Luther Powell

In the summer of 1925, Ku Klux Klan organizer Luther Powell visited Alaska and proudly proclaimed the territory home to 1,500 Klansmen. Powell was the head of his own splinter group of the Klan, one that sprung up in Oregon and crossed the border into Canada. Louisiana-born Powell became recognized as the leader of the Kanadian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

Luther Powell rode a wave of renewed interest in the Klan sparked by the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation, which portrayed Klansmen as heroes. The film set off a “Second Wave” of Klan chapters across the United States, even reaching Alaska and Canada.

The Seward Daily Gateway of August 5, 1925 reported that Powell promised Alaskans a week of secret initiations “generally held in the woods, far from towns or cities, from a desire to keep the membership secret.” The Gateway added:

“Klans have been fully instituted the Major stated, in Ketchikan, Petersburg, Wrangell, Juneau, Haines, Skagway, Cordova, Kennecott, Valdez. From Seward Major Powell proposes to go to Anchorage, thence to Nenana and Fairbanks, and later to Nome, returning to the States in September, at which time charters for the various Alaskan lodges will be mailed out.”

*This* *interactive timelapse map* *by Virginia Commonwealth University shows the locations of the Ku Klux Klan chapters in Alaska based off the Klan’s own publications.*

Months later, the Klan’s Fellowship Forum of January 16, 1926 announced four Klan chapters in Alaska: #1 Anchorage, #2 Juneau, #3 Ketchikan, and #4 Cordova. In April 1931, an issue of the monthly Kourier Magazine identified additional chapters in #5 Petersburg, #6 Fairbanks, #7 Unknown, #8 Seward, #9 Skagway, #10 Wrangell, and #11 Haines.

A recent paper by Elizabeth Kell and Kevin Allen unearths the connection between the Klan and recorded activities around Alaska. ALASKKKA: The Invisible Empire in the Last Frontier: A Look into the 1920s Klan of the North exposes the Klan’s efforts to expand into Alaska. It opens the door to new insights, like the stories that follow.

By design, the Klan was highly secretive. Its members relied on cloaks, deceit, and shadows to hide their true identities. To lift the hood on the Klan in Wrangell, we have to piece together the story from the shadows. What emerges is an effort by the Klan to establish chapters in Wrangell and throughout Alaska.

A headshot photograph of Stanley N. Dancey in an advertisement for a speech on Irish Home Rule. From the Minneapolis Journal of March 24, 1914.

Captain Stanley N. Dancey

It was September 1921, and Wrangell proudly announced its first chautauqua speakers series. For three nights, entertainers, musicians, and speakers of the Affiliated Lyceum and Chautauqua Association promised to inspire Wrangell through lively presentations. It had taken two years for Wrangell to secure a chautauqua, and organizers were eager to sell tickets.

Among the speakers was Captain Stanley N. Dancey, a veteran of the Canadian Army during World War 1. Shortly after the war, Dancey joined the Affiliated Lyceum and Chautauqua Association as a traveling speaker. He told colorful stories his time in the war and battlefield injuries. He claimed to be affiliated with the American Legion.

In August 1920, The Lyceum magazine stated that “Capt. Dancey is so popular as a speaker that he hardly ever succeeds in getting out of a town without having spoken at least one extra time, and in some places has to speak three times to satisfy the local demands.” His soaring oratory stirred passions, laughter, and praise from audiences wherever he went.

But Captain Dancey greatly embellished his stories. Even more, he was likely working on behalf of the Ku Klux Klan.

ANti-Catholic Speeches

(Many thanks to Allan Miller of London, Ontario for sharing his research into Stanley N. Dancey. Mr. Miller has been investigating and posting about Dancey for many years. When I told him I suspected Dancey worked for the Klan, he laughed and said, “That would be just another way to grift people out of their money.”)

Stanley N. Dancey inherited his political views from his father, Thomas Henry Dancey, an Irish immigrant to Canada. Thomas was born into a Protestant family fiercely loyal to the King of England and his Protestant Anglican Church. They considered the Anglo-Saxons the pinnacle of civilization. That meant they supported English rule of Ireland, which set them squarely in opposition to Irish Catholics who favored Irish independence, known as “Home Rule” or the separatists.

Even though he was a generation removed and living in a different country, Stanley N. Dancey took on the cause of supporting English rule of Ireland through speeches. In his 20s, while working as a newspaper editor, he began delivering passionate lectures against the Roman Catholic Church.

He took his appeal into the United States, where an eyewitness in the Catholic Bulletin of February 7, 1914 was incredulous that Dancey, a Canadian,“came to teach us citizens of the United States the lesson of patriotism, and asserted that the Catholic Church is the menace to the free institution of the country.”

After fiery anti-Catholic speech in Anoka, Minnesota resulted in a mob of fifty to one-hundred men seizing him, threatening him, and placing him aboard a train out of town. Undaunted, Dancey promised to fight back, and fourteen men were ultimately indicted and fined. Weeks after the assault, Dancey returned to Anoka. He told the Minneapolis Journal,

“I am convinced that it was born of a misunderstanding… I want to deny emphatically that I am an anti-Catholic lecturer. I have never sought to discourage any man’s religion and I never will. I stand for freedom of religion and welcome all classes and creeds.”

But weeks later, Dancey was in Boston, Massachusetts, one of America’s cradles of Catholicism. The Boston Journal of May 18, 1914 reported that Dancey said “Home Rule means Rome Rule, and that the priests should be banished from Ireland.”

