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BIOGRAPHY Pike was born in Boston , son of Benjamin and Sarah (Andrews) Pike, and spent his childhood in Byfield and Newburyport, Massachusetts . He attended school in Newburyport and Framingham until he was fifteen, at which point, having passed the Harvard entrance exam but unable to afford tuition, he began a program of self-education, later becoming a schoolteacher in Gloucester , Fairhaven and Newburyport. In 1831 Pike left Massachusetts to travel west, first stopping in St. Louis and later moving on to Independence , Missouri . In Independence, he joined an expedition to Taos , New Mexico , hunting and trading. During the excursion his horse broke and ran, forcing Pike to walk the remaining 500 miles to Taos. After this he joined a trapping expedition to the Llano Estacado in New Mexico and Texas . Trapping was minimal, and after traveling about 1300 miles (650 on foot), he finally arrived at Fort Smith , Arkansas . Settling in Arkansas in 1833, he taught school and wrote a series of articles for the Little Rock ''Arkansas Advocate'' under the Pen Name of "Casca." The articles were popular enough that he was asked to join the staff of the newspaper. Later, after marrying Mary Ann Hamilton, he purchased part of the newspaper with the Dowry . By 1835 he was the ''Advocate'' He then began to study law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1837, selling the ''Advocate'' the same year. He was the first reporter for the Arkansas supreme court, and also wrote a book (published anonymously), titled ''The Arkansas Form Book'', which was a guidebook for lawyers. Military career When the Mexican-American War started, Pike joined the cavalry and was commissioned as a troop commander, serving in the Battle Of Buena Vista . He and his commander, John Selden Roane , had several differences of opinion. This situation led finally to a Duel between Pike and Roane. 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 New Orleans 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 Although unpublished, this book increased his reputation among his associates in law.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 and becoming an advocate of Slavery , although retaining his affiliation with the Whig party. When that party dissolved, he became a member of the Know-Nothing party. Before the Civil War he was firmly against Secession , but when the war started he nevertheless took the side of the Confederacy . He also made several contacts among the Native American tribes in the area, at one point negotiating an $800,000 settlement between the Creek s and other tribes and the federal government. This relationship was to influence the course of his Civil War service. At the beginning of the war, Pike was appointed as Confederate envoy to the Native Americans. In this capacity he negotiated several treaties, one of the most important being with Cherokee chief John Ross , which was concluded in 1861. Pike was commissioned as a Brigadier General on November 22 , 1861 , and given a command in the Indian Territory . With Gen. Ben McCullough , Pike trained three Confederate Regiment s of Indian Cavalry , most of whom belonged to the " Civilized Tribes ," whose loyalty to the Confederacy was variable. Although victorious at the Battle Of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern) in March, Pike's unit was defeated later in a counterattack, after falling into disarray. Also, as in the previous war, Pike came into conflict with his superior officers, at one point drafting a letter to Jefferson Davis complaining about his direct superior. After Pea Ridge, Pike was faced with charges that his troops had Scalped soldiers in the field. Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman also charged Pike with mishandling of money and materiel, ordering his arrest. Both these charges were later found to be considerably lacking in evidence; nevertheless Pike, facing arrest, escaped into the hills of Arkansas, sending his resignation from the Confederate Army on July 12. He was at length arrested on November 3 under charges of Insubordination and Treason , and held briefly in Warren, Texas , but his resignation was accepted on November 11 and he was allowed to return to Arkansas. After the war Pike faced the postwar years unable to earn the trust either of his former comrades or of the Union victors, and subsequently relocated to New York and later to Canada . He was however at length given a formal pardon by Andrew Johnson on August 30 , 1865 , and therefore enabled to continue his career in public life, becoming an associate justice of the Arkansas supreme court, later practicing law in Memphis, Tennessee from 1867-68 (where he also served as editor of the Memphis ''Appeal''), and finally moving his law office to Washington, D.C. in 1870, becoming editor of the ''Patriot'' newspaper. In Freemasonry He had in the interim joined a Masonic Lodge and become extremely active in the affairs of the organization, being elected Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite 's Southern Jurisdiction in 1859. He remained Sovereign Grand Commander for the remainder of his life (a total of thirty-two years), devoting a large amount of his time to developing the rituals of the order. Notably, he published a book called '' Morals And Dogma Of The Ancient And Accepted Scottish Rite Of Freemasonry '' in 1872, of which there were several subsequent