Expansion and growth of the United States was inevitable from the first seventeenth century landings of its early settlers, many of whom were Freemasons.
Early explorers who were Freemasons include Captain Meriwether Lewis, William Clark (younger brother of George Rogers Clark), Zebulon Pike, John C. Fremont, Kit Carson.
February 5, 1846 – Masonic notice requesting Masons interested in obtaining a Charter for a Lodge to meet February 21 was placed in the first issue of OREGON SPECTATOR at Oregon City, Oregon Territory. Seven Master Masons responded to the call.
1847 Multnomah #1, the first Masonic Lodge chartered on the Pacific Coast, was established.
April 1, 1848 Pierre B. Cornwall, 26 years of age and a Mason, left St. Joseph, entrusted with the Charter.
August, 1848 Pierre Cornwall arrives at Fort Hall in Oregon Territory (now southeastern Idaho) and transfers the charter to Joseph Kellogg, who put it in a small rawhide trunk. Pierre Cornwall went to California in search of gold.
September 11, 1848 Joseph Kellogg delivered the charter for Multnomah #1 to the Joseph Hull, one of the seven men at the original meeting in Oregon City.
July 17, 1850 Willamette Lodge #2 was organized at the present site of Portland by early leaders Benjamin Stark, S.H. Tyron and Berryman Jennings. During the very early meetings of this Lodge, John H. Couch petitioned, being recommended by Bros. George H. Flanders and Robert Thompson.
1850 John C. Ainsworth leaves Sacramento, California and moves to the lower Willamette Valley and affiliated with Multnomah Lodge #84, which had not been active for two years because its members had all gone to California for the Gold Rush.
May 9, 1851 Lafayette Lodge was chartered by the Grand Lodge of California.
September 15, 1851 The formation of a Grand Lodge was formally organized with the prime movers being Benjamin Stark and Berryman Jennings.
June 14, 1852 Salem Lodge #4 is chartered.
1854 John C Ainsworth is elevated to the office of Grand Master and served two years.
June 13, 1854 Astoria Lodge #7 is chartered.
June 13, 1855 Warren Lodge #10 in Jacksonville is the first Masonic Lodge chartered in the Medford area (87 years before the Medford Scottish Rite was formed).
September 15, 1855 organized Freemasonry began, officially, in Eugene with the granting of a Dispensation for Spencer Butte Lodge by Deputy Grand Master Alfred M. Belt. This was announced at the Sixth Annual Communication in Portland June 9-11, 1856. John C. Ainsworth was Grand Master.
June 10, 1856 Oregon Grand Lodge voted to issue a Charter for Eugene City Lodge 11.
1868 and 1869 Inspector E.H. Shaw, 33° SGIG in California, communicated to Ainsworth the 4° through the 32° and started to actively organize the first Scottish Rite Bodies. The first meeting place (1869-1872) was the Old Masonic Hall on the Southeast corner of Front and Burnside.
February 3, 1870 Ebenezer H Shaw, 33°, duly instituted and dedicated Oregon Lodge of Perfection #1, the first Scottish Rite organization in Oregon. Officers and members who were charter signers numbered seventeen. It was chartered by the Supreme Council on March 9, 1891.
May 3, 1870 John C. Ainsworth, 33°, was appointed an Active Member of The Supreme Council and was the first Sovereign Grand Inspector General between 1870 and 1874.
June 21, 1870 Chartering of Blanco Lodge at Marshfield. The city was changed from Marshfield to Coos Bay in 1944.
June 22, 1870 Charter as Baker Lodge #47 was granted to be located in Baker City, Oregon and was the first Lodge in what is now District #38. Baker City was an important stop on the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City. Many years later the community was the source of supplies for prospectors and gold-miners. Among the early-day pioneers, settlers and gold-miners there were, evidently, many Masons who sought a Lodge in which to meet and work as Masons.
March 7, 1871 Albert Pike Lodge of Perfection in Salem is started.
June 20, 1871 Pendleton Lodge #52 was chartered.
August 15, 1871 Grand Commander Albert Pike, 33°, made an official visit to the Orient of Oregon.
November 14, 1871 The Charter for the Ainsworth Chapter of Rose Croix #1 (Portland Valley) is signed with 20 Perfect Elus made Charter Members.
February 11, 1872 The Charter for the Multnomah Council of Kadosh is signed and 22 Knights Rose croix were made Charter members. The Portland Valley Scottish Rite Bodies conducted their meetings in the Masonic Temple at S.W. Third and Alder from 1872 to 1891.
April 2, 1872 The new rank of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour was created by Grand Commander Albert Pike.
October 8, 1873 Cornerstone is laid at the State Capitol Building and attended by delegation of members from the Portland Scottish Rite.
May, 1874 John McCraken attended the Supreme Council Session with S.G.I.G. Ainsworth. Ainsworth resigned and McCraken was nominated and duly elected and crowned as 33° Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Oregon. He resigned from the position in 1878.
July 16, 1879 Klamath Lodge is formed. Scottish Rite Masons worked on their own throughout the Klamath and Lake Counties and both Tulelake and Dorris in Siskiyou County in California.
June 15, 1880 Klamath Lodge granted charter. Scottish Rite activity followed some 45 years later. The activity was widespread in this sparsely inhabited, new country and included all of Klamath and Lake Counties in Oregon and both Tulelake and Dorris and the surrounding countryside in Siskiyou County, California.