One month later, the Boston Herald of June 15, 1914 reported that Dancey threatened King George with an armed uprising of thousands of Canadians, Australians, and Americans if he were to allow Home Rule in Ireland. Incendiary statements like this kept Dancey in the columns of newspapers wherever he delivered speeches.

Before the month was over, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, kicking off World War 1. With Europe plunging into war, England turned its attention away from Ireland and looked towards Germany.

Dancey in World War 1

Stanley N. Dancey reported to the Canadian Army for service. In short time, he was on a secret mission undercover behind German enemy lines as an American journalist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The United States was not yet part of the conflict, and its neutrality allowed Dancey to travel freely and speak with German soldiers and informants who gladly shared their stories in hopes of favorable coverage in the American press. After a few months, Dancey left Germany with a wealth of information.

Dancey’s military service was unlike that of most military men. While Canadians joined British and French soldiers in the trenches, Stanley N. Dancey was publishing a romance novel in 1916, The Faith of a Belgian. The record suggests Dancey worked in recruiting and war propaganda.

Years after the war, Dancey would tell tales of being wounded in battle. But in reality, he was accidentally cut on the jaw by a bullet fragment at a practice shooting range in January 1918. An eye witnessed described him bleeding profusely while saying, “Find the chap who is a damned rotten shot.” Dancey received medical treatment for the wound, but he was diagnosed with tonsillitis and placed on temporary medical disability status. According to the medical board, the “cold & exposure from excessive strain on throat in recruiting work for Canada” contributed to Dancey’s weakened condition.

On November 11, 1918, Germany surrendered and “The Great War” was over. The war directed Dancey’s energy and purpose. Even if he wasn’t fighting for England in the trenches, he was fighting for England through speeches. He looked for a way to continue this work.

*This ad in the September 21, 1921 Lyceum Magazine suggests Dancey spoke both English and French.*

Chautauqua Speaker

By 1920, Captain Dancey was working on the chautauqua circuit. He wasn’t railing against the Catholic Church in Ireland or threatening the King of England with an uprising. Instead, Dancey’s message evolved. He rallied audiences around a phrase that would become a go-to slogan: “100 Per Cent Americanism.”

Two advertisements run by the Ku Klux Klan feature the phrases “Invisible Empire” and “100 Per Cent Americans.” (left: The Troy Messenger, October 16, 1918. right: Ledger Inquirer, November 17, 1918).

Dancey’s term was a slight variation on the frequently used Ku Klux Klan motto, “100 Per Cent American.” In addition, Dancey used the phrase “Invisible Frontier,” an apparent adaptation of the Ku Klux Klan’s “Invisible Empire.” It is not clear how Dancey became acquainted with the Klan, but its ideological core—the supposed superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race and anti-Catholic fervor—aligned closely with his own philosophy.

In the February 21, 1921, Bellingham Herald, Dancey—a Canadian working in the United States—told an audience in Bellingham, Washington, “I am for closing the doors to immigration until we get acquainted with the aliens we already have on our hands.”

Dancey also became outspoken on two issues that aligned with the Klan’s core beliefs. First, he strongly opposed private, parochial schools. In Dancey’s era, many parochial schools were operated by Catholic and Jewish organizations. The Klan viewed the public school system as the primary means of instilling its vision of Americanism, and Dancey frequently addressed students in classrooms and auditoriums wherever he traveled. Second, Dancey encouraged the formation of women’s clubs. The Klan shrewdly recognized that engaging women would also help attract and retain men. Considered independently, these positions do not necessarily indicate Klan membership. Taken together, however, they reflect a distinctive set of principles that closely paralleled those promoted by the Klan.

The Allied victory in World War I only intensified Dancey’s pride in the Anglo-Saxon race. According to the February 17, 1921, Bellingham Herald, Dancey said “the English speaking peoples of the world are the real bulwark of world peace and he reveals stirring incidents of the great war to prove that the union of the races is not so far removed as some would believe.” The Meridian Times of Idaho quoted him again on January 28, 1921:

“The man who will place any obstacle in the path of a better understanding between the different branches of the English speaking races of the world, that man opposes the principle of a world peace, he is not an American and fails to support the very principles upon which the American constitution is founded.”

On August 2, 1921, The Minneapolis Star published an anonymous letter accusing Captain Dancey of stirring up prejudices.

“It is plain that the real animus behind this movement, the mobs of the Burnquist campaign, and such ‘campaign lecturers’ as Captain Dancey of the more recent ‘fame’ (?), is all traceable to the same source…

Not only Jews and Catholics, even though they trace their ancestry to the Mayflower, but also foreign-born citizens of all creeds and nationalities are barred. They seek to take advantage of prejudices, created by unfortunate circumstances, for the purpose of dividing American citizenship.”

The letter ended with the wry observation that although Captain Dancey could not join the Ku Klux Klan because he was Canadian, he “may be useful to them.” In fact, Dancey may have found his way into the Klan. Around this time, Luther Powell was in Portland, Oregon splitting away and starting his own faction of the Klan which would cross into British Columbia, Canada.

Luther Powell and Captain Dancey were complementary forces. Luther Powell was born in Louisiana and aspired to take the Klan into Canada. Captain Dancey was born in Canada and aspired to take his message into the United States. There’s no record I could find of the two men together or speaking about each other. And yet, their overlapping mission and cross-border travel suggests opportunities for mutual connections.

