Albert Pike (December 29, 1809April 2, 1891) was an American author, poet, orator, editor, lawyer, jurist and

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

general who served as an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court in exile from 1864 to 1865. He had previously served as a senior

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

of the Confederate States Army, commanding the District of

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

in the

Trans-Mississippi Theater The trans-Mississippi theater of the American Civil War was the scene of the major military operations west of the Mississippi River. The area is often thought of as excluding the states and territories bordering the Pacific Ocean, which formed ...

. A prominent member of the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, Pike served as the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction from 1859 to 1891.

Early life and education

Albert Pike was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, on December 29, 1809, the son of Benjamin and Sarah (Andrews) Pike. He grew up in Byfield and

Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes p ...

. His colonial ancestors had settled in the area in 1635, and included John Pike (1613–1688/1689), the founder of

Woodbridge, New Jersey Woodbridge Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in northern Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is a regional hub of transportation and commerce for Central Jersey, central New ...

. He attended school in Newburyport and Framingham until he was 15. In August 1825, he passed entrance exams at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, though when the college requested payment of tuition fees for the first two years, he chose not to attend. He began a program of self-education, later teaching school in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

, North Bedford, Fairhaven and Newburyport. Pike was an imposing figure; tall and with hair that reached his shoulders and a long beard. In 1831, he left Massachusetts to travel west, first stopping in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. He later moved to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, where he joined a hunting and trading expedition to

Taos, New Mexico Taos () is a town in Taos County, New Mexico, Taos County, in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Santa Fe ...

. En route his horse broke and ran, forcing Pike to walk the remaining to Taos. After this, he joined a trapping expedition to the

Llano Estacado The Llano Estacado (), sometimes translated into English as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the North A ...

in New Mexico and Texas. Trapping was minimal and, after traveling about , half of it on foot, he finally arrived at

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the List of municipalities in Arkansas, third-most populous city in Arkansas, United States, and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County, Arkansas, Sebastian County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the pop ...

Career

Settling in Arkansas in 1833, Pike taught in a school and wrote a series of articles for the

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

''Arkansas Advocate'' under the pen name of "Casca." The articles were sufficiently well received for him to be asked to join the newspaper's staff. Under Pike's administration, the ''Advocate'' promoted the viewpoint of the Whig Party in a politically volatile and divided Arkansas in December 1832. After marrying Mary Ann Hamilton in 1834, he purchased the newspaper. He was the first reporter for the

Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction ...

. He wrote a book (published anonymously), titled ''The Arkansas Form Book'', which was a guidebook for lawyers. Pike began to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1837, selling the ''Advocate'' the same year. (At least one source indicates that Pike read Kent and Blackstone and was admitted to the bar in 1834 by Superior Court judge Thomas J. Lacy, after a perfunctory examination.) He proved to be a highly effective lawyer, representing clients in courts at every level. This continued after he received permission in 1849 to practice before the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

. He also made several contacts among the Native American tribes in the area. He specialized in claims on behalf of Native Americans against the federal government. In 1852, he represented the

Creek Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large grou ...

before the Supreme Court in a claim regarding ceded tribal land. In 1854 he advocated for the

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

and

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

, although compensation later awarded to the tribes in 1856 and 1857 was insufficient. These relationships were to influence the course of his Civil War service. Pike also began a campaign of newspaper essays urging support for the construction of a

transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous rail transport, railroad trackage that crosses a continent, continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks may be via the Ra ...

to extend from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

to the Pacific coast. He moved to New Orleans in 1853 and prepared to pass the state bar in furtherance of his campaign. He ultimately secured a charter from the

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (; ) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral legislature, body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 ...

for a project, following which he returned to Little Rock in 1857. He joined the anti-Catholic

Know Nothing The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock Americans, Old Stock Nativism in United States politics, nativist political movem ...

Party at its founding; in the summer of 1854, he helped introduce the party in Arkansas. He attended the national convention in 1856, but walked out when it failed to adopt a pro-slavery platform. Additionally, Pike wrote on several legal subjects. He also continued writing poetry, a hobby he had begun in his youth in Massachusetts. His poems were highly regarded in his day, but are now mostly forgotten. Several volumes of his works were privately published posthumously by his daughter. In 1859, he received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Harvard.

