Colorado Fraternal Lodges

About Fraternal Organizations in Colorado

A deep look at the history, oldest lodges, membership process, and notable members of fraternal organizations across Colorado.

History of Fraternal Organizations in Colorado

Colorado's fraternal heritage is inseparable from the silver and gold mining booms of the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s that transformed the territory from a sparsely populated frontier into a constellation of bustling mountain towns nearly overnight. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows reached Colorado early, with Denver IOOF Lodge No. 2 organized in the late 1860s and the Grand Lodge of Colorado IOOF instituted in 1875, the year before statehood. Mining camps from Central City to Leadville to Cripple Creek to Telluride established Odd Fellows lodges almost as soon as they had post offices, providing the burial benefits, sick funds, and brotherhood that single male miners working in dangerous underground conditions desperately needed.

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks reached Colorado with extraordinary speed: Denver Elks Lodge No. 17 was chartered on July 23, 1879, just over a decade after the Elks were founded in New York City and only three years after Colorado statehood, making Denver Lodge No. 17 one of the oldest BPOE lodges in the country and the first west of the Missouri River. The lodge counted mining magnates, railroad executives, cattle barons, and territorial-era politicians among its founding members, and its early-twentieth-century clubhouse on Denver's California Street was one of the most ornate fraternal buildings in the American West.

Pueblo Elks Lodge No. 90 followed in 1888, Leadville Elks Lodge No. 236 in 1892 (driven by silver-mining wealth), Colorado Springs Elks Lodge No. 309 in 1894, Trinidad Elks Lodge No.

181 in 1890, Cripple Creek Elks Lodge No. 316 in 1894, Aspen Elks Lodge No. 224 in 1891, and Telluride Elks Lodge No. 692 in 1901.

The Loyal Order of Moose arrived in the early 1910s, with Denver Moose Lodge No. 27 chartered as one of the lowest-numbered surviving Moose lodges in the country. The Fraternal Order of Eagles reached Colorado quickly through railroad workers and miners, and the Knights of Columbus established Colorado presence through the Catholic Italian, Irish, and Hispanic populations of Denver, Pueblo, Trinidad, and the southern San Luis Valley — where Catholic communities trace their ancestry to Spanish colonial settlement of the late 1600s and early 1700s.

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Colorado

The Colorado State Elks Association governs approximately 60 active Elks lodges across the state. Denver Elks Lodge No. 17 holds particular national distinction: chartered in 1879, it is one of the oldest Elks lodges in the United States, the first west of the Missouri, and a charter member of the early national Elks structure that solidified the order's identity as a continental rather than regional fraternity. Its membership has historically included Colorado governors, Denver mayors, federal judges, mining executives, and championship athletes.

Pueblo Lodge No. 90, Leadville Lodge No. 236, Aspen Lodge No. 224, and Telluride Lodge No.

692 are all historically significant for their roles in the silver and gold mining communities — Aspen Lodge No. 224 in particular survived the silver crash of 1893 and continues to occupy a downtown Aspen location that ranks among the most architecturally significant fraternal buildings in the Mountain West. Other major Colorado Elks lodges include Colorado Springs Lodge No. 309, Trinidad Lodge No.

181, Boulder Lodge No. 566, Greeley Lodge No. 809, Fort Collins Lodge No. 804, Grand Junction Lodge No.

575, Durango Lodge No. 507, Glenwood Springs Lodge No. 525, Steamboat Springs Lodge No. 1855, Lakewood Lodge No.

2370, Aurora Lodge No. 1810, and Longmont Lodge No. 1055. The Colorado Elks Major Project supports the Colorado Elks Vision and Hearing Programs, which provide free vision and hearing screenings to schoolchildren throughout the state and fund the Elks Children's Fund for those who require glasses, hearing aids, or other assistive devices.

The state association also funds Most Valuable Student scholarships, the Hoop Shoot, and substantial veterans' programming including support for the Fitzsimons Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Colorado State Veterans Home system.

Loyal Order of Moose in Colorado

The Loyal Order of Moose in Colorado operates approximately 32 lodges under the Colorado Moose Association. Denver Moose Lodge No. 27, chartered in the early 1910s, is one of the lowest-numbered surviving Moose lodges in the entire order and anchors Moose activity in the Front Range. Other prominent Colorado Moose lodges include Pueblo Moose Lodge No.

1144, Colorado Springs Moose Lodge No. 1748, Grand Junction Moose Lodge No. 1342, Aurora Moose Lodge No. 2055, Lakewood Moose Lodge No.

1864, Boulder Moose Lodge No. 1870, Greeley Moose Lodge No. 909, Fort Collins Moose Lodge No. 192, Trinidad Moose Lodge No.

906, Durango Moose Lodge No. 1416, and Steamboat Springs Moose Lodge No. 1531. Each Colorado Moose lodge contributes per-member dues to Mooseheart, the residential child-care community in Illinois, and to Moosehaven, the senior community in Florida.

Colorado Moose members have historically organized substantial bus pilgrimages to Mooseheart, often combined with the national Moose convention. The Women of the Moose chapters across Colorado are unusually active, frequently outpacing men's-lodge fundraising for Mooseheart and operating extensive parallel programs for community charity, including school-supply drives for low-income Front Range school districts, holiday meal programs, and youth scholarship funds. Colorado Moose lodges have also been active in disaster response, particularly during wildfire and flooding events that have repeatedly affected mountain and foothill communities; lodges routinely open as Red Cross shelters and relief-distribution centers.

