STB-81-05
HIGHEST HILLS OR LOWEST VALES
By Keith Arrington
Tradition has it that in ancient times
Masons met on the highest hill and in the lowest
vales to secure privacy. The tradition alone has
been sufficient to stir the imaginations of
modern Masons with the result that Masonic
meetings have been held in many "strange and
weird places," as one who frowned on the practice put it.
According to Harry Carr's "The Freemason
At Work," early Masonic manuscripts tell of
Masons meeting in the open air, but in a remote
and quiet place. This emphasis on isolation and
solitude is illustrated in the "Laws and Statutes" of the Lodge of Aberdeen in 1670: "Wee
ordaine Iykwayes that no lodge be holden within a dwelling house wher ther is people living in
it but in the open fields except it be ill weather,
and then Let ther be a house chosen that no person shall heir nor see us. . ."
One ancient document stated: "A lodge is
two interprentices, two fellow crafts and two
masters------on the highest hill or the lowest
valley of the world without the crow of a cock
or the bark of a dog--a day's journey from a
borough town..." Obviously, the idea was
that the lodge should be far away from any
human dwelling--far enough so that a watch
dog or a crowing cock could not be heard. In
keeping with this, it is recorded that tinners
assembled at Crockentor, in the county of
Devon, England, in the 17th century. This was
a rocky hill rising to a height of 1300 feet, littered with granite boulders, and was a wild and
remote spot, ten miles from any town. The spot
was a natural amphitheatre where boulders on
the rising sides could have provided seats for
one hundred or more, while a table and seats
were hewn from the moorstone.
A British army major told of a 1935 meeting
in what is now Pakistan, near the Khyber Pass.
Members of Lodge Jamrud No. 4372 met in the
compound of a Mohammedan village, screened
by the mud walls of the buildings. Mud heaps
provided seats and pedestals; tent mallets were
gavels; pick handles were rods. No degree was
worked, but lodge was opened on the first
degree and closed before dusk.
Dwight L. Smith writes in "Goodly Heritage" that the legend persists that members of
Salem Lodge No. 21, chartered in 1822, were
forced to meet in a wooded area on a hill. Smith
also writes of Indiana military lodges meeting
upon the mountain tops and in the valley on
numerous occasions.
According to the same historian, a few of
the older Indiana lodges are said to have
resorted to secluded out-door spots during the
anti-Masonic hysteria of the 1830's.
As Masonic groups have eagerly pursued
this link with the past, lodge meetings have
been held in caves, quarries and gravel pits.
Masonic degrees have been conferred in forests,
on hills and on mountain tops. From Death
Valley at two hundred eighty feet below sea
level and the Carlsbad Caverns, seven hundred
fifty feet underground, to Mt. Aylmer, Alberta, at 10,355 feet above sea level, Masons have
flocked in great numbers to experience familiar
rites in novel settings. Depending on the nearness to population concentrations and the
uniqueness of the outdoor scene, crowds have
varied from a "good turnout" to more than
one thousand.
One lodge, Golden Rule Number 5 of Stanstead, Quebec, made up of members from both
sides of the border, was said to have been chartered to meet in a natural lodge room on top of
a mountain. In 1857, this lodge was granted a
dispensation to open and hold a lodge on the
summit of Owl's Head Mountain at Lake Memphremagog. Here, in a great ravine at an elevation of two thousand four hundred eighty feet
above the lake, situated due east and west, surrounded by massive rocks that afforded perfect
seclusion, is a lodge that "seems as if hewn by
the hand of nature for the use to which it is
The rocks offer suitable watch-towers, from
which the sentinels can readily observe the approach of any eavesdroppers. As many as two
hundred fifty Masons make the difficult ascent
to the top, confer a third degree and then descend two hours later to join their ladies for a
picnic dinner.
Historic Mammoth Cave, one hundred
thirty-five feet below Kentucky's surface, has
been the setting for lodge meetings, as have the
Carlsbad Caverns of New Mexico, at a depth of
seven hundred fifty feet. Since the temperature
in the Caverns is fifty-six degrees, those attending have been urged to dress warmly.
However, in Death Valley, California, third
degrees have been conferred under the stars on
the sun baked floor of the "Devil's Golf
Course" near Furnace Creek. These meetings
have been limited to other than summer
months, when temperatures may reach one
hundred sixty-five degrees. On one occasion,
forty years ago, "an ample lodge room was
marked off and defined by rows of electric
lights operated by a portable power plant. All
furniture for the lodge was transported over
one hundred miles to the site, which was surrounded by such rough salt fields that any approach, except by the road which was fully
tiled, was virtually imposible." One observer
found most impressive the door from the
preparation room, which had been hauled in
and set up in the northwest corner of the lodge.
