A plaque placed by E Clampus Vitus stands beside the Butt Lake Dinky in Chester, Calif. Gene Koen, who has served as a Clampers Humbug, poses outside the Frank C. Reilly Museum in La Porte, Calif. Ron Oxley tells a story at the Plumas Club in Quincy, Calif., to Bruce Robbins and James Bruner. HISTORY and Ritual of E CLAMPUS VITUS. A "second era" version of the organization was formed in 1930 by San Franciscan attorney and cartographic historian Carl Irving Wheat. I did, however, make the chili Saturday night, and was glad to be able to help out. While the math on the aforementioned membership does not quite seem to work, unless every chapter has initiated thousands of members, nevertheless the chief occupation of the Clampers, aside from merrymaking, does seem to indicate that they are widespread. My son, Allen, who was brought in to the Clampers by his step daddy Tommy in 1999, put the gala event together. She arranged for the eunuchs guarding the other girls to be drugged, and once free, the former slave women took control of the vessel, throwing any who resisted them to the sharks. Every traveling salesman was forced to join the Clampers before he could obtain an order. Theres also the Worlds Largest Butter Dish Collection, an assortment of ornate dishes with delicate painted flowers, glass cherries and fragile flourishes. Graybeards and members of Estanislao Chapter 58, E Clampus Vitus or Grand Considering all the false and absurd history told by the Clampers, in the end, its hard to believe anything you read about them. At Clamper doins, as they are called, seasoned Clampers initiate new members and generally drink themselves into a stupor while playing crazy hazing games. Christmas Party and White Elephant Gift Exchange, Five Things You May Not Know About Clampers. Copyright 1998 - 2020, Site created and designed by The first time the men informed us that they would be out of town for the weekend, some of the women were bothered that their husbands wanted to leave them for two days. Box 12842 Fresno, Ca. No one knows. Perhaps nowhere are the Clampers more revered than in the Sierra Nevada, where they flourished in the small towns and prospector camps during the Gold Rush. But in the secret order that flourished among miners in the 19th century, called E Clampus Vitus, Carl Wheat saw something more than an organization for the elite. 526 San Benito Street Big Bruce Robbins, a county worker and three-time Humbug from Quincy, said most people around here feel comfortable hanging around bars. Id like to personally thank all of you who helped out. What do ya think? God bless, Cat. E Clampus Vitus was one of several brotherhoods that swept as many as 40 percent of American men into their fold during the "golden age of fraternalism" in the late nineteenth and early. In Mono County, a Clampers plaque honors the Legend of June Lake Slot Machines: illegal machines said to have been tossed in the lake in the 1940s and sought by cold-water divers. As Facebook will attest, everyone had a great time and Dave and his family were more than blessed. They were some crazy times and i wouldnt trade them for anything. Accessed 19 Mar. Pride in Californias history rescued E Clampus Vitus from oblivion, however. For two days we had more fun than the law should allow, and did everything from playing darts to holding a butt contest for the band members who played for us on Saturday night. She grew up in the small town of Perry, Okla., and graduated from the University of Oklahoma. Allen instructing my grandson Joseph on where he could help out. The Clampers, according to the Frank C. Reilly Chapter of Northern California, have plaqued hundreds of places, from ghost towns to saloons, from bordellos to ranchos, from heroes to madmen.. I went through chapter 1827. These fanciful claims show ECV's propensity for not taking much of anything particularly seriously, least of all itself. As far as the ECV is concerned, all members are officers and as such are all of equal indignity. New members, referred to as Poor Blind Candidates, could present a poke of dust, valued at the discretion of the brotherhood to join, and it wasnt uncommon for the fee to be waived if the man could not afford it. Site created and designed by Steve "Iggy" Myers. He was initiated into ECV in Turner Hall on January 21, 1896. Their motto is Credo Quia Absurdum, which, in Latin, roughly translates to I believe because its absurd.. In Marysville, the renowned Lord Sholto Douglas opened a theatrical . 2, E Clampus Vitus Plaques A Compilation of Historical Plaques Dedicated by the Several Chapters of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus During the First Fifty Years of the Revived Organization 1930-1980, S.E.A.R.C.H. Afterward everyone toasts the new member with drink. So, their pre-1930s name was E Clampsus Vitus. Indeed, these natives appeared ready to use their formidable weapons against the Dumbellican Brothers. 7-11. This has become the motto of this historical drinking society. They frequently trekked through the vastness of the Sierra Nevada to reach lonely miners who otherwise would have had no Christmas celebration. Thereafter, the miners gladly patronized these newcomers to their town, so it was essentially an initiation into the community. Please note: New York Times, 14 Oct. 2008, p. A12(L). I have been a long time time friend to many Clampers. The point of this story is that Clampers are an integral part of the Johnnys family. Chapter presidents hold the ceremonial title of Noble Grand Humbug. They are weekend-long endeavors. E Clampus Vitus and ECV are I am sorry to say that none of this is real history! Ron Oxley, a Clamper, has a drink next to the E Clampus Vitus Wall of Comparative Humbugery inside the Plumas Club in Quincy, Calif. (Hailey Branson-Potts / Los Angeles Times). God bless and keep you, Cat, One of our first Clamper gatherings at Johnnys. He (Sholto) agreed, and tonight the opera-house was packed."