Jim Tresner, 33°, Grand Cross
P.O. Box 1019, Guthrie, Oklahoma 73044-1019

Reader response is requested in completing a list of all sites named in honor of Grand Commander Albert Pike.

So far as I can determine, there is no complete list of the various streets, highways, towns, Temples, etc., which are or have been named in honor of Albert Pike. The list presented in this article is also incomplete, although it is as complete as I can make it at this time. It would be good to compile as complete a listing as possible, and so you are invited to help.

If you know of something named in honor of Albert Pike which is not included in this article-for example, the locations of DeMolay Chapters, locations and numbers of York Rite Bodies, other Temples with Pike windows, etc.-please tell us about it and send a photograph or scanned image (150 dpi), if possible. We can then print a better listing. Please e-mail journal@srmason-sj.org; fax 202-387-1843; or mail to Scottish Rite Journal, 1733 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009-3103. Thank you for participating in this project.

Brother Mark Twain once remarked that you could tell the character of a nation by the character of the men to whom it built monuments or the events it chooses to commemorate. That is probably true. It is certainly true in the case of Albert Pike, one of the most influential of American Freemasons. His name has been attached to schools, streets, scholarships, stained-glass windows, Masonic Lodges, and many other places. Even a special fragrance in men's soap and cologne has been named after him.

No full listing of the various monuments and memorials has ever been made, and the listing that follows is certainly incomplete. It has been complied from histories and magazine articles, and, especially, from the Internet. But, incomplete as it is, it provides a view of this remarkable man and his influence on the nation. A word of caution: do not confuse Zebulon M. Pike (1779-1813), American general and explorer, with Albert Pike (although Grand Commander Pike was also an explorer of the American West during his younger years).

Highways, Streets, Roads

Today, we take for granted our system in which numbers identify state and federal highways. Highways use signs of specific size and shape, and we can recognize them from a distance. But that system is recent, starting only in the late 1920s. While we now name highways to commemorate special historical sites or individuals, those names are added to the number designation, which remains the primary identification system. Before the numbering system, names for trails and highways were all we had. These were occasionally named by city or state governments, but were far more often named by private groups or even trade associations. These groups created their own signs or, sometimes, just bands of colors. They would post the signs at corners where the highway took a turn or just paint the bands of color on a telephone pole to mark the highway. You didn't have much warning of a turn, but then you weren't driving very fast on those roads.

At right is the marker of the Albert Pike Highway. The highway runs from Hot Springs, Arkansas, to Denver, Colorado. If you wish to retrace the highway, using today's numbered system, start at Hot Springs, go to Fort Smith, and then follow US-64 to US-183, then to US-154 to US Highways 50, 85, and I-25.

In addition to the Albert Pike Highway, there are at least two streets: Albert Pike Road in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Albert Pike Road in Royal, Arkansas. There may have been many more, for there are thousands of streets simply named "Pike." Some we know were named for Zebulon Pike, the discoverer of Pike's Peak and a military hero who died in the war of 1812. Others may be named Pike because such roads were turnpikes, i.e., toll roads. Still, we can speculate that some were named in honor of the Grand Commander.

Lodges And Other Masonic Bodies

Predictably, several Lodges and other Masonic Bodies have memorialized Grand Commander Pike. Again, the list is incomplete. Lodges consolidate and move their locations over time. Those currently known are:

• Albert Pike Masonic Lodge No. 133, Bearcreek, Montana
• Franklin-Albert Pike Masonic Lodge No. 12, Cedar City, Utah
• Albert Pike Masonic Lodge No. 1169, San Antonio, Texas
• Albert Pike Masonic Lodge No. 714, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Albert Pike Masonic Lodge No. 36, (now No. 33) Washington, D.C.
  Albert Pike Masonic Lodge No. 257, Hopkins, Minnesota
• Albert Pike Masonic Lodge No. 117, Edgewater, Colorado
• Albert Pike Masonic Lodge No. 303, Wichita, Kansas
• Albert Pike Masonic Lodge No. 376, Jefferson, Louisiana
• Albert Pike Masonic Lodge (now Southgate Masonic Lodge No. 12), Portland, Oregon
• Albert Pike Masonic Lodge No. 98, Stigler, Indian Territory, chartered August 9, 1898. When the Grand Lodge of the State of Oklahoma was formed in 1909, the Lodge became Stigler Masonic Lodge No. 121, and the name was retained by Albert Pike Masonic Lodge No. 162, Guthrie, Oklahoma (chartered in Oklahoma Territory).

Several states have Albert Pike DeMolay Chapters, and there is at least one Albert Pike Priory of the DeMolay Order of Knighthood, an Albert Pike Court of Chevaliers, and an Albert Pike Preceptory of the DeMolay Legion of Honor.