Poetry

As a young man of letters, Pike wrote poetry, and he continued to do so for the rest of his life. At 23, he published his first poem, "Hymns to the Gods." Later work was printed in literary journals such as ''

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by publisher William Blackwood and originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine'', but quickly relaunched as ''Blackwood's Edinbu ...

'' and local newspapers. His first collection of poetry, ''Prose Sketches and Poems Written in the Western Country'', was published in 1834. He later gathered many of his poems and republished them in ''Hymns to the Gods and Other Poems'' (1872). After his death these were published again in ''Gen. Albert Pike's Poems'' (1900) and ''Lyrics and Love Songs'' (1916). The authorship of " The Old Canoe" was attributed to Pike. He was suggested as author because about the time of its publication, when it was going the rounds of the press, probably without any credit, a

doggerel Doggerel, or doggrel, is poetry that is irregular in rhythm and in rhyme, often deliberately for burlesque or comic effect. Alternatively, it can mean verse which has a monotonous rhythm, easy rhyme, and cheap or trivial meaning. The word is de ...

called "The Old Canoe" was composed about Pike by one of his political foes. The subject was a canoe in which he left

Columbia, Tennessee Columbia is a city in and the county seat of Maury County, Tennessee. The population was 41,690 as of the 2020 United States census. Columbia is included in the Nashville metropolitan area. The self-proclaimed "mule capital of the world," Colu ...

, when a young man practicing law in that place. Pike told Senator Edward W. Carmack that he was not the author of "The Old Canoe," and could not imagine how he ever got the credit for it. The rightful author was Emily Rebecca Page.

Freemasonry

Pike first joined the fraternal

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Odd Fellows, Order ...

in 1840. He next joined a

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

, where he became extremely active in the affairs of the organization. In 1859 he was elected Sovereign Grand Commander of the

Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a List of Masonic rites, rite within the broader context of Freemasonry. It is the most widely practiced List of Masonic rites, Rite in the world. In some parts of the world, and in the ...

's Southern Jurisdiction. He remained Sovereign Grand Commander for the rest of his life, devoting a large amount of his time to developing the rituals of the order. He published a book called '' Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry'' in 1871, the first of several editions. This helped the Order grow during the nineteenth century. He also researched and wrote the seminal treatise ''Indo-Aryan Deities and Worship as Contained in the Rig-Veda''. In the United States, Pike is still considered an eminent"Albert Pike and Freemasonry"
''California Freemason'' and influential
, masonicinfo.com Freemason, primarily in the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction. Pike was also the Provincial Grand Master of the Royal Order of Scotland from 1877 to 1891.

Military service

Mexican–American War

When the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

started, Pike joined the Arkansas Mounted Infantry Regiment and was commissioned as a company commander with the rank of captain in June 1846. With his regiment, he fought in the

Battle of Buena Vista The Battle of Buena Vista (February 22–23, 1847), known as the Battle of La Angostura in Mexico, and sometimes as Battle of Buena Vista/La Angostura, was a battle of the Mexican–American War. It was fought between U.S. forces, largely vol ...

. Pike was discharged in June 1847. He and his commander, Colonel

John Selden Roane John Selden Roane (January 8, 1817April 7, 1867) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the List of Governors of Arkansas, fourth Governor of Arkansas from 1849 to 1852. Prior to this he commanded the Arkansas Mounted Infantry Regi ...

, had several differences of opinion. This situation led finally to an "inconclusive"

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

between Pike and Roane on July 29, 1847, near Fort Smith, Arkansas.Eicher, John H., aer (2001) ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. . p. 429 Although several shots were fired in the duel, nobody was injured, and the two were persuaded by their seconds to discontinue it. After the war, Pike returned to the practice of law, moving to

for a time beginning in 1853. He wrote another book, ''Maxims of the Roman Law and Some of the Ancient French Law, as Expounded and Applied in Doctrine and Jurisprudence''. Although unpublished, this book increased his reputation among his associates in law. He returned to Arkansas in 1857, gaining some amount of prominence in the legal field. At the Southern Commercial Convention of 1854, Pike said the South should remain in the Union and seek equality with the North, but if the South "were forced into an inferior status, she would be better out of the Union than in it." His stand was that state's rights superseded national law and he supported the idea of a Southern secession. This stand is made clear in his pamphlet of 1861, "State or Province, Bond or Free?"