As the political turmoil in Minnesota reached a boil, Dancey headed west to his next frontier: Alaska.

A Chautauqua for Alaska

In September 1921, Captain Dancey and a dozen fellow Lyceum speakers cruised north for their first chautauqua in Alaska. After stopping at Prince George, Smithers, and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, the group traveled on to Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, and Juneau. The September 13, 1921 Juneau Empire reported that Dancey spoke in both Ketchikan and Wrangell and that “he made two appearances before the Ketchikan school, where he made a big hit.”

The Petersburg Weekly Report of September 16, 1921 stated that Dancey “made a stirring appeal to those who heard him to be 100 per cent Americans and to resist any and every form of news or propaganda which would tend to darken the path to this ideal.”

Dancey made his biggest impact in Juneau. On September 13, 1921, the Juneau Empire announced that Captain Dancey, of the Canadian Army, would be speaking under the auspices of the American Legion Post. The Alaska Daily Empire of September 19, 1921 reported that he received “a vote of thanks with nine rahs” after speaking to a group of students. In another address, Dancey “spoke entertainingly for an hour and a half to a fair sized audience” which included the Governor of Alaska, Scott C. Bone.

Governor Bone was deeply moved and invited Dancey and his fellow chautauqua speakers into the governor’s house for a party. The next day, Governor Bone personally thanked the chautauqua speakers at a luncheon, followed by a speech by Dancey on “Americanism and of world conditions in general.” The two men would continue their association for years to come.

One month after the Alaska voyage, Dancey declared the trip a success. In The Lyceum of October 1921, Dancey described “the splendid hospitality of the Alaskan people” and “the magnificent spirit of the people in the great northland.”

Dancey lamented that the chautauqua was unable to visit “Anchorage, Seward, Valdez, Cordova and Sitka, where arrangements had been already made by public spirited citizens.”

In fact, no such additional arrangements had been made. Dancey would make a point to return to Alaska.

*A photograph of Wrangell, Alaska around 1926, taken from Mount Dewey overlooking the harbor.*

Wrangell, Race, & The 1920s

Race defined much of the first half of the 1920s in Wrangell. It was a decade focused on growth and expansion. Wrangell, which had started from the mud, wanted to prove that it could become a real city. The town projected an energetic optimism and a sense of control over its destiny. But it was also unmistakably a decade marked by overt conflicts centered on race.

At the beginning of the decade, Wrangell’s population hung around 821, but it was growing. One third of the town was Alaska Native or mixed, while the remainder were mostly European settlers. This two-race balance had been maintained by occasional exclusion of other immigrant groups. In 1908, the Vancouver Daily World reported that Wrangell people formed a mob to prevent twenty Hindu men from landing. In 1915, a mob expelled Mexican workers from Wrangell. This type of practice in Alaska went back to at least 1886, when a Juneau mob rounded up 76 Chinese miners, who packed them onto two small boats to Wrangell. Wrangell was growing, but not for everyone.

And some racist beliefs happened out in open, unmasked and ordinary. In 1922, Wrangell’s Parent-Teacher Association hosted a carnival featuring a game for children where they shot at dolls designed to look like Black people. The dolls were given a derogatory name. The July 6, 1922 Wrangell Sentinel called it “the most amusement of any part of the carnival.” The next year, the booth reportedly raised $42.40 for the schools.

The Trial of Charlie Jones

Perhaps no event better illustrated the debate over who was truly considered an American than a dispute arising from the 1922 elections. In the spring of 1922, election judge Leonard M. Churchill prevented George Mason, a Tlingit man, from voting, claiming that Mason was not a U.S. citizen and therefore ineligible to vote. After attorney William Paul successfully challenged the decision, Churchill did it again during the fall 1922 election, this time preventing Tlingit leader Charlie Jones (Shakes VII) from voting. Churchill declared Jones "uncivilized" and therefore not a U.S. citizen. After fellow Tlingit leader Tillie Paul-Tamaree came to Jones's defense, Churchill relented and allowed Jones to cast his ballot.

Angry at being rebuked, Churchill teamed up with Wrangell’s mayor, John Goodwill Grant. Despite both of them having Indigenous wives and mixed-race children, they conspired to convince the District Attorney in Ketchikan to file charges. In March 1923, Charlie Jones and Tillie Paul-Tamaree were arrested, and their trial was set for October 1923. As the defendants awaited their day in court, President Warren G. Harding passed through Alaska on his “Voyage of Understanding” and Wrangell proudly welcomed him.

All of this unfolded around the same time as Captain Dancey’s visits and the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan in communities across Alaska. It provides important context for understanding the attitudes, beliefs, and current events that shaped public opinion during the period. Dancey’s message of "100 Per Cent Americanism" would likely have resonated in a community like Wrangell, which aspired to present itself as a model of the American way of life.

The Masquerade Ball

At a Wrangell masquerade ball in January 1923, several participants showed up Klan uniforms. The January 15, 1923 Wrangell Sentinel opened the article with:

“The masquerade given by the Guild Friday night was one of the best attended affairs of the winter. A large number of spectators were present in addition to the maskers. The costumes worn were interesting and varied, even several members of the Ku Klux Klan being present. The Grand March was led by a dusky bride and groom under the direction of the floor manager, Thos. Dalgity.”

The “dusky bride and groom” were actually two women in costume.

