Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-22

slstant adjutant general Headquarters. 90O
y north
liam L. BramhaIl, commander. Il wilson,
assistant adjutant general. Headquarters,
222 p north.
Post No. /, District Of Washington Capt
Wilson Miller post commander: Maj. T. Lubey
senior vice commander; Maj. j. w. Lord, junior
vice commander; William T. Collins, M. D., post
adjutant, address Internal Revenue Bureau;
A. A. Grant, post quartermaster; F. w. Ritter,
post surgeon, and S. S. Sumner, chaplain
An item also of interest in this directory was
q brief statement as to the object and aims Of
the organization which said: ''The Grand
Army Of the Republic is an organization Of
true and tried honorably discharged soldiers to
aid with its charity the MANNED and helpless
soldiers and the dependent families Of the
fallen, to secure for those returned soldiers who
have vainly sought for it themselves, and whose
very tattered uniforms seem an evidence of de-
merit In the eyes of many who never dared to
clothe themselves with it and its dangerous
responsibilities. Whatever secrecy there is about
this organization is only such as surrounds the
most benign and powerful civil orders Of the
day as necessity for their protection and
strength, and to better secure their charitable
objects"
r EFERRNG to the Dictionary OF Secret
and Other Societies" the writer also found
the following interesting statement:
THE Grand Army of the Republic, according
TO the 'CycIopedia of Fraternities' cad ed D. III.
was organized by Odd Fellows. and Free
masons and is largely made up Of them In
spite Of this fact and the religious character Of
the ritual, it has had some priests and even
bishop or two among its members. Archbishop
Ryan Of Philadelphia, in 1885, declared he
could see no Objectionable features in IT, while
Archbishop ireland of st. Paul repeatedly
eulogized it," .
The second post established In the District
was that Of Kit Carson No. g. which was
chartered March 10. 1867, and, according to
post records. was organized by District Comdr.
Bramhan in the basement OF the National
Capitol on the evening Of March ~, 1867, with
the following named charter members: Richard
Middleton (poSt commander), L. B. Cutler,
s. A. Boyden, Richard Morgan, Nathan Burns
ham, y. II. Jennings, George w. Lithgow,
George Peck, William Low and Richard r. Rea.
1t 0rSt appears on record Is Kit Carson
Fest August 10, 1859, having been named
after SIS deceased member, Kit Carson"
T7RoM the same source we also quote q
- sketch of Kit Carson, which says:
~Christopher Carson, better known as Kit
Carson, was born in Madison County Kentucky
December "a, 1909. That country had already
then become too tame for his father, who moved
his family the following year TO what Is now
Howard County. Missouri, country then
abounding in wild and hostile Indians. Here
Kit remained. exposed to the dangers Of .
frontier life, until he was Is years Of age.
Having been apprenticed to q Sadd1er, this
occupation soon proved too insipid for one
born 10 danger, and when II years old he
coined party bound for Sante Re, which city
he lznr7 in n14arT h.
20 Taos where living with mountaineer, he
acquired the Spanish language and gained q
knowledge Of the Rocky Mountains.
1T is not within the limits Of this sketch to
follow him In his many adventurous and perilous
expeditions-to the headquarters OF the ella
and the San Francisco, the canyons Of the
Colorado, the Great Basin, the San joaquin,
the Sierra Nevada, the headwaters Of the
Columbia, the Yellowstone and Platte. the
Black Hills, etc. In 1912 he met Gen. Fremont
at st. Louis and accompanied him on three
great expeditions which the Pathfinder led
The story of these, ending in the conquest of
California, is stil fresh in the minds Of the
American people.
Having subsequently joined Gen. Kearney
he served as his guide, and having while thus
employed saved the command from disastrous
defeat President Polk appointed him q lieu
tenant In the Regular Army, but the Senate
rejecting the nomination, Carson reverted to
private life He bore this injustice with the
noble equanimity characteristic Of him, never
complaining nor relaxing in his career Of self
sacrifice. He remained patriot 10 his last
breath.
Several subsequent attempts on his part TO
settle down were interrupted by his giving his
services in the suppression Of Indian hostilties.
He then became freighter. On one occasion,
hearing Of threatened meat famine, he him
self drove a herd of sheep from New Mexico to
san Francisco. where the people gave him q
grand reception.
I'm 1858 he was appointed Indian agent for