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| Title | Bootleggers and Crooked Cops |
| Description | A history of the Prohibition days in Lewistown, Montana. |
| Creator | George D. Mueller |
| Genre | books |
| Type | Text |
| Language | eng |
| Date Original | 1920 |
| Subject (keyword) | Bootleggers; Police; Moonshine; Prohibition; |
| Rights Management | No copyright restrictions |
| Contributing Institution | Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown, Montana |
| Publisher (Original) | Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown, Montana |
| Geographic Coverage | Lewistown, Montana. Fergus County, Montana. |
| Coverage-date | 1920's |
| Digital collection | Central Montana Historical Documents |
| Digital Format | application/pdf |
| Physical format | Typed manuscript |
| Digitization Specifications | Canon MX310 300dpi |
| Full text of this item | Bootleggers and Crooked Cops By George D. Mueller The Eighteenth Amendment or Volstead Act, which was ratified on January 16, 1919, prohibited the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the U. S. It defined intoxicating liquor for beverage purpose as that containing more than one-half of one per-cent of alcohol by volume. The amendment took effect on January 16, 1920 and almost overnight the illegal production, transportation and consumption of alcoholic beverages began across the country. Montana and Lewistown was certainly not exempt. According to an article in the Montana magazine of Nov. – Dec. 1979, it was fashionable to have some moonshine or home brew stashed away in a hidden spot. There was more drinking of liquor by both young and old than before passage of the 18th amendment. Whenever laws are made, there are always those to break them and it seems like nearly everyone in Lewistown was either making moonshine, buying it, or having Canadian beer and whiskey imported. This practice gave rise to the name “Bootlegger Trail” between Great Falls and Canada. There were many ingenious and unique places to hide the illicit liquor. Trap doors, secret panels, chimneys, stairways and other methods were used. There were numerous Lewistown residents, some prominent, operating stills in secret rooms, basements, etc. Next to farming, there was no single operation that had so many entrepreneurs. Moonshine was either good or bad. Probably most was bad. One thing for sure: it was powerful. A number of deaths were recorded from drinking moonshine. There were a couple of amusing tests used. One was to put a finger in the bottle or jug for three minutes. When pulled out, if the finger nail was missing, it wasn’t a good buy. The other test was to pour some on the fender of a car. If the paint started to peel in three minutes, it also wasn’t a good buy. The whiskey runners used large, fast cars to bring in Canadian booze and had special compartments built in to store it. The decade of the 1920’s was commonly called the “Roaring 20’s.” Although Lewistown may not have been “roaring”, the Prohibition law was being flagrantly ignored, both here and state-wide. By 1928, the Lewistown Democrat News was full of reports on liquor raids. The issue of January 29, 1928 reported a raid at the Ann Hotel in Moore where a still and a quantity of booze was seized. In March, Ed Remer, a famed Lewistown booze runner, was caught near Terry by government agents. He had a special compartment in his high-powered car that carried a large quantity of booze which he was selling at $12/gal. The Lewistown paper reported on March 29, 1928 that 200 gals. of whiskey was seized in a Great Falls raid and on March 30, it reported that Burr Hill, federal prohibition officer, resigned because of lack of cooperation by the public. He stated that prohibition was a failure because it was not backed by public opinion. Frequent raids, however, continued thru the year. By 1929, Lewistown was not a clean, law abiding town it is today. By any standard, it was wide open. In March, three candidates had filed for Mayor: Jack Briscoe, who already had served three terms, Oscar Mueller and D. J. “Pick-handle” Burke. The Lewistown Democrat News of March 31, 1929 asserted that all rooming houses in the city were selling liquor and prostitution was rampant. In fact, the local newspaper owned the Day House, a former hotel, run by Alpha and Jack McQuick, which had converted into a house of prostitution and was selling illegal liquor. Every conceivable system was used to subsidize the paper from the city treasurer such as illegal notices. When one of the owners, Alpha McQuick, was confronted, he admitted paying $150.00 per month rent and other compensations to officers as a bribe for operating the joint. Although