Located in Ocotillo, California near S-2 and Interstate 8

 

 

Lt. Willam Pitternger, located at his family home in Fallbrook

 

Received one of the first Medal of Honor for action in the Civil Wa

Who was John P. Squibob? Click this link to read the story.

Contact ECV Squibob 1853

Plaques

Interested in seeing some of our plaques? Click below for a PDF listing of all our plaques dating back to the very first one! Included are GPS coordinates so you can visit each one.

Plaque Lists

Who are the Clampers? What is E Clampus Vitus?

By Chris Roberts

In a nutshell, E Clampus Vitus, or ECV, is a fraternal order that seeks to preserve and celebrate western history, especially those years when California flourished with mining activity and was settled by Americans and immigrants looking for opportunity out west.

We clampers also like to have a good time and tend to celebrate whenever we place a new plaque or find some new and significant site of historical interest. This typically takes place twice per year at our “clampouts” where members-at-large camp out, relax, and indoctrinate new members.

Although the history of the order is somewhat hazy, ECV historians agree that E Clampus Vitus was brought to California in 1849 by Joseph Zumwalt, in an attempt to provide solidarity and camaraderie among miners in the rural Gold Rush camps and towns. You see, miners and their ilk would likely not be welcome among Masons, Odd Fellows, and other fraternal orders present at the time. E Clampus Vitus, however, welcomed these men with open arms, gave them an opportunity to have some fun, and even served to take care of them, their wives, and children when accidents happened or they fell on poor fortune.

After many years of activity and spreading throughout the gold fields, the order all but died out, just like the Gold Rush. However, in the early 1930’s Carl Wheat and his cohorts revived E Clampus Vitus in San Francisco into the order we know today. From the 1930s through present, chapters have sprung up or branched off, covering all of California and most western states.

Yerba Buena–Chapter #1, “Capitulus Redivivus”, has a most excellent page with many subpages and links to clamper history. It is highly suggested that you explore it.

Editor’s note: The author unabashedly lifted various details from an assortment of ECV resources.