On this spot, July 31, 1863, the first Masonic ceremony in the present state of North Dakota took place as the Masonic funeral of Lieutenant Fred J. Holt Beaver, an Englishman, an Oxonian, and a volunteer soldier attached to the staff of General H. H. Sibley. He was killed in a skirmish with Indians and buried in rifle pits dug along this ridge. Deputy Grand Master John C. Whipple of Minnesota convened an emergency Masonic Lodge with brothers A. J. Edgerton as Worshipful Master, J. C. Braden as Senior Warden, and Patch as Junior Warden, and Brother Beaver's body was consigned to earth with Masonic services.