[8]. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Some theologians trace the society back to Moses, who is claimed to be an early Noble Grand Humbug or Clampatriarch, for one of the hypothesized source documents of the Torah, called the Elohist, is more commonly referred to as E, corresponding to the beginning of the orders name. The fraternity is not sure if it is a historical drinking society or a drinking historical society. There are chapters in California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Outposts in other western states, including us in Wyoming. Read more about this topic: E Clampus Vitus, Until the end of the Middle Ages, and in many cases afterwards too, in order to obtain initiation in a trade of any sort whateverwhether that of courtier, soldier, administrator, merchant or workmana boy did not amass the knowledge necessary to ply that trade before entering it, but threw himself into it; he then acquired the necessary knowledge.Philippe Aris (20th century), The difficult and risky task of meeting and mastering the newwhether it be the settlement of new lands or the initiation of new ways of lifeis not undertaken by the vanguard of society but by its rear. I thought the ride might kill me, and on the drive my son said, Mama, you girls told Allen things Allen didnt need to know. I forbade him to tell me what they were, and promised never to ask him to be designated driver for the Widders again. The fraternity is not sure if it is a "historical drinking society" or a "drinking historical society." may I always appreciate a little bit of the "ridiculous"; may I always be a two-fisted Clamper when the bottle pass's my way, The "Pair-o-Dice" chapter in Paradise, for example, is Lodge No. VTG California FRATERNAL 3 1/2" Button~"E. CLAMPUS VITUS"~Jim Savage 1852 'SB'~ $24.99 + $3.75 shipping. Site created and designed by Bee claimed to have received his commission from Caleb Cushing, the American Commissioner to China. However, once Lodge 10 was established in 1936, members pointed out that it was illogical for such a rowdy organization to be so neat in its numbering scheme, and so some creativity was developed in the numbering. your hand? As I pass through this life, may I always be humble, may I never take myself serious-"a stuffed shirt", God bless, Cat. Some of our Presidents were rumored to be Clampers starting with George Washington. After establishing himself as a capable navigator and having made some explorations of his own, he set out to organize a colonial expedition to Gum Shan after hearing of Hee Lis discovery. Id like to share en except frommy book Miracles and Grace in an Unlikely Place Memoir of a Christian Biker Bar Owner with you that tells the story of Johnnys and our connection to the Clampers. My son Allen Tyson is on Facebook and may be able to lead you in the right direction. Upon Sherman's retirement in 1853, his replacement at the Benicia Arsenal was Lt. Ulysses S. Grant, who spent 30 days in the Arsenal Guardhouse for being drunk on duty and firing his cannons at the Martinez shoreline. If our mayor was a Clamper, it was Tommys duty to dust off the old red and black and honor the tradition. It hadnt been that way for years. And this may be even closer to the E Clampus Vitus of the Gold Rush Miners. Not just anybody can join E Clampus Vitus, you have to be invited to be a member. Life in the California mining towns was harsh and often violent, as men from every corner of the world labored and fought for their share of gold. Everyone pitched in from the bands that played, to the kitchen help, and many donated cash to cover the costs of food or just kick in towards the cause. St. VItus is known to have exorcised a demon from Emperor Diocletians son, or as the more scientific might suggest today, somehow cured the boy of some neurological or psychological condition. CA FRATERNAL 2 1/4" Button~"E. CLAMPUS VITUS"~Jim Savage Widders Nite 1976~ C $26.72 Theres nothing quite like helping others to make a person feel good, and when you do it for family its even better. We had buckets of fun too. Whether you bought a plate or served one, played the music, or danced to it, you were all a part of a really good thing. There was red stuff all over the kitchen and even in the hot tub. The night of the ball was, of course, another all-day party. What Say the Brethren? Hee Li eventually managed to make a return journey from Gum Shan after having established Clamperism there, and his discovery of this far off land we today call California was well known among his countrymen. A lot of people get confused and think were a bunch of drunkards, said the resident of Quincy, a small mining town. As E CLAMPUS VITUS mushroomed along with the rapid growth of the gold towns, it declined as rapidly as they did, and, therefore, lived only in the memory of a few ancient dwellers in the mountains . Koen said the group has long been known for helping widders and orphans, a phrase dating to the Gold Rush era. DISCLAIMERThis site is solely April 16, 2023 - 691 likes, 2 comments - Andy Solis | Northern California Listing Agent (@myplacercountyhome) on Instagram: "Step into history and walk in the . Aint a bit of anthracite or bitumen up on The Comstock, but thousands of Clampers, widders, & no-accounts have passed through these environs