E Clampus Vitus
Encyclopedia
The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus (ECV) is a fraternal organization dedicated to the study and preservation of Western
heritage, especially the history of the Mother Lode
and gold mining
regions of the area. The fraternity is not sure if it is a "historical drinking society" or a "drinking historical society." There are chapters in California
, Nevada
and other western states. Members call themselves "Clampers." The
organization's name is in Dog Latin
, and has no known meaning; even the spelling is disputed, sometimes appearing as "Clampus", "Clampsus", or "Clampsis". The motto
of the Order, Credo Quia Absurdum, is generally understood as meaning "I believe it because it is absurd."; the proper Latin quotation Credo quia absurdum est, is from the Christian apologist Tertullian
(140-230), who rejected rationalism and accepted a Gospel which addressed itself to the "non-rational levels of perception."
, when tavern and stable owner Ephraim Bee
was given a commission from the Emperor of China
to "extend the work and influence of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus."
Bee claimed to have received his commission from Caleb Cushing
, the American
minister to China
. West Union has a monument to Ephraim Bee on the site of the old "Beehive" Tavern, where the RailTrail comes through. The original tavern, the "Bee Hive", was destroyed in the late 1800s during a flood.
At the age of 60, he was a Captain of the Doddridge County Militia, which protected the area from roving Confederate forces, horse thieves & outlaws. The Militia also had a part in the Underground Railroad
in Doddridge County. They were hidden in hidden cellars of homes and also in Jaco Cave. Ephraim Bee played his greatest joke on his local West Virginian neighbors. Occasionally, the entire town was invited to a great party. After the Civil War, it was discovered that Jaco Cave was a holding area for the runaway slaves. When the cave was full, E. Bee gave a party to keep all busy while that group of people were moved further north to the next stop.
Bee felt that an organization was needed which was less exclusive than the other organizations of the day, such as the Masons
, Elks
and Odd Fellows
. In addition, nativism
was rising in the United States, as evidenced by such political organizations as the Know-Nothing Party. Bee opened membership in ECV to any "upstanding" man who had come of age. It is known that there were E Clampus Vitus chapters in Bedford, Pennsylvania
; Metropolis, Illinois
; Bowling Green, Missouri
; and Dahlonega, Georgia
.
(It has been rumored that ECV brethren within the U.S. Army even attempted to bring the order as far south as Mexico City
following the Mexican-American War as a gesture of brotherhood and reconciliation, but all record has vanished of the well-intentioned Chapultepec
chapter.)
The organization is said to have been taken to California by an ECV member named Joe Zumwalt, who first heard of it in Missouri
. Zumwalt opened an ECV lodge in Mokelumne Hill
in 1851, when Mokelumne Hill Lodge No. 1001 was established. There are arguments that previous lodges had been founded in Hangtown
, Downieville
and Sierra City
, but none of those became permanent.
ECV flourished, in part, as the result of the miners' reaction to the "established" organizations such as the Masons and Odd Fellows. Those groups had come to the mining country prior to ECV, and when ECV appeared, the older, more established groups looked down upon the more rowdy nature of E Clampus Vitus. ECV, on the other hand, made fun of the stuffed shirts of the Masons: they made great fun of the sashes and ceremonial attire of the "upscale" fraternities, and began dressing in red shirts and pinning on badges made of cut-out tin can lids. This practice, called "wearing the tin," continues to this day, although the badges are frequently professionally made. Members commonly dress in a red shirt, black hat and Levi's
jeans
. ECV titles reflected the tongue-in-cheek nature of the organization. Officials were called "Noble Grand Humbug," "Roisterous Iscutis," "Grand Imperturbable Hangman," "Clamps Vitrix," and "Royal Gyascutis." All members are officers and all officers, the organization professes, are of equal indignity.
Clamper meetings were held in the Hall of Comparative Ovations, generally the back room of a saloon. Some chapters even built their own Halls of Comparative Ovations. One still stands in Murphys
. The Clamper flag was a hoop skirt, with the words "This is the flag we fight under." Meetings were held "at any time before or after a full moon." New members were called "Poor Blind Candidates." They were required to present a poke of gold dust
, although the value of the poke was left to the discretion of the brotherhood, and was frequently waived entirely if the prospective member could not afford it.