This may be the only documented example of people wearing Klan robes publicly in Alaska during this period. That the article says “several” suggests three or more people wore Klan robes.

*From an editorial in the September 2, 1922 Alaska Daily Empire*

The Klan sends organizers to Alaska

In the summer of 1922, the Klan of Portland, Oregon sent two representatives to Alaska distribute literature and raise support. Alaskan newspaper editorials decried the Klan involvement in Alaska.

The Ketchikan Chronicle: “Its practice of masking its members is vicious in the extreme, opening the door to lawlessness on the part of the Klan itself and to others who assume its livery.”
The Alaska Daily Empire of September 2, 1922: “The attempt to introduce the Ku Klux Klan in Alaska should be frowned upon by all true Americans.”
The Sitka Tribune: The Klan’s “anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, anti-foreign born, anti-colored races” beliefs was un-American and “enough to condemn the order.”
The Cordova Times of November 2, 1922: “When by its own proclamation it declares war against Jews, Catholics and members of alien races, it announces itself as striking at the root of the principles on which American liberties are founded.”

The September 5, 1922 Daily Alaska Empire of Juneau featured a lengthy rebuttal by Alaska’s Klan organizers:

“Several charges have been made in your publication against the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Did it ever occur to you that you should hear both sides of the question before passing judgment? This is one of the basic principles of our Americanism. The law practiced in all American and English courts, presupposes a man innocent until he is proven guilty...

The foes of America would have you believe that the Ku Klux Klan is a wild dangerous mob, committing deeds of violence and lawlessness, a source of anxiety to the officials of state, county and city.

Thinking men will seriously consider the statement when I tell you that native born, loyal Americans and officials of the nation, state, county and city are enrolled among the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan by the thousands, and that no lawless deeds have been or will be committed by this organization.

Very respectfully yours,
R.W. Cunningham
D.M. Odom
Kleagles, Realm of Alaska, Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan”

While there are news reports of R.W. Cunningham’s travels in Alaska, Odom moved without being reported. It’s possible Odom never existed, as no Alaska newspapers interviewed them directly.

Who exactly came to Alaska in the summer of 1922 is a mystery. For several months over the summer of 1922, Dancey simply vanished from newspapers, which was unusual for him. The letter sounds like Dancey’s voice, along with his habit of paying homage to England. But nothing definitively is known.

This clipping from the February 1, 1923 Pawnee Courier-Dispatch of Pawnee, Oklahoma features side-by-side stores. On the left is the headline, “Dancey to Lecture Saturday Night.” To the right, “Is the Grand Jury Investigating the K.K.K.” There are numerous examples like this where newspapers featured articles about Captain Dancey next to articles about the Klan.

Dancey’s SOuthern Tour

By the spring of 1923, Dancey was on a solo tour through the U.S. South. The Pratt Daily Tribune of March 1, 1923 reported how Dancey addressed an audience on behalf of the local American Legion. He took questions from the audience, where he was asked about the Ku Klux Klan. In response, Dancey “claimed that the reports of the Ku Klux Klan in the south were exaggerated, that the Klan had cleaned up conditions, and that the Mer Rouge affair was a ‘frame up.’” The scandal in Mer Rouge was the beatings and deaths of several men opposed to the Klan in Louisiana.

The same issue of the Pratt Daily Tribune featured an editorial challenging Dancey’s “commendation” of the Klan. The editorial wrote, “It seems an odd thing to make a logical and impassioned appeal to people to put their American citizenship upon a higher plane and then seek to justify the actions of a besheeted mob.”

A few weeks later at another presentation, an audience member yet again asked Dancey what he thought of the Klan. The Kingman Journal of April 20, 1923 quoted Dancey as saying:

“I am not a member of the Ku Klux Klan, but the Klan is sweeping America, and it includes in its membership the brightest minds of the country… If the work of the Klan in Louisiana is a sample of what it will do for the rest of the nation, then I say, God speed the Ku Klux Klan.”

Dancey earned a reputation for his advocacy favoring the Klan. When Dancey was scheduled to speak in Ford, Kansas on behalf of the American Legion, the Ford Progress of April 27, 1923 ended the announcement with, “This is not a Ku Klux Klan or anti-Catholic address.” The only group that Dancey openly aligned himself with was the American Legion. It was a relationship that Dancey would exaggerate and leverage to gain entry into communities across the country. But the American Legion would eventually fight back.

Lewis High Commencement

Dancey’s most overt association with the Ku Klux Klan may have come in May 1923, when he served as the graduation speaker for Lewis High School in Kansas. According to the May 17, 1923 Kinsley Mercury,

“…In the midst of the address being delivered by Captain S. N. Dancey, about thirty white-robed and hooded individuals marched in unannounced and presented each graduate with a Bible upon which the name of the student was printed thereon. A short speech was made by the leader of the body... With that the robed figures turned and went out of the church as quietly as they came. Captain Dancey made no comment on the interruption of his address other than to recite the incident of the passing of Queen Victoria…”

This event caused a Catholic organization, The Knights of Columbus, to investigate Dancey. They reached out to the national office of the American Legion, who formally clarified that Captain Dancey did not work for them. In a letter, the American Legion head office officially distanced itself from Captain Dancey:

“Captain Dancey did not appear under the auspices either of the National Headquarters, or of the Department Headquarters at this meeting... It must appear, therefore, that he is appearing when invited to do so at gatherings of different kinds upon invitation.”

