1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: Hey there, it's your host ed helms. 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 2: Here. 3 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Real quick, before we dive into this episode, I wanted 4 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:09,479 Speaker 1: to remind you that my brand new book is coming 5 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: out on April twenty ninth. It's called Snaffo, The Definitive 6 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: Guide to History's Greatest screw Ups, and you can pre 7 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: order it right now at snafudashbook dot com. Trust me, 8 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: if you like this show, you're gonna love this book. 9 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: It's got all the wild disasters spectacular face plants we 10 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: just couldn't squeeze into this podcast. And here's the kicker. 11 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 1: I am also going on tour to celebrate. That's right. 12 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: I'm coming to New York, DC, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, 13 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,560 Speaker 1: San Francisco, and my hometown Los Angeles. So if you've 14 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: ever wanted to see me stumble through a live Q 15 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,560 Speaker 1: and A or dramatically read about a kiddie cat getting 16 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: turned into a CIA operative, now's your chance again. Head 17 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: to snafu dashbook dot com to pre order the book 18 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: and check out all the tour details and day, or 19 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: just click the link in the show notes. That'll work too. Okay, 20 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: that's it, on with the chaos. This is Snaffoo Season 21 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: three Formula six. Last time on Snaffoo, Mabel Walker Willebrandt's 22 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: wet opponents were scary powerful, especially in court. George ramis 23 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: one of the craziest stories you hear, like an incredibly 24 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: successful defense attorney becomes like the biggest bootlegger ever. But 25 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 1: even when Mabel won her cases, it felt like she 26 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:37,680 Speaker 1: was always just one step behind the sprawling bootleg business. 27 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 3: She didn't have much in the way of financial support. 28 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 3: And one of the things that was indicative of the 29 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 3: attitude of the dries is that they passed these laws 30 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 3: but gave no money for enforcement. 31 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: Playing by the rules just couldn't hold back the tide 32 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: of liquor washing over America. 33 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 3: The fact that there were only twenty six hundred prohibitionations 34 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 3: covering the entire Canadian border, of the Mexican border, and 35 00:01:58,640 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 3: both coasts. 36 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 2: It's ridiculous. 37 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: There's a storm rolling in over the little town of Homer, Nebraska, 38 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: in the creek bottoms and river beds that criss crossed 39 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: the eastern border of the state. The water starts to 40 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: rise and it all runs downhill towards Homer. It's nineteen 41 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: nineteen and one of Homer's newest residents a man named 42 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: Richard Hart is riding home with some neighbors. He didn't 43 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: grow up in Nebraska. He was the kind of kid 44 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: who fell in love with the wild West. When he 45 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:39,360 Speaker 1: was a teenager, he ran off to be a cowboy, 46 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: a bit of a thrill seeker. His journey took him 47 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: from the ranch to the circus to the life of 48 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: a soldier in the Great War. When he came back 49 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: from the war, he took a train west and Homer 50 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 1: is where he landed. A few of his new German 51 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:59,239 Speaker 1: American neighbors, the Wench family, opened their doors to him, 52 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: car doors. At least they're giving him a lift. He's 53 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,239 Speaker 1: crammed in the car with Mama Wench and a few 54 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: of her kids, including the oldest daughter, twenty year old Kathleen. 55 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: They're on the road winding along the Missouri River when 56 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: the oncoming storm overtakes them. 57 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 4: Homer is very close to the Missouri River. When Richard arrived, 58 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 4: there was flood. 59 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,359 Speaker 1: This is Richard's great grandson, Corey Hart. And no, it's 60 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: not the eighties rockstar Corey Hart, who wears sunglasses at night, 61 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: much to the disappointment of my inner ten year old. 62 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: So families in Homer, Nebraska know all too well how 63 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: the area is prone to flooding, and this one is 64 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: really bad. Water rises up and crashes into the little town. 65 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: Dozens of houses are destroyed and some are even completely 66 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: washed away. For Richard and the Winch family in the car, 67 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: the situation gets dire. 68 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 4: What didn't realize is that a car that the n 69 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 4: was also beginning to be overtaken by that flood. 70 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: The storm pounds on the hood of the car, but 71 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: through the rain they see a girl walking on the 72 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: side of the road. They pull over to let her 73 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: in and tell her it's not safe outside, But before 74 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: they can get the car moving again, they're caught in 75 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: a surge of water. It rises up under them, lifting 76 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,599 Speaker 1: the car and sweeping the whole thing into the current. 77 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: The little girl is terrified, and in a moment of panic, 78 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: she jumps out of the car and she's instantly flushed downstream. 