there were no saloons as such, there were numerous soft drink parlors and pool halls engaging in gambling. Mueller stated that if elected, commercialized vice would not be allowed. In April, he was elected Mayor of Lewistown. When Mueller was elected, the City of Lewistown had several serious problems. First, the water line from the spring to the distribution system did not have a single valve working. A year or two before that, due to a break in the line, we were without water for almost a week. After repairing the break, it took a long time to put the line in operation, and in doing so they rushed the matter and blew the pipe a second time. The valves in the distributing system were in bad shape and needed a complete overhaul. The main trouble was the police force. The Chief of Police, E. W. “Nuck” Ray, and Assistant Chief, Curt Coolidge, were not enforcing any laws and, besides, were robbing every victim they could arrest, besides assisting bootleggers. They had dominated the police for years. They were under civil service and controlled one member of the Police Commission (H. B. Hampton), who was Ray’s drinking partner, and by the domination of Mayor Jack Briscoe, who had served three terms for six years, were able to control and dominate the government. One of the persons who collected money for protection was Lewistown attorney, Howard Gee. He had the regular rate of $50.00 per month from many customers and if they did not pay he had the federal officers raid them and fine them for selling liquor. In this way, he proved that he had the authority from the federal officers to collect. The F. B. I. Agents secured affidavits from at least a half dozen of the victims who paid for protection and after this proof was sent to Washington it was forwarded to the U. S. attorney’s office of Montana for prosecution. Within a few days after arriving there, this information was delivered to Howard Gee, and he contacted the witnesses and threatened them if they persisted in giving the evidence. The two F. B. I. Agents then came to Central Montana and secured from the witnesses this threat. There was no prosecution. In addition to robbing nearly every victim arrested, Ray would confiscate any booze found on them. By the help of the Federal Enforcement Officers, Deputy U. S. Marshall’s and State officers he would convert thousand of dollars worth of liquor and sell it to certain persons bootlegging, thus having a monopoly. The sheriff operated a still and some two or three retail establishments in Lewistown to dispose of it. After taking office, Mueller appointed Ralph Anderson as City Attorney. Although raids continued, the ones downtown were not too successful as the establishments selling illegal liquor were tipped off and the booze moved across the street to another place. In a letter to the police department written in June 1929, Mueller called for special attention to the ordinances calling for regulation of screens and partitions in pool halls, cigar stores, soft drink parlors and restaurants and ordered their removal so as to give clear vision to the interior. They were passed to assist in control of the liquor traffic. He also asked that these places be inspected frequently. Although there was no State law regulating liquor and no city law on gambling, the city had a nuisance law and the State a Gambling Act. Since his first letter was ignored by Ray, Mueller called the orders to Ray’s attention again on August 22, 1929. The letter stated that at least three pool halls, on Main St. between 2nd and 3rd avenues had opened up gambling and had been operating for sometime. He ordered the police to investigate pool halls and prosecute violations in accordance with the Montana Gambling Act. Again, Ray ignored the Mayor’s orders. Card games were being operated in the basement of the City Pool Hall (City Billiards), Palace and Office pool halls. A number of businesses were not paying licenses. Ray never made any effort to collect licenses or to make a list of those in violation. He claimed conditions were better than in other towns. The police were enforcing the ordinances while Ray was gone but not after his return. Mueller believed the laws should either be enforced or repealed. In the August 10, 1929 issue of the Lewistown Democrat News, Prohibition was assailed as a dismal flop by A. C. Townley, leader of the anti-dry league in a Lewistown speech. Although the Mayor and Ray had previously been close friends for 21 years, he was opposed to vice and came out against card games such as poker, deuces wild and “spit in the Ocean” being played for money. He began gathering evidence against Ray as soon as he took office and spent all of 1929 on this