Artifact Spotlight: Congregational Cadet Corps Banner

A few months ago, the museum received an incredible banner to add to the collection from a collector in Portland, OR. With a bit of research, it turned out that this banner had an even more amazing tale to tell, one that connected Portland and Eureka back in the early 1900s.

What was the Congregational Cadet Corps?

The Congregational Cadet Corps was a boy's group affiliated with the Congregational Church, a reformed Protestant church located in Eureka. At one point in time, as noted in the photo below c. 1900, the group had 121 members. The group was led by Reverend Franklin Baker who was assisted by C.P White. An additional leader included a man known as Mr. Emery who was an officer in the Spanish-American War.

Photo of the Congregational Cadet Corps courtesy of local clothier C.V Jackson. c. 1900. Cat #: 2018.002.001

What was the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition?

The year 1905 happened to be the 100th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition, which had passed through the area that would later become Portland. In celebration, the City of Portland hosted an Exposition, which, as mentioned in this post a few weeks ago, would typically be held to promote tourism to an area for an extended period of time.

In the spirit of expeditions and explorations, the Congregational Cadet Corps of Eureka decided to take a trip up to Portland. At this point in time, however, there were only trails and incredibly rough roads connecting the two towns. The boys and their leaders decided to hike their way over 510 miles of rugged, mountainous terrain to Portland. Nearly 70 boys went on this month-long journey, with the oldest being 18 years old and the youngest being 10 years old. They averaged 20 miles a day with the longest day was 36 miles. Along the way, the boys would perform circus-esque shows to raise money and, upon reaching the fair, performed a show for 22,000 spectators. They were allowed to camp on site at the fair and returned to Humboldt County via steam ship.

Poster from the Exposition, from the Oregon Encyclopedia

While at the Exposition, the President of the Exposition awarded the Congregational Cadet Corps with the banner that has now made its way back to Humboldt County, 103 years later. The youngest member of the group, Earl Hodgeson, wrote an article for  the Humboldt Historian in 1977, which you can read below: