard rock miner, the prospector, but also the gambler, the promoter, the adventurer, and the seeker after romance and excitement turned their footsteps towards the new strike to share in the ultimate success or failure of the camp.
But unlike other mineral deposits in Nevada which were productive of great values, Tuscarora produced only a mild degree of the excitement attendant upon the discovery of famous ore bodies in other sections of the state. It is true, both men and women of the type which usually rush to a new strike, came to the camp, but their number was small, and as the ore veins were slow in yielding their values, excitement waned, and many who had come expecting to find another Comstock, departed to other, more promising fields.
However, many remained and these were finally rewarded as the drifts penetrated to lower levels, and shafts were driven to greater depths and rich ore bodies were uncovered.
Tuscarora has never lived up to the hopes and expectations of those who promoted its mines, nor those who invested their capital in the venture; its ore bodies are elusive, a rich find today may result in pinched out values tomorrow, although the opinion has been voiced by competent mining engineers that a rich ore body is there.
But, regardless of its ore reserves, there assembled at the camp a sizable gathering of men and women, who in time created order from confusion, and who, from a motley collection of shanties and shacks, built up a settlement of homes and commercial enterprises which constituted a town of creditable proportions. David MacLain, now (1944) living in Ely, Nevada, and at this writing past eighty-six years of age, who lived in Tuscarora about the year 1880, says: "At the peak of Tuscarora's prosperity, it had about 3300 inhabitants, 1800 of which were on the pay rolls of the mines; there were two large boarding houses in the place, two good-sized hotels, several general stores, saloons, a drug store, a jewelry store, a gun shop, and enough houses to comfortably care for the population. There were enough mills to take care of the ore mined, the largest of which was the Union Mill built in 1883, and which, because wood was scarce, used sage brush for fuel to fire its huge boilers and develop steam and power.
It followed as a natural sequence, that in the heterogeneous mass of humanity, there were many undesirables who brought to the town plenty of notoriety; gambling was wide open, and the din of squeaky music, the sound of boisterous laughter, the shuffle of gliding feet in the dance hall, and ardent and meaning glances of painted women, told of "gilded palaces'' where morality was at low ebb, and where vice held sway.
With the development of the shallow ore bodies, and the influx of labor and capital, came the advance guard of Masonry. By the beginning of 1877, a number of sojourning Masons were among the residents of the district and, having become acquainted with one another, met to discuss ways and means whereby they might engage in the diffusion of Masonic Light; during the latter part of the year, an association was effected, which had for its object the promotion of Masonic contact. For six months this organization is said to have functioned, when its eleven members early in 1878 petitioned the Grand Lodge F. & A. M. of Nevada for authority to establish a Masonic lodge under dispensation in Tuscarora, and on February 27 the request was granted and a warrant of dispensation was issued to the brethren, naming James Kelley, worshipful master; T. W. Smith, senior warden; W.J. Hamilton, junior warden.
Upon the delivery of this document, and the installation of its first officers, the lodge entered upon a period of intensive work which continued until the annual communication of the Grand Lodge held in Virginia City, in June, 1878, when the records and documents of the lodge were presented to the Committee on Charters, and were approved, and a recommendation was made by this committee to the Grand Lodge that a charter be granted Tuscarora lodge U. D.
The recommendation received favorable consideration, and a charter was accordingly issued to the following officers and members of Tuscarora : James Z. Kelley, worshipful master; Wellington F. Smith, senior warden; Wm. J. Hamilton, junior warden; Arthur Booth, treasurer; Thos. R. Butler, secretary; Chas. Radcliffe, senior deacon; James R. Howes, junior deacon; Jas. M. Woodworth, Wm. A. Mitchell, stewards; Elijah T. Yeates, tyler. Master Masons: G. W. Connor, Richard Ellis, John A. Erwin, Wm. J. Martin, J. W. Powell, Chris Wagner.
The journal of proceedings for the year 1878 states that the following brethren of the lodge had demitted during the year: Josiah Armsden, Wm. Bishop, Christopher Egbert, Wm. Fanagher, Fred C. Farnham, Geo. P. Kittridge; Willer Young.
