[30] Later, when Brownlow's Administration was endeavoring to crush out the Ku Klux Klan, one of his detectives sought to gain admission to the order. His purposes became known and the Nashville Den, which he was trying to join, put him into a barrel and rolled it into the Cumberland River, drowning the detective.—Washington Post, August 13, 1905.
CHAPTER II.[ToC]
THE SPREAD OF THE KLAN.
The devices for attracting attention were eminently successful. During the months of July and August, 1866, the Klan was much talked about by the citizens of Pulaski. Its mysteriousness was the sensation of the hour. Every issue of the local paper contained some notice of the strange order. These notices were copied into other papers, and in this manner the way was prepared for the rapid growth and spread of the Klan which soon followed.
Six weeks or less from the date of the organization the sensation in Pulaski had reached its height and was waning. Curiosity in regard to it had abated to such a degree that the Klan would have certainly fallen to pieces but for the following circumstances:
By the time the eligible material in the town had been used up, the young men from the country, whose curiosity had been inflamed by the newspaper notices, began to come in and apply for admission to the Klan. Some of these applications were accepted. In a little while the members from the country asked permission to establish "dens" at various points in the county. No provision had been made for such a contingency, but the permission was granted; had it not been, the result in all probability would have been the same.
As the ritual followed by the Pulaski Klan could not be conveniently carried out in the country, various modifications and changes were permitted. But the strictest injunctions were laid on these new lodges, or dens, in regard to secrecy, mystery and the character of the men admitted. The growth in the rural districts was more rapid than it had been in the town. Applications for permission to establish "dens" multiplied rapidly.