Despite the humor and rowdiness of E Clampus Vitus, the members do take their brotherhood seriously. When a member became sick or injured, the group would collect food or money to help him. They frequently trekked through the vastness of the Sierra Nevada to reach lonely miners who otherwise would have had no Christmas celebration. The society was also careful to assist the widows and orphans of fallen members.
At the ECV's peak, around 1870, so many miners were members that many mining camps shut down during ECV celebrations (some mining towns had two chapters). At one point, Lord Sholto Douglas
, a British
peer leading a troupe of actors in Marysville
, was so downheartened by the lack of ticket sales that he had determined to leave town. When a local Clamper found out that the troupe was having trouble, Lord Douglas was immediately initiated into ECV, and the brothers bought enough tickets to fill the local theater. A 20th century chapter of the ECV was named for Lord Douglas LSD
in honor of this event. Mark Twain
was a member, and it was while attending an ECV meeting that he heard the story which he wrote as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
.
Members of note included Adam, the first "Clampatriarch"; Philip D. Armour, the meat packer; John Mohler Studebaker, the automobile manufacturer; Gene Autry
"The Singing Cowboy" and owner of the California Angels baseball team; and John Hume, a California state assemblyman. ECV also claims Ulysses S. Grant
, J. Pierpont Morgan, Horace Greeley
, and Horatio Alger as members, but claims have also been made to Solomon
, Julius Caesar
and Augustus Caesar, Henry VIII of England, Sir Francis Drake, George Washington
, Andrew Jackson
, Ronald Reagan
, and of course, His Imperial Majesty Joshua A. Norton
, "Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico". These fanciful claims show ECV's propensity for not taking much of anything particularly seriously, least of all itself.
There is evidence to support the ECV claim to Ulysses S. Grant. One of the early capitals of California was Benicia. At the close of the War with Mexico, Lt. William Tecumseh Sherman
was Adjutant to Col. Richard Barnes Mason at the time of the gold discovery at Sutter's Mill
. Upon Sherman's retirement in 1853, his replacement at the Benicia Arsenal was Lt. Ulysses S. Grant, who spent 30 days in the Arsenal Guardhouse for being drunk on duty and firing his cannons at the Martinez shoreline. Considering Benicia's position as the major inland Army post and transport hub to the valley, both Grant's and the Brotherhood's affinity for strong drink and the early spread of the Brotherhood through Northern California, it is entirely possible that Grant was inducted into the Organization.
As the mining industry faded towards the end of the 19th century, ECV started to fade as well. It was revitalized in 1931 by San Francisco historian
Carl Wheat and his friends G. Ezra Dane and Leon O. Whitsell. They were contacted by one of the last surviving members of the original ECV, who passed on all that he could remember of the organization's rites and legends. The three founded a new chapter, Yerba Buena Number 1, or the "Capitulus Redivivus." Wheat described E Clampus Vitus as "the comic strip
on the page of California history."
New chapters sprang up in Los Angeles
(Platrix Chapter #2) and other major cities in California, and were numbered sequentially. However, once Lodge 10 was established in 1936, members pointed out that it was illogical for such a rowdy organization to be so neat in its numbering scheme, and so some creativity was developed in the numbering. The "Pair-o-Dice" chapter in Paradise
, for example, is Lodge No. 7-11. The de la Guerra y Pacheco chapter, halfway between Lodge Number 1 in San Francisco and Lodge Number 2 in Los Angeles, is Lodge Number 1.5. There were chapters in British Columbia
and Hawaii
, but they no longer exist.
In 1937 a plaque appeared in Northern California
purporting to have been made by Sir Francis Drake
during his voyage of discovery in which it was stated that he had claimed all of California for England
, and that he had the authority of the claim by having been ceded the land by the local Miwok
Indians. The man who was chief of the Miwoks in 1937, William Fuller, was a member of E Clampus Vitus. During an ECV meeting, he revoked the cession of land to England, and ceded it all to the United States government. The so-called Drake's Plate of Brass
was accepted as authentic for forty years, yet was in actuality a hoax
initiated by Dane that got out of control. It is now thought that the Fuller ceremony was part of an effort for the perpetrators to tip off the plate's finders as to its true origins.