project and received much assistance. Fred Lee and many others furnished evidence. His main assistance was from two F. B. I. Agents: E. E. Collins of Billings and Mr. Sloan. Ray tried to secure Mueller to allow a system of fines to help finance the city. All of these schemes were considered, primarily to appease Ray. By January 1930, the Mayor and police department were at loggerheads as Mueller stated that no gratuities were to be received by policemen. Ray had been called a “Mussolini” by City Attorney, Ralph Anderson as he prohibited officers from entering pool halls. When sufficient evidence had been gathered, Mueller brought charges against Ray and Curt Coolidge before the Police Commission on February 3, 1930. Both were suspended for a period of ten days without pay and John C. Bebb was appointed acting Chief of Police. Ray had been a member of the police force for 17 years and Chief for 15 years. Coolidge had been a member of the police force since May 1921 and Assistant Chief since 1926. There were 14 counts filed against Ray and 10 against Coolidge. The charges against Ray were as follows: Count I On or about 1925 or 1926, Ray was guilty of misconduct in office and of conduct unbecoming a policeman and of conduct such as to bring reproach upon the police force in that he did then & there, take certain sacks of Canadian beer and certain bottles of whiskey which had been seized from Ed Dorloque and ordered destroyed by order of the U. S. District Court and removed them to his residence. Count II In June 1921, Ray removed a seized case of whiskey which was ordered to be destroyed to his home. Count III In June 1921, Mayor Mueller had ordered Ray to enforce city & federal laws prohibiting the unlawful sale & possession of liquor. Ray had ignored the order. Count IV Ray had ordered & directed certain members of the police force, to-wit, William Lane & John Griffin, not to enter pool halls, soft drink parlors and other public places in Lewistown while on duty and not with standing several of the places bore the reputation of selling illegal liquor. Count V In May 1929, Ray was guilty of neglect of duty in that he had turned loose three men after an assault without any order of the police judge. Count VI On July 1929, Ray had cursed and abused A. C. McKnight, a police man, and called him vile and abusive names and phrases, without just cause or reason, because McKnight had entered a place of business with a probation officer. Count VII In December 1929, Ray was guilty of neglect of duty by neglecting to take any action on a burglary at the place of business known as the Senate which had illegally possessed stolen whiskey. Count VIII In August 1927, after making an arrest, Ray took a man to the police station and made him pay $15 to him in order to obtain his release and did not deliver the money to the police judge either as a fine or as bail and that he never returned the money to the man. Count IX In June 1929, Ray had ignored enforcement of an ordinance prohibiting the erection & maintenance of screens and partitions in pool halls, cigar stores and soft drink parlors in which cards are played. Count X In July 1929, Ray had failed to certify to the City Treasurer a large list of businesses that had not paid city licenses. Count XI In July 1929, Ray had failed to enforce Montana gambling regulations as ordered by the Mayor in June. Punch boards and slot machines were being operated and he ignored enforcement of the laws. Count XII Ray kept and retained liquor and removed the same to his own residence in Lewistown which had been ordered destroyed by the court. (Later dismissed for lack of proof). Count XIII Ray had failed to enforce Lewistown ordinances, State & Federal laws prohibiting the sale, manufacture and possession of liquor, gambling, prostitution, and other laws. Count XIV Ray failed to take action on complaints against Curt Coolidge, Asst. Chief of Police, of taking various sums of money from various persons to which he had no lawful right. The first four counts against Coolidge were based on him taking money from various persons he arrested which was never returned as bail or used for payment of any fine or returned to the arrested people. Count V Coolidge attended a movie while on duty. Count VI Coolidge took about 1 gal. of booze from a seized barrel at the police station and delivered it to William Lane and replaced the lost volume with water. Count VII Coolidge took sacks of seized Canadian beer from the police station that had been ordered to be destroyed to his residence. Count VIII Coolidge took 1 qt. of seized whiskey from the storeroom in the police station and delivered it to George Reimer. Count IX Coolidge took