Rum-Runners & Renegades

On 1 October 1917, prohibition came into effect in the province of British Columbia. Washington and Oregon had gone dry the previous year. The ban on liquor sales led to deadly conflict and legal chaos in the Pacific Northwest, and the legacy of those booze battles continues into the 21st century. Author Rich Mole introduced readers to West Coast prohibitions pioneer years in Scoundrels and Saloons: Whisky Wars of the Pacific Northwest, 1840-1917. In this book he recounts the wild and wacky -- and sometimes tragic -- results of later prohibition laws through the exploits of both prohibitionists and prohibition-busters, among them Jonathan Rogers, a wealthy Vancouver builder and prohibition leader; the Billingsley brothers, a quartet of handsome bootleggers from Seattle; and enterprising Johnny Schnarr, Victorias number-one rum-runner. From vicious marine hijackers and bedevilled police to corrupt politicians and frustrated drinkers on both sides of the border, this is an action-filled account of liquor and lawlessness on the West Coast.