Long ago, at the turn of the century1, I moved to California to marry my husband. My dull hobby is documenting historical markers. As a wedding gift, husband gave me a rather thick book with a record of every historical marker in the state. Immediately I decided I need to visit every single one. This eventually led to some unintentionally thrilling moments as husband refused to stop the car to allow me to take photos, and developed a "rolling pause" method which allowed me to hang out the open window with my SLR and grab a quick pick. Did not always produce the best photos.
Among these California ramblings, I discovered E Clampus Vitus.
The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus (ECV) is a fraternal organization dedicated to the preservation of the heritage of the Western United States, especially the history of the Mother Lode and gold mining regions of the area. There are chapters in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Wyoming. Members call themselves "Clampers."
Famous members include Ulysses S. Grant, Gene Autry, John Mohler Studebaker, Horace Greeley, Horatio Alger, and His Imperial Majesty Joshua A. Norton, Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico. Mark Twain was a member, and it was while attending an ECV meeting that he heard the story which he wrote as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.2
After the Civil War, the original E Clampus Vitus faded out, but a new version of the organization was formed in 1930 by San Franciscan attorney and cartographic historian Carl Irving Wheat. This incarnation was somewhat more serious than its predecessor, as a historical society as well as a mirth making club. Due to their unrelenting work, ECV historical plaques can be found all around California.3
One of ECV’s most notorious pranks was a brass plaque that appeared in 1936 in Northern California, purporting to have been made by Sir Francis Drake during his voyage of discovery in 1579. in which it was stated that he had claimed all of California for England, and that he had the authority of the claim by having been ceded the land by the local Miwok Indians.
The plate was made of brass, with lettering which appeared to have been chiseled into its face and a hole for a sixpence coin. Here is the text:
BEE IT KNOWNE VNTO ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS.
IVNE.17.1579
BY THE GRACE OF GOD AND IN THE NAME OF HERR
MAIESTY QVEEN ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND AND HERR
SVCCESSORS FOREVER, I TAKE POSSESSION OF THIS
KINGDOME WHOSE KING AND PEOPLE FREELY RESIGNE
THEIR RIGHT AND TITLE IN THE WHOLE LAND VNTO HERR
MAIESTIEES KEEPEING. NOW NAMED BY ME AN TO BEE
KNOWNE V(N) TO ALL MEN AS NOVA ALBION.
G. FRANCIS DRAKE
(Hole for sixpence)4
The man who was chief of the Miwoks in 1937, William Fuller, was a member of E Clampus Vitus. During an ECV meeting, he revoked the cession of land to England, and ceded it all to the United States government.5
The so-called Drake's Plate of Brass was accepted as authentic for forty years, yet was in actuality a hoax initiated by Dane that got out of control. It is now thought that the Fuller ceremony was part of an effort for the perpetrators to tip off the plate's finders as to its true origins.6
AKA 2000