Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1931-11-19
Montana Suffered Whisky Famine in 1867 Which Nearly
Caused Territory to Go Dry; Historian Recalls Time When
Poor Grade of Liquor Was Sold At Exhorbitant Prices

COiIllIlullily, VIII q IcSuitdllt dCtlVt Ot-
mand for hard beverages.
One Of Beaverhead county's sturdy
old pioneers. Sam Jaggers, had &C.
quired an interest in a retail liquor
establishment In Bannack in 1866. The
following year his stocks were depleted
along with the rest OF the saloon keep
ers Of the camp, but just as the short
age was becoming acute, he heard Of
two barrels Of whisky on the market
IN the town OF Deer Lodge.
Losing no time, he set out on horse
back for the Cottonwood. When he ar
rived in Deer Lodge, he found that the
owner of the barrels was entirely aware
of conditions and was obeying the law
Of supply and demand by holding out
for $3.50 for the lot. Some argument fol-
lowed, but in the end the Bannack man
laid down $3.50 in clean gold dust and
made arrangements for the liquor to
be transported to Bannack.
One of the barrels contained a fair
grade Of whisky. The contents Of the
other were questionable, the only char
actristic positively identifying it as
whisky being its pronounced potency as
an intoxicant. The taste and odor were
such that Jaggers, even In the face Of
the emergency, hesitated to offer the
liquor to his patrons.
But on his long ride home he evolved
a possible solution to the problem. He
extended his journey to Virginia City,
where he purchased two cases of
peaches from John Rockwell and had
them shipped to Bannack. The two bar
rels of whisky reached Bannack ahead
of him. The peaches arrived two days
later, and he Immediately dumped
them in a tub. BY manipulation Of a
good-sized mallet he reduced them to a
pulp. This he placed in the barrel of
bad whisky and called upon his three
clerks.
For nearly "a hours without a sccr,
they rolled the barrel back and forth
the length Of the cellar, while upstairs
the miners smacked their lips over the
liquor that Jaggers was dispensing from
the other container.
The following day the saloon man
announced to his patrons that he had
secured a barrel Of peach brandy to
give their palates a change from the
straight whisky. 1t was with misgiving
that he poured out the first few drinks.
He confidently expected that the min
ers would turn back to the good
stuff" in disgust and would be salts
fed with the new connection only when
the other barrel was exhausted. His
own impartial taste told him that the
liquor had been improved very little,
If any, by its rebirth as peach brandy.
To his utter establishment, the i'm
bibers ordered a second round OF the
stuff, and a third, and q fourth. Not
only that-they left the saloon and In
a few minutes other good judges Of
whisky came flocking in to demand,
with a CLEAN Of anticipation In their
eyes, some of that new peach brandy
you just got In" Within the next few
days, miners were walking ten miles.
after a hard days work, to sample
Sans fine new stuff" He sold 1t for
Is cents a drink.
Jaggers' brewer had been charging
him SIG for a four-gallon key of beer
and he thought the price was too high.
Now vengeance was his. The manufac-
turer of the beer came into the saloon,
set a Jug on the bar and requested a
gallon OF the new whisky. Jaggers filled
up the jug, grinned slyly, and said:
Sixteen dollars, please"
The brewer for a minute or two gave
a fair imitation Of a windmill In action,
but all Of his arm waving and expos
tulating was to no avail. Jaggers stuck
to his price, and got 1t.
He who laughs last, though, chortles
the merriest. Before spring came, the
whisky was gone and the saloon man
had only the high priced beer, together
with so cases of champagne In his Gel
lar, to offer his patrons. The beer con-
sumption jumped materially and the
brewer waxed wealthy. The champagne,
purchased In Los Angeles for $50 a case,
sold for $40 a bottle in Bannack. But
In spite OF the exhorbitant price, 1t
was gone before the whisky famine
ended with the arrival Of a new supply
Of hard liquor from California
The whisky famine, OF course, was
an exception to normal conditions. The
LIQUOR situation in the early days was
not always in such deplorable straits.
Even when the exhilirating fluid was
plentiful, however, the prices were only
slightly less than those mentioned by
Jaggers. The prevailing price of a drink
was two bits" Whisky Of average grade
brought the retailer 81 a quart when
sold in that quantity and the $40 a
bottle paid for the better wines made
them worth almost their weight in gold.
Gold, incidentally, was the FREEDOM
mating medium of exchange. Very sell
dom did a bartender receive payment
in any other form. Gold scales formed
a standard article of equipment for
every bar and the attendants became
proficient in weighing even small
amounts of precious dust. To their
credit, records declare most OF them
were scrupulously honest, taking pride
in their ability to measure out the
glittering grains accurately.
AS a matter of fact, it was hardly
necessary for the saloon keepers to take
an unfair advantage OF their patrons