It was also the recommendation of the Charters Committee that the charter be issued to "Tuscarora Lodge, Number 21, on Nevada registry." While the secretary's record does not state that any Grand Lodge officer delivered this charter, constituted the lodge and installed its officers, it is assumed that this service was performed by Past Grand Master Merrill P. Freeman, whose term of office as Grand Master of Nevada Masons had expired at the recent communication of the Grand Lodge held in Virginia City, and by whose authority Tuscarora Lodge had been issued its dispensation, and under whose hand the charter had been authorized; he was a resident of Elko, Nevada, less than a day's drive from Tuscarora, and is supposed to have made the trip and performed that official service.
The first building in which the brethren of the new lodge met, was known as the Yates building, and was constructed of adobe bricks, on the ground floor of which there was a jewelry store, and a gunsmith's shop. The upper floor was rented to the various lodges operating in Tuscarora at that time, the Knights of Pythias, the Oddfellows, and the Ancient Order United Workmen. This building was known in later years as "The Morgue" and is said to have been condemned about twenty years ago; since that time, the walls and the roof have collapsed, and it is in a deplorable and dangerous condition, but when Tuscarora lodge was organized it was considered one of the best buildings in the town, and it was there that the lodge was instituted and constituted, and where for years the brethren met to perform Masonic work and diffuse Masonic light.
In this connection, it is interesting to note that the present lodge building occupied by Tuscarora lodge, and which it owns, was built about the year 1878 of native stone, the front wall being of quarried, dressed rock, and costing about 5,000.00. It is a one story structure with a large basement running the full length and width of the first floor. Originally the ground floor was occupied by a drug store on one side, and a clothing store on the other. The basement was rented to the Blue Wing saloon.
In later years the various lodges functioning in Tuscarora purchased this building, dismantled the partition between the stores and converted it into a large lodge room, with entrance hall and two smaller rooms in the front of the building. The saloon in the basement was moved out and the room was made into a banquet room which was used regularly by the several lodges for social gatherings, which those old-timers so loved to promote.
The old minute book of Tuscarora lodge states that on September 20, 1884, the Masonic committee of which O. L. C. Fairchild was chairman, made arrangements with the Independent Order of Oddfellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Ancient Order United Workmen, to purchase the building, and a warrant for fourteen hundred dollars ($1400.00) was issued by the trustees of the lodge for their share of the purchase price. The first meeting of Tuscarora lodge in the hall was on November 29, 1884.
The passing years gave generously to the lodge; its finances were always more than adequate to supply the needs of the organization, with ample funds remaining to provide for future contingencies, with the result that in later years the interests of the I. O. O. F., the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order United Workmen were purchased, and Tuscarora lodge became the sole owner of the building. From the ranks of its membership have come brethren who won honor, not only in community, county and state affairs, but who likewise achieved honor and advancement in the Grand Lodge F. & A. M· of Nevada, noteworthy among whom was Brother James Doughty, who in later years demitted to Elko Lodge No. 15 and became Grand Master of Masons of Nevada in 1910.
Elijah S. Yeates was elected Senior Grand Deacon of the Grand Lodge of Nevada in I879, and W. T. Smith was Junior Grand Deacon in 1878.
Among the brethren who have filled county and state offices, are: Brothers Mart Smity, W. W. Willis, and A. A. Primeux, who efficiently served Elko county as county commissioners. Brother John H. Dennis was elected from Elko county as state senator, and later served as Deputy U. S. Commissioner to the Hawaiian Islands. D. H. Young was deputy sheriff for a number of years, and A. C. Fox and T. T. Fairchild have served recently in a like position.
While the lodge has had its seasons of prosperity and its hours of discouragement, while some years have reflected gain and others have revealed a loss in membership, it has always carried on. Its membership is scattered over a large area, and at times it is difficult to assemble a Masonic quorum to hold meetings; in evidence whereof, I quote from a letter received from Robert D. R. Williams under date of February 4, 1939, quote: "We at present have thirty-five members, but only one, our treasurer, D. H. Young lives in Tuscarora, the rest live from six to fifty miles away, and cover those distances whenever the roads are in a passable condition. I live nine miles away from our lodge room, and our master-elect, A. C. Fox lives fifty miles away in Midas."