On June 14, 1923, Captain Dancey defended himself in a letter to the head of the Knights of Columbus. He opened by declaring “I never discuss politics or religion on the platform,” despite clear examples to the contrary.

As for the appearance of the Ku Klux Klan during his speech, Dancey claimed:

“They did appear at the Lewis meeting as they have appeared at nearly every Commencement throughout that county. They came in quietly and went out the same way and I was as much surprised as anyone else. I am not associated, in any way, shape or form with the K.K.K. and refuse to discuss it on the platform.”

But no news reports from the country described the Klan doing anything similar. Dancey was caught, and he was lying to cover himself. Facing greater scrutiny, Dancey disappeared from Kansas. By the time he reemerged, it would be into the open, welcoming arms of Alaska.

*The front page of San Francisco’s The Bulletin newspaper, October 16, 1923 featuring some of those who came to the city for the American Legion convention.*

The American Legion Fights The Klan

The convert campaign by the Ku Klux Klan to infiltrate the American Legion proved to be a headache for the organization. It was a relatively new group, formed in Paris by servicemen in the months after the war ended.

Some state councils of the American Legion formally denounced the Klan. The Klan became a central topic of the 1923 convention. Some delegates wanted a direct denouncement of the Ku Klux Klan by name. A delegate from Alaska described it the Juneau Daily Empire:

“It is true that there was an element endeavoring to slap the Klan in the face through the Legion. When they failed to procure their desires in the committee room they were permitted to and did introduce a resolution telling the world what a vicious organization the Klan really was.”

After negotiations, the American Legion membership passed Resolution 407 to condemn groups like the Klan. It included,

“We consider any individual or group of individuals, or organization which creates, or fosters racial, religious or class strife among our people, or which takes into their hands the enforcement of the law, determination of guilt or infliction of punishment to be un-American, a menace to our liberties and destructive of fundamental law…”

The November 22, 1923 Wrangell Sentinel republished an editorial reasoning why the American Legion went on record against the Ku Klux Klan:

“They found at the front and wherever duty called them other young men—young men of all races, colors, religious faiths and sections of the country. They were Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants, white and blacks, copper colored—they were from the North, South, East and West. All fought on an equal basis, sharing common hardships and risking life for a common cause.”

Captain Dancey continued to overstate his relationship with the American Legion. In truth, he was their guest, but they were his grift. Throughout his return voyage to Alaska, Dancey would proclaim himself as working on behalf of the American Legion.

*An advertisement for “The Man Without a Country,” a 1917 silent film that Captain Dancey showed throughout Alaska before addressing audiences. (image credit:* *Library of Congress*)

Dancey Back in Alaska

Captain Dancey returned to Alaska in September 1923, two years to the month after his first visit. This time, he brought his new wife, Mary, and made Juneau his base of operations. He received a warm welcome. Governor Scott C. Bone told the September 18, 1923 Seward Daily Gateway, “He is preaching the class of citizenship that we most need… and his previous visits to Alaska have accomplished a wonderful lot of good. I welcome his return.”

Dancey continued to overstate his association with the American Legion, claiming that he was working on behalf of an Americanization campaign. He even planned to score and rank communities for the American Legion. He modeled his approach after the Chautauqua. He aspired for 3-day presentations on Americanism featuring himself supplemented by local musical entertainers and a patriotic movie, “The Man Without a Country.”

Dancey’s Alaska tour began with a daylong program in Juneau, a “well received” luncheon address in Anchorage, a 2-day Americanization campaign in Seward, and a return to Juneau. To fulfill his desired three-day Americanization campaigns, Dancey looked to two neighboring communities: Petersburg and Wrangell.

To support Dancey’s mission, Alaska’s first territorial Commissioner of Education, Lester D. Henderson, joined Dancey on the trip to Petersburg and Wrangell. Henderson’s presence added credibility to Dancey’s message, and was further proof of his close relationship with Governor Scott C. Bone.

Dancey’s swing through Petersburg and Wrangell would include one of his biggest successes, and one of his biggest challenges.

*A headline on the cover of the November 16, 1923 Petersburg Weekly Report reads, “Local Minister Attacks American Institutions and is Scathingly Rebuked by Americanization Speaker.”*

Americanization in petersburg

It was November 11, 1923—the fifth anniversary of Armistice Day. For many, the war and those who had died in it were still a vivid memory. Captain Dancey began his three-day Americanization campaign in Petersburg on Armistice Day under the guise of representing the American Legion. At the end of his speech, he opened the floor to questions. The November 16, 1923, Petersburg Weekly Report states that Dancey answered questions on a variety of topics, including “Oklahoma conditions.” This was almost certainly a reference to the biggest story out of Oklahoma at the time: the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and Governor J.C. Walton’s declaration of martial law in an effort to suppress it.

But it was a question about Midwestern farm labor that set off sparks. Commissioner L.D. Henderson asked Dancey about the Nonpartisan League. The NPL was a farmers' political movement that originated in North Dakota and spread into South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. These states were hundreds of miles from Petersburg, but Petersburg was home to many Scandinavian immigrants who maintained cultural and family ties to that part of the country.

Dancey flatly dismissed the NPL. According to the newspaper, he “pointed out how every patriotic citizen, every patriotic organization had opposed the non-Partisan League and how it had ceased to be a serious menace that it was.”

