The Trail: Freedom, Friendship & Charity: Ceremony, Degree Progression and Fraternal Identity in the Improved Order of Red Men (1888)

 

The Trail: Freedom, Friendship & Charity

Ceremony, Degree Progression, and Fraternal Identity in the Improved Order of Red Men (1888)

(Image courtesy of Samoset Tribe #22, Improved Order of Red Men, Vallejo, California. Princeton University Graphic Arts Collection, GA 2008.00908 (comparative example)).

 

Thomas C. Fielding’s 1888 broadside The Trail: Freedom, Friendship & Charity is far more than a decorative poster. It is a carefully designed visual guide to the values, structure, and ceremonial life of the Improved Order of Red Men (I.O.R.M.). Rather than telling a single story, the image brings together multiple scenes and symbols to illustrate the journey of membership within the Order. The fraternity traces its origins back to about 1760 “… and is descended from the Sons of Liberty. These patriots concealed their identities and worked “underground” to help establish freedom and liberty in the early Colonies. They patterned themselves after the great Iroquois Confederacy and its democratic governing body. Their system, with elected representatives to govern tribal councils, had been in existence for several centuries.” ¹

Fielding, a Boston-based “steel engraver and chart publisher,” specialized in producing visual materials for fraternal organizations, including the Red Men and the Free and Accepted Masons. ¹ His work reflects a broader late nineteenth-century tradition of illustrated charts—prints designed to teach complex systems through imagery instead of text alone. Examples of this poster are preserved today in institutional collections, including Princeton University’s Graphic Arts Collection (GA 2008.00908), confirming both its authenticity and historical significance. ¹

At the center of the poster is a globe labeled “Improved Order of Red Men,” surmounted by an eagle and the motto “Freedom, Friendship & Charity.” This central image sets the tone for everything else. The eagle reflects patriotism and national identity, while the globe suggests that the Order saw itself as part of a broader civic and moral world. These ideas align closely with the Order’s own historical claims. As noted here and in official materials, the organization traced its roots to the Sons of Liberty and emphasized its commitment to those three core principles. ²

The title The Trail is key to understanding the entire composition. In the language of the Red Men, the “trail” represents the path of personal and ceremonial advancement. Members move along this path as they pass through the degrees of the Order—traditionally Adoption/Hunter’s, Warrior’s, and Chief’s—each teaching specific lessons about character, duty, and brotherhood. ³

When viewed this way, the poster becomes a kind of map. Each scene along the “trail” reflects part of that journey:

• Adoption scenes (left side) appear to show an outsider being brought into the group. This reflects the Adoption Degree, which historically symbolized the process of accepting a new member into the tribe—sometimes described as a test of endurance and character. ⁶
• Council and gathering scenes (upper panels) show groups assembled in formal settings. These may represent the structured nature of tribal meetings, where the “council fire” was ceremonially opened and business conducted. ³
• Hunting scene (bottom center) clearly reflects the Hunter’s Degree, illustrating the “chase” and the responsibility of providing for the tribe. ⁴
• War and procession scenes (lower panels) correspond to the Warrior’s Degree, emphasizing readiness, discipline, and defense of the group. ⁴
• Kneeling figure before a fire (right side) is best understood as part of the Chief’s Degree, which focused on spiritual understanding and belief in a higher power, often referred to as the Great Spirit (Kishe Manitou.) ⁵

Taken together, these scenes are not random. They are arranged to show a progression—from outsider to full participant, from physical action to moral and spiritual reflection. The viewer is meant to follow the trail visually, just as a member would follow it through the Order’s ceremonies.

The paired portrait medallions on either side of the central globe reinforce this idea of encounter and transformation. The figures appear to represent Indigenous leaders. While it is tempting to connect aspects of this imagery to the story of John Smith and Pocahontas—often associated with adoption into a tribe—there is no documented evidence that this specific poster was intended to depict that story. Research to this effect came along much later and are still somewhat historically speculative. It is more accurate to understand the imagery as symbolic rather than tied to a single known event.

The overall effect of the poster is both instructional and inspirational. It teaches members about the structure of the Order while also reinforcing its values. At the same time, it presents the organization as patriotic, disciplined, and morally grounded—qualities that were central to fraternal identity in the late nineteenth century.

Interestingly, this visual “compression” of multiple degrees into a single image anticipates later developments within the Order. By the mid-twentieth century, references appear to an “All-American Degree,” a composite ceremony combining elements of earlier degrees into one unified experience. ⁷ While no direct connection can be proven, Fielding’s 1888 poster shows that the idea of presenting the entire journey in a single format (taken up much later and approved by the National Council in 1952) already existed in visual form decades earlier.

In the end, The Trail stands as a powerful example of fraternal graphic design. It is not simply artwork—it is a visual expression of the Improved Order of Red Men’s identity, values, and ceremonial life. Through its imagery, it captures how the Order understood itself and how it wished to be understood by others.

 

Footnotes

1. Julie L. Mellby, “Freedom, Friendship, and Charity,” Graphic Arts, Princeton University Library, December 25, 2014, describing The Trail. Freedom, Friendship & Charity. Improved Order of Red Men (Boston: T. C. Fielding, 1888), Graphic Arts Collection GA 2008.00908.
2. Mellby, “Freedom, Friendship, and Charity”; George W. Lindsay, Charles C. Conley, and Charles H. Litchman, Official History of the Improved Order of Red Men (Boston, 1893).
3. Lindsay, Conley, and Litchman, Official History of the Improved Order of Red Men, including laws of tribes and references to the “council fire” and degree structure.
4. Charles A. Blanchard, ed., A Dictionary of Secret and Other Societies (St. Louis, 1924), entry on the Improved Order of Red Men.
5. Blanchard, Dictionary of Secret and Other Societies, description of the Chief’s Degree.
6. Blanchard, Dictionary of Secret and Other Societies, description of the Adoption Degree; see also Lindsay et al., Official History.
7. Contemporary references to an “All-American Degree” appear in 1940 and 1951–53 newspaper accounts and fraternal publications (Tepee Talks, 1953).

 

Bibliography

1.     Blanchard, Charles A., ed.

 

2.     Lindsay, George W., Charles C. Conley, and Charles H. Litchman.

 

3.     Mellby, Julie L.

 

4.     Tepee Talks. Vol. III, no. IV. December 1953.

 

5.     Various newspaper accounts referencing “All-American Degree,” 1940–1953.

 

-Smoke Signals #3-

Submitted by Dr. Mike Bortner, Historian

I.O.R.M., Samoset Tribe #22

Vallejo, CA

April 16, 2026