He commented, "When that door was opened,
it opened to the universe!"
Malheur Cave, Oregon, an unusual forma-
tion with an interesting history, has been the
site for many annual outdoor meetings. The list
of unusual sites chosen for these outdoor
meetings would fill a book and only a few typical ones can be discussed here.
In central Wyoming there is a huge granite
mass known as Independence Rock, which
served as a landmark and way station on the old
Oregon Trail. It was here that the first Masonic
meeting in what was to become Wyoming, was
held on July 4, 1862, by a group of Masons
traveling to the west. The rock has become a
Masonic shrine and commemorative meetings
have been held there periodically.
A comparable meeting has been held in
Montana at the summit of Mullen Pass, the
first known meeting place of Freemasonry in
Montana. The pass is a low divide through the
Rockies, once a heavily traveled military road.
The area is owned by four lodges and preserved
as a memorial to pioneer Masons of the territory. A stone altar and stone officer's stations
have been constructed.
About 1908, the town of Park City, Utah,
was destroyed by fire and Uintah Lodge No. 7
was given permission to hold a special meeting
on what is now called Mount Masonic, north of
town. Later, Kaibab Lodge No. 25 of Utah
received permission to hold a meeting in the
Kaibab Forest, Arizona. This became an an-
nual event, with the Master Mason degree being
conferred. Just at sunset, in the virgin forest,
which is a plateau about sixty by forty miles in
extent at an elevation of eight thousand feet,
"as the star-decked heavens superceded the
cloudy canopy, the work was put on with the
same form and ceremony as within a regular
lodge room. "
Another "high hill" meeting, held in impressive surroundings of natural and simple
beauty, is the annual Ft. Hill meeting near Harrisonburg, Louisiana. Here, atop historic old
Ft. Beauregard on the Ouachita River, degree
teams from various cities have performed
before gatherings numbering as many as 1500.
The site is still studded with virgin pine timber
and has been furnished in a manner carrying
out a rustic motif. The original breastworks of
the fort, first used by Confederate forces, are
still intact.
A small natural amphitheatre, surrounded
by timber, was discovered in the historic
Amana Colonies of lowa by a brother who flew
over the area in his light plane. "Hiram In the
Hills", an annual outdoor degree, is the result
of his discovery and his vision. Lodges of two
adjacent counties cooperate in sponsoring the
early August event in this lovely and peaceful
setting. In preparation each year, the grass on
the gentle slopes is mowed and the area is
sprayed from the air by the discoverer of the
site, to eliminate mosquitoes and other insect
pests. Entrance to the site is through a gate at
the end of a lightly traveled country road,
where tilers admit Masons from a wide area,
beginning in mid-afternoon. By late afternoon,
Iowa beef and roasting ears of corn, cooked in
covered pits, are ready for a picnic in a meadow
area. After the meal, the men take seats on the
grassy slopes or in folding lawn chairs which
they have brought along. The natural lodge
room is furnished with rustic, simple furniture
in keeping with the beauty of the setting. While
most of those attending are comfortably dressed in casual attire, the complete corps of Grand
Lodge officers, who will confer the degree, are
fully attired in tuxedos, embroidered aprons
and sparkling collars for their jewels. The proceedings are conducted with impressive dignity
and this event is eagerly awaited by the several
hundred who annually attend.
The appeal of these outdoor meetings seems
to be multiple. First, there is the tradition that it
was thus that the ancient Masons met; hence,
the desire to recapture the past. There is also
the appeal of the great outdoors, even though sitting through a degree is rather passive activity. Perhaps there is something intangible about
the open air meetings that can be experienced
only by actual attendance. The novelty obviously has great appeal as does the sociability,
with the more relaxed atmosphere of the informal setting.
There are many Masons, of course, who do
not approve of outdoor meetings. They object
to the risks taken of exposing Masonic work to
the public eye and they object to the carnival atmosphere which is created.
While many conscientiously believe that
these outdoor meetings in unusual spots add to
Masonic interest, others see them as closely
allied to such things as being married on an
elephant's back. While they do attract publicity
to Masonry, they do not increase the dignity of
the institution, it is argued. Aside from the
practical consideration of providing necessary
security for the meetings, opponents see these
events as "more of a show or entertainment."