Eagles, Knights of Columbus & Other Fraternal Orders in Colorado

The Fraternal Order of Eagles maintains approximately 22 active aeries in Colorado, with Denver Aerie No. 153, Pueblo Aerie No. 374, Colorado Springs Aerie No. 12, Grand Junction Aerie No.

595, Greeley Aerie No. 1996, Aurora Aerie No. 3856, and Trinidad Aerie No. 144 among the most prominent.

Pueblo Aerie No. 374 holds particular historical interest given Pueblo's heavily industrial workforce and the Eagles' long advocacy for workers' compensation laws. The Knights of Columbus in Colorado is organized through the Colorado State Council, which oversees approximately 175 councils across the Archdiocese of Denver, the Diocese of Colorado Springs, and the Diocese of Pueblo. Denver Council No.

539 is among the oldest and largest, while Pueblo Council No. 557, Colorado Springs Council No. 582, Trinidad Council No. 952, and Greeley Council No.

992 anchor regional activity. The southern San Luis Valley — including Conejos, Costilla, and Alamosa counties — hosts unusually dense KC councils for its rural population, reflecting the deep Catholic ancestry of the region's Hispano communities, some of which trace their lineage to Spanish colonial settlements of the seventeenth century. The Colorado KCs raise substantial funds for Special Olympics Colorado through the annual Tootsie Roll Drive and have funded numerous ultrasound machines for Colorado pregnancy resource centers. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows retains a meaningful Colorado presence with approximately 18 active subordinate lodges, including the historic Denver and Central City lodges that date to the territorial period.

Colorado Fraternal Lodges by the Numbers

Colorado's fraternal community is among the most active in the Mountain West, reflecting the state's population of approximately 5.8 million and its strong civic-organization culture. The state hosts approximately 60 BPOE Elks lodges with combined membership of about 22,000 to 26,000. The Loyal Order of Moose operates approximately 32 lodges with combined male and female membership of 14,000 to 17,000. The Knights of Columbus maintain about 175 councils across Colorado's three Catholic dioceses with combined membership estimated at 18,000 to 22,000.

The Fraternal Order of Eagles operates approximately 22 aeries with combined membership of 6,000 to 8,000. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows retains roughly 18 active lodges. Geographic concentration mirrors Colorado's population: the Front Range corridor from Fort Collins through Denver to Colorado Springs and Pueblo hosts roughly 70 percent of all fraternal lodges in the state, while the Western Slope (Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Durango, Telluride) hosts another 15 percent. Mountain resort communities including Aspen, Vail, Steamboat Springs, and Breckenridge sustain historic lodges that often serve as the principal social institutions in towns with seasonal populations.

How to Join a Fraternal Lodge in Colorado

Joining a fraternal lodge in Colorado follows national procedures with state-specific dues levels and customs. Colorado Elks (BPOE) require U.S. citizenship, age 21 or older, good character, and belief in God; sponsorship by an existing member is required, and most lodges require a second seconder. Annual dues at Colorado Elks lodges typically run $100 to $250, with initiation fees of $50 to $200; resort-town lodges in Aspen, Vail, and Telluride sometimes have higher dues reflecting clubhouse maintenance costs in expensive real-estate markets.

The Loyal Order of Moose in Colorado requires age 21 or older and good character, with dues running $40 to $80 annually. Knights of Columbus membership in Colorado is restricted to practical Catholic men aged 18 and older — applicants complete a Form 100 through their parish and are inducted at a brief ceremony; Colorado KC dues typically run $30 to $55 annually. The Fraternal Order of Eagles in Colorado admits men 21 or older with belief in a Supreme Being; aerie dues run $40 to $70. Many Colorado lodges actively recruit through community events, parade participation, and partnerships with newcomer organizations, particularly important given the state's high in-migration rate.

Resort-town lodges often welcome seasonal-resident members with reduced dues structures to accommodate part-year participation.

Notable Colorado Fraternal Members in History

Colorado's fraternal rolls include several historically significant figures. Mayor Robert Speer, the early-twentieth-century Denver mayor whose City Beautiful program transformed downtown Denver, was a longtime member of Denver Elks Lodge No. 17 and frequently used the lodge for civic meetings. Governor Edwin Johnson, three-term governor and U.S.

Senator, was a member of multiple Colorado Elks lodges. Senator Eugene Millikin, who chaired the Senate Finance Committee in the 1940s, was a Denver Elk. Senator Gordon Allott, the Pueblo-area Republican who served three Senate terms, was a Pueblo Elks member. In sports, Jack Dempsey, the Manassa Mauler heavyweight boxing champion who grew up in southern Colorado, was an honorary member of multiple Colorado fraternal lodges.

The Denver Broncos' founding owner Gerald Phipps maintained ties to Denver Elks Lodge No. 17. Mayor Federico Pena, the first Hispanic mayor of Denver and later U.S. Secretary of Transportation, was associated with multiple Colorado Knights of Columbus councils given his Catholic and Mexican-American heritage.

Bill Ritter, the Colorado governor from 2007 to 2011 and a former Catholic missionary, was a Knights of Columbus member during his Denver-area career. Cardinal James Stafford, who served as Archbishop of Denver from 1986 to 1996 before being elevated to a Vatican position, was a strong supporter of the Colorado Knights of Columbus and personally chartered several new councils during his episcopate.

Frequently Asked Questions: Colorado Fraternal Lodges

Sources & Further Reading

• https://www.elks.org/lodges/
• https://www.mooseintl.org/
• https://www.foe.com/
• https://www.kofc.org/en/who-we-are/our-history/
• https://www.coloradoelks.org/
• https://archden.org/