The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-08-18
THEY HAWK
SNAKE OIL
AND SUFFER A PERIOD
OF INACTIV-
ITY
TRIALS OF BOOTLEGGERS
Whiskev Selling Chief Of.
fenSeOf Federal COnyiCtS.

out Of the 1900 persons confined in
The United States JAIN az Leavcnworth.
Kansas. 40o are from the Indian Terri
tory and We're sent there on the charge
Of introducing liquor into Chat copntry
The thirst OF the Indian and bis white
brother is a consuming one and 10 re
quircs many Of the hootirEgcrs 90 SUPPLY
tho fire water 90 quonch g. says tho
Missogee Times And many. Indeed.
are the Ingenious methods employed to
smuggle liquor into this prohibition coun-
try. Some one who has doubtless had .
vast experience OF one kind or another
with these unfortunatos who have been
caught. has written The following eS
position Of some Of tho means ~ evaiing 4
The strict laws OF the territop.
"Thcse 400 prisoners are from Indian
Territory and the small Indian rcscrva
tions in Kansas ard have f.s4c cent up [
for selling whiskey "a Indians. II is a /
business so profitable that unusual risks
are willingly run by the ingenious tribe /
ikas has descended rom tle simple Old 4
smuggler NO showed the bottle from
which he a8d idst sold routnful Of 4
whiskey INTO the natinR ie, % lHs Loot /
and thought hitnsolf as Fly az a fox Thc /
later vondcr Of omftr. bli.d liquid Fresh 4
mems developed TIE tnot-i,r-ius idoa in /
the same y ly that Wpu developed the /
steam engine But whisky hunting dapu- /
ties also grew in wisdom; they lcarnedt
10 look beyond the boot leg Go the wagon |
aAle. the OK bow ard He horse collar. /
A whisky peddlers active iifo IS inst 4
about as brief how as II w8s in the s7rly Z
'70s. when Judee Parker Of Fort Smith /
hrst sent his marshals into me Indian I
Territory Put when one is IarsfsTed (
10 federal prison another comes iu 10
take his place ana so the 100" Of the /
tfipe Is constantly replenished.
Technically. the bootleegcr rs any ono
who receives or disposes Of ncuor. who
has liquor IN his possession who gives
iiator % Indians, who ilncitly desiils /
liquor or who in any way assists on
lndian to obtain liquor 81 territory sey
aside for Indian occupancy Without the
special authority az tho United states {
government The laws were frdm>i with /
The avowed purpose Of maaing Il ahso-
luteiy impossible for an Indian to obtain
liucor of any kind An Indian 1ni wills
Ky In conjunction according TO tradi
tiou. resulted IN IN insane criminal SO
Tor the more peaceful regulation Of its
wards after the FIRE water was barred
from the reservation nurscios. But
the taste for wnislSoy could not be- .egis-
lated out of the Indian and when the
demand was stro1g 81 was but natural
thet the supply should be forthcoming.
one of tie earliest schemes 81 tho
whiskev smugfiers was that y driving
through the Indian country with huge
kerosene can which was hllci with d
false bottom n few inches from the TOP.
The tn would naturally bo needed FOR
the wagon lantern. and n was not ,on-
sidered wise to buy iu the large can lots.
for ts cost was then much larger thtn
at the present time In the anplc false
bottom of tie can was kept whisky. and
an nconspicuous plug underneath could
be unscrewcd 10 permit the how OF a
mental and emotional Illumination AT Is
pint
II was vile stuff these smugrlors
soid-raw alcohol diluted with water coll
ored with rock candy -piced with pepper
and bit Of plug tobacco The materials
cost perhaps s; a gallon ana the mixture
fas peddl0d our at from $50 10 $50 "a Ral-
Ion But risk and profit after AN, bore
8 trucr relation 90 each other Than misn,
De- supposed II vls not long before me
busy Ubiquitous deputies bes.u 90 inves-
tirate le tiavehng OH cans ana the anc-
cessor4 To the enterprsing traders had
10 dcvolor a new dodge
rhe pneumatic horse COLLAR. hucd
with an unobtfusNc screw tor. conreal-
"a under a leather Zap. and ihe big
hollow aNles OF the peddlers wagons
that could be mnkcd." were clever
devices bnt they hHd their day. if it
were possible for the sellers of 1re-
water 10 Induce eir customers tc
walt a day or two OF 80 away 20 get
drunk. me 4anger oi detection ", ulc
have been small but drunken Indians
hang 10 "a whisky peddler ms persistent
ly as flies 10 "a syrup cm. and ue Law
officers work s reduced TO hni oui
just how and where thc conttrsnd is
kept
Al one time Indian Territory became
noted Tor coc0anuts Certain dealers
drove a suspiolously hrlsk trade in
them uath curious deputy ma sla
secured enc ana broke into it 1hor
ia was seen that some one ou tho OUT
s,de had bought me ooooanuts, bored 8
small hole n the end of each hoilee
them and removed che meat. and nii'
ise Them with liquor plugged the holes
with brown patty Win he discover
tne statistics on Sine BOZ porttion oi CO.
eaanuts into Indian Territory fcn of
alamngly A s,hem, uat bad rsei
briefer popularity was Co mn rgg
shslls that had been empted throusl
fman orihce with the cheering an'
nebriatns liquid and sen the eggs "a
80 cents apiece.
Naturally. n is near the border be-
tween aho hidlan oougtry and the state
Whore whisky ls freely soid that ih
trade in "bootleg' rs most ectNe.
Among the Missouri and Arkansas bor
ders, on the east and the Texas iin
oq The south. ihe deputies assigned @
duty 90 Indian Territory have nee
particularly busy
The border smUgglers meet rior
conpotiion than 90 those who pne
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