There are currently 42 ECV chapters in California, Nevada, Utah
, Arizona
, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Idaho and Washington, as well as an offshore chapter (the Floating Whang chapter), an online chapter (the Cyber Whang chapter), and 2 more proposed chapters.
Al Packer Chapter 100 in Colorado was chartered in 2000 — the year 6005 on ECV's idiosyncratic calendar. This chapter has four encampments statewide for members to get together and socialize.
Doc Maynard Chapter #54-40 in Washington State was chartered in 2006, the year 6011 in Clamper years, signifying the first Chapter in the Pacific Northwest.
Snake River Chapter #1811 (Idaho) and Umpqua Joe Chapter #1859 (Oregon) are the most recently chartered, changing their status from "Outpost" to "Chapter" in May 2010, the year 6015 in Clamper years.
The organization has raised historical plaque
s in many places throughout the West (often those sites such as bordellos and saloons overlooked by more traditional historical societies), with a traditional "doin's," or party, after each plaque dedication. These are now common in historical areas around California and the West — when in the Gold Country, a Clamper-placed plaque is never far away. In 2006, Platrix Chapter #2 erected a plaque commemorating the 50th Anniversary of "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" at the former studio site where Raymond Burr's insert scenes were filmed by director Terry Morse in 1956. The plaque is at the entrance of the Frank del Olmo Elementary School, the current occupant of the site. The current Modesto regional leader is a man named Jacob K Couch, who has once again led the group to surprising new results.
On February 19, 2009 the Nevada Assembly agreed to make the 19 "Clamper Day" the motion has not yet been passed by the state senate.
. Other times, the blindfolded initiate is seated upon a wet sponge in a wheelbarrow
, and taken upon the "Rocky Road to Dublin" (a ladder lying on the ground). The initiations are secret and vary greatly in execution and severity. Once he has been asked to answer several questions, the Scales of Darkness (the blindfold) are removed, the new member "sees the light", is handed the Staff of Relief, is presented the Stone of Enigma, and appointed Chairman of the Most Important Committee. Afterward everyone toasts the new member with drink. Once enlightened,a brother is a brother for life.
I swear under penalty of perjury in the State of California, the aforementioned text is accurate, true, and satisfactory. Witness my electronic signiture upon this date, September 10, 2011. Signed E. Bytus Passus, Clamper, Trinitarianus Chapter #62, Weaverville, CA
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
heritage, especially the history of the Mother Lode
Mother Lode
Mother lode is a principal vein or zone of veins of gold or silver ore. The term probably came from a literal translation of the Spanish veta madre, a term common in old Mexican mining...
and gold mining
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
regions of the area. The fraternity is not sure if it is a "historical drinking society" or a "drinking historical society." There are chapters in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
and other western states. Members call themselves "Clampers." The
organization's name is in Dog Latin
Dog Latin
Dog Latin, Cod Latin, macaronic Latin, or mock Latin refers to the creation of a phrase or jargon in imitation of Latin, often by directly translating English words into Latin without conjugation or declension...
, and has no known meaning; even the spelling is disputed, sometimes appearing as "Clampus", "Clampsus", or "Clampsis". The motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
of the Order, Credo Quia Absurdum, is generally understood as meaning "I believe it because it is absurd."; the proper Latin quotation Credo quia absurdum est, is from the Christian apologist Tertullian
Tertullian
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
(140-230), who rejected rationalism and accepted a Gospel which addressed itself to the "non-rational levels of perception."
History
The history of the organization is steeped in mythology. History shows that the organization was brought to the United States in 1845 in Lewisport, Virginia, now West Union, West VirginiaWest Union, West Virginia
West Union, incorporated July 20, 1881, is a town in Doddridge County, West Virginia. The population was 806 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Doddridge County. The mayor is Robert Fetty as of 2011. The town is located along Middle Island Creek at the junction of U.S...
