FILE No. ___ · THE LODGE AND THE LEGEND
Scottish Rite Masonry and the Southern California circle

Readers sometimes ask why Gene Autry and John Wayne appear in a chapter on early Southern California Freemasonry. The answer is that my family knew them.

The Lodge
Christopher George Lippincott Sr. was a Freemason, Scottish Rite Mason, and Shriner, active somewhat earlier than his son and not to the same degree. Christopher George Lippincott Jr. rose to the 33rd Degree of the Scottish Rite and was active in the Shrine through the Al Malaikah and El Bekal temples.

The Owner
Through the same fraternal network, the family knew Gene Autry. Sr. bought season tickets when the Angels opened in their new Anaheim ballpark in 1966. I sat in those seats as a boy, and I know where they came from.

The Legend
Through these circles, Jr. counted John Wayne among his friends. Wayne gave him a number of gifts over the years. The friendship wasn't uncomplicated, though: Jr. grew irritated with Wayne at one point over how Wayne treated women, which fell short of his own standards. One gift became a family heirloom: a Ruger .44 caliber pistol, which still remains in our family today.

Sources
Documented: Autry and Wayne were both Freemasons.
Family testimony: my grandfather's firsthand accounts of Wayne and the pistols.
Physical evidence: the pistol, still in the family.
Unknown: the dates and details of individual meetings.

Open the files
FILE NO. 001-C-002 //  Life of CGL JR.