79 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 4: And so Richard saw what was happening and jumped in 80 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:39,679 Speaker 4: to say the girl. 81 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: He swims hard and stays in control despite the raging 82 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: flood around him. When he catches up to her, he 83 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,119 Speaker 1: finds she's caught on a tangle of barbed wire fence 84 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,600 Speaker 1: invisible under the murky brown surface. Working quickly, Richard untangles 85 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:56,799 Speaker 1: her and swims on. He drags her to the far bank. 86 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: Then he turns back to the river. 87 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 4: Kathleen Lynch was in the vehicle that was floating away, 88 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 4: but Richard and another individual and Homer, we're able to 89 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 4: jump in and pull that car to safety. 90 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: Richard bites the river yet again to save Kathleen's life 91 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: and drag the Winch family car back to dry land. Yes, 92 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: you heard that right. He pulls a car from a 93 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: raging flood one of those super human adrenaline rushes, I guess. 94 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 4: So it was his bravery that really caught the eye 95 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 4: of Kathleen and said that this is a guy that 96 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 4: I want to be with. 97 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: Maybe a little bit of transference going on here, but 98 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: I'm kind of falling in love with this guy right now. 99 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: I mean, who wouldn't. As the flood cleared and the 100 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: story spread, the town of Homer decided Richard Hart was 101 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: just the kind of hero they needed. He may have 102 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,719 Speaker 1: still been an outsider, but they made this rugged twenty 103 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:57,359 Speaker 1: something their town marshal, and just in the nick of time, 104 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: because there was another flood coming. The floodud of illegal 105 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:05,040 Speaker 1: liquor that Alexander Gettler warned about. It wasn't just in 106 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: the big cities like New York, it was coast to coast. 107 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,840 Speaker 1: When Mabel Walker, Willebrant and the Bureau boys looked west 108 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: for agents to fight the alcohol flood in Nebraska, Richard 109 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,239 Speaker 1: volunteered as a lawman. He was known for toting not one, 110 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: but two guns, which gave him the Wild West nickname 111 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: of every little Cowpoke's Dreams, Richard two Gun Heart. He 112 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,720 Speaker 1: became a soldier in the Dry Army. As the leaders 113 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: of the Dry cause grew more and more desperate to 114 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: fight the influx of booze. It would put Richard shoulder 115 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: to shoulder with some of the most vicious forces in America. 116 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 1: I met Helms And this is Snaffo, a show about 117 00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: history's greatest screw ups. This is season three, story of 118 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: Formula six. How prohibitions war on alcohol went so off 119 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: the rails the government wound up poisoning its own people. Today, 120 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: we're leaving Norris and Gettler in New York and James 121 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,559 Speaker 1: Duran and Mabel Walker Willebrandt in DC, and we're taking 122 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: a trip out west to see how things are going 123 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: with prohibition agents. Far Afield a place where classic yahoo 124 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 1: gun slinging methods were used, methods that would shock the 125 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: public and eventually stain the dry cause. So this two 126 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: gun nickname. In the years before World War One, Richard 127 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 1: had ridden and ranched across the West. His childhood dream 128 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: was to be a cowboy, and gosh darn it, he 129 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: pulled it off. He criss crossed the American planes, on 130 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: cattle drives, and even traveling circuses. He was used to long, 131 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: lonely days on horseback, broken up by shows where his 132 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: trick shooting and skills as a wrestler brought cheering crowds 133 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: to their feet. As his great grandson Corey says, a 134 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: little of the circus showman stuck with him throughout his life. 135 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: He even bought himself two pearl handled cult forty fives. 136 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 4: You love to show off, and so if you could 137 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 4: have the opportunity to show off his sharp shooting skills, 138 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,080 Speaker 4: he would. There are rumors that he would shoot apples 139 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,720 Speaker 4: at the top of people's heads. If you think, if 140 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 4: Richard Hart, it's a thing, it's always two guns. It's 141 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:43,599 Speaker 4: two guns, you know, and so Why are you not 142 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 4: going to call someone like that, two gun heart? 143 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: It just fits Richard. Two gun Heart. It's pretty good. 144 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 1: You gotta admit, I've been workshopping Eddie near Sighted Helms 145 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: for a while, but the focus group around my kitchen 146 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: table is not a fan. For some reason. Richard, though, 147 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: was living out his childhood dream, the hero of the 148 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: story he'd always imagined. When World War One took Richard, 149 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 1: George Cassidy, and a couple of million others over to France, 150 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 1: the Great War made Richard an honest to goodness soldier. 151 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 5: But afterwards, as he's heading out west, he just gets 152 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 5: off on this stop in Nebraska and sees this town Homer, 153 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 5: and knew this was a point far enough west where 154 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 5: that lifestyle still existed, so he could. 155 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,200 Speaker 2: Continue this mission in his life to be a cowboy. 156 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,199 Speaker 1: Now, by this point, there weren't a ton of old 157 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:42,080 Speaker 1: West cowboys still bopping around out there. Wild Bill, Buffalo Bill, 158 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: all the old bills. That's an older generation. It's the 159 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: stories that kept them alive, you know. The wave of 160 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: legacy sequels to classic nineties flicks Twister, Terminator, Jurassic Park, Jumanji. 