Wilmont Kreis

Book Eight: Crossing the River. Once the Canadian Hooch reached the river, the river had to be crossed, and in a manner avoiding the authorities. Obviously, after dark worked best and the later the better. Boats were by far the most popular modes of libation transportation. It was important to vary the point of departure and arrival. Sometimes a fast boat was the most effective means and sometimes trickery such as posing as a fishing boat. These shenanigans were used by both the law and the crooks as seen in the scene from Chapter 20 in Book Eight(continued next week) Read More 

Book Eight: Prohibition. No story of Detroit in the first half of the 20th century would be complete without dealing with this phenomenon. Politically, Michigan was among the first, as it instituted the ban on alcohol ahead of the rest of the nation. For a while, Detroiters had only to drive to Ohio to buy booze. The prohibitionists had a much more difficult time in Detroit as the waterway that aided Cadillac, the voyageurs and the exploration of the interior, greatly aided the bootlegger. (continued next week) Read More 

Shakley-Shands
When the fall of the south is evident, Fillmore P. Shakley becomes Millard P. Shands, a clean cut cultured person complete with glass eye. He moves north and continues his evil ways on a much more sophisticated scale. Following his mysterious demise, his much more refined illegitimate son, takes over the family business raising it to a sophisticated level rising to its pinnacle in bootleg liquor in Book Eight: The Chief. Read More 

At base, Book Six is about the Underground Railroad smuggling runaway slaves from The U.S. to Canada. In Book Eight: The Chief (1895-1948), a significant section deals with prohibition. If you read both books, you will see the tricks learned in freeing slaves to Canada became popular and effective in freeing liquor from Canada to the U.S. However, you will have to wait for the blog to deal with Book Seven: The Witch and the Civil War (or buy and read Book Eight in print or kindle, available through Amazon.com.) Read More