, when tavern and stable owner Ephraim Bee
Ephraim Bee
Ephraim Bee was an American pioneer, blacksmith, and inn-keeper from Doddridge County, West Virginia. He represented Doddridge County in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1863 and 1866-1867....
was given a commission from the Emperor of China
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
to "extend the work and influence of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus."
Bee claimed to have received his commission from Caleb Cushing
Caleb Cushing
Caleb Cushing was an American diplomat who served as a U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts and Attorney General under President Franklin Pierce.-Early life:...
, the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
minister to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. West Union has a monument to Ephraim Bee on the site of the old "Beehive" Tavern, where the RailTrail comes through. The original tavern, the "Bee Hive", was destroyed in the late 1800s during a flood.
At the age of 60, he was a Captain of the Doddridge County Militia, which protected the area from roving Confederate forces, horse thieves & outlaws. The Militia also had a part in the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
in Doddridge County. They were hidden in hidden cellars of homes and also in Jaco Cave. Ephraim Bee played his greatest joke on his local West Virginian neighbors. Occasionally, the entire town was invited to a great party. After the Civil War, it was discovered that Jaco Cave was a holding area for the runaway slaves. When the cave was full, E. Bee gave a party to keep all busy while that group of people were moved further north to the next stop.
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, Elks
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is an American fraternal order and social club founded in 1868...
and Odd Fellows
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...
. In addition, nativism
Nativism (politics)
Nativism favors the interests of certain established inhabitants of an area or nation as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants. It may also include the re-establishment or perpetuation of such individuals or their culture....
was rising in the United States, as evidenced by such political organizations as the Know-Nothing Party. Bee opened membership in ECV to any "upstanding" man who had come of age. It is known that there were E Clampus Vitus chapters in Bedford, Pennsylvania
Bedford, Pennsylvania
Bedford is a borough in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, west of the State Capital, Harrisburg. It is the county seat of Bedford County. Bedford was established in the mid-18th century. Population counts follow: 1890, 2,242; 1900, 2,167; 1910, 2,385. The population was 3,141 at the 2000...
; Metropolis, Illinois
Metropolis, Illinois
Metropolis is a city located along the Ohio River in Massac County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,482...
; Bowling Green, Missouri
Bowling Green, Missouri
Bowling Green is a city in Pike County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,260 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pike County.Ameren's Peno Creek Power Plant, a combustion turbine generator power plant, is located in Bowling Green....
; and Dahlonega, Georgia
Dahlonega, Georgia
Dahlonega is a city in Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States, and is its county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242....
.
(It has been rumored that ECV brethren within the U.S. Army even attempted to bring the order as far south as Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
following the Mexican-American War as a gesture of brotherhood and reconciliation, but all record has vanished of the well-intentioned Chapultepec
Chapultepec
Chapultepec Park, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" in Mexico City, is the largest city park in Latin America, measuring in total just over 686 hectares. Centered on a rock formation called Chapultepec Hill, one of the park's main functions is to be an ecological space in the vast...
chapter.)
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. Zumwalt opened an ECV lodge in Mokelumne Hill
Mokelumne Hill, California
Mokelumne Hill is a census-designated place in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 646 at the 2010 census, down from 774 at the 2000 census. It is commonly referred to as "Moke Hill" by locals...
in 1851, when Mokelumne Hill Lodge No. 1001 was established. There are arguments that previous lodges had been founded in Hangtown
Placerville, California
Placerville is the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was 10,389 at the 2010 census, up from 9,610 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, Downieville
Downieville, California
Downieville is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Sierra County, California, United States. Downieville sits at an elevation of...
and Sierra City
Sierra City, California
Sierra City is a census-designated place in Sierra County, California, United States. The elevation of Sierra City is , and the town is situated in the canyon of the North Yuba River on California State Route 49, twelve miles northeast of the county seat of Sierra County, Downieville...
, but none of those became permanent.
