www.mm52.org

About Us

During the summer of 2025, Oasis Lodge #52 (The Place To Be for Masonry) and Marion McDaniel Lodge #56 (The Duke's Lodge), started exploring the possibility of consolidation. Each lodge formed a committee to begin discussions in the fall. After a handful of meetings to iron out logistics, the committees proceeded to pursue this endeavor as dictated by the Constitution and Statutes of the Grand Lodge of Arizona. Members of both lodges voted in favor of the consolidation, and shortly thereafter, both lodges submitted the required documentation to the Grand Lodge in March of 2026. The Grand Lodge approved the consolidation and a charter for Marion McDaniel Lodge #52 was granted June 6, 2026, at the 144th Arizona Grand Lodge Communication upon approval of the 250+ Master Masons in attendance. The charter was formally presented to the the lodge on July 12, 2026, by MWB Roger Biede III, the Grand Master.

The Marion McDaniel Lodge #52 membership is comprised of 155 working and retired men from Tucson and abroad. We are supportive of each other and encourage active engagement while accommodating the ever-increasing time commitments of being a working man, husband, father, and grandfather. Our schedule varies with weekly activities ranging from practice of our Masonic ritual to off-site social events. We labor tirelessly to support the community by being involved with public schools, the local food bank, the Ronald McDonald House, and other Masonic organizations.

Our Stated Meeting is the second Tuesday of every month. A meal with refreshments begins at 6:00-6:15 PM. The gavel drops at 7:00 PM.

Why John Wayne is Prominent on this Website

John Wayne’s birth name was Marion Robert Morrison. He was born in Winterset, Iowa, on May 26, 1907, to Clyde Leonard Morrison, a pharmacist, and Mary “Molly” Alberta Brown. His parents moved Marion and his younger brother Robert Emmet Morrison to Glendale, California, in 1914. Marion was hardworking from a young age helping in his father’s drugstore starting at age 12. He soon took on other odd jobs including a delivery boy and working in a local ice-cream shop while attending Wilson Middle School. It was during this time Marion received the nickname “Duke,” given to him by a local firefighter. The men often saw young Marion walking Duke, his Airedale Terrier, and the name stuck. He quickly preferred the moniker to his given name and it followed him throughout his life. Duke entered his first fraternal society becoming an active member of the Order of DeMolay. This experience proved formative for Duke as he would soon enter Freemasonry during adulthood. Duke knew he wanted to apply to the U.S. Naval Academy and worked hard to make the most of his time at Glendale High School. Unfortunately, he was not accepted. He excelled athletically playing for the 1924 champion Glendale High School football team and served as President of the Latin Society. The Duke's football achievements earned him a scholarship to the University of Southern California. While at USC, he majored in pre-law and joined the Trojan Knights and Sigma Chi fraternities. Unfortunately, he sustained a bodysurfing injury that broke his collarbone making it impossible for him to continue playing football. As a result, he lost his scholarship, could no longer afford to attend college, and had to unenroll.

John Wayne’s first membership in a fraternity began in his teens. He joined the Glendale Chapter of DeMolay in his youth and joined fraternities during his brief tenure at USC. After 30 years as an A-list actor, Duke craved camaraderie away from the limelight and found it in Freemasonry in 1970. He knew of the Craft from his father who was a Mason before him, and likely from his time in DeMolay. Duke’s time in lodge with his brethren became a sort of sanctuary, recalling that he felt his fame melted away while in lodge. After being raised a Master Mason, he soon completed the degrees of the York Rite, became a member of the Al Malaikah Shrine in Los Angeles, CA, and was a 32° Degree Scottish Rite Mason.

The Duke was initiated an Entered Apprentice Mason on July 9, 1970; passed to the Degree of Fellowcraft on July 10, 1970; and raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason on July 11, 1970. The degrees took place at Marion McDaniel Lodge #56 in Tucson, AZ. The Duke was called from labor on June 11, 1979, at the UCLA Medical Center and rests at the Pacific View Memorial Park Cemetery in Corona del Mar.

The Duke Receiving His Masonic Bible

The Duke and His Lodge Brothers

A Brief History of Oasis Lodge #52

During the year 1956, a group of active Freemasons had a vision and contemplated the necessity for another Masonic lodge in the city of Tucson, Arizona. 22 brothers from Tucson Lodge #4, Epes Randolph Lodge #32, Adobe Lodge #41, and Aaron Lodge #49, came together and submitted a request to the Grand Master for a dispensation to create a new Masonic lodge for this growing and thriving city. The brothers were: Walter Burrows, Alva Stultz, Frederick Mey, Robert Hoegner, Thomas Russell, Gilbert Beach, Clayton Gibbons, William Elliot, Jimmie Pulley, Arthur Myers, James Corbett Jr. (Mayor of Tucson 1967–1971), Robert Miller, Cecil Polley, Frederick Shellidy, Joseph Capriota, Berkley Beach, Ralph Meyer, Harry Hancock, William Walker, Martin Solot, Joe Wong, and Herbert Burrows.