Suddenly, Petersburg’s Lutheran minister objected. According to the Petersburg Weekly Report, “This drew a violent reply from Rev. John Flint who took the platform and made a slashing attack on those who opposed the non-Partisan League.”

Having been challenged during his Armistice Day presentation on Sunday, Dancey faced Reverend Flint again on Monday. This time, Dancey had a plan. He began his speech by launching an attack on Flint. Amid his denunciation of the minister’s alleged anti-Americanism, Dancey declared:

“I have behind me 110 millions of the people of the United States in the principles of Americanism as I am preaching today. If Mr. Flint does not believe that let me tell him this—I can go into any town, city or village of this great commonwealth of ours, and preach the same gospel that I have been preaching in Petersburg, and be enthusiastically endorsed. I will name for Mr. Flint, thousands of communities through the United States and here in Alaska too, where I will challenge him to make the same statements that he makes in Petersburg.”

The editor of the Petersburg Report summarized Reverend Flint’s meager response as “a radiant exposition of radicalism.” While the editor of the Petersburg Report was decidedly in Dancey’s corner, not all of the newspaper’s readers were supportive. According to the Seward Daily Gateway of December 18, 1923, the Petersburg Report “has lost quite a few of its old subscribers who apparently stand behind the minister and his disloyalty.”

In his farewell remarks in the November 23, 1923 Petersburg Weekly Report, Dancey stated, “I have faith in you people. I have confidence in the future of your town.” While he was magnanimous in his farewell, his feud with Reverend Flint was not over.

Captain Dancey made his way south on the short voyage to Wrangell.

Americanization in Wrangell

During Dancey’s first visit to Wrangell in 1921 as part of the chautauqua, his name generated no mention in the newspaper. This time, he was front-page news.

In Wrangell, Dancey addressed a dinner held in his honor where he spoke on the success of the Americanization campaign across Alaska.

On the second day of his Americanization campaign, Dancey offered a few remarks before showing the patriotic film, “The Man Without a Country.” According to the November 29, 1923 Wrangell Sentinel, “All he asked was that we should be good clean cut Americans, true blue, and not tinged with pink, red, green, yellow, orange or any other color.”

On the third day, Dancey organized a super-committee of all the different women’s committees in Wrangell. He told them, “I have great faith in women and I realize that they can accomplish much more than men, when it comes to things of a community or patriotic order.” He believed this central committee would foster better cooperation among women’s groups.

In the afternoon, Captain Dancey delivered his final Americanization speech and took questions from the audience. Once again, he took a question about the Klan. According to the November 29, 1923 Wrangell Sentinel,

“By special request, Captain Dancey explained the situation in Oklahoma, with which he is intimately acquainted. He regretted the fact that the American press had permitted itself to be used as a tool by Governor Walton who in turn, had sought to persuade the outside world, that the fight was between himself and the Ku Klux Klan.

After detailing conditions that were revealed to the people of Wrangell conditions that he founded in fact, Captain Dancey concluded with this interpretation of the Oklahoma situation:

’It is not a fight between Walton and the Klan. The Klan is not an issue. That is only an effort on the part of Walton, to becloud the real issue and shield some of his own pernicious acts. Two hundred and eighty-five thousand majority against a Governor in a state with a comparatively small population, means something else. It means that loyal loyal citizens of Oklahoma have struck for the honor of their State, for law and order, for the common rights and privileges that citizenship confers upon it. It may interest you to know that every Rotary Club, every Kiwanis Club., every Commercial Club, every Legion Post, every church organization, every educational interest, every loyal citizen of Oklahoma voted against Jack Walton because of the corruption and immoral practices that he employed as Governor of the State.’”

Once again, Dancey used a question from the audience to expound on the virtues of the Klan and how unfairly it was treated. It was a method he had used before, but his response to the question in Wrangell was printed in full. He told the Knights of Columbus he never discussed the Klan in his addresses, and yet multiple examples proved this false.

Americanization Report Card

After Captain Dancey left Wrangell, he returned to Juneau where he published the results of his Americanization campaign in the December 7, 1923 Alaska Daily Empire. Fairbanks earned first place, followed by Douglas, Ketchikan, Anchorage, Cordova, Kennecott, Valdez, Wrangell, Sitka, Juneau, Petersburg, and Seward. He evaluated communities using categories like “Support of Schools” and “Community Spirit.”

In a footnote to Petersburg, Dancey once again chastised Reverend Flint. He wrote, “Petersburg has large foreign population and much of the lack of community spirit has been direct result of activities of Rev. John Flint, who has bitterly opposed American institutions.” He told the Alaska Daily Empire, “While Flint and a small group in that town are out and out disloyal, yet, the majority of the citizens are sound.”

With his time in Alaska coming to an end, Dancey and his wife left Juneau, but they stopped in Wrangell one last time. On December 11, 1923, Captain Dancey and his wife were guests of honor at a large gathering hosted by the American Legion at the Wrangell Hotel. As the only speaker, Dancey went through the findings of his Americanization report card. He had kind words to say about every community, but when he got to Petersburg, the Wrangell Sentinel of December 13, 1923 reported, “Captain Dancey was confident that the program would ultimately lead to the elimination of Flint, who, he declared, is a menace to Petersburg because of his bitter anti-Americanism.”

With that, the Danceys boarded a ship set for California, where they would make their home. It was the last time Captain Dancey would ever come to Alaska. But in in a year, an important part of Alaska would join him in California.

