The Opium Smuggling Ring Hidden in Plain Sight
A federal investigation reveals that opium smuggling in Spokane was a widespread enterprise involving a 'legion' of local beneficiaries, as detailed in a scathing Treasury report.
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 secretary of the treasury has submitted to congress the account of Chinese Inspector J. G. McCoy for services in the case of Charles Hodman, whose arrest for smuggling opium was caused by McCoy. This matter has brought to light the whole history of the Spokane smuggling ring. In a report to the treasury department, McCoy says: 'Charles Hodman was chief engineer on the steamer Columbia. It was almost universally known that he was a veteran, persistent smuggler, and that he was the convoy for several other parties engaged in smuggling opium. A great number of persons at Spokane are engaged in, or connected with, or in some way beneficiaries of, smuggling transactions, and their abettors and sympathizers are legion.' McCoy expressed fear for his safety, noting that his papers were stolen by members of the ring.
“A great number of persons at Spokane are engaged in, or connected with, or in some way beneficiaries of, smuggling transactions, and their abettors and sympathizers are legion.”
Smuggling rings in the Pacific Northwest during the late 19th century were often built on complex networks of corruption that integrated local businesses and officials. These stories provide a look at how early trade in controlled substances was policed and how it intersected with the rampant xenophobia and anti-Chinese sentiment of the era's legal systems.
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