Question:
During the Prohibition years of the 1920s, there was an active “rum-running” business between Fort Erie and Buffalo.
What was the incident that occurred 100 years ago on June 28, 1926, off the coast of Point Abino, between Canadian rum-runners and the American Coast Guard?
Answer:
As soon as Prohibition became law in 1920 thousands of would-be “rum-runners” traversed the Great Lakes, packed to the gunwales with booze supposedly bound for Cuba or Mexico. The U.S. Coast Guard watched closely for the darkened, high-speed Canadian boats and by 1926, a full-scale war was underway on Lake Erie.
On the evening of June 28, 1926, Canadian rum-runners were waiting off Point Abino in an unmarked boat full of whisky destined for the New York Central Railway’s number one shed in Buffalo.
When spotted by the coast guard, the black ship was believed to be in American waters and shots were fired. Both ships became breached on the Canadian shore.
The Canadian captain rushed to a farmhouse to call the customs officer before returning to where the American coast guard boat had been breached. Armed with a pistol and a dozen angry local farmers accompanying him, he held the Americans captive until Canadian customs officers arrived and accompanied the coast guard men to safety.
Meanwhile, the Canadian smuggler’s boat was unloaded by “monks” (men hired to load and unload the black boats) and the whisky was hidden safely away.
More information about this event and other stories of rum-running and Prohibition can be found in “Many Voices II: A Collective History of Greater Fort Erie”, available for purchase at the Fort Erie Historical Museum.