ECV flourished, in part, as the result of the miners' reaction to the "established" organizations such as the Masons and Odd Fellows. Those groups had come to the mining country prior to ECV, and when ECV appeared, the older, more established groups looked down upon the more rowdy nature of E Clampus Vitus. ECV, on the other hand, made fun of the stuffed shirts of the Masons: they made great fun of the sashes and ceremonial attire of the "upscale" fraternities, and began dressing in red shirts and pinning on badges made of cut-out tin can lids. This practice, called "wearing the tin," continues to this day, although the badges are frequently professionally made. Members commonly dress in a red shirt, black hat and Levi's
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss was a German-Jewish immigrant to the United States who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm, Levi Strauss & Co., began in 1853 in San Francisco, California.-Origins:...
jeans
Jeans
Jeans are trousers made from denim. Some of the earliest American blue jeans were made by Jacob Davis, Calvin Rogers, and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys, became popular among teenagers. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler...
. ECV titles reflected the tongue-in-cheek nature of the organization. Officials were called "Noble Grand Humbug," "Roisterous Iscutis," "Grand Imperturbable Hangman," "Clamps Vitrix," and "Royal Gyascutis." All members are officers and all officers, the organization professes, are of equal indignity.
Clamper meetings were held in the Hall of Comparative Ovations, generally the back room of a saloon. Some chapters even built their own Halls of Comparative Ovations. One still stands in Murphys
Murphys, California
Murphys is a census-designated place in Calaveras County, California, United States...
. The Clamper flag was a hoop skirt, with the words "This is the flag we fight under." Meetings were held "at any time before or after a full moon." New members were called "Poor Blind Candidates." They were required to present a poke of gold dust
Gold Dust
Gold dust refers to fine particles of gold produced by machining or occurring naturally.Gold dust may also refer to:*Goldust, the ring name of Dustin Rhodes, an American wrestler...
, although the value of the poke was left to the discretion of the brotherhood, and was frequently waived entirely if the prospective member could not afford it.
Despite the humor and rowdiness of E Clampus Vitus, the members do take their brotherhood seriously. When a member became sick or injured, the group would collect food or money to help him. They frequently trekked through the vastness of the Sierra Nevada to reach lonely miners who otherwise would have had no Christmas celebration. The society was also careful to assist the widows and orphans of fallen members.
Sholto Douglas
Sholto Douglas was the mythical Progenitor of Clan Douglas, a powerful and warlike family in Medieval Scotland.A Mythical battle took place: "in 767, between King Solvathius rightful king of Scotland and a pretender Donald Bane...
, a British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
peer leading a troupe of actors in Marysville
Marysville, California
Marysville is the county seat of Yuba County, California, United States. The population was 12,072 at the 2010 census, down from 12,268 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, often referred to as the Yuba-Sutter Area after the two counties, Yuba and...
, was so downheartened by the lack of ticket sales that he had determined to leave town. When a local Clamper found out that the troupe was having trouble, Lord Douglas was immediately initiated into ECV, and the brothers bought enough tickets to fill the local theater. A 20th century chapter of the ECV was named for Lord Douglas LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
in honor of this event. Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
was a member, and it was while attending an ECV meeting that he heard the story which he wrote as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is an 1865 short story by Mark Twain, his first great success as a writer, bringing him national attention. The story has also been published as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"...
.
Members of note included Adam, the first "Clampatriarch"; Philip D. Armour, the meat packer; John Mohler Studebaker, the automobile manufacturer; Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
"The Singing Cowboy" and owner of the California Angels baseball team; and John Hume, a California state assemblyman. ECV also claims Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
, J. Pierpont Morgan, Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...
, and Horatio Alger as members, but claims have also been made to Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
, Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
and Augustus Caesar, Henry VIII of England, Sir Francis Drake, George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, and of course, His Imperial Majesty Joshua A. Norton
Joshua A. Norton
Joshua Abraham Norton , the self-proclaimed Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, was a celebrated citizen of San Francisco, California, who in 1859 proclaimed himself "Emperor of these United States" and subsequently "Protector of Mexico".Born in England, Norton spent most of his early life in South...
, "Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico". These fanciful claims show ECV's propensity for not taking much of anything particularly seriously, least of all itself.
There is evidence to support the ECV claim to Ulysses S. Grant. One of the early capitals of California was Benicia. At the close of the War with Mexico, Lt. William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
was Adjutant to Col. Richard Barnes Mason at the time of the gold discovery at Sutter's Mill
Sutter's Mill
Sutter's Mill was a sawmill owned by 19th century pioneer John Sutter in partnership with James W. Marshall. It was located in Coloma, California, at the bank of the South Fork American River...