Most Worshipful Grand Master Conrad H. Baldwin, on determining the submission to be in proper form, granted a dispensation. This resulted in Brothers Walter Burrows as the first Worshipful Master, Alva Stultz as Senior Warden, and Frederick Mey as Junior Warden. At the Grand Lodge Communication in Winslow, Arizona, on April 22, 1957, a charter was signed by the Grand Master and Grand Secretary and issued to Oasis Lodge #52.

Marion McDaniel Lodge #56 History Coming Soon

The Grand Lodge of Arizona

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the American frontier comprised the western territories from Oklahoma to the Pacific Northwest. The news media of the time focused attention on the western territories and undoubtedly played a significant role in the inexorable wave of intrepid pioneers, settlers, opportunists, and prospectors that flooded into them. That period is often referred to as "The Old West" or "The Wild West." Arizona is the backdrop of many movies and novels about the Old West. Western novelist Zane Grey regularly spent time on the Mogollon Rim near Payson, Arizona. Early motion pictures depict Arizona cowboys and lawmen portrayed by actors such as Tom Mix and John Wayne. The heroes and villains in those movies were sharply defined, and a clean-cut cowboy always "saved the day." However, novels and movies seldom depict an even greater legacy that a few pioneers and settlers brought with them as they populated the territories. They brought morals, values, and a strong sense of brotherly love, relief, and truth with them. They brought Freemasonry to the territories.

In 1863, political concerns and the pressures of the Civil War were largely responsible for the separation of the Arizona Territory from the New Mexico Territory. That year, President Abraham Lincoln appointed John A. Gurley as Governor of the newly created Arizona Territory. He was to establish a government, thus ensuring the Arizona Territory and its resources would be and remain under Union control. Governor Gurley died before he could arrive in the territory. John Noble Goodwin was appointed by President Lincoln in his place. John Goodwin, a Freemason, and his party arrived in the Arizona Territory in December, 1863. He established the territorial capital of Prescott, approximately twenty miles from Fort Whipple. In 1864, nine Master Masons held a meeting in Prescott at Bro. John Goodwin's house. Bro. Goodwin presided at the meeting. After satisfying themselves that all present were Master Masons, those nine Masons decided to apply to the Grand Lodge of California for a dispensation to open a lodge at Prescott. The name selected for the new lodge was Aztlan. Bro. John T. Alsap, who later became the first mayor of Phoenix, was chosen as its first Master. Bro. Goodwin was chosen to present the petition to the Grand Master of California. Bro. Goodwin presented the petition on April 23rd, 1865, and the dispensation was granted. In January, 1867, after the California charter had been granted, Aztlan Lodge No. 177 was duly constituted and the officers installed by Past Master John Martin. Freemasonry had officially arrived in Arizona.

Thereafter, four more lodges were formed in succession. These four are Arizona Lodge in Phoenix (1879), Tucson Lodge in Tucson (1881), Solomon Lodge in Tombstone (1881), and White Mountain Lodge in Globe. All but White Mountain Lodge were chartered by the Grand Lodge of California. White Mountain Lodge was chartered by the Grand Lodge of New Mexico in 1881. On the 23rd day of March, 1882, representatives from these four lodges convened in Tucson to consider the propriety of establishing a Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the Territory of Arizona.

A committee was formed to examine the credentials of the attending delegates, and after its satisfactory report, it was resolved that under the powers vested in the members assembled, it was proper that a Grand Lodge for the territory should be formed. A constitution was adopted, and it was formally resolved, "That a Lodge of Master Masons be opened for organizing and opening, in Masonic form, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the Territory of Arizona." Officers were appointed to fill the stations and places, and a Lodge of Master Masons was opened in ancient Masonic form. The various officers were elected as follows: Ansel Mellen Bragg, Grand Master; John Tabor Alsap, Deputy Grand Master; Alonzo Bailey, Senior Grand Warden; William Arthur Harwood, Junior Grand Warden; Abraham Marx, Grand Treasurer; and George James Roskruge, Grand Secretary. On the 25th day of March, 1882, the grand officers were installed and the Lodge of Master Masons was closed in the ancient Masonic form; the convention having accomplished the business for which it was called, adjourned sine die.

The Grand Lodge was then opened in proper form, with music by a choir and prayer by the Grand Chaplain, after which it examined and endorsed the charters held by the various lodges represented. Then it was decided that "The Grand Lodge claimed as the boundaries of its jurisdiction the whole of the Territory of Arizona," and further, that the Grand Master be authorized to endorse the charter of Aztlan Lodge when called upon to do so. On March 25th, 1882, after installing the Grand Officers and accomplishing the business for which it was called, the Lodge of Master Masons was closed in ancient Masonic form, sine die. Aztlan Lodge later became a chartered member, and together the five lodges forming the Grand Lodge had a total membership of 274 Masons. Those five original lodges are still in existence today and are designated "Territorial Lodges."

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