Canadian Bootlegging...

The long and storied history of distilled spirits.

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ranger_ric
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Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by ranger_ric »

Very Interesting Article on some Canadian History

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05 ... t-dry.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Those cops got away with the shooting !!
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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by thecroweater »

Gosh, no wonder my family cut and run from that place, incidentally in 1923
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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by Truckinbutch »

That post semt me off on a tangent that occupied several hours of today that wee very enlightening . Thanks for the post .
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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by moosemilk »

Years back during renovations on a waterfront hotel in my city, a tunnel was found down to the lake. It was determined it was from the bootlegging days. The history is all around. I was also diving in the St. Lawrence in an area where they had found a barge sunk full of whiskey.
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ranger_ric
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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by ranger_ric »

ohhhhh it would have been so awesome if you could have tried that whiskey... More than likely it was bootlegger "Shit" but it might have been someones pride and joy cuts extraordinaire....
We will never know...
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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by moosemilk »

ranger_ric wrote:ohhhhh it would have been so awesome if you could have tried that whiskey... More than likely it was bootlegger "Shit" but it might have been someones pride and joy cuts extraordinaire....
We will never know...
Being on the Canadian side, a lot of it came from commercial distilleries. I'm not sure as to the cargo that was found, but it would be interesting. It was in around the Prescott Ontario area. Not sure if anything will come up on Google but I'll look. Would have been in the mid 1990's I believe.

Can't find the one I knew about, but a Google search turns up all kinds of finds on the st. Lawrence of moonshine/whiskey. Some of the bottles, if tested and safe, are worth upwards of a grand a piece.
Last edited by moosemilk on Tue May 12, 2015 8:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by Truckinbutch »

There is a rich and interesting history of bootlegging and rum running from Canada during Prohibition . Exciting as hell when you delve into it . Socialite ladies even figured out how to cross the border with a couple of gallons stashed in their undies .
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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by bellybuster »

this great country of ours was built on whiskey and a huge thirst South of the Border. Thanks for being thirsty
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bitter
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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by bitter »

Ohh yes in the 1990's I also remember the Indian's bringing is different alcohol was like $25 a 66er back it the day. Was not the nicest stuff though so never bough any after trying it at a friends.

I should start scuba diving at 1k a bottle... be interesting to find a boat load.

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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by moosemilk »

Here's an article with a little about whiskey found on the bottom: http://www.ogdensburgny.com/ships-and-fishing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Prescott, ON was the location of Wisers, and was very active during prohibition. I never did find any whiskey, but did dive on an old wooden schooner in some crystal clear water (thanks to zebra muscles...my wetsuit still bears the scars from a few of them). The dive store in prescott had numerous cannonballs and old clay pipes on display found.

If you ever dive, or plan on it, definitely reccomend prescott. And Isle Royal in Lake Superior (tons of shipwrecks, penetration in many, and ranging in depth from breaking the surface and some down at the 200' or deeper mark).

Also a local lake that was "AL Capone's northern getaway". It's rumored there is one of his cars that went through the ice, but never been confirmed. Fish and hunt there, but never dived.
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bitter
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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by bitter »

Kewl Moosemilk, I'm driving distance from Prescott so if I take up diving will make it a place to try for sure..

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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by apdb »

After doing a little research into my local history, I came up with this article about a gentleman named Walter Findlay who the British Colombian province appointed to be the Prohibition Commissioner. After about a year in office, he was arrested and pleaded guilty to smuggling 700 cases of whiskey into the province to sell for personal gain. He was caught bringing in a train loaded with Ontario's finest rye worth a million dollars.

http://www.bcmag.ca/BC_Prohibition_The_ ... er_Findlay" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: Canadian Bootlegging...

Post by apdb »

http://www.chiefskugaid.org/1923-33-rum-running.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow


Following is film-footage by Richard Francis Heurtley Reed of Victoria BC, deckhand on a smuggling voyage from Victoria, BC to the Mexican coast, circa 1932. In the film, the captain and five-man crew of the MV Hickey encounter/avoid US Coast Guard cutters, and rendezvous with two mother-ships, the Malahat and the Lillehorn. The film uses title cards to explain the action as the Hickey motors through heaving ocean swells on the way to Mexico, takes on 1600 cases of liquor, and sails to "Hasseler's Cove" for repairs, on the tiny island of San Martine, 50 miles south of Ensenada.

This is the only known film of a marine rumrunner engaged in actual smuggling operations, in any waters, anywhere.

Enjoy,
Aaron
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