two Colt revolvers off a prisoner and never returned them. Count X At various times, Coolidge took seized booze which had been ordered to be destroyed to his residence. For some time, The County Attorney’s office was used to store seized liquor but it became so full they couldn’t keep it any longer and it was placed in the City Jail – some in the safe and the rest in the women’s cell. This proved unsatisfactory as liquor was stolen from it by fishing it out through the window by the alley with a stick and loop. Ray then had a storeroom fixed with shelves to store the seized booze. Only Ray had the key to it. No record was kept of the contents of the storeroom for about 8 years as Ray didn’t get along with the Police Judge, Fred Skalicky. On the evening of the day Ray & Coolidge were suspended (February 3, 1930) Mueller visited the storeroom and found it full of moonshine, empty bottles, corks, stills etc. When charges were filed, Ray immediately filed a complaint against the Police Commission, composed of Marvin Traywick, Chairman, Charles L. Covell and Hiram R. Hampton and the Mayor and demanded that Traywick not be allowed to preside over the hearing. He also made libelous statements against Mueller which were published in the local paper. The hearing began February 13, 1930 in Carpenter’s hall and ended February 15, 1930 with one evening session. Women groups mobilized to attend the hearing and praised Mueller for enforcing the laws. The prosecution was done by City Attorney, Ralph Anderson. Jack Briscoe and Stewart McConochie defended Ray. Although there was proof of many robberies, only one was put into evidence. The police force had arrested a responsible citizen, Stanley Anderson, on a traffic charge, which he denied and took from his person $386.00. After a lot of abuse, they finally returned to him the sum of $86.00. This was verified by a responsible witness, Ed Yackley. Other members of the police force used as witnesses were: John L. Griffin, William Lane, Andrew C. McKnight, George Reimer, and also the police judge, Fred Skalicky. George Reimer told of arresting R. J. Danley for having a load of 14 cases of Sunny Brook whiskey. It was not destroyed by an order but Ray took it home in his car and offered some of it to Reimer. Probably the most damaging testimony was that of A. C. McKnight. He testified that, under orders, he helped Curt Coolidge take 36 cases of seized beer to Ray’s house. Some beer went to Coolidge’s house. He also was ordered to help take 85 quarts of Canadian whiskey to Ray’s house. John Giffin testified that he was ordered by Ray to lay off the liquor traffic. Principal witnesses for the defense were prohibition agents Burr Hill and Dan Corcoran, Edquard Suttor, J. E. McKenna, Guy Dodge and Stewart McConochie. Burr Hill testified to seizing a truck load of 30 cases of Canadian beer enroute to Lewistown from Coffee Creek and of numerous other raids in which he had confiscated stills, beer, whiskey and moonshine. Dan Corcoran told of making one raid behind the police station and seized a still, beer mash and whiskey. Edquard Sutter, former alderman and chairman of the police committee, told of hearing frequent references to some of the police loafing in pool halls. J. E, McKenna, deputy county attorney for nearly 7 years told of making numerous liquor raids and of big gambling and liquor raids on about 12 rooming houses where 20 or more people were arrested and huge quantities of liquor were seized and the bottles broken. Guy Dodge, former policeman, told of a big liquor raid under the Nuisance Act where beer was being made in the Wilbur warehouse. They broke 6–7 hundred bottles of beer and dumped the contents in Big Spring Creek, killing a lot of fish. Attorney Stewart McConochie told of one raid on a saloon where the proprietor nearly brained Jim McKenna with a beer bottle and gave credit to Ray for saving his life. In late February 1930, a resolution was introduced in the city council deploring the unfavorable advertising given the city. Mueller said that if any alderman ran in defense of Ray and was re-elected he would immediately resign. Ray and Coolidge were found guilty by the police commission on March 13, 1930 by a 2-1 vote – Ray on 12 of the 14 counts and were evicted from office. Ray didn’t give up easily and ran for third ward alderman in April with Mueller the issue. The paper stated that Ray must be defeated in order to give an endorsement to Mueller the mayor. He was defeated by W. P. Foshag. In May 1930, Ray filed suit in district court for reinstatement as chief of police alleging a conspiracy between Mueller, Traywick and Covell of the police commission. The court upheld Mueller and the