Although Tuscarora is out of the beaten path of travel, in fact is difficult of access, especially during the winter season when snow blocks the roads, yet the old lodge room has been the scene of many enjoyable and interesting meetings, when upon the occasion of the visitation of the Grand Master or his authorized representative, or when the brethren from adjoining lodges visit singly or in a body, the splendid hospitality of the lodge is lavishly expended; nothing is left undone to add to the comfort and enjoyment of the guests; the larders of the community are taxed to their utmost, the wives of the brethren vie with one another to set before the visitors their most cherished and delectable culinary creations.
Often these banquets are followed by a dance to which the residents of the community and surrounding country flock, coming from 40 or 50 miles away. These functions are usually all night affairs, sunrise generally finding the merrymakers homeward bound.
A comparison of the status of Tuscarora today, and at the time of the organization of the lodge in 1880, reveals a situation found in so many of the early mining camps of Nevada, when ore supplies became exhausted. From a thrifty town of some thirty-three hundred inhabitants, with prosperous mercantile establishments, eating and lodging houses, and comfortable homes for housing its people, it has dwindled in size and population until it is but a shadow of its former self and, as we look upon it, we are again reminded of the inroads Time has made upon it, and of the uncertainty and fickleness of Dame Fortune. Its one time industry has disappeared, the lure and excitement of uncovering new pay streaks in the mines have long since ceased to be, as is also the rush of the rabble to the shafts when the news of a strike was heralded throughout the town; and the remembrance of these old occurrences come back to but few, for those who were in the heyday of youth when Tuscarora was in its prime are now bent and infirm with the weight of years, and but a pitiful few remain to recall the years when the town was in the fullness of its prosperity.
But although the town has dwindled in importance, though but a handful of the hundreds who once roamed its streets and contributed to its popularity remain, yet amazingly, Tuscarora lodge has not only survived the ordeal but numerically exceeds its membership of almost forty years ago, and is today a splendid unit of rural Masonry.
The history of Tuscarora would be incomplete without reference to that outstanding man and Mason, Brother Tracy T. Fairchild, probably the most influential and best known citizen in that part of the country, honored and respected by all who know him, and who for six years served Elko county as assemblyman, and for another fourteen years represented his county as state senator. Brother Fairchild comes from a family of Masons, his father and his uncle being members of Lander Lodge No. 8, of Austin, Nevada, when the Grand Lodge of Nevada was organized in 1865.
Brother Fairchild was made a Master Mason in January, 1921, and served in the various appointive and elective offices of his lodge until advanced to the chair of worshipful master. In 1928 he was appointed Worshipful Grand Steward of the Grand Lodge, F. & A. M. of Nevada, and advanced step by step to become Grand Master of Nevada Masons June 13, 1936, from which office he retired in June, 1937, after a most successful year in office, beloved and respected by the Craft throughout the jurisdiction.
Here our narrative closes; not because the final chapter in the history of this old reliable lodge has been written, for while more than three score years have passed since it embarked upon the fraternal sea, and while those who launched the tiny barque upon its Masonic course have crossed to the Great Beyond, yet the memory of its early years and those who contributed to its prosperity and progress, and brought prestige and luster to its ranks, lingers with the younger generation of Masons who have found sanctuary among the brethren, and inspires them to emulate the example set by those pioneers in Masonry, the recollection of whose accomplishments and virtues will be as a guiding star to direct them into channels of greater achievement.
And so, as we conclude this record, we end our efforts with the prophecy: that, as in the past Tuscarora lodge has enjoyed an enviable reputation as a commanding unit of Masonry among the constituent lodges of Nevada, so in the future will it continue to spread and diffuse Masonic Light, and shine in the constellation of Nevada Masonry, as a star of exceptional magnitude.
====X====
Editor's note: Unfortunately, Torrence's prophecy, as shown immediately above, was not to pass; Tuscarora continued its decline, and Tuscarora Lodge No. 21 was forced to consolidate with Elko Lodge 15 on June 11, 1948. (Remember that this chapter of Torrence's "History of Masonry in Nevada" was written in 1938!)