Gould's History of Freemasonry Around the World - Lodge Prudentia

OF CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 15by the Grand Lodge of England, at first used the English Ritual . Since, however,a majority of the members were better acquainted with the Scotch, orAmerican, Work, that form was adopted in 1877 . It is said that W . -. Bro . WilliamStewart, who had been Initiated in Scotland during the early part of thenineteenth century and at different times a member of Union Lodge, No . 9, andof Ashlar Lodge, No . 3, first gave the name " Scotch " to the American form ofthe Ritual . He probably did so because all Lodges which had been Chartered bythe Grand Lodge of Scotland used it .Cariboo Lodge, which was No. 469 on the Register of the Grand Lodge ofScotland, and is now No . 4 B . C . R ., merits special mention here . It was the outlyingLodge of all early Lodges . So far out was it, indeed, that a trip of 540 mileshad to be made in order to reach it . One had to go seventy-five miles by steamerfrom Victoria to New Westminster . Another seventy-five miles by river steamertook one to Yale, the head of navigation on the Fraser River . From there toBarkerville was a stagecoach trip of 390 miles . The journey required so muchtime and was so difficult to make that Provincial Grand Master Powell nevervisited the Lodge . When it received its Charter it began to function withoutassistance from any but its own members . No Provincial Grand Master or GrandMaster of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia ever visited this Lodge untilGrand Master William Downie made the trip to Barkerville in 1892 .It was no small community which at that time existed in the heart of theCariboo Mountains . Gold was the magnet that drew men there. From themountain streams of that region more than seventy million dollars' worth ofprecious metal was taken . In the mid-6o's, so it is claimed, Barkerville had alarger population than any other place on the Pacific coast except San Francisco .Even in 1872, when the population of the Province had greatly decreased, CaribooLodge, No . 469, was the second largest Lodge on the Register .Headed by W . -. M .• . Jonathan Nutt, a zealous Mason who on account of hisservice to Freemasonry was given the rank of Past Senior Grand Warden in 1877,Cariboo Lodge, No . 469, got under way, bought a lot, and built a Masonic Hall .Its membership increased rapidly . Nationality or religious faith was no obstacleto membership, for Swedes, Jews, French-Canadians, Italians, and others were tobe found among its members . During its early years the Lodge was financiallyprosperous . On September 16, 1868, however, just as the prosperity of Cariboowas beginning to decline, a disastrous fire burnt the whole town of Barkervilleto the ground . Only one building escaped destruction . The Masonic Hall wasdestroyed but the Records of the Lodge were saved . The Lodge immediately beganto rebuild its quarters, and on February Zo, 1869, it met in a new Hall that itstill uses . Despite generous donations from outside sources, the Lodge haddifficulty in financing the erection of its new Hall . Mining claims were beingworked out and the population was dwindling . After a time, however, theLodge overcame all its difficulties .In those early days Barkerville was by no means a peaceful village, as noprosperous mining town far removed from civilisation could be . Because of a