*In order to understand the Klan’s activities in Alaska by community, this table shows events columns and Alaskan communities by row.*

1921: Captain Dancey visited Alaska and mentioned being unable to visit other communities despite local organization.
1923: Captain Dancey released his ranked Americanization score of Alaskan communities.
1924: The American Legion—which the Klan attempted to co-opt—reported eleven posts across Alaska.
1925: “Klan Kleagle” Luther Powell revealed the locations of Alaskan Klan chapters and mentioned additional chapters in the works.
1926: Fellowship Forum, a Klan publication, identified four chapters in Alaska.
1931: The Kourier Magazine identified six more chapters in Alaska.

There was a close connection between the places Dancey went, where the American Legion had posts, and communities later revealed to be home to Klan chapters. It helps us understand why Luther Powell said in 1925 that he planned to create Klan chapters in Seward, Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Nome — each community was home to an American Legion chapter.

*The cover of* *Chechahco and Sourdough* *by former Alaska governor, Scott C. Bone. The book was published by Western Publishers Inc., co-owned by Bone and Captain Stanley N. Dancey.*

Dancey & GOvernor Bone in California

In 1924, Captain Dancey and his wife, Mary, settled down in Atascadero, California. He took to broadcasting his message over the radio. The November 13, 1924 Wrangell Sentinel reported how Leonard M. Campbell was able to pick up Dancey’s broadcast. The paper wrote, “He soon recognized that it was Captain Dancey speaking. He called up Julius Mason on the telephone and suggested that he also listen in… As a result several people in both homes had the pleasure of listening to a portion of an interesting adress by the well known exponent of Americanism.”

When Alaska’s Governor Scott C. Bone left office in 1925, he moved to Atascadero to go into business with Captain Dancey. Together, they formed Western Publishers, Inc. The November 3, 1925 Juneau Empire republished an announcement from the Atascadero News, celebrating its good fortune at landing Governor Bone as its newest resident. “He is to edit the great Americanization magazine of Western Publishers, Inc. But big men always have time to help their community—usually more time than the smaller citizen.”

It’s not clear what titles Western Publishers Inc. ever published, except for one book. In 1926, Scott C. Bone published a novel, Chechacho and Sourdough, in which the Forward began, “The ensuing pages are intended to depict phases of life in Alaska, real Alaska, which, after over half a century of ownership by the United States, still figures in fancy rather than fact.” The book does not sound like Dancey’s style of writing or use of language.

The Final Years of Captain Dancey

It’s not known if Captain Dancey ever returned to Alaska. He evolved his message and became a political spokesman for Republican Party through the 1930s. By the 1940s, he was living in Chicago, Illinois.

The February 18, 1943 Evanston Review announced that Captain Dancey, “a flight commander in Billy Mitchell’s famous World War squadron and formerly a newspaperman for 25 years, will appear before an audience of Catholic Woman’s club members and guests at 6 at the clubhouse to deliver a ‘Win the War’ message.” Even until the end, Dancey was fabricating stories. He died on June 27, 1945 in Chicago, Illinois.

Alaska Legacy

Captain Dancey never admitted to any affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan, but he did not need to. His on-the-record endorsements of the Klan, his complete ideological alignment with the Klan, and his unforgettable moment with the Klan at the Lewis High School commencement reveal Dancey’s true intentions. Thanks to modern research methods, Dancey’s conflicting falsehoods are easily held up to the light and exposed.

The Klan needed men like Dancey in order to succeed in Alaska and Canada, and Dancey needed an organization like the Klan to advance his agenda. Alaska of the early 1920s proved a fertile ground for expansion. It would require a covert mission to recruit in Alaska’s network of small towns. Dancey, a former spy and recruiter, never stopped hiding his true identity, and he never stopped recruiting.

He would not be the last of his kind in Wrangell.

*The first name listed in a section of exposed Klan members entitled Miscellaneous Out of Town is “Lotz, Geo. L., Machinist, Ketchikan, Alaska.”*

George L. Lotz

In March 1925, the Wrangell Sentinel announced that George L. Lotz of Ketchikan would assume control of the Wrangell Machine Works with his business partner, F.T. Richfield.

What nobody knew was that George L. Lotz had just been exposed as a member of the Klan. In 1925, his name appeared in a pamphlet of registered Klan members in Buffalo, New York . The pamphlet was entitled, Exposé of Traitors in the Interests of Jews, Catholics, Negroes and All Respecters of American Principle and Civil and Religious Freedom. The list was compiled from stolen Klan records which were recovered and entered into evidence by the police, where they became public record.

George L. Lotz appeared at the top of a list of Klan members identified as “Miscellaneous Out of Town.” George Lotz was originally from Buffalo, and his name appeared atop the section titled “Miscellaneous Out of Town.” He was the only Klan member identified in Alaska.

Lotz Becomes Locally Active

In March 1925, George Lotz left Ketchikan and arrived in Wrangell. His wife, Ada, and step-son, George Jr., joined him two months later.

As the authors of ALASKKKA point out, the KKK encouraged members to become involved in social clubs and seek elected office. The activities of George L. Lotz and his family fit that description. Their frequent mentions in the Wrangell Sentinel give no outward impression of Klan activity. Their record suggests a highly engaged, energetic family.

