One of the serendipities of The Salvation Army's Northwest Division Officers' Councils at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington, this past week was the discovery of this plaque in the lobby:
The poet Vachel Lindsay is best known for his poem, "General William Booth Enters Into Heaven":
I
[Bass drum beaten loudly.]
Booth led boldly with his big bass drum —
(Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?)
The Saints smiled gravely and they said: “He’s come.”
(Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?)
Walking lepers followed, rank on rank,
Lurching bravoes from the ditches dank,
Drabs from the alleyways and drug fiends pale —
Minds still passion-ridden, soul-powers frail: —
Vermin-eaten saints with mouldy breath,
Unwashed legions with the ways of Death —
(Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?)
[Banjos.]
Every slum had sent its half-a-score
The round world over. (Booth had groaned for more.)
Every banner that the wide world flies
Bloomed with glory and transcendent dyes.
Big-voiced lasses made their banjos bang,
Tranced, fanatical they shrieked and sang: —
“Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?”
Hallelujah! It was queer to see
Bull-necked convicts with that land make free.
Loons with trumpets blowed a blare, blare, blare
On, on upward thro’ the golden air!
(Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?)
II
[Bass drum slower and softer.]
Booth died blind and still by Faith he trod,
Eyes still dazzled by the ways of God.
Booth led boldly, and he looked the chief
Eagle countenance in sharp relief,
Beard a-flying, air of high command
Unabated in that holy land.
[Sweet flute music.]
Jesus came from out the court-house door,
Stretched his hands above the passing poor.
Booth saw not, but led his queer ones there
Round and round the mighty court-house square.
Then in an instant all that blear review
Marched on spotless, clad in raiment new.
The lame were straightened, withered limbs uncurled
And blind eyes opened on a new, sweet world.
[Bass drum louder.]
Drabs and vixens in a flash made whole!
Gone was the weasel-head, the snout, the jowl!
Sages and sibyls now, and athletes clean,
Rulers of empires, and of forests green!
[Grand chorus of all instruments. Tambourines to the foreground.]
The hosts were sandalled, and their wings were fire!
(Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?)
But their noise played havoc with the angel-choir.
(Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?)
O shout Salvation! It was good to see
Kings and Princes by the Lamb set free.
The banjos rattled and the tambourines
Jing-jing-jingled in the hands of Queens.
[Reverently sung, no instruments.]
And when Booth halted by the curb for prayer
He saw his Master thro’ the flag-filled air.
Christ came gently with a robe and crown
For Booth the soldier, while the throng knelt down.
He saw King Jesus. They were face to face,
And he knelt a-weeping in that holy place.
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
The poem was first published in 1913, the year after Booth entered heaven, so it is not among the poems Lindsay wrote while living at the Davenport. Still, it was a striking discovery during the gathering of 80+ officers in Booth's Army.
The property was purchased in the early 1920s when the Deer Lake region was undeveloped (with the exception of logging roads and a few cabins around the lake). It was named Camp Cougar then, and the first camps took place in the mid-1920s, using tents and open fires. The first cabins were constructed in the 1930s, and more were built over the next decade. Also in the 1930s the name was changed to Camp Gifford (in honor of Commissioner Adam Gifford, the first territorial commander of The Salvation Army's Western Territory upon its formation in 1920). 
Camp Gifford is run by The Salvation Army in the Spokane area, and serves a large area in Eastern Washington. As you can see from the photos I took while on a walking tour of the camp, it reposes in a beautiful setting...until the campers arrive, of course, at which time all repose ends.
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