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HISTORY OF e Grand Lodge received the petition, and by a unanimous
MONTANA ARMY LODGE No. 1, U. D. vote authorized its Grand Master, Most Worshipful Bro.
Bro. L. A. Foot, Montana Francis D. Jones, to issue the dispensation, prayed for and
At the time of the entry of the United States into the appointed a committee consisting of the Most Worshipful
Grand Master and Most Worshipful Past Grand Masters
World War, there was considerable discussion among the E. C. Day and H. S. Hepner to prepare the dispensation
various Masonic Jurisdictions of the United States relative granting such powers as in their judgment were necessary
to the advisability of granting dispensations for Army or to accomplish the purpose desired.
Field Lodges in the United States Army. In many instances
petitions for such lodges were denied, under the belief All things being in readiness, Montana Army Lodge No.
that the plan was not feasible, but the question continues 1 was duly constituted by M. W. Grand Master Jones in the
to be a live one, and the writer submits this article on the Consistory Shrine Temple at Helena on Sept. 8, 1917, with
experiences of one of such lodges, hoping that the record the writer as W. M.; Bro. Jesse B. Root, Senior Warden; Bro.
of the Army Lodge of Montana’s jurisdiction may prove of Wm. O. Whipps, Junior Warden; Bro. Jos. P. Sternhagen,
bene t and value to the Cra in the future. Treasurer, and Bro. Willard E. Olson, Secretary. e
appointive o cers installed at the same time were as
Army Lodges were not an innovation of the World War, follows: Bros. George A. Wright, Senior Deacon; D. E.
Masonic history proves that a number of such lodges Hawley, Junior Deacon; A. E. Johnson, Senior Steward;
existed in Washington’s Army during the Revolution, and W. E. Wilson, Junior Steward; Jos. Writenour, Tyler; H. N.
it is not at all certain that the rst lodge on American soil Johnson, Marshal, and Wm. Pippy, Chaplain.
was not an Army Lodge. Why, therefore, any jurisdiction
should have hesitated to grant a dispensation in the late e jewels and furniture of the lodge were the gi s of the
war; the writer is at a loss to understand, but doubtless three Helena Lodges, Helena Lodge No. 3, Morning Star
apparently good and su cient reasons existed. Lodge No. 5, and King Solomon’s Lodge No. 9, the square
and compasses being made for the purpose by a Helena
On the 25th day of March 1917, the Montana National silversmith from pure Montana silver. All these jewels and
Guard was mobilized for service and assembled at Fort other articles were returned to the Grand Lodge and are
William Henry Harrison, near Helena, Mont. e regiment now deposited in its archives among the other historical
(then known as the Second Montana Infantry, later to relics of Montana Masonry.
become the 163rd United States Infantry) had but recently
returned from service on the Mexican border. During that ree days a er the institution of Montana Army Lodge
service, those belonging to the regiment who were Masons No. 1, the regiment departed for Camp Greene, North
had several times discus the advisability and desirability of Carolina, on the rst step of its journey to France.
petitioning the Grand Lodge of Montana for a dispensation
to organize an Army or Field Lodge. However, when it
developed that the regiment was not to enter Mexico, but
was merely to perform guard duty on the border, the idea
was abandoned.

When the call to duty was again sounded, however,
and with an assurance of active service in a foreign land
presented, the idea was again revived, and nally, a call
for all Masons in the regiment to meet at a certain time
and place was sent out. So many brethren responded to this
call, and so much enthusiasm for the plan developed that
the result was the appointment of a committee to take the
matter up with the Grand Master and o cers of the Grand
Lodge of Montana with a view of obtaining a dispensation
for a lodge that might be taken to France, there to furnish
to those wearers of the lambskin in their country’s service 2nd Montana, 163rd Infantry leaving for France,
the joys of fraternal comradeship only to be had within the October 24, 1917. Helena, Montana.
mystic circle of Masonry. No meetings of the Lodge were held in the United States
although permission to meet at Camp Greene was asked
e Grand Lodge of Montana met in its Annual and received from the Most Worshipful Grand Master of
Communication at Helena, and the writer, delegated by the North Carolina, and the use of the beautiful lodge rooms
soldier Masons of the Second Montana Infantry, appeared in the Masonic Temple in Charlotte, North Carolina, was
before its altar and presented the petition, duly signed, tendered to the lodge during its stay at Camp Greene.
asking that a dispensation be granted to form a Field The limited time the regiment remained there, and the
Lodge under the name of Montana Army Lodge No. 1, to arduous work of preparing for the voyage across the seas
accompany the regiment to the battle elds of Europe, or prevented the acceptance of the offer of the kind brethren
wherever its duty might call it. of Charlotte, who overwhelmed the brethren of the
division with their attentions and kindness.