161 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: It was kind of like that Richard loved the Wild 162 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: West shows when he was a kid, and he was 163 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: determined and to live out the sequel Western law man 164 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: still shooting. When National Prohibition came to Nebraska town, Marshall 165 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,080 Speaker 1: Richard two gun Heart had his chance. 166 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 4: Governor recognized the fact that if we're going to have 167 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 4: prohbition agents, we need people that are fearless, and Richard 168 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 4: Hart was somebody who fit that to a tee. 169 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: Toting a gun into the hills to face down enemies 170 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 1: of the law. It was a dream come true for Richard. 171 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 1: But once he had his prohibition badge pinned to his chest, 172 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 1: he found he was facing a lot worse than circus clowns. 173 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 4: I believe was around nineteen twenty, and it was a 174 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 4: really really bad rain storm. 175 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: Damn mother, and Nature's got it out for this guy, huh. 176 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 1: In any case, Richard hits the highway with a prisoner 177 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: in tow, a man he had scooped up in a 178 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 1: recent raid on a moonshine. Still, he's trying to take 179 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 1: the man to link in, Nebraska, but he. 180 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:57,760 Speaker 4: Got north and south missed up, so instead of going 181 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 4: back to take this criminal in, he ended up going 182 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 4: I believe that towards the South Dkota border. 183 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: Now, when he pulled into the little town of Spencer, 184 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: Richard could have you know, realized he went the wrong 185 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:12,680 Speaker 1: way and turned around. But not our two gun. He 186 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: was like double or nothing, So he started asking around 187 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: for some white mule. The locals, proud of the kick 188 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:23,200 Speaker 1: in their neighborhood, moonshine knew exactly what he meant and 189 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,839 Speaker 1: helpfully pointed him to the best distillery in town. When 190 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: the owner offered him a drink, Richard arrested him. Then 191 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,559 Speaker 1: he went back and also arrested the guy who gave 192 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,839 Speaker 1: him directions. Maybe a little too thorough for a spur 193 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: of the moment operation, but that's just me, two Gun. 194 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:44,199 Speaker 1: He was always in for double or nothing. So Richard 195 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:46,800 Speaker 1: crams all three guys in his car and hauls them 196 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: off to the local jail. But when he gets there. 197 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 2: Found out that there wouldn't book either of them. 198 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: And that's because the guy he had just arrested for 199 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:57,319 Speaker 1: trying to sell him alcohol. 200 00:11:57,760 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, one of them a town marshall. 201 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: He's the town marshal of Spencer, the tiny town they're in. 202 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,200 Speaker 1: So instead of accepting his arrest, this Spencer Marshall and 203 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 1: another officer played a little Uno reverse card and put 204 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: Richard under arrest for disturbing the peace. They squared off 205 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:18,720 Speaker 1: and tried to shout each other down. 206 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 6: You're under arrest. 207 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 7: Now you're under arrest. 208 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 1: Oh you, no you no you now you And the 209 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 1: guy who had the best seat in the house, the 210 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 1: original prisoner Richard had dragged along for the ride. Apparently 211 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 1: that guy found the entire thing hilarious. 212 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 4: There's really discouraging for him. It was the pinnacle of 213 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 4: him understanding how much corruption there was. This is not 214 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 4: my law, and that was the excuse that a lot 215 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 4: of people used. 216 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 1: But like Mabel, Richard had decided that prohibition was his law. 217 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,839 Speaker 1: It was in the constitution now, which meant two gun 218 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: was free to have a root and dute in times, 219 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,600 Speaker 1: smacking down all manner of miscreants, scoff laws, and ne'er 220 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: do wells. Just because a flood of Americans had decided 221 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,960 Speaker 1: to break the law was no reason to hold back 222 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 1: on enforcing it. Richard had beaten floods before. But if 223 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 1: there was one burr under two guns saddle, it was 224 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: Kathleen's family, his in laws. You see, the Winches owned 225 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: a grocery store, and they also did a little bruin 226 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: on the side, or you know, maybe kind of a lot. 227 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 8: There were good times, but then there were times when 228 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 8: the alcohol just kind of took over. 229 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,839 Speaker 1: That's Corey's dad, Jeff, Richard's grandson. 230 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 8: When one of Kathleen's brother had too much alcohol, it 231 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 8: was my uncle Harold. He would drink more than he 232 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 8: should have all the time. 233 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: When the Winches got to drinking, I can just see 234 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,319 Speaker 1: Richard pulling his hat down over his eyes, like, seriously, 235 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: right in front of me. Come on, you're putting me 236 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 1: on the spot here. I mean, if you're pouring a 237 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: beer under the prohibition agent's nose, that's going to make 238 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: Christmas a little tense. But Richard was doing his best 239 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,679 Speaker 1: to keep some tensil on the Tan and Baum because 240 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: there was one line he didn't cross. He never actually 241 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: arrested the Winches for their home brewing. Always seems weird 242 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: to me when people just roll with so much hypocrisy, 243 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 1: But then again, it was his in laws, and as 244 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 1: much as we all want to arrest our in laws, 245 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: it's probably better we don't. But Richard justified it to himself. 