The Whiskey Wagon on the Reservation
Law enforcement in Yakima hunts a bootlegger accused of supplying alcohol to the Yakama Reservation.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A couple of weeks ago The Herald chronicled the fact that some men with teams and a keg of whiskey were doing a land office saloon business by a wagon on the reservation, and that hundreds of intoxicated Indians was the result of the traffic. The man who furnished the team and wagon was captured, but as he took no part in the sale of the liquor, or did not share in the profits, he is simply being held as a witness, while a warrant is out for Jack Anderson, the chief conspirator. Anderson's stock-in-trade was a fifteen gallon keg of whiskey, and he is said to have made a fair start on the road to fortune—or McNeil Island.
“Anderson's stock-in-trade was a fifteen gallon keg of whiskey, and he is said to have made a fair start on the road to fortune—or McNeil Island.”
This incident highlights the pervasive and often violent issues surrounding the illegal liquor trade on the reservation in the late 19th century, reflecting the federal government's restrictive and often paternalistic policies toward Indigenous communities.
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