During the years of national Prohibition (1920-33), the entrepreneurial spirit to make spirits gripped Park City.

Illegal stills abounded, producing White Mule — a clear liquid with a kick. Many miscreants operated in the basements and back rooms of Old Town, Empire Canyon, Richardson Flat, Thaynes Canyon and elsewhere. According to The Park Record, a fair amount of the goods was destined for Park City’s “soft drink” parlors.

While it is easy to romanticize the era and to view the scofflaws with amusement, White Mule could be devastating, like the fentanyl-laced street drugs of our time. Park City miner Jack Beakel, for example, died in a Salt Lake City lodging house after quaffing a bad batch of the firewater in May 1923. In January 1925, miners John Pezely and Dan Ryan died after indulging in too much over the holidays.

With these admonitions behind us, here are some of the entrepreneurial antics:

September of 1920 saw Park City barber Alex Hamlin pulled over in Parley’s Canyon with three gallons of White Mule in his suspiciously brand-new vehicle. His wife and children were also in the car. The Salt Lake sheriff impounded the vehicle, and Hamlin was released on $800 bail. The article does not record any family tensions that may have ensued. It does imply Hamlin was selling the whiskey through his shop. Indeed, in a prior run-in, Hamlin used the “barber’s use alcohol” defense in court.

In October 1920, stills were uncovered on upper Main Street and in Empire Canyon. Both were operated by foreign nationals who were listed in the police reports as John Doe and Richard Roe. Justice O’Neil imposed the maximum fine of $299. A night later, another raid caught Gus “The King of Sweden” Nielson, who had a still “consisting of an old dirty carbide can, a coil of pipe, and a slop-bucket.”

A November 1920 raid on the Woodside Avenue home of Tony Levy uncovered a still, 10 gallons of White Mule, and two barrels of Dago Red — a vintage wine of questionable provenance. The still was dismantled, the liquor confiscated, and the barrels busted open with the contents poured out.

One day in August 1921, Marshal St. Jeor ran into Joe McKoskey, who was suspected of having a still secreted in the surrounding hills. The marshal spotted a whiskey bottle in McKoskey’s back pocket and demanded it. This prompted McKoskey to pull his revolver and shove it in the marshal’s belly. “Throw up your hands!” McKoskey growled.

The marshal remarked coolly that he would not throw up his hands. McKoskey then demanded the marshal hand over his pistol. Again St. Jeor demurred. When McKoskey grabbed for the marshal’s pistol, St. Jeor quickly latched onto McKoskey’s right hand and pressed down. McKoskey’s revolver discharged, and the bullet crashed through the bootlegger’s knee, taking the fight out of him.

In July 1922, Olga Hrvatin, a widow with five children, was arrested for having a still and liquor on her premises. Her husband had recently died and “undoubtedly she had been persuaded to moonshine for a living.” She pleaded guilty, and the judge only fined her $50 “because of the little ones depending on her.”

Dan Sullivan outran the sheriff when a raid in Thaynes Canyon in August 1924 uncovered his outdoor manufacturing operation. The authorities confiscated the gear and “rotting corn” mash, which made the sheriff’s office smell like a “decomposed limburger cheese joint — or worse.” Sullivan evaded capture for a day.

A Denver-based federal agent made a clandestine visit to Park City in August 1925 without alerting local authorities. (Yes, at least one local cop was on the take.) The agent soon learned of a large 100-gallon still in a mill in Woodside Gulch. Only then did the agent alert the sheriff’s office, and the bootleggers — George Siddoway and Vic Carlsen — were arrested.

In September 1925, a raid on a Norfolk Avenue home yielded a still, some moonshine, and 14 barrels of precursor mash. House renter George Butterfield claimed he was just “in the employ of someone else,” and the article does not shed further light. The article did happen to mention the landlord, Frank Lake, so readers could take the hint.

One November 1926 day, John D. McDermont was caught in the act of passing moonshine to prisoners in the jail. The unlicensed catering cost him $75 in fines.

As mentioned above, these are the moonshiners who got caught. History shrouds the myriad stories of those who escaped the law’s attention!

The Park City Museum is hosting a lecture titled “Behind the Bars and Booze of Park City,” given by High West Distillery co-founder Jane Perkins on Wednesday from 5-6 p.m. at the Museum’s Education and Collections Center at 2079 Sidewinder Drive. Michael O’Malley and Utah Open Lands’ Wendy Fisher will lead a hike for the museum overlooking the 45^th Star Conservation Easement on Aug. 14. You must be a museum member to sign up for the hike.