editions. Pike is still sometimes regarded in America as an eminent"He died in the "first" House of the Temple in Washington, D.C., at eight o'clock in the evening on April 2, 1891, the fourth month of his 81st year. Thus passed from this life the all-time Goliath of Freemasonry." ALBERT PIKE AND FREEMASONRY , March-April 2002 edition, California Freemason On-Line and influential"Today, some Masons will diminish Pike's importance so as to deflect the charges of anti-Masons. There is no doubt, though, that he was among the most influential Masons of his time." Albert Pike , masonicinfo.com Freemason. His anti- Other Interests Additionally, Pike wrote on several legal subjects, and continued producing 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 self-published posthumously by his daughter. In 1859 he received an honorary Ph.D. from Harvard. Pike died in Washington, D.C. and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery (against his wishes—he had left instructions his body be cremated). In 1944 his remains were moved to the House Of The Temple , headquarters of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite. Albert Pike and the Ku Klux Klan Pike has been accused of being a founder and high ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan ; however, there is no evidence of this and the claim appears to be based on the unsubstantiated writings of Klan Apologist Walter L. Fleming and revivalist Susan L. Davis . One of the Klan founders, Captain John C. Lester , wrote a 119 page book in 1884, in which he recalled the founding of the Klan fifteen years before. The only person that Lester mentioned was "Gen. Forrest," undoubtedly referring to Nathan Bedford Forrest . Lester does not mention Pike. Fleming republished Lester's memoir in 1905 and added a list of names and pictures of "Klansmen." These included Pike but also Rev. D.L. Wilson who had been Lester's co-author but not a Klansman. Thus if the inclusion of Pike on the list was a mistake, then it was not Fleming's only one. Davis published her "Authentic History" of the Klan in 1924. She disagreed with Lester and regarded Fleming as not knowledgeable about the Klan. She also said that David L. Wilson was wrong to say that the original Klan was a failure. (This is not surpirsing since Davis was actively supporting a revival of the Klan at the time of her publication.) Virtually all books or articles that claim Pike was part of the Ku Klux Klan use Fleming, Davis, other authors who cite Fleming or Davis, or else use no sources whatsoever. As one source puts it, "Research into primary source material will reveal that there isn't any primary source material" that proves or disproves Pike's association with the Klan. It is noteworthy that when the Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee around Christmas 1865, Pike was living in Arkansas, and there is no record of him journeying to or being in Pulaski. Below is a quote from one of Albert Pike's writings which supporters of the thesis that Albert Pike was, at the very least, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, sometimes cite in support of their thesis {Link without Title} {Link without Title} (Albert Pike was the owner and publisher of the Memphis, Tennessee Daily Appeal, and the below quote is from an editorial by him in that paper from April 16, 1868): : With negroes for witnesses and jurors, the administration of justice becomes a blasphemous mockery. A Loyal League of negroes can cause any white man to be arrested, and can prove any charges it chooses to have made against him.... The disenfranchised people of the South ... can find no protection for property, liberty or life, except in secret association.... 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. Conspiracy theories Pike's contributions to the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, combined with his unique life and written works, has made him a person of note in virtually every conspiracy theory that mentions Freemasons. Below are quotes of Albert Pike that supporters of the conspiracy thesis sometimes cite in support of their contention (all are from his book ''Morals And Dogma'' {Link without Title} {Link without Title} ): : LUCIFER, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darknesss! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual or selfish Souls? Doubt it not! : ... : Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled, to conceal the truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it. Truth is not for those who are unworthy or unable to receive it, or would pervert it. : ... : The Blue Degrees are but the outer court or portico of the Temple. Part of the symbols are displayed there to the Initiate, but he is intentionally misled by false interpretations. It is not intended that he shall understand them; but it is intended that he shall imagine he understands them. Their true explication is reserved for the Adepts, the Princes of Masonry ... It is well enough for the mass of those called Masons, to imagine that all is contained in the Blue Degrees; and whoso attempts to undeceive them will labor in vain. : ... : Every Masonic Lodge is a temple of religion; and its teachings are instruction in religion. LITERATURE
Biography
ANCESTRY & FAMILY Albert's descent from his immigrant ancestor John Pike is as follows:
NOTES AND REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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