33° Eagle Famous Scottish Rite Masons

 

Masonic Explorers Who Left Their Mark

Many world–renowned explorers have traveled to new and distant places throughout history, and many of them were Masons. A few took their allegiance even further, leaving Masonic markers in some of the most remote areas of Earth — and beyond.

A few examples:
  • Polar explorer and pioneer aviator Richard Byrd and his pilot, Bernt Balchen are said to have dropped Masonic flags on both Poles. During a 1930s flight over the South Pole, Balchen allegedly added his Shrine fez.
  • When astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., famously orbited the Earth 22 times, he carried a blue Masonic flag and a Masonic coin with him. He later presented the flag to his lodge in Colorado.
  • Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin supposedly brought a Masonic flag to the moon in 1969. Aldrin a member of Clear Lake Lodge in Texas is even rumored to have carried a special deputation from the Texas Grand Master, claiming the moon as a territorial jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Texas.
  • According to an article in Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Meriwether Lewis left evidence of his Masonic affiliation in Montana’s waterways. The state’s modern-day Big Hole River, Ruby River, and Willow Creek were originally names Wisdom, Philanthropy, and Philosophy — names bestowed by Lewis, in all likelihood the first Mason to set foot in the region.
(Source: California Freemason, October-November, 2011)
 
 

Explorers and Frontiersmen

  • William Clark — one of the country’s greatest explorers. The maps he drew helped the U.S. government and the rest of the nation understand the geography of the west. His journal also provided insights into the lands, peoples, and animal life of the region.
  • John Glenn 33° — American astronaut and Senator, 33° Concord Lodge No. 688, Concord, Ohio.
  • Admiral Robert E. Perry Bruce
  • James of Kinnaird
  • Christopher "Kit" Carson
  • Steven F. Austin
  • James Bowie
  • William "Buffalo Bill" Cody
  • David "Davey" Crockett
 
 

Fourteen Presidents of the United States of America, including:

  • George Washington - 1789 - 1797
  • James Monroe - 1817 -1825
  • Andrew Jackson - 1829 - 1837
  • James K. Polk - 1845 - 1849
  • James Buchanan - 1857-1861
  • Andrew Johnson - 1865 - 1869
  • James A. Garfield - 1881
  • William McKinley - 1897 - 1901
  • Theodore Roosevelt - 1901 - 1909
  • William H. Taft - 1909 - 1913
  • Warren G. Harding - 1921 - 1923
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt - 1933 - 1945
  • Harry S. Truman - 1945 - 1953
  • Gerald R. Ford - 1974 - 1977
U.S. Senator Robert J. Dole 33º Grand Cross, Member of Valley of Salina, Orient of Kansas
 
 

Generals and Business Giants

  • Albert Pike — American lawyer, soldier and author. Confederate General. Sovereign Grand Commander AASR, Southern Jurisdiction.
  • Douglas McArthur — 5 star American General, served in both world wars. Made a Mason “at sight” in the Philippines and became 32 deg in Manilla and life member of the Nile Shrine Temple, Seattle, Washington.
  • General Jonathan Wainwright 32° KCCH, Recipient of Metal of Honor, Member of the Valley of Salina, Orient of Kansas
  • Winston Churchill
  • Omar Bradley, 33º
  • Walter P. Chrysler 32° — Member of Valley of Salina, Orient of Kansas
  • Dave Thomas 33° Grand Cross — Founder of Wendy’s
 
 

Entertainers and Actors

  • Irving Berlin — American songwriter and composer. Shriner and Scottish Rite. Munn Lodge No. 190 New York City.
  • Will Rogers — Actor and beloved Humorist; noted for his wry, homespun commentary on society and politics.
  • Roy Rogers, 32º KCCH, American Cowboy and Entertainer
  • Gene Autry — Screen western star. Catoosa Lodge No. 185, Catoosa, Oklahoma.
  • Ernest Borgnine — American Actor, Abingdon Lodge No. 48, Abingdon, Virginia.
  • John Wayne 33° — Marion McDaniel Lodge No. 56, Tucson, AZ Al Malaika Temple A.A.O.N.M.S. - Los Angeles, CA
  • Melvin Tillis 33° — American Country Music entertainer. Branson Lodge No. 587, Branson, Missouri 33° AASR, Grand Cross.
  • Red Skelton 33° — Vincennes Lodge No. 1 - Vincennes, Indiana September 20, 1939, Member of both the Scottish and York Rite Bodies; Recipient of the General Grand Chapter’s Gold Medal for Distinguished Service in the Arts & Sciences; Coroneted an Inspector General Honorary Thirty–third Degree in Boston, Massachusetts, by the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite on September 24, 1969; Member of the Al Malaikah Temple in Los Angeles, California; Recipient of the Grand Lodge Award of Gold from the Grand Lodge of Indiana in 1993.