In the Scottish Rite, there is at least one Albert Pike Chapter of Rose Croix and at least one Albert Pike Council of the Knights Kadosh. Pike was very active in the York Rite as well, and there is the Albert Pike Commandery No. 4 and the Albert Pike Chapter of Royal Arch Masonry.

The Civil War

The War Between the States redefined Pike's life, as it redefined the lives of everyone in the land, and there are markers across the land to testify to his involvement.

In August 1961, in Eufaula, Oklahoma, a marker was dedicated which reads "Creek Council Ground Site directly east. On that hillside into valley east Counselors met Commissioner Albert Pike here when the Creek Treaty with the Confederate States was signed, July 10, 1861, at North Fork Town."

Pike had been appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the Confederacy by Jefferson Davis. The Grand Council, which debated and finally signed the treaty, was composed of thousands of Creek as well as representatives of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Seminole nations.

Camp Pike (not to be confused with Camp Pike in Arkansas, which was named for Zebulon Pike) was named for Albert Pike and located in what was then Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, one mile northeast of Whitefield. The camp was used for the training of Confederate soldiers. It is now a national historic site.

Until recently little regarded by historians, the Battle of Pea Ridge (a.k.a. Elkhorn Tavern) is now considered one of the most important battles in the War Between the States. Fought on March 7 & 8, 1862, nearly 26,000 soldiers were involved in the conflict. The Northern victory at that battle kept Missouri from falling to the South and preserved vital Northern supply lines. A Southern victory would have made Northern activity through the Mississippi Valley nearly impossible.

At that battle, General Albert Pike led a force of some 800 Native American troops recruited from Indian Territory. The Pea Ridge National Military Park in Arkansas preserves and commemorates that battle.

Founded at Richmond, Virginia, in 1896, the Sons of Confederate Veterans is an organization dedicated to patriotism and to the preservation of the history of the Confederacy. It is organized in camps. Two of those camps are named in honor of Albert Pike, the Brigadier General Albert Pike Camp No. 1367 of the Oklahoma Territory Brigade and the Brigadier General Albert Pike Camp No. 1439 of Kansas. There is also the Albert Pike Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, in Texarkana, Arkansas.

Natural Wonders

It is understandable that sites related to the war should commemorate Albert Pike, but it is far more fitting that he should be remembered by sites of natural beauty and wonder. Pike hated war, but he loved nature and was convinced that man was brought closer to the Deity by the contemplation of His handiwork.

The Albert Pike Recreation Area centers around a beautiful natural pool in the Little Missouri River. It is the essential image of the typical "ol' swimming hole" we may remember. This is ironic, in one way, because we know that Pike never learned to swim. The area is supposed to offer great fishing and camping-both of which Pike loved.

Lowery's Camp Albert Pike of Caddo Gap, Arkansas, offers comfortable camping and RV hookups. Pike would have approved.

The Albert Pike Rocks near Mena, Arkansas (pictured above), offer both spectacular scenery and some challenging rock climbing.

U.S. Towns And Counties

There are at least 28 towns and eight counties named "Pike" in the United States. Of those whose namesake can be identified, most appear to have been named after Zebulon Pike. Pike, Oklahoma, however, was named in honor of Albert Pike. And here is an interesting coincidence. In his later years, Pike became great friends with Vinnie Ream, then in her late teens, who had become a well-known sculptress by her 21st birthday. She won a national competition to do the memorial stature of Abraham Lincoln after his assassination and became the first woman to receive a commission for a work of art from the U.S. government, as well as the youngest-distinctions she still holds. The town of Vinita, Oklahoma, was named in honor of Vinnie. The Vinnie Ream Cultural Center is located there, offering a wide range of educational programs.

Schools

It is altogether fitting that Albert Pike should be memorialized by schools named in his honor. His first job as a teen in Massachusetts was teaching school, and he also taught when he first entered Arkansas in 1833. That tiny schoolhouse (photo left), originally built just outside what is now Van Buren, Arkansas, has been preserved.

Albert Pike School in Shelby County, Tennessee, was one of the first schools in the area, started on the first floor of the Albert Pike Masonic Lodge just prior to the start of the War Between the States. After World War I, the name of the school was changed to White Station, in honor of Mrs. Eppie White, who donated land for additional buildings on the site.

Albert Pike Elementary School is located in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Although the name was shortened to Pike Elementary School in the 1970s, people still call it by its full name. The school's enrollment averages around 400.

As late as the 1930s and probably later, there also existed an Albert Pike School in Winslow, Arkansas.

Undoubtedly there were once many more schools named for Albert Pike. School districts change, buildings become outmoded and are replaced, demographics shift so that schools are relocated. And parts of history are often lost. But there are still schools which appropriately bear Pike's name, for he was surely as much a teacher in his work for the Rite as in the early days he was a teacher in Massachusetts and Arkansas. Also, in a tribute he would have treasured, many scholarships bearing his name are given each year.