. Upon Sherman's retirement in 1853, his replacement at the Benicia Arsenal was Lt. Ulysses S. Grant, who spent 30 days in the Arsenal Guardhouse for being drunk on duty and firing his cannons at the Martinez shoreline. Considering Benicia's position as the major inland Army post and transport hub to the valley, both Grant's and the Brotherhood's affinity for strong drink and the early spread of the Brotherhood through Northern California, it is entirely possible that Grant was inducted into the Organization.
Reestablishment
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Carl Wheat and his friends G. Ezra Dane and Leon O. Whitsell. They were contacted by one of the last surviving members of the original ECV, who passed on all that he could remember of the organization's rites and legends. The three founded a new chapter, Yerba Buena Number 1, or the "Capitulus Redivivus." Wheat described E Clampus Vitus as "the comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
on the page of California history."
New chapters sprang up in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
(Platrix Chapter #2) and other major cities in California, and were numbered sequentially. However, once Lodge 10 was established in 1936, members pointed out that it was illogical for such a rowdy organization to be so neat in its numbering scheme, and so some creativity was developed in the numbering. The "Pair-o-Dice" chapter in Paradise
Paradise, California
Paradise is an incorporated town in Butte County, in the northwest foothills of California's Central Valley, in the Sierra. The town is considered part of the Chico Metropolitan Area. The population was 26,218 at the 2010 census, down from 26,408 at the 2000 census...
, for example, is Lodge No. 7-11. The de la Guerra y Pacheco chapter, halfway between Lodge Number 1 in San Francisco and Lodge Number 2 in Los Angeles, is Lodge Number 1.5. There were chapters in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, but they no longer exist.
In 1937 a plaque appeared in Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
purporting to have been made by Sir Francis Drake
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
during his voyage of discovery in which it was stated that he had claimed all of California for England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and that he had the authority of the claim by having been ceded the land by the local Miwok
Miwok
Miwok can refer to any one of four linguistically related groups of Native Americans, native to Northern California, who spoke one of the Miwokan languages in the Utian family...
Indians. The man who was chief of the Miwoks in 1937, William Fuller, was a member of E Clampus Vitus. During an ECV meeting, he revoked the cession of land to England, and ceded it all to the United States government. The so-called Drake's Plate of Brass
Drake's Plate of Brass
The so-called Drake's Plate of Brass is a forgery that purports to be the brass plaque that Francis Drake posted upon landing in Northern California in 1579. The hoax was successful for forty years, despite early doubts. After the plate came to public attention in 1936, historians immediately...
was accepted as authentic for forty years, yet was in actuality a hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
initiated by Dane that got out of control. It is now thought that the Fuller ceremony was part of an effort for the perpetrators to tip off the plate's finders as to its true origins.
The current ECV
There are currently 42 ECV chapters in California, Nevada, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Idaho and Washington, as well as an offshore chapter (the Floating Whang chapter), an online chapter (the Cyber Whang chapter), and 2 more proposed chapters.
Al Packer Chapter 100 in Colorado was chartered in 2000 — the year 6005 on ECV's idiosyncratic calendar. This chapter has four encampments statewide for members to get together and socialize.
Doc Maynard Chapter #54-40 in Washington State was chartered in 2006, the year 6011 in Clamper years, signifying the first Chapter in the Pacific Northwest.
Snake River Chapter #1811 (Idaho) and Umpqua Joe Chapter #1859 (Oregon) are the most recently chartered, changing their status from "Outpost" to "Chapter" in May 2010, the year 6015 in Clamper years.
The organization has raised historical plaque
Commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...
s in many places throughout the West (often those sites such as bordellos and saloons overlooked by more traditional historical societies), with a traditional "doin's," or party, after each plaque dedication. These are now common in historical areas around California and the West — when in the Gold Country, a Clamper-placed plaque is never far away. In 2006, Platrix Chapter #2 erected a plaque commemorating the 50th Anniversary of "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" at the former studio site where Raymond Burr's insert scenes were filmed by director Terry Morse in 1956. The plaque is at the entrance of the Frank del Olmo Elementary School, the current occupant of the site. The current Modesto regional leader is a man named Jacob K Couch, who has once again led the group to surprising new results.