One Grand Master, in refusing to grant permission for an outdoor meeting, expressed the fear
that the public might confuse such an open-air,
night-time function with the activities of the Ku
Klux Klan.
Grand Lodge approval must be obtained, of
course, to move a charter to a sylvan glen, a
quarry or to a mountain top for the purpose of
opening a Masonic lodge. Careful selection of
the site to ensure maximum security is a prerequisite. Elaborate arrangements for tiling have
sometimes been found imperative. At a rock
quarry in Indiana, an Old Settlers reunion was
attended by eighteen hundred Masons in 1967.
Here forty-five tilers were stationed around the
rim of the cavernous opening to guard against
the approach of eavesdroppers. At one Oregon
meeting, tiling was accomplished by a sheriff's
posse, which was composed entirely of Masons.
Tilers on horseback have been used at a
Marietta, Ohio, quarry site, each in turn shouting from the rim of the quarry to report.
One Grand Lodge committee, in studying
the propriety of open air meetings, found that
there had been such meetings held which did
not appear to have been carefully and adequately tiled, but conceded that much of the
same laxity occurred in meetings held inside
buildings.
Other preparations for these events vary
greatly from place to place. The choice of site
should be the most important consideration.
Probably the site should suggest the activity,
rather than the reverse. The setting is important
to create a proper atmosphere of dignity compatible with that of the Masonic institution.
Thought should be given to accessibility,
natural beauty, adaptability to Masonic usage,
and the comfort of the audience. For instance,
a quarry may be excessively dusty and, if the affair is held in mid-day with the sun bearing
down, the heat may become unbearable.
In some locations more or less permanent
outdoor lodge rooms are established and maintained from year to year. Lodge furniture is
constructed from natural materials found on
the location. At Marietta, the furniture was
made from rough cut tree trunks or limbs, lashed together. Stone altars have been constructed
at some quarry and mountain sites. At other
sites, this may not be possible and lodge furniture is hauled in for the occasion.
A recent British Masonic magazine featured
on its front cover a photo of the Master of a
Texas lodge in ten gallon hat and short sleeved
sport shirt, seated in a folding chair at a pedestal for an outdoor meeting. With two microphones at his station, two more folding chairs
close by and a car in the background, nothing
else was visible except miles and miles of Texas
plains.
A lodge at Ely, Montana, dedicated an open
air lodge room on Mount Lebanon. Here the
forest service had built a road to within one
hundred yards of a lodge room, which was
described as being very unique, atop a beautiful
mountain, with a rock and concrete altar.
A rustic Middle Chamber, complete with
pillars and winding stairs, was set up at a country site in Indiana in the 1930's. Here, on a tree
encircled hillside, one of the degrees--often
the second--was conferred annually.
The location may even indicate the time of
day for the meeting, if this has not already been
set by local practice. An Indiana quarry lodge
was held at five a.m. on July 4. Certainly, early
morning before the heat of the July day hit the
quarry would be ideal. Evening hours, with
closing before lights become necessary, may be
more desirable at some locations. If access to
the site takes considerable time, a mid-day hour
may be necessary.
Two features of these meetings which are
commonly observed; food and degree teams.
While some meetings are preceded by a meal at
the lodge hall or a restaurant, more often a picnic in some variation is provided. Degree teams
are often imported from another area to provide additional interest.
Once established, these meetings tend to
become annual affairs, some continuing for
many years. The Marietta quarry meeting is being revived in 1981 after thirteen years of inactivity.
Lodge leaders, constantly seeking ways to
interest the membership and to find some way
to get more attendance at meetings, are becoming more interested in any such novel and different activity as this. Success in one open air
meeting invites attempts at copying elsewhere.
However, those who have succeeded are quick
to caution that a successful outdoor meeting
does require much work and advance planning.
The printed program for the open air degree
put on by Harmar Lodge Number 390 at
Marietta lists a general chairman and fifteen
committees. They caution that the ambition
and desire of those in charge is a must. Without
enthusiastic and dedicated leadership, there is
no guarantee of success, even though the idea
may be fresh and untried in your area.
Editor's Note:
For many years, Brother Keith Arrington served as the
Assistant Librarian for the Grand Lodge of lowa Library,
where he served as a "fount of knowledge" for scores of
Masonic students. He has had many articles printed in
Masonic journals. We thank Brother Arrington for this discussion of open-air meetings.
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