3-7-77 Montana Highway Partol and Masons

Stumbled accrost this while reading about old west bank robers, and though it was interesting...

By December, 1863, the citizens of Bannack and Virginia City had had enough. Men from Bannack, Virginia City and nearby Nevada City met secretly and organized the Montana Vigilantes. Masked men began to visit suspected outlaws in the middle of the night issuing warnings and tacking up posters featuring a skull-and-crossbones or the "mystic" numbers "3-7-77." While the meaning of these numbers remains elusive, the Montana State Highway patrolmen wear the emblem "3-7-77" on their shoulder patches today. Interesting.

www.legendsofamerica.com...

3-7-77 was the infamous symbol of the Vigilance Committee in Virginia City, Montana. People who had the mysterious set of numbers '3-7-77' painted on their tent or cabin knew that they had better leave the area or be on the receiving end of vigilante justice. To this day the numbers appear on the shoulder patch of the Montana Highway Patrol, who say they do not know the original meaning of the symbol. It also appears on the flight suits of pilots of the Montana Air National Guard. Further, it appears under the bottle cap of certain varieties of Big Sky Brewing Company beer [1]. Various theories have been put forth about its origin, among them: The oldest interpretation is that it meant that the criminal had 3 hours 7 minutes and 77 seconds to leave town. Another common interpretation is that the numbers represent the dimensions of a grave, 3 feet by 7 feet by 77 inches. The sum of the number 3+7+7+7 total 24, representing the criminal had 24 hours to leave town. That it was borrowed from California or Colorado vigilance organizations where member number #3 and #77 were authorized to carry out executions. Frederick Allen, in his book A Decent Orderly Lynching, claims the number means one had to buy a $3 ticket on the next 7:00 a.m. Stagecoach to take the 77-mile trip from Helena to Butte. [2] Recently it has been suggested that the numbers have Masonic origins in that they represent the history of the Masonic vigilantes. The numeral "3" represents the three founding members of the Bannack Masons, the "77" represents the number of original Bannack Masons, and the "7" represents the number of the original vigilantes.

en.wikipedia.org...

anyone know anything about the date/code ? quite unusual and interesting that its carried over to todays time still on the patch of the highway partol in montana.

Always nice to see fellow Montanans posting some local nuggets. This is a good one. I was first told of it by a retired narcotics officer from Kalispell, who incorporated it into some of his paintings. He said he believed it referred to the dimensions of a grave, as the wiki source mentions. Another friend in my town has told me that some motorcycle clubs have also used the numbers.

Found a couple things on 3-7-77 I think the mason lodge 3-7-77 might be where it came from.

[urlwww.visitmt.com...[/url]

BANNACK HISTORIC LODGE NO. 3-7-77
www.flickr.com...


LODGES HISTORIC AND RESEARCH

BANNACK HISTORIC LODGE NO. 3-7-77 The old Masonic Lodge Hall in Bannack, Montana, stands as a memorial to all Masons past, present and future. The original dispensation was issued on April 27, 1863 by the Grand Lodge of Nebraska. The lodge was then chartered on October 3, 1871, as Bannack Lodge No. 16, at Bannack. Bannack Lodge No. 16 consolidated on May 12, 1921, with Dillon Lodge No. 23, in Dillon, as Dillon Lodge No. 16 at Dillon. The Bannack lodge was then rechartered as a Historic Lodge in 2000 as Bannack Historic Lodge No. 3-7-77.

After reading this it seems the 3-7-77 was added to the lodge in 2000 and there was no 3-7-77 related to it befor 2000.

1956
The historic 3-7-77 was added to the shoulder patch by then-Chief Alex B. Stephenson. The emblem is a tribute to the Vigilantes, the first law enforcement group in the Montana Territory


From the Montana Highway Patrol Website.

The numbers 3-7-77 mean nothing Masonically.

www.grandlodgemontana.org...

Heres a link to a pdf for those that think 3-7-77 is not related to any mason lodges. But 3-7-77 was adopted by the lodge in 2000.

reply to post by JBA2848


Chicken v. egg. That a Lodge chose to adopt that name over a Century after that sequence of Numbers was actively used by a Vigilance Committee does not mean that the numbers themselves have Masonic meaning. Likewise, even if Masons were involved in the V. Cmte, all those years ago, it doesn't necessarily indicate that the numbers have Masonic meaning.

To put it another way, even if one of Larry the Cable Guy's writers is a Mason, it does not mean that "Get 'er Done!" is part of Masonic Ritual.