In May 1925, George Lotz sang at St. Philip’s Church for Mother’s Day. George Junior won the “Best Decorated Wagon” in the 4th of July parade. In August, the family hosted a farewell gathering with music and dancing until an early hour. In September, George Sr. took first place at a card game. At the two December 1925 meetings of the PTA, George Lotz sang with a mixed quartet and the Lotz family provided refreshments for the social hour afterward.

In January 1926, the George and Ada Lotz served as best man and bridesmaid for a “somewhat sudden marriage” of a young couple in Wrangell, and they hosted the reception in their home. In February 1926, Ada’s brother and his family began moving to Wrangell, and Ada was pregnant with a surprise on the way.

*“Found–A Ku Klux Klan pin. Owner may recover by paying for this advertisement.” December 24, 1925 Wrangell Sentinel.*

The Missing Klan Pin

The Christmas Eve 1925 edition of the Wrangell Sentinel featured a lost-and-found for a Ku Klux Klan pin. While it’s debatable whether the pin was truly lost or not, the effect of the advertisement was clear. It was a form of advertising for the Klan. It raised awareness of their presence without overtly identifying themselves. Whether the pin was retrieved or not did not matter — the word was out.

Local Election of 1926

According to the March 25, 1926 Wrangell Sentinel, George L. Lotz attended the town hall where citizens nominated each other for mayor, Town Council, and School Board. When nominated for the Town Council, George L. Lotz declined. When he was nominated for School Board, he accepted. By the next week, he changed his mind, and declared himself a write-in candidate for Town Council.

Election Day was Tuesday, April 6, 1926. That morning, there was a fire at Wrangell’s St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. A notice of thanks printed in the Wrangell Sentinel read:

“Father Monroe wishes to tender his sincere thanks to the firemen and citizens of the town who helped put out the fire Tuesday morning which but for their timely aid threatened to destroy the Catholic church.”

There’s no evidence to connect Lotz, the Klan, or any criminal malice to this fire. But, in the murky waters of attempting to identify a covert Klan operation, the fire is worth at least mentioning. Wrangell’s Catholic parish, the first established in Alaska in 1879, was one of the town’s few landmarks associated with a group opposed by the Klan.

When the Town Council votes were tallied, George Lotz finished last with 16 votes. He lost to Leo McCormack (185 votes), F.E. Gingrass (176 votes), Arnt Sorset (173 votes), and Mrs. S.M. Wyatt (44 votes). In the School Board election, P.C. McCormack (144 votes) defeated A.E. Gurr (60 votes).

Two of the top Council candidates, Leo McCormack and Arnt Sorset, were members of Wrangell’s Catholic Church, as were both candidates for School Board. Wrangell’s Catholic parishioners would have been aware of the growing Klan presence in Alaska, and it may have influenced some of them to run for elected office.

Community Engagement

In May 1926, Ada Lotz gave birth to twin boys. The Wrangell Sentinel wrote, “The young fellows have been named Charles Henry and Robert Edward but which is Robert and which is Charles is hard to tell as they look exactly alike.” By the end of July 1926, Ada served as hostess for a meeting of the Ladies’ Aid.

In September 1926, George Lotz, his son George Jr., and John Sandman took a month-long tour around southeast Alaska, stopping in Sitka, Chichagoff, and other locations. They visited a Wrangell old-timer, Charles Borch, living in the Sitka Pioneer’s Home. It’s not clear what the purpose of the trip was, but Lotz described learning about a gold mining operation to the Wrangell Sentinel.

In November 1926, George Lotz served as chairman for the wildly popular “Moose Barn dance.” The Wrangell Sentinel described it as the most successful event yet and predict more unique social events like this.

The Lotz Family Leaves Alaska

But weeks later, George Lotz would dissolve his partnership and sell out the machine shop to F.T. Richfield. Lotz announced his family was leaving Wrangell. A week later, George Lotz announced they were staying in Alaska.

But by the end of January 1927, the Lotz family had moved to Blaine, Washington. The January 27, 1927 Wrangell Sentinel lamented, “The Lotz family have been valued residents of Wrangell for the past year and a half and the community regret their departure.” In total, their time in Wrangell had been less than two years, but they made a significant impact.

Brief mentions in the 1927 Wrangell Sentinel suggested that the family kept in touch with Wrangell friends. On November 29, 1928, the Wrangell Sentinel reported that George L. Lotz died at the age of 38 during surgery to treat cancer, remarking, “The above will be read with much regret by the numerous friends of the Lotz family in Wrangell.”

Lifting the veil

Captain Dancey and George Lotz never publicly acknowledged being members of the Klan, but they both fit the profile. The case against them is circumstantial, but so are many cases built around secret identities. What’s irrefutable is the presence of the Klan in Wrangell and southeast Alaska during this time, both by the Klan’s own admission and independent historical evidence.

By its nature, the Ku Klux Klan was a highly secretive organization. Just as the members of the Klan shrouded themselves in cloth, so too is the legacy of the Klan shrouded in mystery.

When I reached out to Wrangell elders about this topic, we all came up empty-handed. Like me, this is not a story they were ever told about Wrangell. And yet, Wrangell isn’t alone. The “Second Wave” of the Klan swept through United States, all the way into Alaska and even into Canada. It is not entirely clear when that wave subsided or what form the movement took afterward. There may be more questions than answers, but the available evidence leaves little doubt that the Klan established a presence in Wrangell and elsewhere in Alaska during the 1920s.

Veiled Threats: The 1920s Klan in Wrangell

Luther Powell