police commission but in November Ray filed an amended complaint but it was dismissed in a final order of the court. Thus Lewistown’s experience in practical politics came to an end and the city began to cleanse itself of vice and corruption. Bootleggers and Crooked Cops By George D. Mueller The Eighteenth Amendment or Volstead Act, which was ratified on January 16, 1919, prohibited the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the U. S. It defined intoxicating liquor for beverage purpose as that containing more than one-half of one per-cent of alcohol by volume. The amendment took effect on January 16, 1920 and almost overnight the illegal production, transportation and consumption of alcoholic beverages began across the country. Montana and Lewistown was certainly not exempt. According to an article in the Montana magazine of Nov. – Dec. 1979, it was fashionable to have some moonshine or home brew stashed away in a hidden spot. There was more drinking of liquor by both young and old than before passage of the 18th amendment. Whenever laws are made, there are always those to break them and it seems like nearly everyone in Lewistown was either making moonshine, buying it, or having Canadian beer and whiskey imported. This practice gave rise to the name “Bootlegger Trail” between Great Falls and Canada. There were many ingenious and unique places to hide the illicit liquor. Trap doors, secret panels, chimneys, stairways and other methods were used. There were numerous Lewistown residents, some prominent, operating stills in secret rooms, basements, etc. Next to farming, there was no single operation that had so many entrepreneurs. Moonshine was either good or bad. Probably most was bad. One thing for sure: it was powerful. A number of deaths were recorded from drinking moonshine. There were a couple of amusing tests used. One was to put a finger in the bottle or jug for three minutes. When pulled out, if the finger nail was missing, it wasn’t a good buy. The other test was to pour some on the fender of a car. If the paint started to peel in three minutes, it also wasn’t a good buy. The whiskey runners used large, fast cars to bring in Canadian booze and had special compartments built in to store it. The decade of the 1920’s was commonly called the “Roaring 20’s.” Although Lewistown may not have been “roaring”, the Prohibition law was being flagrantly ignored, both here and state-wide. By 1928, the Lewistown Democrat News was full of reports on liquor raids. The issue of January 29, 1928 reported a raid at the Ann Hotel in Moore where a still and a quantity of booze was seized. In March, Ed Remer, a famed Lewistown booze runner, was caught near Terry by government agents. He had a special compartment in his high-powered car that carried a large quantity of booze which he was selling at $12/gal. The Lewistown paper reported on March 29, 1928 that 200 gals. of whiskey was seized in a Great Falls raid and on March 30, it reported that Burr Hill, federal prohibition officer, resigned because of lack of cooperation by the public. He stated that prohibition was a failure because it was not backed by public opinion. Frequent raids, however, continued thru the year. By 1929, Lewistown was not a clean, law abiding town it is today. By any standard, it was wide open. In March, three candidates had filed for Mayor: Jack Briscoe, who already had served three terms, Oscar Mueller and D. J. “Pick-handle” Burke. The Lewistown Democrat News of March 31, 1929 asserted that all rooming houses in the city were selling liquor and prostitution was rampant. In fact, the local newspaper owned the Day House, a former hotel, run by Alpha and Jack McQuick, which had converted into a house of prostitution and was selling illegal liquor. Every conceivable system was used to subsidize the paper from the city treasurer such as illegal notices. When one of the owners, Alpha McQuick, was confronted, he admitted paying $150.00 per month rent and other compensations to officers as a bribe for operating the joint. Although there were no saloons as such, there were numerous soft drink parlors and pool halls engaging in gambling. Mueller stated that if elected, commercialized vice would not be allowed. In April, he was elected Mayor of Lewistown. When Mueller was elected, the City of Lewistown had several serious problems. First, the water line from the spring to the distribution system did not have a single valve working. A year or two before that, due to a break in the line, we were without water for almost a week. After repairing the break, it took a long time to put the line in operation, and in doing so they rushed the matter and blew the pipe a second time. The