In Defiance of the Dry Squad

In Defiance of the Dry Squad. . , The Politics of Prohibition pitted the U. S. Constitution's well-meaning 18th Amendment , which banned the manufacture, sale or transportation of liquor , against the ingenuity of the moonshiners and bootleggers who found ways to satisfy the thirst of the populace. It was a nationwide defiance of the “Dry Squad.” This was the only Amendment ever repealed., Bootlegging Was Nothing New To Alaska , The northern-most American Possession had been “dry” under military administration almost from the day of its 1867 Purchase from Russia. In 1899, liquor became legal for most Alaskans until January 1, 1918 when Congress enacted the infamous “Alaska Bone Dry Law” upon its new Territory , two years before national Prohibition went into effect. So Alaskans were experienced in the art of moonshining and bootlegging and it was easy to retool and gear up to defy both dry laws., A few abandoned stills in the woods were fired up again and Ketchikan Creek provided fine water for a microhomebrew industry. Even the general public enjoyed defying the unpopular law by concocting their home brew, bathtub gin and rank moonshine. The Alaskan slang word “hooch” earned a spot in the dictionary. Ketchikan also had the advantage of being close to Prince Rupert, B.C., a reliable source of good Canadian whiskey., A second lucrative industry was created for the girls on the Creek. Each house was a small speakeasy with no shortage of bootleggers to supply the demand. Liquor sale became more profitable than prostitution, with 50¢ a shot (½ teaspoon) the going rate for liquor on the Line, and many patrons came solely to quench their thirst. Businesses and brothels, perched on piling, made it possible for bootlegger skiffs to slip quietly under buildings at high tide and make delivery through trap doors in the floors. In later years, when old buildings were dismantled or remodeled, workmen discovered secret panels, dumbwaiters and hidden storerooms for liquor, at least one with a forgotten stash still concealed there., Enforcement of rumrunning was not easy in Ketchikan. There were, and are, no roads to this island city to be patrolled or roadblocked, and everything had to be delivered by water. But smugglers were familiar with every cove and inlet on the run from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan, and the fishing boats and other small vessels found it possible to evade the larger “revenuer” vessels. Today, many local remote anchorages bear place names taken from the prohibition smuggling era., The “Dry Squad” was obviously aware of the extent of illegal rumrunning to Ketchikan, Alaska's largest city at the time, and the gateway to the rest of the Territory. The first enforcement vessel to arrive was the Coast Guard Cutter Bothwell, which was sent to patrol the area in June, 1921. The vessel mysteriously departed the day after its arrival, apparently detoured to other duty., [Sidebars] , Ketchikan's First Permanent Patrol Cutter The CGC Smith was assigned to the region January 1, 1923. The cutter Cygan, one of only two armed vessels assigned to Alaska waters, joined her later that year. Both 110-foot vessels moored at City Float. From that year to the present, there has always been a Coast Guard cutter assigned to Ketchikan-although the duties changed after Prohibition ended in 1933., Ketchikan was a booming fishing port during Prohibition years, offering supplies, vessel repair, sporting women, illegal booze and backroom gaming tables as well. Ketchikan saw its share of “card sharks” and “tin-horns”. High-stakes gambling was usually conducted in smoky hotel rooms away from the Creek. But wine, women and song was not the only defiance of the law in those years. The Roaring Twenties of movie flappers and sheiks, radio, jazz and the Charleston, Turkey Trot and Black Bottom dance styles were national crazes, enhanced by refreshments of cold brew and strong shot. It all ended with the Great Depression. Prohibition was repealed., Captions , (Left, top to bottom) , . Ketchikan, Alaska Chronicle clippings , circa 1921. , . Coast Guard patrol cutters, City Float , circa 1923. Tongass Historical Society , . Creek Street , circa 1930s. William Lattin/Tongass Historical Society, (Right side, top to bottom) , . ‘Not in Kentucky but Alaska!’ Winter and Pond/C. Waugaman Collection , . Home brew picnic at Traitor's Cove , July 1924. Tongass Historical Society , . Ketchikan backroom poker , circa 1930s. Milone Studio/Tongass Historical Society