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ON THE SUMMIT OF THE
ROCKY MOUNTAINS
FIRST MASONIC LODGE EVER HELD IN MONTANA

(Extract from Grand Historian's Address delivered before the Grand Lodge, F. & A.M. of Montana, by Nathaniel P. Langford,* in 1867.)

This brief contemplation of the leading features in our early history leads me to narrate somewhat in detail that portion of it which antedates the introduction of our order in organized form. I esteem myself fortunate in having been one of the early settlers of Montana - more fortunate in having, before I left the abodes of civilization, been raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason. When the company of which I was one entered what is now Montana - then Dakota - a single settlement, known by the name of Grass-hopper (now Bannack), was the only abode of the white man in the southern part of the Territory. Our journey from Minnesota of fourteen hundred miles by a route never before traveled, and with the slow conveyance of ox trains, was of long duration and tedious. It was a clear September twilight when we camped on the western side of the range of the Rocky Mountains, where they are crossed by the Mullan road. The labors of the day over, three of our number, a brother named Charlton, another whose name I have for gotten, and myself, the only three Master Masons in the company, impressed with the grandeur of the mountain scenery and the mild beauty of the evening, ascended the mountain to its summit, and there, in imitation of our ancient brethren, opened and closed an informal lodge of Master Masons. I had listened to the solemn ritual of Masonry an hundred times, but never when it impressed me so seriously as upon this occasion; such, also, was the experience of my companions. Our long journey and its undeviating round of daily employments had until this occasion been wholly unalleviated by any circumstance calculated to soften or mellow the feelings subjected to such discipline. We felt it a relief to know each other in the light of Masonry. Never was the fraternal clasp more cordial than when, in the glory of that beautiful autumnal evening, we opened and closed the first lodge ever assembled in Montana.

Contemplating this early incident in the history of our order from our present standpoint, and including in the contemplation what Masonry has since done for the Territory, and the Territory for Masonry, it seems to have been invested with a kind of prophetic interest; especially as at that time it could hardly have been possible for the few Masons in the Territory to have known each other, except as mere adventurers. As a manifestation of the all-pervading affections of Masons for the lodge it is worthy of enduring record in our archives. It is one of those facts that will reach forward into our history and seize upon those undying elements which shall transmit it to posterity. The fact will render the spot sacred - and once known among Masons it will never be forgotten - that the first lodge in the Territory was opened and closed upon the summit of the Rocky Mountains.

I might dilate upon the beauty of the evening upon which we met - the calm radiance of the moon and stars, the grandeur of the surrounding scenery. We exchanged fraternal greetings, spoke kind words one to another, and gave ourselves up to the enjoyment of that elevation of spirit which Masonry, under such circumstances, alone evokes; and when we left the summit of that glorious range of mountains, to descend to our camp, each felt that he had been made better and happier for this confidential interchange of Masonic sentiment.

Men when separated by distance from their homes and all that is dear to them upon earth, and uncertain as to the exposures and perils that lie before them, are apt to reflect upon those events in their past experience which afford the greatest promise or feeling of security and happiness. Every true Mason who has made the journey across the plains can attest to this. And as one of the striking evidences of the effect of this influence upon the Masons who came early to this Territory, I mention a little incident which occurred while our train was working its weary way over the mountains lying between Deer Lodge and Bannack. I happened at that time to be the only Mason in a company consisting of ten or twelve men. We had stopped at noon for refreshment near the bank of what is now known as Silver Bow Creek, and were preparing to resume our journey when three or four horsemen descended from the mountains into the valley where we had halted. They were dressed in the coarse but picturesque costume of mountaineers, and presented to our inexperienced eyes the appearance of a troop of brigands. We regarded their movements with suspicion, and were ready at a moment's warning to engage them in hostile combat. All but one of them rode on without deigning to notice us. He stopped and engaged in conversation with those of our own men who were occupied in yoking our oxen.

I was at a little distance, and at the moment was engaged, in adjusting the cincho of my saddle, when I heard him make the inquiry:

"Whose train is this?"

To which he received the reply, "Nobody's; we own the wagons among ourselves."

"Where are you from?"

"From Minnesota."

"How many men were there in your train?"

"About one-hundred and thirty."

"Was there a man named H. A. Biff in your train?"

"No, sir; no such man."

"Did you ever hear of such a man?"

"I never did," replied one. "I know of no one of that name," said another.

Now, as fortune would have it, I had a short time before traveled the same road that had been traveled by the missing man (who, as I afterward learned, was a Mason), and I had been informed by those who at that time accompanied me that he had been killed by three ruffians. The particulars of his assassination are familiar to you all. This was the first murder of a brother of which we have any knowledge or record.

From the information thus received I was enabled to answer his anxious inquiries; and as I rode along in company with him during the rest of the day, I was greatly pleased in finding in him an intelligent and warm-hearted brother Mason. It was his first meeting with a brother in the Territory, and we employed the time we were together in relating each to the other his Masonic experience, and bearing mutual testimony to the satisfaction we had derived from the order, and to its peculiar adaptability to our condition in this new country. A friendship was thus formed through the instrumentality of Masonry which could not otherwise have found existence.