valves in the distributing system were in bad shape and needed a complete overhaul. The main trouble was the police force. The Chief of Police, E. W. “Nuck” Ray, and Assistant Chief, Curt Coolidge, were not enforcing any laws and, besides, were robbing every victim they could arrest, besides assisting bootleggers. They had dominated the police for years. They were under civil service and controlled one member of the Police Commission (H. B. Hampton), who was Ray’s drinking partner, and by the domination of Mayor Jack Briscoe, who had served three terms for six years, were able to control and dominate the government. One of the persons who collected money for protection was Lewistown attorney, Howard Gee. He had the regular rate of $50.00 per month from many customers and if they did not pay he had the federal officers raid them and fine them for selling liquor. In this way, he proved that he had the authority from the federal officers to collect. The F. B. I. Agents secured affidavits from at least a half dozen of the victims who paid for protection and after this proof was sent to Washington it was forwarded to the U. S. attorney’s office of Montana for prosecution. Within a few days after arriving there, this information was delivered to Howard Gee, and he contacted the witnesses and threatened them if they persisted in giving the evidence. The two F. B. I. Agents then came to Central Montana and secured from the witnesses this threat. There was no prosecution. In addition to robbing nearly every victim arrested, Ray would confiscate any booze found on them. By the help of the Federal Enforcement Officers, Deputy U. S. Marshall’s and State officers he would convert thousand of dollars worth of liquor and sell it to certain persons bootlegging, thus having a monopoly. The sheriff operated a still and some two or three retail establishments in Lewistown to dispose of it. After taking office, Mueller appointed Ralph Anderson as City Attorney. Although raids continued, the ones downtown were not too successful as the establishments selling illegal liquor were tipped off and the booze moved across the street to another place. In a letter to the police department written in June 1929, Mueller called for special attention to the ordinances calling for regulation of screens and partitions in pool halls, cigar stores, soft drink parlors and restaurants and ordered their removal so as to give clear vision to the interior. They were passed to assist in control of the liquor traffic. He also asked that these places be inspected frequently. Although there was no State law regulating liquor and no city law on gambling, the city had a nuisance law and the State a Gambling Act. Since his first letter was ignored by Ray, Mueller called the orders to Ray’s attention again on August 22, 1929. The letter stated that at least three pool halls, on Main St. between 2nd and 3rd avenues had opened up gambling and had been operating for sometime. He ordered the police to investigate pool halls and prosecute violations in accordance with the Montana Gambling Act. Again, Ray ignored the Mayor’s orders. Card games were being operated in the basement of the City Pool Hall (City Billiards), Palace and Office pool halls. A number of businesses were not paying licenses. Ray never made any effort to collect licenses or to make a list of those in violation. He claimed conditions were better than in other towns. The police were enforcing the ordinances while Ray was gone but not after his return. Mueller believed the laws should either be enforced or repealed. In the August 10, 1929 issue of the Lewistown Democrat News, Prohibition was assailed as a dismal flop by A. C. Townley, leader of the anti-dry league in a Lewistown speech. Although the Mayor and Ray had previously been close friends for 21 years, he was opposed to vice and came out against card games such as poker, deuces wild and “spit in the Ocean” being played for money. He began gathering evidence against Ray as soon as he took office and spent all of 1929 on this project and received much assistance. Fred Lee and many others furnished evidence. His main assistance was from two F. B. I. Agents: E. E. Collins of Billings and Mr. Sloan. Ray tried to secure Mueller to allow a system of fines to help finance the city. All of these schemes were considered, primarily to appease Ray. By January 1930, the Mayor and police department were at loggerheads as Mueller stated that no gratuities were to be received by policemen. Ray had been called a “Mussolini” by City Attorney, Ralph Anderson as he prohibited officers from entering pool halls. When sufficient evidence had been gathered, Mueller brought charges against Ray