246 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: And besides, it's not like there was a shortage of 247 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 1: cases for him to take on. And in nineteen twenty three, 248 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 1: he would take a case that would put Richard in 249 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: over his head. 250 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 4: If he couldn't use his gun, he would use his 251 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 4: fist to apprehend these criminals and bootleggers. That was something 252 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 4: he really d himself with and this instance it went wrong. 253 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 1: It was October of nineteen twenty three. Back in New York, 254 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: Alexander Gettler is starting to earn a reputation as a 255 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 1: forensic sherlock. He's just published a groundbreaking study on the 256 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: deadly solvent Benzene, which, to his horror, he's finding in 257 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: dead bodies in his laboratory at Bellevue, though he's not 258 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 1: yet sure why. Meanwhile, in d C. Babel, Walker Willebrant 259 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: is just starting to unravel the epic corruption all around 260 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: her at the Department of Justice. And back in the 261 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 1: Heartland No pun Intended, Richard Hart catches a break too. 262 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: He gets a tip about a bootlegger smuggling liquor onto 263 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: the Winnebago reservation near Homer. He meets with some of 264 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: the Winnebago men who are willing to help him stop 265 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: the flow. Of liquor into their community. 266 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 4: He selected two of them to go to kind of 267 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 4: a bootleg operation and try to scorse some alcohol. 268 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: The operation kicks off when Richard and his guys get 269 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 1: the details of a midnight rendezvous between a rum runner 270 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 1: and his local customers. They're going to intervene. Richard parks 271 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 1: out of site nearby while his comrades roll into the 272 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:14,560 Speaker 1: meetup posing his customers. 273 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 4: The idea was that as soon as able to come out, 274 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 4: he and another officer that was with him with him 275 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 4: make the arrest. 276 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 1: But the liquor crew gets suspicious something's a little off. 277 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 1: They refuse to sell anything to Richard's accomplices, who come 278 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 1: back to him empty handed. There's nothing Richard can use 279 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: to make an arrest for someone else. That might be 280 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: the end of it a failed operation, but Richard isn't done. 281 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: He wants to nab his bootlegger. He continues to lie 282 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: and wait nearby, and sure enough, a couple of hours later, 283 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: more cars pull up. This time, Richard doesn't try any tricks. 284 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: He decides he's just gonna let the deal go down 285 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: and then scoop up one of the customers to get 286 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: his evidence and the meetup is over. The cluster of 287 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:06,920 Speaker 1: cars splits up. Richard and his partner give chase, so. 288 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:10,239 Speaker 2: They're chasing after what they think is the bootlegger. 289 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: Vehicle Richard's partner is driving. He pulls them alongside the 290 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:17,280 Speaker 1: car they think is hauling liquor, a big, beautiful Buick. 291 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,359 Speaker 1: Richard leans out and tells the bootlegger to pull over, 292 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:24,120 Speaker 1: but he doesn't, so Richard ups the ante so. 293 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:27,640 Speaker 4: He's actually out on the railing board telling this bootlegger 294 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,920 Speaker 4: to stop. He went stop so that he started firing 295 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,480 Speaker 4: shots into the air, and then the car that they're 296 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:35,560 Speaker 4: chasing sped off. 297 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:40,560 Speaker 1: Now the chase is really on, and the Buick, unlike 298 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:45,560 Speaker 1: Buick's up today, is fast, like really fast. It starts 299 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: to pull away. Frustrated, Richard stops firing warning shots in 300 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:53,240 Speaker 1: the air and levels his gun directly at the car. 301 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:57,359 Speaker 1: He shoots his partner with one hand on the wheel, 302 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: leans out the driver's side window, and starts shooting too. 303 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,640 Speaker 4: In an attempt to try to stop that car by 304 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:05,400 Speaker 4: trying to take out the tires. 305 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 1: Richard shoots and hits the Buick. The shot doesn't at 306 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:15,000 Speaker 1: the tire, it goes through the back window and hits 307 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: the driver. 308 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 4: He actually shot the driver through the mouth, and so 309 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 4: when it came to the vehicle and realized, oh, this 310 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:28,199 Speaker 4: is not the person that they were actually trying to. 311 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: Chase, Richard had made a terrible mistake. 312 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 4: Tried to take that individual to the hospital, but is 313 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 4: a lethal shot. 314 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:41,959 Speaker 1: As Richard and his partner learned about the man they 315 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 1: had killed, they were mortified. Not only was he not 316 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: the bootlegger they were hunting, he didn't have any liquor 317 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: on him at all. Sure, he was there probably to 318 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 1: buy a drink, but there was no actual evidence that 319 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:56,359 Speaker 1: he was taking part in a crime. 