Michael O’Malley is a Park City Museum researcher.

The post Way We Were: Entrepreneurism and the White Mule appeared first on Park Record.

In Park City, Edward Payson Ferry is known for successful investments in local mines and an unpopular role in acquiring title to the land underlying Main Street and leasing it back to the people who had settled there.

Tolstoy tells us: “Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” A broader view of the life of Edward and his family tells a tale of litigation, lunacy and loss as convoluted and sorrowful as any Russian novel. Wealth that arose from the hills of Park City and Edward’s mental instability stirred contention that eventually wound its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Edward’s father, William Montague Ferry, founded a Presbyterian mission and evangelized among the Native Americans of northern Michigan in the 1820s and 1830s. Amid his clerical duties, W.M. Ferry demonstrated business acumen, a trait he passed on to Edward and some of his brothers. Together, the family ran a fleet of schooners, operated sawmills and iron works, and opened a bank, among other endeavors.

Tragedy stuck during the Civil War when brother Noah was killed leading Union troops at Gettysburg. Another sibling, William Jr., served with distinction at Vicksburg, while Thomas had an exemption from military service due to holding political office.

Edward also avoided service, due to the need for someone to run the family businesses and because of an 1862 gunshot wound in his right hand, which newspaper accounts depicted as accidental. Later events put this incident in a questionable light.

Rev. Ferry left a family trust upon his death in 1867. Edward was named executor.

In 1870, Edward married his second cousin, Clara Virginia White, and the two had five children, including W. Mont, future mayor of Salt Lake City.

Bouts of mental crisis followed in March and June 1877. Newspapers described Edward as experiencing an attack of “brain fever” caused by “excessive mental labor and lack of sleep.” The family closed ranks, issuing a statement that reports of attempted suicide were “idle rumor.”

Tragedy struck again four years later in Park City. On a horseback ride returning from Shadow Lake in October 1881, Clara’s horse stumbled on a narrow path near the Climax mine. Clara fell, striking her head. Edward sprained his ankle trying to dismount. Paralyzed, she remained conscious as help reached them. She died on a stretcher by the time the rescue party reached Ferry’s Woodside Mine near King Road.

Over the next decade, Edward’s mind deteriorated further. By 1892, when he had a stay in an asylum, the Grand Haven, Michigan, Evening Tribune reported: “The many friends of Edward P. Ferry will feel sorry that he has again lost his mental balance. They will hope that he will recover as formerly and be the source he has ever been of help and good cheer to his fellow men.”

His business associate, David Erwin, took over his affairs. In 1901, Edward was hospitalized again, and his sons — W. Mont and Edward S. “Ned” — filed suit against Erwin in the spring. The suit claimed Erwin misused Edward’s assets (including Silver King Coalition mine stock) and had failed to provide an accounting. This suit was settled in the fall. In 1902, the sons had Edward declared incompetent and assumed guardianship of his affairs.

In 1903, in ironic turnabout, Henry Hall (husband of Edward’s sister Amanda) filed suit in the Michigan courts. The suit asked 1) to remove Edward as administrator of the family trust, 2) enjoin the sons to provide an estate accounting, and 3) appoint the Michigan Trust Co. as administrator. One of the claims is that Edward did not provide an accounting to the family since 1870. A counterclaim was that they hadn’t asked for one!

The Michigan courts sided with the plaintiffs and determined that Edward had gained $1.2 million using family assets. The decision required Edward to reimburse the estate $915,000.

Legal ping pong ensued. Edward’s sons won appeals in Utah and Colorado. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1913 overruled the lower courts, siding with the Michigan judgment. The case set national precedent for family trust administration. In Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.’s words: “Jurisdiction is power, and the power of the Michigan court was not affected by the insanity of Ferry.”

In a final tragic turn, Ned Ferry shot himself shortly after the decision came down.

Edward survived until 1917, dying of a stroke in Los Angeles. The nature of his mental illness was never disclosed in detail, due perhaps to a family wall of silence. As Michigan history researcher Paul Trap notes, “We don’t know if Edward suffered from bipolar disorder, but he had moments of brilliance and of utter failure throughout his life.”

The Park City Museum is hosting a lecture called “Edward Ferry: Park City’s Capitalist,” given by Sandy Brumley and Michael O’Malley on Wednesday, May 22, from 5-6 p.m. at the Museum’s Education and Collections Center located at 2079 Sidewinder Drive. The next free day at the Museum is on Saturday, May 18. Free days are sponsored by the Summit County Restaurant Tax Grant Program.

Michael O’Malley is a Park City Museum researcher.

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