Dispatches From Occult Cincinnati Part I

Ohio is a state that really put the hook in me while I was working on my second book, A Special Relationship: Trump, Epstein, and the Secret History of the Anglo-American Establishment Book I. It had been on my radar previously, of course --you can't write about Native American mounds without addressing pre-Colonial Ohio sooner or later. What's more, as a son of West Virginia, the Adena and Hopewell cultures were the inspiration for my forays into Mound Builder research. While well-represented in Northern Appalachia (i.e. the WV and Kentucky), the Adena, and especially Hopewell, were most prolific in the Ohio Valley. Several remarkable earthworks remain in that region, one of which I have a longstanding obsession with. But more on that in a future installment.

For this outing, I want to start off by reflecting on something rarely addressed by political and historical commentators, both mainstream and underground alike. And that is the staggering political power the state of Ohio, as well as its flagship of Cincinatti, possess. As noted above, I first became aware of this while working on my Epstein book. And it was not the "rogue" financier's ties to the state the initially sparked my interest either. Rather, it was trying to grok the history of neo-conservativism. The more I looked at the geopolitical history of the US, the more obvious it seemed that Theodore Roosevelt's name should enter into this conversation far more than it does.

Good ole Teddy defined conservative internationalism, a proto form of neo-conservativism, that dominated Republican foreign policy circles prior to the First World War. Like the closely related liberal internationalism or "Wilsonianism" (which later transformed into modern neo-liberalism), it envisioned a more robust place for America in international affairs. But whereas liberal internationalism looked to global organizations and packs as a means for influencing world affairs (which led to the League of Nations and later the UN), the conservative internationalists sought Pax Americana, or a US-dominated union with the British Empire at a minimum. At the heart of this ideology was an unbridled reverence for US military power and its ability to shape the world in America's image. While eclipsed for much of the twentieth century by neo-liberalism, conservative internationalism made a vigorous return during the twenty-first century under the neo-con moniker. 

Teddy...

At this point, you may be wondering what this has to do with Ohio. Glad you asked! See, while Teddy Roosevelt dominates the narrative surrounding the Republican party during the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, he was really a frontman for the Buckeye state's powerful political machine that controlled the party for decades. From 1868 till 1912, the Republican party controlled the presidency for 32 of those 44 years. During it's years in power, the party fielded eight presidents, and all but two of them (Roosevelt and Chester A. Arthur) hailed from Ohio. 

While many will look to Ulysses S. Grant as the most significant of the native Ohioan presidents, none left a greater mark on this nation than William McKinley. While the United States had already become an empire within North American by this time, it was McKinley who expanded US influence far beyond those shores. During his presidency, the US both annexed the Republic of Hawaii as well as launching the Spanish-American War that resulted in the overseas territorial acquisitions of Puerto Rico, Guam, Cuba, and the Philippines. In many ways, the Spanish-American War, the first major American war fought outside of North America, can be seen as the beginning of the American Empire. 

And while Roosevelt no doubt did his part in bringing out this state of affairs, McKinley and fellow Ohioan and future president William Howard Taft. His son, US Senator and presidential candidate Robert A. Taft Sr., is often credited as a major force in American "isolationism" during the first half of the twentieth century. In reality, isolationism, or non-interventionism, largely staying out of European affairs (i.e. the developing struggle between the UK and Nazi Germany). 

Robert A. Taft, like his father, was far more interested in Asia. This has long been at the heart of the divide in the Republican Party between conservative internationalists and isolationists. In reality, both sides wanted the American Empire. The question was whether the US should pursue world order in conjunction with the European powers, or whether it should pursue Manifest Destiny in Asia, leaving Pax Americana in its wake. Teddy Roosevelt favored the former while the Tafts and their backers were in the latter camp. 

This early rift in the Republican Party was reflective of the two regional powers within the party, Ohio and New York state. High society in New York has always felt a close affinity for Europe and the culture of the motherlands. Ohio, by contrast, was at the cross roads of the industrial powerhouses in the North East and Midwest on the one hand, and the South by way of Appalachia, on the other. It was also on the cusp of the West, and at one point had been the West. Hence, it never had quite the Old World "refinement" of New York, possessing more of the pioneer spirit that looked Westward.

Cincinnati's Society Origins

All of this is reflected in Cincinatti. Sitting right at the border of Ohio and Kentucky, Cincy looks like northeastern industrial city (I was reminded of Cumberland, Maryland), feels like a Southern one and displays an occult sensibility that easily rivals DC. The last one is hardly surprising when considering the city's long time links to various orders. The city was founded by Revolutionary War general Arthur St. Clair, a figure shrouded in mystery. Little is known of his origins, but he is believed to have hailed from Scotland. Allegedly, he attended the University of Edinburg and apprenticed with famed physician William Hunter. The implies some amount of money on the part of his family, raising the distinct possibility he was a member of Clan Sinclair, the quasi mystical family responsible for Rosslyn Chapel. 

Regards of St. Clair's origins, he engrained himself with George Washington, who was a crucial supporter of St. Clair's throughout his controversial military career (at one point he was court martialed for the loss of Fort Ticonderoga). His relationship with Washington contributed to his time as President of the Continental Congress and later governor of the Northwest Territory. The latter included all or most of the modern states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois and a good chunk of Minnesota. Curiously, much of my recent journey took me through St. Clair's old Northwest Territory. I spent extensive time in Wisconsin and Ohio, drove through a good chunk of Indiana, and sliver of Illinois. This region encompasses the modern day "Little Egypt" of the Midwest. It's also awash with Native American mounds, the pyramids of what is now the eastern part of the US. 

Little Egypt

But even more intriguing than his relationship with General Washington is his membership is the Society of Cincinnati. As should be obvious, the city St. Clair founded is named after this order. In addition to St. Clair, other members of the Society were among Cincy's earliest inhabitants. Probably the most notable was German Army officer David Ziegler, who became the settlement's first mayor. Curiously, both the Society and city have a strong German presence. 

For more on the Society of Cincinnati, the occult city that bears it's name, and the rest of this article, continue to The Farm's Patreon.