and Curt Coolidge before the Police Commission on February 3, 1930. Both were suspended for a period of ten days without pay and John C. Bebb was appointed acting Chief of Police. Ray had been a member of the police force for 17 years and Chief for 15 years. Coolidge had been a member of the police force since May 1921 and Assistant Chief since 1926. There were 14 counts filed against Ray and 10 against Coolidge. The charges against Ray were as follows: Count I On or about 1925 or 1926, Ray was guilty of misconduct in office and of conduct unbecoming a policeman and of conduct such as to bring reproach upon the police force in that he did then & there, take certain sacks of Canadian beer and certain bottles of whiskey which had been seized from Ed Dorloque and ordered destroyed by order of the U. S. District Court and removed them to his residence. Count II In June 1921, Ray removed a seized case of whiskey which was ordered to be destroyed to his home. Count III In June 1921, Mayor Mueller had ordered Ray to enforce city & federal laws prohibiting the unlawful sale & possession of liquor. Ray had ignored the order. Count IV Ray had ordered & directed certain members of the police force, to-wit, William Lane & John Griffin, not to enter pool halls, soft drink parlors and other public places in Lewistown while on duty and not with standing several of the places bore the reputation of selling illegal liquor. Count V In May 1929, Ray was guilty of neglect of duty in that he had turned loose three men after an assault without any order of the police judge. Count VI On July 1929, Ray had cursed and abused A. C. McKnight, a police man, and called him vile and abusive names and phrases, without just cause or reason, because McKnight had entered a place of business with a probation officer. Count VII In December 1929, Ray was guilty of neglect of duty by neglecting to take any action on a burglary at the place of business known as the Senate which had illegally possessed stolen whiskey. Count VIII In August 1927, after making an arrest, Ray took a man to the police station and made him pay $15 to him in order to obtain his release and did not deliver the money to the police judge either as a fine or as bail and that he never returned the money to the man. Count IX In June 1929, Ray had ignored enforcement of an ordinance prohibiting the erection & maintenance of screens and partitions in pool halls, cigar stores and soft drink parlors in which cards are played. Count X In July 1929, Ray had failed to certify to the City Treasurer a large list of businesses that had not paid city licenses. Count XI In July 1929, Ray had failed to enforce Montana gambling regulations as ordered by the Mayor in June. Punch boards and slot machines were being operated and he ignored enforcement of the laws. Count XII Ray kept and retained liquor and removed the same to his own residence in Lewistown which had been ordered destroyed by the court. (Later dismissed for lack of proof). Count XIII Ray had failed to enforce Lewistown ordinances, State & Federal laws prohibiting the sale, manufacture and possession of liquor, gambling, prostitution, and other laws. Count XIV Ray failed to take action on complaints against Curt Coolidge, Asst. Chief of Police, of taking various sums of money from various persons to which he had no lawful right. The first four counts against Coolidge were based on him taking money from various persons he arrested which was never returned as bail or used for payment of any fine or returned to the arrested people. Count V Coolidge attended a movie while on duty. Count VI Coolidge took about 1 gal. of booze from a seized barrel at the police station and delivered it to William Lane and replaced the lost volume with water. Count VII Coolidge took sacks of seized Canadian beer from the police station that had been ordered to be destroyed to his residence. Count VIII Coolidge took 1 qt. of seized whiskey from the storeroom in the police station and delivered it to George Reimer. Count IX Coolidge took two Colt revolvers off a prisoner and never returned them. Count X At various times, Coolidge took seized booze which had been ordered to be destroyed to his residence. For some time, The County Attorney’s office was used to store seized liquor but it became so full they couldn’t keep it any longer and it was placed in the City Jail – some in the safe and the rest in the women’s cell. This proved unsatisfactory as liquor was stolen from it by fishing it out through the window by the alley with a stick and loop. Ray then had a storeroom fixed with shelves to store the seized booze. Only Ray had the key to it. No record was kept of the contents of the