The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus is a fraternal organization founded in the 1800s, in part as a mockery of other societies of the day. The way music artists today consider they’ve “made it” when Weird Al parodies their songs, being lampooned by the Order of E Clampus has evolved into a badge of honor.
There’s a method to the madness of these self-described “Clampers,” who also are dedicated to the study and preservation of the heritage of the American West. The group itself says it’s not sure if it’s a “historical drinking society” or a “drinking historical society.”
Whatever they’re drinking, the Lander-based Wyoming chapter of the organization — South Pass 1867 — will do something entirely serious Saturday when it dedicates the cemetery at the historic ghost town of Gebo. Many of those graves hold children who died in the coal mining town.
While dedicated to rejecting rational thought, the Clampers’ mission to preserve history is a serious one, said local Vice President Ben Jackson.
“We really want to highlight and preserve to the best of our ability the sites of historical significance throughout the state of Wyoming,” Jackson said. “In this way, no matter what the condition of the sites may be as the years progress, there's at least some type of marker that talks about what happened at these sites.”
The ’67ers, as they call themselves, do not want future generations to forget what the hard-working men and women went through in Wyoming’s early decades.
When people visit sites the society dedicates, the plaques highlight the trials and tribulations these early pioneers endured and overcome, such as the people of the coal mining town of Gebo.
Gebo, A Distant Memory
Gebo was once a thriving coal camp in the sagebrush with more than 2,000 miners and their families.
Located north of Thermopolis, this town was built by the Owl Creek Coal Co., and its heyday was in the 1910s and 1920s. It had a hospital, the largest high school in the region, a tennis court, company store, boarding houses, paved streets, sidewalks and company housing.
The coal miners formed bands, baseball teams and held boxing matches. Its popular Labor Day celebrations were attended by thousands of people from around the Big Horn Basin.
As the coal mines closed, the miners and their families scattered across America. Some found work in mines in other states such as Virginia while others couldn’t bear to leave Wyoming.
They moved their families into neighboring towns of Lucerne, Worland and Thermopolis. The company homes were sold and moved out of Gebo, the mines closed up and only a handful of families remained until the last person moved out in the 1980s.
In the 1970s, the BLM bulldozed the remaining abandoned buildings, leaving behind foundations, relics of the mine and a small cemetery.
E Clampus Vitus will host its public dedication at this cemetery. Many of the small graves holding children have captured their imagination and hearts.
“You go out there and you look at these headstones and you see these infants that died very close to the day they were born,” Jackson said. “It makes you wonder, ‘My God, what happened to these babies?’ Then you find out that it was either the Spanish flu or the diphtheria that ran through there like wildfire, and there's nothing out there that talks about that. Their story will be lost if we don’t do something.”
When Jackson first proposed the site as an E Clampus project, many of the members, most based in Fremont County, had not even heard of Gebo. He took them to the deserted mining town in March and showed them around.
Once they stepped back into time, touring the sage and hills that once teemed with people, the members didn’t need any more convincing. The Clampers were determined to put up a marker in memory of the town and the people who once eked out their livings underground.
Twilight at the Gebo cemetery. (Courtesy Dean King) 
Many of the graves at Gebo cemetery are for children who may have died during Spanish flu and diphtheria epidemics. (Courtesy Dean King) 
A group of children on a playground in Gebo, Wyoming. (Sweet Memories: Historical Research via Facebook) 
The Owl Creek coal mine during the heyday of the Wyoming town of Gebo. (Cowboy State Daily Staff) 
The Gebo Cemetery remains a testament to the former boom town. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Gebo Cemetery remains a testament to the former boom town. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Remants of the town of Gebo, Wyoming (Courtesy: Lesleigh Ann Schaefer) 
Gebo and the Owl Creek Coal Co. Mine No. 1. (coloradovirtuallibrarly.org) 
A once-booming mining town, it even had its own band, the Gebo Miner's Band, seen in this undated photo. (coloradovirtuallibrary.org) 
Many of the graves that still reman in the Gebo cemetery were babies who died in one or another disease outbreak. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
Remember All Of Wyoming
It’s part of the Wyoming chapter’s goal to branch out to put up markers around the state.
“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work up in the South Pass and Atlantic City area,” Jackson said. “But now we're looking to branch out into other areas of the state. Next year, we are planning on dedicating the Irma Hotel at Cody.”
The chapter also wants to expand membership and open new chapters throughout the Cowboy State. The goal is to continue preserving the history of Wyoming.
“We were originally started by miners for miners and to take care of the widows and orphans of miners that died in the mines, whether it be the gold mines or the coal mines,” Jackson said. “Obviously, that has gone by the wayside. We are now a fraternal order that's dedicated to the preservation of sites of historical significance that is predominantly centered around the Gold Rush era.”
E Clampus Vitus was founded in the 1800s in West Virginia and brought to California during the Gold Rush. It exploded in the mining camps and brought levity into the lives of those hard-working miners.
“It was started by miners who couldn't get into the other fraternal orders of the day such as the Freemasons and the Odd Fellows due to their social status,” Jackson said. “Those guys would look down their noses at the miners due to their rowdy nature. So, the minors wanted to start their own order and social club, if you will. E Clampus Vitus was born out of that, and they had a lot of fun with it.”
The miners would mock the other orders by making up strange rules and over-exaggerating their traditions. Members of this new society of fun-loving miners had been known to pull such antics as pinning can lids to their vests and walking in town parades.
They would march alongside the other societies that would be decked out in all their fancy regalia.
In an ironic twist, as the order became more popular, the movers and shakers of the 1800s decided to join to get the votes of the miners. E Clampus Vitus grew to include governors, doctors, lawyers and senators. Famous Clampers include Ronald Reagan and Samuel Clemens.
“Mark Twain actually heard of the famous frog jump of Calaveras County at a ECV meeting,” Jackson said. “There’s just a lot of history and accomplishments in our society. Another example is that the first mention of the gold strike in California was from a telegram written by a brother clamper.”
As Jackson and his fellow clampers continue to preserve Wyoming’s history, you can bet they will be doing it with a smile and lots of humor.
The public presentation of the Gebo coal camp new marker begins at 11a.m. Saturday at the Gebo Cemetery.
To reach the ghost town and cemetery, drive south from Worland or north from Thermopolis on U.S. Highway 20 until you hit the town of Kirby.
Turn west onto Sand Draw Road (Hot Springs County Road 18). When you hit a Y in the road after about 1.3 miles, bear left onto Hot Springs County Road 30.
Continue for another 1.3 miles until you hit the cemetery.
Contact Jackie Dorothy at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