American Civil War

In 1861, Pike penned the lyrics to "Dixie to Arms!" At the beginning of the war, Pike was appointed as Confederate envoy to Native American nations. In this capacity he negotiated several treaties, one of the most important being with

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

chief John Ross, which was concluded in 1861. At the time, Ross agreed to support the Confederacy, which promised the tribes a Native American state if it won the war. Ross later changed his mind and left Indian Territory, but the succeeding Cherokee government maintained the alliance. Pike was commissioned as a brigadier general in the

on November 22, 1861, and given a command in the

. With Brig. Gen. Ben McCulloch, Pike trained three Confederate regiments of Indian cavalry, most of whom belonged to the " civilized tribes", whose loyalty to the Confederacy was variable. Although initially victorious at the

Battle of Pea Ridge The Battle of Pea Ridge (March 7–8, 1862), also known as the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, took place during the American Civil War near Leetown, Arkansas, Leetown, northeast of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas. United States, Feder ...

(Elkhorn Tavern) in March 1862,"Massachusetts born CSA general Albert Pike leads brigade of Native Americans at the Battle of Pea Ridge", Massachusetts Sesquicentennial Commission of the American Civil War
Pike's unit was defeated later in a counterattack, after falling into disarray. When Pike was ordered in May 1862 to send troops to Arkansas, he resigned in protest. As in the previous war, Pike came into conflict with his superior officers, at one time drafting a letter to

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

complaining about his direct superior. After Pea Ridge, it was alleged that Pike's Native American troops had

scalped Scalping is the act of cutting or tearing a part of the human scalp, with hair attached, from the head, and generally occurred in warfare with the scalp being a trophy. Scalp-taking is considered part of the broader cultural practice of the taki ...

soldiers in the field. The single incident of scalping was, however, done by a Native American acting on his own. Official records submitted to the Headquarters Department of Indian territory reveal that Pike "regarded he incidentwith horror" and that he was personally "angry and disgusted." He also filed a report in which he said it caused him the "utmost pain and regret."Huff, Sanford W.,''The Annals of Iowa, Published by the State Historical Society'' (Iowa State Historical Department, Division of Historical Museum and Archives, 1868), p. 149 Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman charged Pike with mishandling of money and material, ordering his arrest.Smith, Dean E. (1986) "Pike, Albert" in ''Historical Times Illustrated History of the Civil War'', edited by Patricia L. Faust. New York: Harper & Row. . p. 585 The incident arose when Hindman, who had declared martial law in Arkansas, ordered Pike to turn over weapons and Native American Indian treaty funds. Pike thought the action was illegal and refused.Brown, Walter Lee, ''A Life of Albert Pike'' (University of Arkansas Press, 1997), pp. 406–16 Both these charges were later found to be considerably lacking in evidence; nevertheless Pike, facing arrest, escaped into the hills of Arkansas, submitting his resignation from the Confederate States Army on July 12, 1862. He was arrested on November 3 on charges of

insubordination Insubordination is the act of willfully disobeying a lawful order of one's superior. It is generally a punishable offense in hierarchical organizations such as the armed forces, which depend on people lower in the chain of command obeying orde ...

and

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, and held briefly in Warren, Texas. His resignation was accepted on November 11, and he was allowed to return to Arkansas. As Union troops advanced toward the state capital in September 1863, the State Supreme Court retreated to

Washington, Arkansas Washington is a city in Ozan Township, Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 180 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 148 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. It is part of the Hope, Arkansas, Hope Hope ...

, which was made the new Confederate state capital. Associate Justice Hulbert F. Fairchild resigned because the new location was too far from his family, and Pike was appointed as his replacement. In the wake of the war, Pike moved to New York City, then for a short time to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. On June 24, 1865, Pike applied to President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

for a pardon, disowning his earlier interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. He said he now planned "to pursue the arts of peace, to practice my profession, to live among my books, and to labour to benefit my fellows and my race by other than political courses". President Johnson pardoned him on April 23, 1866.