320 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 2: And then then found out that this was also World 321 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 2: War One veteran, was married, had a child that was 322 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:09,919 Speaker 2: very young, it's less than a year old, and was 323 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,119 Speaker 2: a hero to the community for being that World War 324 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 2: One veteran was very well liked. 325 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:18,560 Speaker 1: And that led to something new for Richard because in 326 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: the man's hometown, Sioux City, Iowa, there was a righteous 327 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: uproar against Richard. 328 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,119 Speaker 4: He had to have a court appearance because they were 329 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 4: charging him with manslaughter. 330 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,679 Speaker 1: Led by the murdered man's grieving widow, a crowd of 331 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: thousands gathered in downtown Sioux City in protest. Some in 332 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,199 Speaker 1: the crowd were even muttering that they should kill Richard 333 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: in return. 334 00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 2: And so he was under a lot of heat, so 335 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 2: he had to lay. 336 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: Low, and that cleared the scene for another batch of 337 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 1: foot soldiers, even more willing to enforce prohibition, not with handcuffs, 338 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: but with hand guns. Remember it was no secret at 339 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:03,679 Speaker 1: this point that the prohibition enforcement effort was a complete debacle. 340 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,480 Speaker 1: In Washington, Mabel was burning with white hot rage. The 341 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,880 Speaker 1: gall of George remas the king of bootleggers, doing time 342 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,239 Speaker 1: for tax evasion by playing poker with his pals and 343 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: dining on Filet Mignon on Millionaire's row. The treachery of 344 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: that slime ball Jess Smith, Mabel's DOJ officemate, whose pockets 345 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:27,439 Speaker 1: were lined by the country's biggest bootleggers. They were proof 346 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:31,840 Speaker 1: that playing by the rules got you nowhere. The dry 347 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: warriors in Mabel's DOJ and the prohibition agents and the 348 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:39,959 Speaker 1: treasury came to a startling conclusion, due process not working, 349 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: They're done with it. In order to uphold the prohibition laws, 350 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,919 Speaker 1: they were ready to dispense with all the other pesky laws, 351 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,720 Speaker 1: and so they saddled up with the Ku Klux Klan. 352 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:02,120 Speaker 1: Mobile Alabama, one of the South's oldest port cities, where 353 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:05,880 Speaker 1: the Gulf of Mexico lapsed gently at white sand beaches 354 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 1: and the spinach stip comes with crawfish. We'll get to 355 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: the Klan in a minute, but before we do, you 356 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: got to understand that as a gateway to the Caribbean 357 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:19,719 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty three, Mobile was home to a whole 358 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:23,439 Speaker 1: economy of rum runners and bootleggers. And you know who 359 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 1: hated that, Good old Mabel Walker Willebrandt. She was determined 360 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,120 Speaker 1: to cast a net into those waters and drag them out, 361 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: gasping and flopping. But she had a problem. As always, 362 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 1: her man on the ground was supposed to be the 363 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 1: US Attorney, a federal government lawyer who could lead the charge, 364 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,680 Speaker 1: to organize the prosecution, get the legal ducks in a row, 365 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 1: you know all that stuff. But the US Attorney in 366 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: Alabama was in way over his head. After a good run, 367 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 1: and we're talking one hundred and seventeen indictments against big 368 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: timers and Mobile, the liquor cabal flipped the script and 369 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: rested him. That uno reverse card really does come in 370 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:05,840 Speaker 1: handy sometimes, doesn't it. 371 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 2: Local tas. 372 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 9: Local judges didn't want to prosecute prohibition cases. 373 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,040 Speaker 1: That's historian Tom Pegram. 374 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 9: Their local communities weren't in favor of them. Juries would 375 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:21,119 Speaker 9: turn people loose or there would be like very small fines. 376 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 1: And in nineteen twenty three, when Mabel wanted to sweep 377 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 1: the liquor out of Alabama, this was exactly what she faced. 378 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: So she set up what she called a flying squad. 379 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,280 Speaker 1: She put together a handpicked crew of officers and lawyers 380 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: in Washington who could travel south and leave the corrupt 381 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 1: local officials out of the legal proceedings. All on their own. 382 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:46,760 Speaker 1: They would plan a raid, scoop up the purpse, collect 383 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:50,360 Speaker 1: the evidence, and slam the wets into jail cells. 384 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:52,239 Speaker 2: This is where the clan comes in. 385 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: Actually the clan, those fucking guys seriously well yeah, See 386 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: In the fall of nineteen twenty, while Richard Hard was 387 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:05,240 Speaker 1: shooting at fleeing cars, Mabel was picking the new head 388 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: coach for her liquor busting team in Alabama. She needed 389 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,920 Speaker 1: someone beyond the reach of the mobile good old boys network, 390 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:17,479 Speaker 1: and she landed on a lawyer named Hugo Black. Hugo 391 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: made his bones as a defense lawyer for the Ku 392 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 1: Klux Klan. One klansman, a Methodist minister had gunned down 393 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: a Catholic priest. Hugo Black argued it was done in 394 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: self defense, since the two men had scuffled the day before. 