In 1882, the world was changing. The last bare-knuckled championship fight was held. Jesse James was shot in the back. In Indianapolis John Brush decided on another project that would change the face of Indianapolis forever. Brush, who was raised to the sublime degree in New York, pulled five of his Masonic brothers together and traveled to Cincinnati to visit the sixth temple in Shrinedom, Syrian Temple, established February 6, 1877. They wanted a Shrine temple in Indianapolis. At the time there were 450 symbolic lodges in Indiana.

Right from the start, the Indianapolis Shrine was special. While we don't know why the name was chosen, our name was the first to not have Arabic origin. The founders chose the name of the son of an innkeeper in France who left theological studies at the outbreak of the French Revolution. His name was Joachim Murat (Mur-ah) and he became a general serving Napoleon in Italy and Egypt. He was so good he was proclaimed the king of Naples in 1808. In the Nubian Desert, there is also an oasis called Bir Murat the general visited often to refresh his soldiers. Actor Rene Auberjonois, most noted for his shape shifter roles in Star Trek, is General Murat's great-great-great grandson. Murat was executed by a firing squad after a failed attempt to regain control of Naples.

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