Rum Runners on Puget Sound
by Capt. A. L. Lonsdale
Folks, hard to believe but once upon a time, whiskey was outlawed and declared contraband. And in the northwest, the real story was entitled “Rumrunners on Puget Sound,” as written by the enforcer of the law himself, Captain A. L. Lonsdale, U. S. Coast Guard called “Grandad” by friend and foe alike. He faced seemingly insurmountable odds in his campaign against smugglers. He captured so many ships that the government had to auction them off cause they was out of space – and, of course, Grandad just had to run ‘em down again. Here pictured is a map of the area with all the little nooks and crannies with pictures AND NAMES of the boats of the good guys and bad guys. Look below for a list of all the names, the boats, the sites and those that ran afoul of the law but, truth is, common folks were really on the side of the bad guys but to no avail
AND THEY WENT TO JAIL
Please read this. There were many a great story published – the common ones about are listed on Ebay every day but the rarer ones like this one about the rum running days of old Puget Sound are seldom found. I love to write about ‘em cause, humbly, I am trying to keep our history alive. Collectors treasure them and their price guide value rises every day. They are hard to find. I hunt them out cause really the better, untold and rarer stories were published in the rest.
Here’s one of ‘em.
This complete index will be bound and included in this offering at no additional cost.
Humbly, I am trying to keep our history alive
I hope you appreciate the effort.
Friends, sooner or later – Genealogists are going to realize that their family kinfolks are laying on some dealer’s dusty shelves. If I can contribute to finding one little name or photo of that long lost ancestor you have been waiting to find, it’s worth all the time I spend. As a tribute to the honor of our American Lawmen, my indexed listings will include all names mentioned in the story from this time on.
ANCESTORS INDEXED HEREIN, CIRCA: 1916 – 1930
ANCESTOR’S LOCATION: WASHINGTON
GENEALOGY NAMES INDEXED w * INDICATING PICTURE:
ATWOOD, Clint
DOW, Wilbur
GRIAGNIC, Prosper
JONES, Wesley L., Senator
KIRSTINE, Lance
LONSDALE, Adrian L., Captain, U. S. Coast Guard, Author
LONSDALE, Lorenz A., Chief Boatswain, U. S. Coast Guard “Grandad” *
MARINOFF, Pete
OLMSTEAD, Roy, Lieutenant Seattle Police *
Picture 1: Map of Puget Sound area. *
Picture 2: Coast Guardsman Lorenz A. Lonsdale faced seemingly insurmountable odds in his campaign against smugglers. *
Picture 3: Seattle police Lieutenant Roy Olmstead ended up on the wrong side of the law. *
Picture 4: The Coast Guard tug “Arcata” was top-heavy and slow, but she soon won the grudging respect of Puget Sound bootleggers.*
Picture 5: The war escalated when “one-pounders” were installed. This cutter came home loaded with contraband. *
Picture 6: Some Coast Guard boats, like this one bringing in a capture, were converted from ex-rumrunners. *
Picture 7: The “Xenial’s” captors netted more than one hundred cases of bootleg liquor. *
Picture 8: By the late 1920s twenty-two cutters – including new seventy-five-footers – patrolled the Sound. *
Picture 9: The “Mary Landon” was a floating liquor store, with bootleg available by the case, “sack,” or barrel. *
Picture 10: When the “Memories” was overtaken, her operators rolled the “corpus delicti” out and over the side. *
Picture 11: Occasionally smugglers set their own boats on fire in an attempt to destroy the evidence before capture. *
Picture 12: Roy Olmstead was sent to federal prison in 1927. *
NAMES OF BOATS PROMINENTLY MENTIONED w * INDICATING PICTURE:
“Alice” (“M817”)
“Arcata,” Coast Guard Cutter *
“Elsie”
“Eva B”
“George F”
“Haida”
“June”
“L443”
“Mary Langdon” *
“Memories” *
“Mukilteo”
“Pauline,” Canadian boat
“Searchlight”
“Three Deuces”
“Xenial” *
PLACES AND THINGS PROMINENTLY MENTIONED:
Admiralty Inlet
Allen Island
Anti-Saloon League in Washington State
Bremerton Navy Shipyard
British Columbia
Brown’s Beach
Canada
Clinton, Washington
Curtis-Wright Aircraft Engine
Deception Pass
Discovery Bay
Double Bluff
Edmonds
Lake Union
Lake Washington
Madison Park
Marrowstone Island in Admiralty Inlet
Marrowstone Point
National Prohibition Act
Port Townsend Bay
Possession Sound
Puget Sound
Seattle, Washington
U. S. Coast Guard
U. S. Supreme Court
Washington, D. C.
Whidbey Island
“Whispering Wires Case”
Woodmont Beach
World War I
This is featured story in a rarely found and seldom read unusual and complete western magazine. We don't give out name of publication or date because we have caught competitors copying our index and work and trying to sell it as theirs. We hope you understand.
THIS INDEX IS A GENEALOGY IMAGESOFHISTORY COPYRIGHTED PRESENTATION