For the past several years, it has been the
intention of the board of Directors of Chap. 10 to provide some printed Primer
of sorts to present to newly initiated Brothers.
Some publications are available from various
Chapters and some are advertised for sale in The Clamper, (Ed. Note:
The Clamper has not been published for many years now, and the chapter then
provided a subscription to The Flatlander Nugget, instead.) which the
chapter provides to new initiates, in the form of a free year’s subscription. (Sadly, even the Flatlander has now gone out
of business.)
Many of the names on our mailing list have
been members for a short time so we present here a short and incomplete history
of the Order so new members may know just what the hell they have gotten
themselves into.
Information here has been gleaned from work
by Duff Chapman XSNGH, Carl Briggs XSNGH, and newspaper stories by Bob Wyckoff
XNGH Chap. 10.
Chapter 10 is a direct descendant of the
re-forming of E Clampus Vitus by a group of history buffs in the early 30s. In
May of 1932, on their first annual pilgrimage to the Gold Country, the group
came to Camptonville, and was regaled with stories of the old days by William
Bull Meek, an old-time Clamper and retired teamster and stage coach driver. But
this is a story to come later in another issue of this rag. For now, let us go
back even further.
On Jan. 24, 1848, James W. Marshall, an
employee of John A. Sutter, discovered gold in the tail race of a mill he was
building to produce lumber for Sutter. News spread slowly in those days, and
gold had been seen in California earlier, but news of Marshall’s discovery
loosed a tide of humanity bound for California. Since most people could not get
to California in less than 5 months, few were able to arrive in 1848.
1849, however, would prove to be the
beginning of the Gold Rush. Among those leaving for California in Jan. 1849,
was a 49 year-old man from Will County (near
Joliet), Illinois. Joe Zumwalt, not as young as many of the gold-seekers,
but still full of the stuff of which pioneers are made, came west to seek his
fortune.
While passing through Bowling Green (Pike County), Missouri, Joe and his
partner C.W. Wright stopped at a newspaper office to inquire of the condition
of the road to California. While there, they picked up some copies of the
ritual of “Ecclampus Vitus.” Some 8 months after leaving Illinois, the party
reached the Diggins in Sept. 1849. Settling his family in Sacramento, Joe and
others returned to the Diggins, traveling extensively from one location to
another, as in those days, news of a rich strike sent placer miners scurrying
to that location to try their luck.
Evidence shows that Joe Zumwalt visited
Camptonville, Downieville, Sierra City, Hangtown and many other locations. He
tried to start Chapters of E Clampus Vitus in some of these places, but due to
the restlessness of the miners, no success was attained.
As the Placer mining became harder, and the
focus of the search for gold turned from the rivers and streams to the quartz
outcroppings from which the gold came, individuals were less able to finance
the working of a mine. Partnerships were formed, companies became employers and
many men worked for others, rather than trying their luck on their own.
Working conditions were miserable, hours were
long and pay short. Benefits? Who heard of those? A man injured or unable to
work because of sickness was no use to a company, and he was let go.
The miners did have some spare time and soon, in
1851, at Mokelumne Hill, Chapter 1001 of E Clampus Vitus was formed. Perhaps it
was the more stationary population, but this time the idea took. Soon, Chapters
were springing up all along the Mother Lode. What did they do? Well, Brothers,
you will have to wait till next time as space is limited here for the present.
First published by Tom Barry in the Hewgag Monitor
February, 1986
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