Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1935-08-29

lalnS. lnlS lOdge was nelu PROBABLY
on Sept. %, 1862.
A few days later, en- route from Deer
Lodge to Bannack, the Langford party
was Unexpectedly accosted by three or
four men, roughly clad, suspicious and
almost hostile in n One Of the
men, inquiring about the Langford
party, used a Masonic expression,
Langford replied appropriately. Friend
ship was quickly cemented, and midst
the objections of his non-Masonic as
sociates, Langford and his brother,
named Gwin, walked away together.
Langford never revealed to his worried
associates why he had SO quickly shown
confidence in an apparent outlaw.
The next Masonic event was the
death Of Mr.. Bell at Bannack; Lang
ford conducted the funeral. OF it he
says:
"The strange p~eculiarities of the oc-
casion added a mournful interest to the
impressive truths of the ritual. A large
congregation had assembled. Nearby,
and surrounding the grave, stood the
little band of brethren, linked by an
lilQAooOAuDlC OOllQ W IT'LL " WllOill bllCy
were now performing the last sad Of
flee. With clasped hands and uncov-
cred heads they reverently listened to
the solemn language which in that far
off land committed one of their num-
Der to his mother earth; while further
away, and encircling them, stood a cur
ious multitude, whose eager gaze be-
trayed that they there for the first time
beheld a Masonic burial ceremony.
Among the latter might be seen many
whose daily lives were filled with deeds
OF violence and crime-who mayhap at
the moment might be meditating muir
der and robbery-who, for the first time
in many years, were listening to langu-
age which recalled the innocence of
boyhood, the early teachings OF par
ents, and hopefully pointed the way to
an eternity Of unmixed enjoyment. How
strange it seemed to see this large
assemblage, all armed with revolvers
and bowie knives, standing silently,
respectfully, around the grave of a
stranger, their very features-distorted
by the lines which their hardened lives
had planted-now saddened by a
modnentary f~leeting thought of the
grave and immortality.
Nor was this all. They learned from
what they saw that here was an as
ISOLATION, bound together by bonds of
brotherly love, that would stand by and
protect all its members in the hour of
danger. They saw the scroll deposited
which signified so plainly that death
alone could break a link in the mystic
chain which bound them together. They
saw each brother drop the evergreen
as a symbol of the surrender of him
they mourned to the eternal care of a
Higher Power. And while the brethren,
as they regarded each other in the light
OF their strong obligations, felt that in
themselves there was a power equal to
their exposed condition, we may rea-
sonably suppose that the ruffians who
had marked them for ultimate destruc-
ton felt that a new and formidable adj
versary had thrown itself across their
bloody pathway. '
Who can fittingly describe that SOL
emn scene, wherein was the beginning
of the redemption Of Montana from
rufftan rule. In a vast sense the death
OF Brother Bell was a vicarious sacri-
lice. A new power arose in that be-
leaguered land from that very hour,
TO which all honest men instinctively
turned for inspiration and strength"
The rising power of Masonry S i'm
pressed Henry Plummer, road agent
boss. that he publicly expressed a strong