395 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,040 Speaker 1: So what did Mabel take from all this? Well, in 396 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:38,680 Speaker 1: the War of the Wets against the Dryes, the Catholic 397 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: communities generally held onto their drinking traditions. They were wets 398 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,920 Speaker 1: in classic the enemy of my enemy is my friend logic. 399 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:53,120 Speaker 1: Hugo was on her side, and the Klan, well, they 400 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:54,760 Speaker 1: were only too eager to help. 401 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,480 Speaker 9: The Klan started to say, hey, you know, we'll help 402 00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:00,719 Speaker 9: with investigations. And even though a lot of clan drank, 403 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 9: the argument was, once it's in the Constitution, it has 404 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 9: to be enforced, and if it's not enforced, that destabilizes 405 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:13,919 Speaker 9: American democracy. And then guess what, who are the most 406 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 9: likely violators of prohibition? All the groups we already don't like? 407 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:23,160 Speaker 1: Who did the clan target pretty much anyone who wasn't 408 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:27,480 Speaker 1: white and Protestant, anyone who wasn't already cut in the 409 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:31,399 Speaker 1: mold of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. We're talking immigrants, 410 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: Black Americans, Jews, Catholics, everyone the Dry movement was trying 411 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: to squeeze. The Klan was like, hey, you're giving us 412 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: an excuse to just beat up all the people we 413 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: don't like. 414 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 4: Right on. 415 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,680 Speaker 1: So when Mabel sees a lawyer ready to dive into 416 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,600 Speaker 1: the culture war by stretching the meaning of self defense 417 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: to an unbelievable breaking point, all to defend murderous clansmen, 418 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: she sees the kind of conviction she's been looking for. 419 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,000 Speaker 1: One reporter asked her how she justified working with the Klan, 420 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:02,400 Speaker 1: and Mabel. 421 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:04,399 Speaker 10: Said, I have no objection to people dressing up in 422 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,160 Speaker 10: sheets if they enjoyed that sort of thing. 423 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:11,240 Speaker 1: So this is crazy, right. I mean, yeah, Mabel's been 424 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 1: the Ice Queen and all that, but there's a difference 425 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:18,639 Speaker 1: between cold and cutthroat. There's a difference between coordinating with 426 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,639 Speaker 1: the Coastguard to stop rum runners and teaming up with 427 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:26,879 Speaker 1: the nation's most powerful cabal of racist murderers. Mabel was 428 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: at the end of her rope. She decided she was 429 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 1: ready and willing to cross that line. Since Mabel recruited 430 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:39,879 Speaker 1: actual official prosecutors from the KKK, well, it sent a 431 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,000 Speaker 1: signal to the clan across the nation. So clan members 432 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: from Illinois made a trip to the Treasury offices in Washington, 433 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,680 Speaker 1: and they found the doors wide open to them. They 434 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 1: told the Treasury officials that they had plenty of foot 435 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: soldiers ready and willing to rain hell on bootleggers back 436 00:25:56,359 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 1: at home. The Prohibition Commissioner liked the offer, sent a 437 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:02,480 Speaker 1: few of his division chiefs and gave them the order 438 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:08,840 Speaker 1: deputized the clansmen and unleash them on southern Illinois. And 439 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 1: that brings us to two Gun. No, not Richard Hart, 440 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 1: there was actually a different guy with that nickname too, 441 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: Two Gun Glenn Young another two gun in the nineteen twenties. 442 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:23,400 Speaker 1: What can I say? This is America. There's at least 443 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:26,879 Speaker 1: two guns for every guy that wants them. Here's where 444 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,480 Speaker 1: both two guns line up. By nineteen twenty three, two 445 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,920 Speaker 1: Gun Glen Young had already been on trial for murdering 446 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: bootleggers across southern Illinois. In fact, he added mankiller to 447 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,439 Speaker 1: his nickname. So in nineteen twenty three, the Klan in 448 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:46,359 Speaker 1: southern Illinois asked guys like two Gun Man Killer to 449 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,879 Speaker 1: come on down to the city of Heron and crush 450 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,959 Speaker 1: a pesky problem for them. Immigrant Italian mine workers had 451 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,399 Speaker 1: been fighting with the mine company that ran the place. 452 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:59,639 Speaker 1: Those fights had gotten bloody, workers had already been killed, 453 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,600 Speaker 1: so the clan figure that putting a couple more guns 454 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: to work was exactly what they needed. So in December 455 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 1: of nineteen twenty three, over five hundred Clan raiders deputized 456 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: as prohibition agents, swept down through the Italian immigrant homes. 457 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,680 Speaker 1: But what they did was the opposite of law enforcement. 458 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:23,000 Speaker 1: It was straight up terrorism. One Italian recalled the scene 459 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,480 Speaker 1: when a gang of armed clansmen broke into his home. 460 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,280 Speaker 1: They smashed up his kitchen. They even drank his wine, 461 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 1: mocking him before they dragged him to jail. After two 462 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,840 Speaker 1: major raids by the clan, now turned into federal agents, 463 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: two gunman Killer took up residents as the de facto 464 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 1: military dictator of the county. The violence continued home invasions, beatings, shootings, 465 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 1: kidnapped locals were paraded downtown by Clan gunmen. But if 466 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:55,080 Speaker 1: they thought this was going to win support for their cause, 467 00:27:55,640 --> 00:28:02,320 Speaker 1: they miscalculated badly. The blood they spilled it shocked the public. 