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Rum Runners
A report from "Beckoning Hills Revisited, 1882- 1982."

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In the early 1900's whiskey was being made by those who understood the art and mainly for their own use. It was not until around 1905 that stills of a commercial size, and we speak of our own area, were operating in the Turtle Mountains north of White Lake (Whitewater) and the Wakopa district. By 1910 these private enterprise people were referred to as "moonshiners" as their operations required the midnight hours for success. It was also in this period that thirsty Americans began to inquire about the Canadian product and the brand name "Moonshine". Not all of it was called "moonshine" or "home brew" as many of the popular brands we have to-day entered the "Rum Runner" channels. The Rum Runners, the boys who delivered the goods, were generally younger men with nerve to bum. The operations became so well organized that their success was really an embarrassment to the authorities. Communication was so important in making delivery of a consignment, which, on occasion, even included assistance from the border patrol. Federal authority was certainly on a limited scale until the shooting of a bootlegger at Bienfait, Saskatchewan, who had, it is believed, watered down the spirits too generously. Following this incident the golden days of rum running between Scobie, Montana, and Moose Jaw were over so far as the use of motor vehicles was concerned. It was then that the shipments of liquor and beer by railway car came into prominence in our area. It was shipped from points in Saskatchewan to places such as Bannerman, Desford, Horton, Wakopa, Naples, Alcester and Bunclody and invoiced generally as "machinery" or "coal". From Bunclody the liquor was convoyed by high speed cars due south, bypassing Boissevain one mile west and continuing south through the Turtle Mountains to Kelvin and Dunseith, North Dakota. The above route was known as the "Bunclody Run". A convoy consisted of a lead or scout car, followed by a Packard (straight eight) or Buick with the cargo. Bringing up the rear, some two to three hundred yards behind, was a heavily armed rearguard vehicle which often carried a machine gun. This type of security came into being after there had been several hijackings across the boundary. At this time two local suppliers were filling orders and convoys were able to complete their loads here before heading across the line. Operators to the north and south of our area were turning out hundreds of gallons of top quality moonshine in the 1920's. One operation north of Boissevain had its still concealed under an enclosed area that held foxes which were being raised for their furs. It was never discovered and it operated for a number of very productive years. The smell around the place would discourage most any inspector! The Turtle Mountains provided ideal habitat for a number of operators. Most of the liquor produced was smuggled across the boundary in loads of grain and baled hay or straw. The end of prohibition reversed to a degree the movement of spirits, mainly beer, in that the railway from St. John's, North Dakota, proved a satisfactory way of transport. A bridge over a ravine in the Wakopa area proved a convenient spot to unload bags of beer and liquor in a deepened area beneath the structure. The bed of the creek had been scooped out to protect the contents of the bags as they fell into the water. The train crew established a very slow order on their own to give the crew sufficient time to dispose of the special express as it passed over the bridge. Another system of getting whiskey across the boundary was by pack horse. Those beasts were well trained and would follow a horse and rider without lead line or halter. The packs held twelve large bottles and the number of horses used at anyone time depended on the amount of the order. If the rum runner noted the possibility of being intercepted he would command the pack horse to get home and they would disappear over the horizon, back to their own corrals where they would promptly be unsaddle