Portland had a unique
experience with alcohol prohibition.
Oregon outlawed booze four years before the rest of the country and we
had a very difficult time enforcing the law.
George Baker was elected mayor in 1917, a year into Prohibition and he
adopted a unique strategy to deal with the problem. Working closely with organized crime and the
Portland police bureau to take control of illegal liquor distribution, Baker
accomplished two major goals: giving Portland the reputation for effective
enforcement of the Prohibition laws and keeping high-quality liquor readily
available for himself and his friends.
In our new book – Murder and Scandal in Prohibition Portland due out from
the History Press in February – Theresa Griffin Kennedy and I examine the
historical and sociological record to bring you a portrait of Portland in the
early twentieth century.
Beginning with the Girl Rush, that started with the 1905
Lewis and Clark Exposition and brought more than 7,000 women per year to the
Rose City, we examine the impact of expanded women’s rights and progressive
politics on Portland. We investigate the
criminals who brought illegal booze into Portland and the police officers and
city officials who cooperated with them.
We also look at the effect the protection of violent criminals had on
the city in terms of rising violent crime rates and abuse of power. And we
examine the Red Scare that destroyed the Portland IWW. We also found a wealth
of exciting, interesting characters who make Portland’s history so fascinating
and so fun. Here is a little sample of
what you will find in the book. First the robbers:
The
Pullman Porters Ring
The most persistent, long-running and successful bootlegring in Portland used the Pullman porters on the Southern Pacific Railroad,
which made regular runs between Oakland, California and Portland, to bring a steady
stream of high-quality whiskey into Portland.
Originally run by businessmen from San Francisco and Portland, the
ring’s leadership was arrested in a coordinated raid in 1918, setting off a
struggle for control of the lucrative enterprise. After a violent struggle, described in the
book, Tom Johnson, an ex-armed robber and World War I veteran, emerged as the
ring’s leader. Johnson, who remained in
control of a bootlegging empire well into the 1950s, became one of Portland’s
most powerful and influential African American leaders.
Roy
Moore
Another armed robber, Roy Moore, seized control of a
large still in 1924 and became the largest supplier of low-quality booze in
Portland. Moore, known as the King of
Northwest Bootleggers, was a violent criminal who ran an armed robbery and
murder-for-hire ring after serving a term in McNeil Island Penitentiary.
Bobby
Evans
A close friend of Mayor George Baker, Augustine Ardiss
(aka Bobby Evans) grew up on the streets of South Portland and became a popular
boxer, referee and sports promoter, before becoming the city’s Crime
Chief. By the end of the 1920s Evans was
the most powerful gangster in Portland and cooperated closely with the city
government to “contain” crime in Portland.
In 1932 his greed, and Baker’s desire for political revenge, inspired a
dangerous grab for power that failed and touched off a violent struggle for
control of crime in Portland.
And now the cops:
Sam
Vessey
An effective enforcer of the Prohibition laws, Sammy
Vessey seized gallons of illegal booze at Union Depot in the long struggle with
the Pullman Porters Ring. In 1918, one
of the leaders of the ring accused Vessey of being “fixed” and cooperating with
the smuggling. While it is difficult at
this late date to determine the truth of the charges, there is a very strong
possibility that the bootleggers were attempting to frame a good officer in
order to neutralize an effective enemy.
Frank
Ervin
Originally an officer on the Motorcycle Squad, FrankErvin rose through the ranks rapidly, becoming head of the Traffic
Division. Ervin became Police Chief Leon
Jenkins’ right hand man; handling liquor distribution, anti-union activity
and other dirty work for the chief. Ervin
hired officers who were experienced bootleggers, at least one who spent time in
jail, for his Traffic Division.
Leon
Jenkins
One of Portland’s most respected and effective Police
Chiefs, Jenkins modernized the police force; inaugurating the city’s first
Patrol Car Squad, Forensics Division and use of radio. Jenkins also cooperated with the corrupt city
administration in the distribution of liquor and the use of police for
political ends. We also present evidence
that Jenkins abused his power occasionally to settle personal scores.
But wait that’s not
all:
Secret
Police
Anyone who has dabbled in Portland history from this period
has heard rumors of “secret police” and “vigilantes.” Theresa and I have
checked into these rumors extensively
and we give you the inside story on how “private detectives,” “stoolpigeons” and vigilantes were used to not only gather evidence on bootleggers,
but also to blackmail, frame, burglarize and threaten the Mayor’s “enemies.”
Industrial
Workers of the World
From the 1917 Lumber Strike through the Centralia
Massacre and the 1922 Waterfront Strike, the IWW was under attack. In our new
book we explore the illegal tactics and unconstitutional laws that Mayor Baker
used to target and destroy the Pacific Northwest’s largest, most popular and
most powerful union. The Sedition Law,
Espionage Act and Syndicalism Law were combined with outright lynching to intimidate,
jail and murder the leaders of this movement.
The result was to increase the power and influence of the nascent
Communist Party, setting the stage for the Red Scare of the 1930s.
Ku
Klux Klan
My co-author, Theresa Griffin Kennedy, and I chart the
rise and fall of the Invisible Empire of the Ku Klux Klan here in Oregon, where
they had their greatest political success of the twentieth century. From their humble beginnings through their
rapid growth and quick decline, we use the words of ex-Klansmen as our source
to tell you the “Truth About the Invisible Empire.” We examine their anti-black violence in
Portland and other Oregon communities as well as the financial scams against
their own members and the general public which destroyed them as an
organization here. We also look at how their
crossover membership in groups such as the American Legion allowed them to
continue working for their hateful goals. And we answer once and for all the
age-old question, did Mayor Baker join the Klan?
There’s also murder, which I will preview on my SlabtownChronicle blog.
That’s just a small sample of what you will find when
Murder & Scandal in Prohibition Portland is published by the History Press
in February 2016. See you there.
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| Welcome to Mayor Baker's Portland. |
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