The 'Whisky Trade' at Port Townsend
A British gunboat captures twelve Indigenous prisoners following violent disorder fueled by the illegal supply of American spirits across the border.
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.
The gunboat Rocket has returned to Victoria from the scene of the Indian disturbance, with twelve prisoners. The disorder arose from whisky, which is systematically supplied to British Indians at Port Townsend on the American side.
“The disorder arose from whisky, which is systematically supplied to British Indians at Port Townsend on the American side.”
Cross-border trade and the social fallout of unregulated substance markets remain a constant tension in the Salish Sea. This 1878 account highlights how the porous nature of the international border has historically complicated law enforcement and Indigenous sovereignty in the Pacific Northwest.
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