Later life and death

During the Arkansas political conflict known as the Brooks-Baxter War, Pike was one of the lawyers to speak on behalf of Elisha Baxter. Albert Pike memorial

Pike died on April 2, 1891, at the Scottish Rite Temple of the Supreme Council in Washington DC, at the age of 81, and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, despite the fact that he had left instructions for his body to be cremated. In 1944, his remains were moved to the House of the Temple, headquarters of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite. The House of the Temple contains numerous memorials and artifacts related to Pike, including his personal library.

Legacy

A memorial to Pike was erected in 1901 in the Judiciary Square neighborhood of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The location was appropriate considering that Pike had sued the government to secure Native American rights. The statue portrayed him as a private citizen and Freemason. He was the only former Confederate military officer with an outdoor statue in

, and in 2019 Delegate

Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is an American politician, lawyer, and human rights activist. Norton is a congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she has represented the District of Columbia since 1991 as ...

called for its removal. On June 19, 2020, rioters tore down the statue and set it ablaze, in connection with the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

because of Pike's association with the Confederacy and of his alleged association with the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

. The Albert Pike Memorial Temple is an historic Masonic lodge in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

; the structure is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Albert Pike Highway was an

auto trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in t ...

that extended more than from

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...

, to

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

, crossing the

Ozark Mountains The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

and passing through Fort Smith, Muskogee,

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

Dodge City Dodge City is a city in and the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. It was named after nearby Fort Dodge, which was named in honor of Grenville Dodge. The city ...

, La Junta and

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

Controversies

Masonic baptism

In 1865, Pike publicly performed a ceremony of Masonic

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

in New York City. The ceremony was greeted with skepticism by many American Masons including

Albert Mackey Albert Gallatin Mackey (March 12, 1807 – June 20, 1881) was an American medical doctor and author. He is best known for his books and articles about freemasonry, particularly the Masonic Landmarks. A unionist, he was a delegate to South Caro ...

, but was based on older European Masonic baptism ceremonies that began in the 1820s. However, some, like the ''New York Times'', reacted positively to the ceremony describing it as "interesting" and "novel." In the ritual, six children were baptized by Pike with water and consecrated oil.

Racism

In the aftermath of the Civil War, as former Confederates found themselves barred from the ballot box, Pike remained deeply opposed to black suffrage, insisting that "the white race, and that race alone, shall govern this country. It is the only one that is fit to govern, and it is the only one that shall." Regarding membership in the Freemasons, Pike is quoted as saying, " Prince Hall Lodge was as regular a Lodge as any Lodge created by competent authority. It had a perfect right to establish other Lodges and make itself a Mother Lodge. I am not inclined to meddle in the matter. I took my obligations from white men, not from negroes. When I have to accept negroes as brothers or leave masonry, I shall leave it. Better let the thing drift." His attitudes towards African-Americans may have changed towards the end of his life. A 1945 letter written by Willard W. Allen, the Sovereign Grand Commander of the United Supreme Council, S.J. Prince Hall Affiliation noted that "what practically all Masonic scholars know very well, viz., that in the closing years of General Pike's Masonic career, he became a very staunch friend of Negro Masonry."de Hoyos, Arturo (1996) "On the Origins of the Prince Hall Scottish Rite Rituals", ''Heredom: The Transaction of the Scottish Rite Research Society'' vol. 5 Washington, D.C.: Scottish Rite Research Society, pp. 52–53 Pike had become a personal friend of Thornton A. Jackson, Supreme Grand Commander of the United Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction, Prince Hall Affiliation and even gifted to Thornton his complete set of rituals for Prince Hall Scottish Rite Masonry to use.

Involvement with the Ku Klux Klan

Pike first wrote about the Ku Klux Klan less than three years after the Klan's founding, in an April 16, 1868 editorial in the ''

Memphis Daily Appeal ''The Commercial Appeal'' (also known as the ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'') is a daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding Memphis metropolitan area, metropolitan area. It is owned by the Gannett, Gannett Company; its former own ...