468 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:04,960 Speaker 1: Klan took over the city. 469 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:10,000 Speaker 7: Drys and Wets Clan and anti clan contending forces ironhel 470 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 7: Glen Young continues as acting chief of police. 471 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,240 Speaker 1: As the violence escalated, the clan mounted machine guns on 472 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 1: downtown buildings. Attacks and hospitals left the walls riddled with 473 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,440 Speaker 1: bullet holes. Desperate cries went out for the army and 474 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:27,119 Speaker 1: the National Guard to step in and stop the violence. 475 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:31,720 Speaker 1: Military forces swept in to take control. Papers across the nation, 476 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:35,159 Speaker 1: from Fresno to Baltimore carried stories of the fighting. 477 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 7: Guardsman patrol streets, Glen Young Clan Dry Raider held after 478 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 7: fight last night. 479 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: Dry Agent under arrest. 480 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 7: Raids and Illinois result in charges of assault against Young. 481 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: The blood spilled by two gun Man killer Glen Young 482 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:56,040 Speaker 1: and others like him stained the Dry cause. Many prohibition 483 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 1: supporters didn't think it had to come at such a 484 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 1: violent price. Supporters of the law started to waver, if 485 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 1: this is what it took to enforce prohibition, was it 486 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: really worth it? But the most hardcore Dries, well, they 487 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: thought the fight hadn't gone far enough, and they made 488 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: that clear in their defense of Richard two gun Heart. 489 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,240 Speaker 1: The violence in Illinois shocked the nation, but in spite 490 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: of that, Richard two gun Heart still had allies. 491 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:39,640 Speaker 4: Surprisingly with the entire community against him and him fearing 492 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:44,000 Speaker 4: for his life. It was the Women's Christian Temperance Union 493 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 4: came to his defense and so they were able to 494 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,800 Speaker 4: pay for two Dunhart's attorney to give him an attorney. 495 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: This lawyer hired by the WCTU wasn't just going to 496 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: defend Richard in the court of law. He was also 497 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,600 Speaker 1: going to defend him in the court of public opinion. 498 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,120 Speaker 7: This is not a question of the guilt or innocence 499 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 7: of heart. It is an issue of the enforcement of 500 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:10,640 Speaker 7: the law. Enforcement officers are too timid. Now if an 501 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,920 Speaker 7: enforcement officer is convicted of such a charge, it will 502 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 7: make bootleggers secure. 503 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:16,800 Speaker 2: All right. 504 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,240 Speaker 1: I want to spend a minute here, because this is key. 505 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: This guy, the defense lawyer for Richard Hart, is saying 506 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:27,240 Speaker 1: that whether or not Richard shot this guy doesn't really 507 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,960 Speaker 1: matter because in his view, that's what it takes to 508 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 1: enforce the law. He's saying prohibition officers should not get 509 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: in trouble for gunning down suspects. But that's not all. 510 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: He's also saying that it's a damn shame. Most officers 511 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:45,960 Speaker 1: are too scared to do what Richard had done. Think 512 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: about it. He's saying this in the context of everything 513 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: we've talked about. Violence was already rampant. Prohibition agents had 514 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: been killing people for years, and that's what he's saying 515 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:03,959 Speaker 1: was too timid. I mean, holy shit. And remember it 516 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 1: was the Women's Christian Temperance Union who paid for this 517 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 1: lawyer to defend Richard with this argument. In fact, throughout 518 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:14,920 Speaker 1: the nineteen twenties, the WCTU had made it clear they 519 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: were pretty much okay with violence against bootleggers. In their 520 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:21,320 Speaker 1: way of thinking, the only way to hold back the 521 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:24,360 Speaker 1: tide of liquor flooding the country was to unleash a 522 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:28,880 Speaker 1: hail of bullets to them. Richard Hart's guns weren't only justified, 523 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:30,760 Speaker 1: they were sanctified. 524 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:34,600 Speaker 4: Saying that by putting him, by putting a prohibition agent 525 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:39,760 Speaker 4: Touguenhart on trout or manslaughter, it's making him a martyr 526 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 4: of probition. 527 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: But there was one person in this moment who was wavering. 528 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 1: You might be surprised to hear it was Mabel Walker Willebrandt. 529 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 1: She wanted prohibition enforced, and in principle she was okay 530 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:55,920 Speaker 1: with the violent tactics. I mean, heck, she was running 531 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,320 Speaker 1: cover in the papers as the Klan did the dirty work, 532 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,360 Speaker 1: but as the f of prohibition, she could tell the 533 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:08,720 Speaker 1: bad press was undermining her cause. She welcomed citizen vigilantes 534 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: taking up arms on behalf of prohibition, but from the 535 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: nerve center in the Department of Justice, she could see 536 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:16,880 Speaker 1: how crowds across the country were growing more and more 537 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,880 Speaker 1: angry with the bloodshed. Mabel launched an inquiry into the shooting. 538 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,360 Speaker 1: From the beginning, she had fought. 