Illinois Valley news., February 07, 2018, Page 9, Image 9

Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Page A-9
E. Clampus Vitus history : by Grand Noble Sublime Bill Wensrich
The Ancient and Honorable
Order of E. Clampus Vitus
(ECV or Clampers) is a fraternal
organization founded in 4005 B.C.
On second thought, maybe it was
around 1845. ECV’s commission
may have come from the Emperor
of the Celestial Kingdom. More
likely, it evolved and was expanded
upon during the California gold
rush. No one knows for sure. It
appears much of the historical
record regarding the exact origin
of ECV will remain forever murky.
As all Clampers know and like to
recall, “no one present was in any
condition to take minutes, and after
a meeting, no one could be found
who remembered what happened.”
We do know that ECV then, as
well as today, includes taking care
of widows and orphans. Clampers
also enjoy a hearty drink while
carrying out practical jokes and
regaling each other with tales of
the Trans-Mississippi west and
other history. More importantly,
modern day activities carried
out by 40 Chapters, all nonprofit
organizations, also include:
• On-going preservation of
western U.S. history through the
erection of historical plaques,
• Raising awareness and
monies for worthy historical and
educational activities,
• Public help programs such
as the Yreka Kid’s Fishing Derby,
Wilderville Highway cleanup, and
• Participating in local
parades, community events,
charities and harmless levity.
Decades of dedication to
local history by ECV have resulted
in the placement of over 2,000
plaques commemorating significant
historical buildings and stories of
interest. These diverse monuments
erected by ECV Chapters across
the west remember individuals,
places and events. Discovering and
preserving the truth from the past is
important to learning and knowing
who we are. Your local ECV
organization established in 2004
Umpqua Joe No. 1859, sponsored
by the Yreka Humbug Chapter,
has partnered numerous times
with the Josephine and Siskiyou
County Historical Societies in the
research and placement of historical
plaques. To date, the Umpqua Joe
Chapter has erected 22 plaques
commemorating northern California
and southern Oregon history.
ECV is said to have been
started about 1845 by one Ephraim
Bee, a tavern keeper, surveyor,
blacksmith and state legislator from
what is now West Virginia. The
organization’s roots germinated
in California when a man named
Joe Zumwalt, traveling to the
1849 gold rush, brought an eastern
lodge ritual book with him. Taking
hold in 1851, Mokelumne Hill
became recognized as California’s
first official ECV Lodge. The
organization, by nature, was a spoof
on more dignified and straight-laced
fraternal orders of the day such as
the freemasons. Those orders took
themselves too seriously and looked
down on the mining working class.
Evolving from pure burlesque
and serious drinkingto a worthy
organization with a penchant for
local history, ECV has undergone
growth, decline and rebirth over the
last 167 years. With the decline of
mining and depopulation of camps
in the diggins, ECV also declined.
The old E Clampus Vitus ran out
of steam by the turn of the 20th
century. By 1915, there was only
one lodge left. A lawyer named
Carl Wheat and two friends, Leon
O. Whitsell and George Ezra
Dane, revived ECV in the early
1930s. Together they guided the
organization to devote itself to the
subject of preserving California and
Trans-Mississippi western history.
By the mid-1930s the
revivified ECV had established four
chapters as well as made claim to
the ECV recognized “territory of
New Mexico” for another chapter.
Today, Umpqua Joe Chapter serves
six counties in southwest Oregon
and is part of the larger E. Clampus
Vitus organization. From four
California Chapters in 1936, ECV
has grown to 45 Chapters and seven
Outposts located in nine western
states.
Reminding us to retain the
original spirit of ECV, Al Shumate,
one of the Order’s past Sublime
Noble Grand Humbugs, wrote a
vignette on ECV which included the
following four points.
“First, what does E. Clampus
Vitus mean? Well, that is the
greatest mystery of all, because
none of us know what it means!
Second, what is the purpose of
the society? There is a description
of the society that all of you have
heard. It is claimed ECV is a
historical drinking society; others
claim it to be a drinking historical
society. The debate continues; it
has never been solved.
Third, the objectives of ECV
are well known: Members swear to
take care of the widows and orphans
— especially the widows.
Fourth, the governing
authority of the Clampers is equally
as explicit: All members are
officers and all offices are of equal
indignity.”
(Photo by Laura Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
Grand Noble Humbug Tarry Frank (right) and Clamp Chef Mark Dillinger serve gumbo at a Super Bowl fundraiser Sunday,
Feb. 4 at Sportsman Tavern in Cave Junction. The proceeds of the event will benefit a I.V. High School ECV Scholarship.
S PORTSMAN TAVER N
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or order off tHe menu
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Friday
Serving
CoCKtailS
and hear all of you
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♥ G R
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C an ’ t wait to see
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