.'' In the editorial, Pike indicated that his main problems lay not with its aims, but with its methods and leadership. Later in this editorial, he proposed "one great Order of Southern Brotherhood", a secret society which would have been a larger and more centrally organized version of the Klan: "If it were in our power, if it could be effected, we would unite every white man in the South, who is opposed to negro suffrage, into one great Order of Southern Brotherhood, with an organization complete, active, vigorous, in which a few should execute the concentrated will of all, and whose very existence should be concealed from all but its members." In 1905's ''Ku Klux Klan: Its Origin, Growth and Disbandment'', the author Walter L. Fleming, lists Pike as the Klan's "chief judicial officer". Susan Lawrence Davis, whose father was a founding member of the Klan in Alabama, writes in her sympathetic account titled ''Authentic History: Ku Klux Klan, 1865–1877'', published in 1924, that Pike was personally chosen by

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was an List of slave traders of the United States, American slave trader, active in the lower Mississippi River valley, who served as a General officers in the Confederate States Army, Con ...

to serve as the Klan's "Chief Judicial Officer" and to head the Klan in Arkansas as " Grand Dragon of that Realm." In 1939's ''Invisible Empire: The Story of the Ku Klux Klan, 1866–1871'', Stanley Horn, who served as president of the

Tennessee Historical Society The Tennessee Historical Society is a historical society for the U.S. state of Tennessee. It was established in 1849. Its founding president from 1849 to 1856 was Nathaniel Cross, a Princeton University, Princeton-educated professor of Ancient Lang ...

, also reports that Forrest appointed Pike to lead the Klan in Arkansas and credits him with a surge of local Klan activity in April 1868. Horn says that a pro-Klan poem, "Death's Brigade", is attributed to Pike, although "of course, he did not have the bravado to claim that honor publicly at that time." Southern Agrarian poet John Gould Fletcher, who grew up in Little Rock in a house that Pike built, likewise believed that Pike wrote the poem. When the Ku Klux Klan was revived in 1915, there even existed an Albert Pike Klan, a local chapter of the organization based in Illinois. In 1971, Allen W. Trelease published ''White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction'', and claimed that the office that Pike allegedly held in the KKK was not mentioned in "The Prescript", the Klan constitution. However, the office of Grand Dragon, which Davis claims Pike once held, is explicitly mentioned in the 1867 Klan constitution. At the same time, Trelease noted that "Pike may well have affiliated with the Klan." As evidence, Trelease notes that Pike "was intrigued by secret societies and rituals" and "sympathized with the Klan's stated objectives." In his 1997 biography of Pike, Walter Lee Brown asserts that Pike was not a member of the Klan and Brown found "no contemporary, nor no reliable late evidence that Pike ever joined the Klan." Brown claims the work of Fleming, Davis and Horn are "unreliable histories", but offers no further evidence other than citing Trelease, which, in Brown's interpretation "cast's doubt on Pike's membership."

Selected books

* ''Indo-Aryan Deities and Worship as Contained in the Rig-Veda'' (1872) * '' Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite'' (1872) * ''Book of the Words'' (1874) * ''Reprints of Old Rituals'' (1879) * ''Esoterika'' (1887)

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * *

External links

*
Albert Pike
at Freemasonry.network
Albert Pike and Lucifer
at Freemasonry and the World (albertpike.wordpress.com)
Albert Pike and Masonic Lodge Symbols
at Allfreemasonry.com

at Masonicinfo.com

at Civilwarpoetry.org * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pike, Albert 1809 births 1891 deaths 19th-century American educators 19th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century Arkansas state court judges 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century American non-fiction writers 19th-century United States Army personnel Activists from Arkansas Adjutants General of Arkansas American duellists American Freemasons American Ku Klux Klan members American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law American military personnel of the Mexican–American War American militia officers American people of English descent American political journalists American slave owners Arkansas Democrats Arkansas Know Nothings Arkansas lawyers Arkansas Whigs Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) Confederate States Army brigadier generals Confederate States of America diplomats Deaths from digestive disease Editors of Arkansas newspapers Episcopalians from Massachusetts Exiled politicians Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court Lawyers from Little Rock, Arkansas Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Northern-born Confederates People of Arkansas in the American Civil War People pardoned by Andrew Johnson Schoolteachers from Massachusetts Writers from Arkansas People charged with treason Prisoners and detainees of the Confederate States of America