Warm Spring Lodge No. 0
A New Beginning
It all started when W∴ Bro∴ Joshua Shimkus, PM discovered an old map of the Republic of Texas in a closet of the Lodge that was serving as a Library, that space now is where the current restroom is located in the 122 W Rochester building. What he saw not only intrigued his Masonic curiosities but also that part of his mind which had earned a BA in History. Previously, in late 2008 that PM Shimkus settled in Saratoga, and he subsequently petitioned the Masonic Lodge for membership in early 2009. At the time of the discovery of the map he was a new Mason, and it was unknown to him that the town of Saratoga’s was once a part of disputed lands between the Republic of Texas and Mexico; those same lands won and claimed by the Texans.
It was Bro∴ Gene Cannon, a Texan temporarily residing in the North Platte River Valley, that contributed most to PM Shimkus early curiosities, because Bro∴ Cannon had lent PM Shimkus an out of print book that detailed the lives of Mason’s along the Rio Grande, and throughout the rest of the Republic of Texas. As PM Shimkus would later discover some of the men and families in Bro∴ Gene’s book, would find their way into the origin of the Town of Saratoga. The names of those Mason’s, some famous, some obscure became over the years the clues to discovering answers that gave birth to this past, but long forgotten tail of Masonic travels.
It’s probably safe to assume that most locals to the North Platte River Valley are equally unaware of their shared history with the Free and Independent Republic of Texas. The Lone Star Republic claimed all the land that comprises North Platte River Valley to the 42nd parallel (just north of Casper). It is here that a trading post called “Warm Springs” started life and would later become Saratoga, WY. Freemasons were active in the settling of the lands of the Republic of Texas, and Warm Springs was no different. It was here, long ago, in Warm Springs, that suggests that in the annals our town’s history, there exists a new beginning of the Masonic history of the State of Wyoming.
The Grand Lodge of A.F. & A.M. of Wyoming has long held that the first Masonic Meeting in Wyoming occurred on July 4th, 1864 at Independence Rock along the Oregon Trail in between Rawlins and Casper; and that will, for the time being, have to stand as the official understanding. Yet, evidence continues to mount that Masonic Lodge in Saratoga maybe able to present a genuine claim to not only having the first meeting in Wyoming, but also the first Lodge.
Should there be some historical record found, potentially discovered in bowels of a Texas museum or library, detailing a such a meeting or a lodge then not only is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqXwaxUYmw4the claim of Independence Rock threatened but also the competitive claims of Cheyenne No. 1 and Lander No. 2 as the first lodge.
The discovery of such a lodge, now long forgotten, wouldn’t just predate either of those lodges by a few years but by decades, potentially even a half a century or more. Perhaps it did not exist, perhaps it was nothing more than a room which had some chalk drawn upon the floor, but the circumstantial evidence that does exist is enough to cause deliberate perpetuation for the future of freemasonry in North Platte River Valley, most especially the future of Saratoga Lodge No. 14.
While speculation abounds on America’s second favorite topic, the historical records have always been sparse on the topic of Freemasonry. Let alone for the northern most settlement of the free and independent Republic of Texas. As early as 1820, in the territories control and claimed by the Republic Texas there is known masonic activity. Scholars estimate that 1,100 Freemason’s lived in the then lands that would be come the Republic of Texas. The Grand Lodge of Louisiana had issued several charter’s throughout the disputed territories. In 1836, the Republic of Texas comes into existence, claiming from the start Warm Springs (now Saratoga, WY) as part of it’s lands, and by 1837 three of the those chartered lodges met in Houston and formed the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas.1
By 1860, four years prior to Wyoming’s first known meeting on Independence Rock, the Grand Lodge in Texas boasted 226 Lodges and over 9,000 members. Mason’s made up 80% percent of all the Government in the Republic of Texas as well as the newly formed State of Texas. We suspect that with Freemasonry being such an active part of the life in the Republic of Texas so to it was true for Warm Springs. We know that more than one Texan made his way north, and the familiarity of the names involved suggest that they could have met in Warm Springs, maybe held a meeting, perhaps constituted a lodge?
Once the Lone Star state was admitted into the United States; Congress saw fit to chop-up all those hard won lands and make them into the several western States. As our Native American neighbors remind us from time to time, lines on a map don’t make a people. It is their culture, their heritage, and their unique way of life that makes them a people. A short visit into the North Platte River Valley, especially Saratoga and Encampment and surround communities demonstrates that their is something different in these parts from the rest of the way of life in Wyoming. Perhaps, it is the vestiges of the old Texans that courses through the veins of it’s ancestral history. The people that make up this Valley, whether they known it or not are one part Old Texan. We hope to be able to find some record of their meetings and perhaps even the recording of a Lodge, no matter how short lived. Such a discovery would rewrite Masonic history of Wyoming.
Check back often, subscribe even, as we detail our quest through history in search of what we are calling, “Warm Springs Lodge No. 0“.
