Anonymous Interview on Bootlegging During Prohibition

Interviewee: Anonymous
Interviewer: Janice Tiland
Interview Date: July 30, 1975
Location: Corvallis, Oregon
Duration: 0:31:19
 

In this interview with a confidential source about bootlegging in Corvallis during the Prohibition Era, Anonymous begins with a description of how the bootleggers delivered their goods to their customers and the competition between different bootleggers. The source recalls a shooting that took place after one bootlegger, Ebe Mills, stole the product of Bill Henderson, another bootlegger. Mills was shot and killed by Henderson at the Julian Hotel.

Next, Anonymous describes how the moonshine was made out in the hills around town, and how the bootleggers tried to be known well enough to attract customers but low-profile enough to evade the law. Then the source discusses Oregon’s legislation of alcohol, including banning it even before the 18th amendment, and the punishments that were enforced for drinking, making, or buying alcohol. The source describes a still operated by a bootlegger that he saw and the activities of the Anti-Saloon League trying to catch bootleggers.

To conclude, Anonymous discusses the amount of alcohol the bootleggers would supply and how much they would charge for it.

Dublin Core

Title

Anonymous Interview on Bootlegging During Prohibition

Description

In this interview with a confidential source about bootlegging in Corvallis during the Prohibition Era, Anonymous begins with a description of how the bootleggers delivered their goods to their customers and the competition between different bootleggers. The source recalls a shooting that took place after one bootlegger, Ebe Mills, stole the product of Bill Henderson, another bootlegger. Mills was shot and killed by Henderson at the Julian Hotel.

Next, Anonymous describes how the moonshine was made out in the hills around town, and how the bootleggers tried to be known well enough to attract customers but low-profile enough to evade the law. Then the source discusses Oregon’s legislation of alcohol, including banning it even before the 18th amendment, and the punishments that were enforced for drinking, making, or buying alcohol. The source describes a still operated by a bootlegger that he saw and the activities of the Anti-Saloon League trying to catch bootleggers.

To conclude, Anonymous discusses the amount of alcohol the bootleggers would supply and how much they would charge for it.

Creator

Anonymous

Source

Oregon Pioneers Oral History Collection (OH 01)

Publisher

Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries

Date

July 30, 1975

Contributor

Janice Tiland

Format

Digitized Audiocassette

Language

English

Type

Oral History

Identifier

oh01-anonymous-19750730

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Interviewer

Janice Tiland

Interviewee

Anonymous

Location

Corvallis, Oregon

Original Format

Audiocassette Tape

Duration

0:31:19

OHMS Object

Interview Format

audio