E Clampus Vitus was established in West Virginia in the 1840s by Ephraim Bee and brought to California’s Mother Lode gold diggings in 1849 by Joe Zumwalt, who after continually moving on to new diggings finally settled in Mokelumne Hill. There in 1851 E Clampus Vitus was permanently established, and from its 19th-century roots it grew into an organization dedicated to preserving the history of the Trans-Mississippi West.