storeroom for about 8 years as Ray didn’t get along with the Police Judge, Fred Skalicky. On the evening of the day Ray & Coolidge were suspended (February 3, 1930) Mueller visited the storeroom and found it full of moonshine, empty bottles, corks, stills etc. When charges were filed, Ray immediately filed a complaint against the Police Commission, composed of Marvin Traywick, Chairman, Charles L. Covell and Hiram R. Hampton and the Mayor and demanded that Traywick not be allowed to preside over the hearing. He also made libelous statements against Mueller which were published in the local paper. The hearing began February 13, 1930 in Carpenter’s hall and ended February 15, 1930 with one evening session. Women groups mobilized to attend the hearing and praised Mueller for enforcing the laws. The prosecution was done by City Attorney, Ralph Anderson. Jack Briscoe and Stewart McConochie defended Ray. Although there was proof of many robberies, only one was put into evidence. The police force had arrested a responsible citizen, Stanley Anderson, on a traffic charge, which he denied and took from his person $386.00. After a lot of abuse, they finally returned to him the sum of $86.00. This was verified by a responsible witness, Ed Yackley. Other members of the police force used as witnesses were: John L. Griffin, William Lane, Andrew C. McKnight, George Reimer, and also the police judge, Fred Skalicky. George Reimer told of arresting R. J. Danley for having a load of 14 cases of Sunny Brook whiskey. It was not destroyed by an order but Ray took it home in his car and offered some of it to Reimer. Probably the most damaging testimony was that of A. C. McKnight. He testified that, under orders, he helped Curt Coolidge take 36 cases of seized beer to Ray’s house. Some beer went to Coolidge’s house. He also was ordered to help take 85 quarts of Canadian whiskey to Ray’s house. John Giffin testified that he was ordered by Ray to lay off the liquor traffic. Principal witnesses for the defense were prohibition agents Burr Hill and Dan Corcoran, Edquard Suttor, J. E. McKenna, Guy Dodge and Stewart McConochie. Burr Hill testified to seizing a truck load of 30 cases of Canadian beer enroute to Lewistown from Coffee Creek and of numerous other raids in which he had confiscated stills, beer, whiskey and moonshine. Dan Corcoran told of making one raid behind the police station and seized a still, beer mash and whiskey. Edquard Sutter, former alderman and chairman of the police committee, told of hearing frequent references to some of the police loafing in pool halls. J. E, McKenna, deputy county attorney for nearly 7 years told of making numerous liquor raids and of big gambling and liquor raids on about 12 rooming houses where 20 or more people were arrested and huge quantities of liquor were seized and the bottles broken. Guy Dodge, former policeman, told of a big liquor raid under the Nuisance Act where beer was being made in the Wilbur warehouse. They broke 6–7 hundred bottles of beer and dumped the contents in Big Spring Creek, killing a lot of fish. Attorney Stewart McConochie told of one raid on a saloon where the proprietor nearly brained Jim McKenna with a beer bottle and gave credit to Ray for saving his life. In late February 1930, a resolution was introduced in the city council deploring the unfavorable advertising given the city. Mueller said that if any alderman ran in defense of Ray and was re-elected he would immediately resign. Ray and Coolidge were found guilty by the police commission on March 13, 1930 by a 2-1 vote – Ray on 12 of the 14 counts and were evicted from office. Ray didn’t give up easily and ran for third ward alderman in April with Mueller the issue. The paper stated that Ray must be defeated in order to give an endorsement to Mueller the mayor. He was defeated by W. P. Foshag. In May 1930, Ray filed suit in district court for reinstatement as chief of police alleging a conspiracy between Mueller, Traywick and Covell of the police commission. The court upheld Mueller and the police commission but in November Ray filed an amended complaint but it was dismissed in a final order of the court. Thus Lewistown’s experience in practical politics came to an end and the city began to cleanse itself of vice and corruption. |
| Local Identifier | SC 5.4 |
Description
| Title | Bootleggers and Crooked Cops 1 |
| Type | Text |
| Contributing Institution | Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown, Montana |
| Digital Format | application/pdf |
| Digitization Specifications | Canon MX310 300dpi |
| Full text of this item | Bootleggers and Crooked Cops By George D. Mueller |
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