Other Buildings

School buildings are not the only structures to memorialize the name of Albert Pike. Prior to the war, Albert Pike was one of the most successful and most wealthy lawyers in the South. He built an elegant home in Little Rock. The home, which still stands (photo right), now houses the Arkansas Decorative Arts Museum.

One of the grandest hostels of its day was the Albert Pike Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the corner of 7th and Scott Streets.

The Albert Pike Hospital was one of the most important buildings in early McAlester, Oklahoma, originally serving the medical needs of nearly a fifth of the state.

And, in 1921, the McAlester Valley, then known as Indian Consistory, built Albert Pike Hall, a men's dormitory, on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman. The university purchased the dormitory in 1946, renaming it in memory of Captain Robert H. Whitehand, a playwright and assistant professor of drama.

Finally, in Fort Smith, there is Albert Pike Christian Church.

Scottish Rite Temples

It is not surprising that Scottish Rite Temples would be named after our Illustrious Brother. Foremost among them is the Albert Pike Memorial Temple on the corner of 7th and Scott Streets in Little Rock. It is a magnificent building, beautifully constructed in classic proportions and decorated with beauty and taste.

And there is one Temple, now sadly lost to us. The Albert Pike Memorial Scottish Rite Temple in San Francisco was an outstanding building, but it was badly damaged in the 1906 earthquake. It was rebuilt and later sold, becoming at one point the "People's Temple" of Jim Jones and his following, before they moved to Guyana. It was then purchased for an art institute and was destroyed by fire just before the 1989 earthquake. The site is now occupied by a post office.

Images And Other Representations

The image of Albert Pike lives on. Ulric S.J. Dunbar sculpted the best-known bust of the Grand Commander, and there are copies in many Scottish Rite Temples. Vinnie Ream did another beautiful bust (shown at right). In 1959, in commemoration of Pike's Centennial as Sovereign Grand Commander, the Supreme Council issued a miniature bust, and, in 1991, an image of Pike appeared on the medallion issued to commemorate the Biennial Session of the Supreme Council (shown left).

Several temples have stained-glass windows with portraits of Pike. One example is in the Guthrie, Oklahoma, Temple.

In a sense, the House of the Temple, the headquarters building of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite in Washington, D.C., is a memorial to Pike's intellectual vigor and his vision of the future of the Rite. The Library preserves his large personal collection of books on philosophy, ethics, religion, and Freemasonry, while the new Albert Pike Museum in the building not only contains many of his personal belongings but also his published and unpublished writings as well. Pike is buried in a crypt in the House of the Temple. The location, next to the Pillars of Charity Alcove, is marked by a bronze bust signed by U.S.J. Dunbar and bearing the date 1924. The pedestal of the bust bears the inscription "He has lived, the fruits of his labors live after him." Also, on the middle landing of the Grand Staircase leading from the Atrium to the Temple Room, a similar bronze bust of Pike by Dunbar is dated only "92" meaning 1892. Above it, set in imperishable limestone, are perhaps Pike's most famous words. "What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains, and is immortal."

Finally, there is the larger-than-life-size bronze statue of Pike, surmounting an elaborate stone base, in Judiciary Square in Washington, D.C. It and its complementary allegorical bronze statue representing Freemasonry were sculpted by G. Trentanove and erected by the Supreme Council, 33°, in 1901. The elaborate base bears inscriptions at its eight corners. They read: Author, Poet, Scholar, Soldier, Philanthropist, Philosopher, Jurist, Orator. It is hard to realize just how large the statue is, until you look at a photograph taken when the monument was under construction.

Conclusion

Schools, streets, towns, counties, temples, windows, paintings, medals, bronzes, rocks, river pools-many are the ways people have memorialized this astonishing man and his remarkable life. But what would Pike himself have wanted? As it happens, he has told us: "When I am dead, I wish my monument to be builded only in the hearts and memories of my Brethren of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and my name to be remembered by them in every country, no matter what language men speak there, where the light of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite shall shine, and its oracles of truth and wisdom be reverently listened to."

He has that, and much, much more.

Jim Tresner is Director of the Masonic Leadership Institute and Editor of The Oklahoma Mason. A frequent contributor to the Scottish Rite Journal and its book review editor, Ill. Bro. Tresner is also a volunteer writer for The Oklahoma Scottish Rite Mason and a video script consultant for the National Masonic Renewal Committee. He is the Director of the Thirty-third Degree Conferral Team and Director of Work at the Guthrie Scottish Rite Temple in Guthrie, Oklahoma, as well as a Life Member of the Scottish Rite Research Society, author of Albert Pike, The Man Beyond the Monument, and Vested In Glory, The Regalia of the Scottish Rite. A member of the steering committee of the Masonic Information Center. Ill. Tresner was awarded the Grand Cross, the Scottish Rite's highest honor, during the Supreme Council's October 1997 Biennial Session.