On February 19, 2009 the Nevada Assembly agreed to make the 19 "Clamper Day" the motion has not yet been passed by the state senate.
Initiation
By tradition, a man can only become a Clamper by invitation. However, one can express his desire to join. Initiation rites are sometimes spur-of-the-moment, such as forcing a blindfolded candidate to be lifted into the air by a block and tackleBlock and tackle
A block and tackle is a system of two or more pulleys with a rope or cable threaded between them, usually used to lift or pull heavy loads.The pulleys are assembled together to form blocks so that one is fixed and one moves with the load...
. Other times, the blindfolded initiate is seated upon a wet sponge in a wheelbarrow
Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...
, and taken upon the "Rocky Road to Dublin" (a ladder lying on the ground). The initiations are secret and vary greatly in execution and severity. Once he has been asked to answer several questions, the Scales of Darkness (the blindfold) are removed, the new member "sees the light", is handed the Staff of Relief, is presented the Stone of Enigma, and appointed Chairman of the Most Important Committee. Afterward everyone toasts the new member with drink. Once enlightened,a brother is a brother for life.
Further reading
- New Helvetia Chapter #5 Sacramento, CA
- Snake River Chapter #1811 State of Idaho
- Doc Maynard Chapter #54-40 State of Washington
- Chief Truckee Chapter #3691 Nevada County, CA
- Yerba Buena Chapter #1, Capitulus Redivivus
- Lord Sholto Douglas Chapter #3 Placer County, CA
- Grub Gulch Chapter #41-49 Madera County, CA
- Estanislao #58 Stanislaus & Merced Counties, CA
- Al Packer #100 State of Colorado
- Billy Holcomb #1069 San Bernardino/Riverside, CA
- Major William Downie Chapter #1849 Downieville, CA
- Mountain Charlie #1850 Santa Clara Co. CA
- Major James D. Savage #1852 Fresno County, CA
- Squibob #1853 San Diego & Imperial Counties
- Peter Lebeck Chapter #1866 Kern County, CA
- Lost Dutchman #5917+4 Arizona,New Mexico
- Ephraim's Clamping Vipers West Virginia
- Julia C. Bulette #1864 Some Nevada Counties
- Dr. Samuel Gregg George #1855 Tulare County, CA
- Queho Posse #1919 Some Nevada Counties
- Frank C. Reilly Chapter #5978 LaPorte, CA
- Pair-O-Dice Chapter #7-11 Paradise, CA
- Rather, Lois. Men Will Be Boys: The Story of E Clampus Vitus. Rather Press, Oakland, California, 1980. (CALIFORNIANA OVERSIZE 366 R18)
- Gentry, CurtCurt GentryCurt Gentry is an American writer. He is best known for co-writing the book Helter Skelter with Vincent Bugliosi , which detailed the Charles Manson murders...
. Last Days of the Late, Great State of California. Comstock Book Distributors (June 1977).
I swear under penalty of perjury in the State of California, the aforementioned text is accurate, true, and satisfactory. Witness my electronic signiture upon this date, September 10, 2011. Signed E. Bytus Passus, Clamper, Trinitarianus Chapter #62, Weaverville, CA
See also
- Drake's Plate of BrassDrake's Plate of BrassThe so-called Drake's Plate of Brass is a forgery that purports to be the brass plaque that Francis Drake posted upon landing in Northern California in 1579. The hoax was successful for forty years, despite early doubts. After the plate came to public attention in 1936, historians immediately...
- Short radio episodes from G. Ezra Dane and Carl I. Wheat, who revived the ancient and honorable order, at California Legacy ProjectCalifornia Legacy ProjectThe California Legacy Project began in 2000 as a project at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA and later partnered with Heyday Books in Berkeley, CA. The project uses a research team of SCU interns to create radio scripts for the radio anthology "Your California Legacy" on KAZU 90.3 FM,...
.