On October 15, 1899, Karl wrote a letter to his younger sister Mattie from Castle Lodge No. 21, owned by the Knights of Pythias.
Dear Mattie,
You will notice I have not left this town yet. I have been waiting for a package from Brantford as I broke a piece of my bike. The blooming thing has not turned up yet and if it does not come by morning I will leave without getting my wheel fixed.
I guess I can make Vancouver before a great while then for Japan.
I guess I am too late to get down to “Frisco” as the rainy season is on now along the coast of Oregon and Washington. I have had enough of those puffed up Americans. They make me weary. They make me real tired the way they try to make outsiders think they can run the whole country. Hang them they want a settling down. There are quite a lot of them in this town and they are the same old gang after all they can make and think they know it all. Oh I know them, they and those Ontario guys are all alike. No one has a better chance to size them up then I have of course, an occasional one isn’t bad at all but to judge them by the majority.
I like the people of BC, first class, probably because so many of the people are from the maritime provinces.
I am delighted to hear you are getting along at school. So will I suppose you are never stood in the corner very often. Do you have to write many lines after school. Does the teacher ever put you in the boys seats to sit with them. Perhaps you are too good a little girl for all of that, my hand is so jiggly tonight that I can scarcely write straight so you must excuse it.
I guess I will be to the coast before six months are up from the time I started, that was the time I counted on taking an it won’t take me so very long to get to Australia is from Japan if I guess, 3 ½ at the most will see me back to Nova Scotia again.
I often wonder if I would be able to stay in U.S after I was through with my trip, there are so few chances out there for young men to what there are in the west here. I hated to have to leave N.S. to go away to work. I thought perhaps I would come west and go ranching that was the only thing I saw that I thought I would like so far of course I may see other things before I get home again. The other day I wondered why ranching couldn’t be carried out in N.S. ranchers make all kinds of coin in the west so surely one could make a good thing of it, east, of course it costs nothing for land out here except for farming, but it would take long to pay for land in N.S. if anything like as much could be made as these westerners make lots of them make enough in 10 years to make them completely independent all the rest of their days.
I find out all I want to know about everything as I pass through different parts of the country everyone will talk to me if I get them started, so one thing I can do when I go back will be to make a cowboy of Herbert. And go to work ranching I could live in town all the time to as there is hardly anything to do on a ranch except tend the cattle and put up hay.
Enclosed please find clipping one of my friends made en route and in rush excuse writing mistakes, spelling etc.
Karl Creelman
Dear reader, I want to draw your attention back to where Karl was staying in Rossland, at Lodge No. 21 of the Knights of Pythias.
The Knights of Pythias is a fascinating organization with deep roots, established in Washington, DC, in 1864. At its height, it boasted over two thousand subordinate lodges across the United States and Canada. Their core mission is to foster friendship among men and alleviate suffering, underpinned by the guiding principles of “Friendship, Charity, and Benevolence.”
To join the lodge, members must be at least 18 years old and take a solemn oath, declaring their belief in a Supreme Being and affirming that they are not involved in activities like professional gambling or the unlawful sale of intoxicants. They also pledge their support for the order, uphold the authority of their government, and denounce any involvement with organizations that advocate for the violent overthrow of the government or the denial of others' rights.
Knights of Pythias, Fairhaven, Washington
Like many early fraternal organizations, the Knights of Pythias had philanthropic roots and supported local and national causes. However, its early history also carried some elements of secrecy and religious undertones. During the "Golden Age of Fraternalism" in the early 1920s, the Knights of Pythias had nearly a million members, but by 1979, their numbers had dwindled to fewer than 200,000.
For several years, the United Cerebral Palsy Association and the Cystic Fibrosis Association were the primary charities of the Pythian Order. More recently, their focus has shifted to supporting cancer research and affiliating with the Special Olympics. Pythian lodges own, support, or endorse a variety of charitable endeavours, including homes for the elderly, camps for children, Little League teams, Boy and Girl Scout troops, scholarship programs, rehabilitation wings at hospitals, Ronald McDonald Houses, and more. The objective of the order is to meet the needs of the local community as understood and accepted by its members.
The Rossland branch, Lodge No. 21, where Karl stayed, was founded in 1896, making it the 21st lodge established in British Columbia (BC). BC had 64 lodges, of which only ten remain active today. In Rossland, the group would meet weekly or monthly, depending on the period. The Rossland Lodge occupied several locations over the years, but Karl’s stay and letter to Mattie took place at the lodge on Columbia Avenue, which no longer stands.
The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal society to receive a charter under an act of Congress in the United States. And perhaps, dear reader, it’s heartening to think that Karl Creelman became part of this tradition. This Canadian traveller found friendship and support within those walls, his room, board, and writing paper offered as a small act of charity by this noble fraternity.
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