March 9, 1891 Oregon Consistory (Portland Valley) is signed and 42 Masters of the Royal Secret were consecrated. Scottish Rite meetings were originally held in the old Marquam Theater Building at 6th and Morrison Street. from 1891 to 1903.
December 30, 1893 John C. Ainsworth passes away.
February 23, 1900 Lots were purchased for the building of the Portland Scottish Rite Building for $15,500. The land was owned by a pioneer jeweler, member of the Rite, L. C. Henreikson.
June 12, 1902 work started on the building of the Portland Scottish Rite Temple.
May 19, 1903 Grand Opening of the Portland Valley Scottish Rite Temple with a Grand Concert Organ Recital and Ball. It was the first Scottish Rite Temple built in the United States solely for Scottish Rite functions and purposes west of the country.
September 29, 1908 The Oregon Lodge of Perfection minutes record the first regular meeting in the new Temple.
June 7, 1913 the Mortgage for the Portland Valley Scottish Rite Temple is burned in ceremony put on by the Oregon Lodge of Perfection.
February 15, 1915 John McCraken (first SGIG of Oregon) passes away.
October 22, 1915 The Valley of Eugene was organized (44 years after Eugene Lodge #11 was chartered. Chartered as Willamette Lodge of Perfection #2, the name was changed to Eugene Lodge of Perfection October 22, 1947. The James C. Richardson Chapter of Rose Croix #2 was chartered. The name was changed October 16, 1923 to Eugene Chapter, Rose Croix. The first “home” for the Eugene Scottish Rite Bodies was the building at 45 West Eighth Street, owned by Eugene Lodge #11, which had the Post Office on the first floor.
December 3, 1919 The first Reunion of the Valley of Baker is held.
October 20, 1921 The Eugene Council of Knights Kadosh#2 was chartered. The name was changed to its present status at a later date.
October 20, 1921 Date of the Baker Lodge of Perfection #3 Charter, although the Charter was actually issued November 5, 1919.
October 20, 1921 The Baker Chapter of Rose Croix (originally named Baker Chapter of Rose Croix #3) is formally consecrated and constituted the same day as was the Baker Lodge of Perfection #3.
October 16, 1923 The Marshfield Lodge of Perfection and Marshfield Chapter of Rose Croix are chartered. The names were changed to Chartered Coos Bay Lodge of Perfection and Coos Bay Chapter of Rose Croix on October 17, 1951 because the name of the city was changed.
October 16, 1923 The charter for Siskiyou Lodge of Perfection was granted. The name was changed to Medford Lodge of Perfection in 1944.
October 16, 1923 The Eugene Council of Kadosh and Eugene Consistory were chartered.
October 16, 1923 The Baker Council of Knights Kadosh and the Baker Consistory were chartered.
March 3, 1924 The Roseburg Lodge of Perfection is chartered.
January 1, 1926 The Roseburg Chapter of Rose Croix is chartered.
April 5, 1931 The Cascade Scottish Rite Club is formed in Klamath Falls and officers were elected at Eastern Morning breakfast at the Willard Hotel.
October 21, 1931 The Charter of the Medford Chapter of Rose Croix is received.
October 21, 1931 Salem Lodge of Perfection is granted.
July 15, 1935 Inception of the Klamath Falls Valley. Brother Arthur W. Schaupp, 32° acted in the capacity of Personal Representative of the Klamath Falls Valley from 1935 until 1971. In 1937 he was invested with the rank of KCCH and in 1947 he was coroneted an Inspector General Honorary of the 33rd Degree.
October 23, 1935 Charter for the Klamath Falls Lodge of Perfection is granted.
October 23, 1935 The Charter for Medford Council of Kadosh and Medford Consistory were received.
October 20, 1937 Charter for Klamath Chapter of Rose Croix is granted.
October 18, 1939 Charter for Salem Chapter of Rose Croix is granted.
October 18, 1939 Charter for Klamath Council of Kadosh and Klamath Consistory are granted.
October 17, 1945 Charter awarded to Seaside Lodge of Perfection. Lodge of Perfection was moved to Astoria in 1980 and the name was changed to Lower Columbia Lodge of Perfection.
October 17, 1951 Salem Council of Kadosh and Salem Consistory are chartered.
1955 a group of actors, all members of the Rite, present the play, the “Miracle of the Constitution”, to the public at the Portland City Auditorium. It drew high praise and was warmly received by the general public.
March 1, 1955 The Roseburg Council of Kadosh and Roseburg Consistory are chartered.
November 19, 1955 Klamath Falls Valley purchased and remodeled two garages into the Temple Building
October 22, 1957 The Coos Bay Council of Kadosh and Coos Bay Consistory charters were granted.
October 21, 1959 Umatilla Lodge of Perfection was received.
1977 Scottish Rite Club of Central Oregon is formed. The first officers were elected in 1978.
March 9, 1991 marked the beginning of the Centennial Year of the complete Orient of Oregon.
September 1, 2004 Astoria Lodge of Perfection becomes NW Scottish Rite Club.
Summer 2009 A new website is established to increase Orient-wide communication featuring a members only library, forum and tests area.