539 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 4: For these fearless, high integrity men that were willing to 540 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 4: do this very dangerous job that the majority of the 541 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:32,800 Speaker 4: US were not in favor of. 542 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,800 Speaker 1: So when Mabel realized how badly it was backfiring to 543 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:40,240 Speaker 1: have cowboys and clan cops shooting their way through liquor busts, 544 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:44,760 Speaker 1: she and the Women's Christian Temperance Union parted ways. The 545 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:48,480 Speaker 1: WCTU had been powerful in previous years, but they won 546 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:51,720 Speaker 1: their battles by getting into the papers. To Mabel's eyes, 547 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,239 Speaker 1: it was bad press, I imagine that made her, you know, 548 00:32:55,440 --> 00:33:00,239 Speaker 1: pretty annoyed. Prohibitions already unpopular now a backlash against too 549 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,080 Speaker 1: much violence was only going to make her job harder, 550 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:05,360 Speaker 1: so she tried to get out ahead of it. 551 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:10,800 Speaker 10: I condemn as atrocious, wholly unwarranted, and entirely unnecessary some 552 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:12,920 Speaker 10: of the killing by prohibition agents. 553 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,480 Speaker 1: Did you catch that? She said? She condemns some of 554 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 1: the killings. Some that is so telling to me. How 555 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:25,080 Speaker 1: about all the killing, Mabel? Does killing someone for bootlegging 556 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:27,960 Speaker 1: really feel like a punishment that fits the crime? And 557 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,560 Speaker 1: what about that old right to trial by jury? What 558 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:35,440 Speaker 1: about innocent until proven guilty? What about you know, the 559 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 1: rest of the law. Well, none of that was what 560 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:42,480 Speaker 1: Mabel was worried about. Nope, She's only worried about some 561 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:46,040 Speaker 1: of the killings, apparently, just the ones that lead to 562 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:50,000 Speaker 1: bad press. Like Richard Harts. She wrote directly to the 563 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:53,040 Speaker 1: US attorney handling his case, calling Richard. 564 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:56,080 Speaker 10: Guilty of carelessness and indifference to consequences. 565 00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,880 Speaker 2: I think that that really did strike him. 566 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,480 Speaker 4: Here was something that he was proud of, being two gun, 567 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,760 Speaker 4: always getting a man, using tough guy ways to get. 568 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:11,040 Speaker 1: A Before Richard stood trial, the Coroner's jury of Nebraska 569 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:14,440 Speaker 1: decided not to pursue the manslaughter case against him. But 570 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:17,800 Speaker 1: the damage to the dry Cause was done by Richard 571 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:22,440 Speaker 1: and by other reckless, violent or downright vicious enforcers. If 572 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:26,040 Speaker 1: the judge was lenient in Richard's case, Mabel was more harsh. 573 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 4: He was forcing payback essentially his salary for that crime, 574 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:34,200 Speaker 4: and saying that he was careless and reckless in his behavior. 575 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 1: Car chases, gunfights, massacres. It was time for the circus 576 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,799 Speaker 1: to end. If prohibition was going to win, killing bootleggers 577 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:47,000 Speaker 1: in the open where the blood was practically splattering on bystanders, 578 00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 1: kind of worked against the cause. Mabel needed to shut 579 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:57,279 Speaker 1: that down. Enforcing prohibition with arrests and court cases that 580 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:01,239 Speaker 1: wasn't enough. Enforcing prohibition with guns in the stre oh 581 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:05,720 Speaker 1: that was backfiring. The Ice Queen needed something different, something 582 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:09,240 Speaker 1: that would scare the bootleggers and speakeasy drinkers so bad 583 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:13,919 Speaker 1: they would stop on their own. All the better if 584 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:21,080 Speaker 1: this could all be done quietly, which brings us back 585 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 1: behind the scenes, out of the public eye where lawyers 586 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:29,720 Speaker 1: like Mabel were arguing over murder, Back into James Durand's lab, 587 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:33,960 Speaker 1: back to chemistry. Because deep in the bowels of the 588 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:38,640 Speaker 1: Treasury Department, the prohibition enforcers, led by Duran were also 589 00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:42,560 Speaker 1: taking aim at drinkers. It was in their beakers and 590 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:46,200 Speaker 1: test tubes that the next assault on Americans began to 591 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:52,160 Speaker 1: take shape. That's next time on SNAFU, and. 592 00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,560 Speaker 6: He writes this letter where he talks about how the 593 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:57,120 Speaker 6: poison is settled in his legs and he can't get 594 00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 6: up without falling over. His signature is just so scratsheet. 595 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,640 Speaker 6: I mean you can tell that he's shaking. 596 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:17,120 Speaker 1: Snafu is a production of iHeartRadio, Film, Nation Entertainment, and 597 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:21,440 Speaker 1: Pacific Electric Picture Company in association with Gilded Audio. It's 598 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:25,760 Speaker 1: executive produced by me Ed Helms, Milan Papelka, Mike Falbo, 599 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:30,320 Speaker 1: Whitney Donaldson, and Dylan Fagan. Our lead producers are Carl 600 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:34,440 Speaker 1: Nellis and Alyssa Martino. This episode was written by Albert Chen, 601 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:38,160 Speaker 1: Carl Nellis and Nevin Callapoly, with additional writing and story 602 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:42,399 Speaker 1: editing from Alyssa Martino and Ed Helms. Additional production from 603 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:46,840 Speaker 1: Stephen Wood, Olivia Canny, and Kelsey Albright. Torry Smith is 604 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:50,600 Speaker 1: our associate producer. Our story editor is Nicki Stein. Our 605 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:54,319 Speaker 1: production assistants are Nevin Kalapoly and a kimminy Ekpo. Fact 606 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:58,440 Speaker 1: checking by Charles Richter. Our creative executive is Brett Harris, editing, 607 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:02,240 Speaker 1: music and sound design by Ben chug Engineering and technical 608 00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:06,320 Speaker 1: direction by Nick Dooley Andrew chug Is Gilded Audio's creative director. 609 00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:10,520 Speaker 1: Theme music by Dan Rosatto. The role of Mabel Walker 610 00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:13,960 Speaker 1: willa Brandt was played by Kerrie Bische. Special thanks to 611 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:17,000 Speaker 1: Alison Cohen, Daniel Welsh, and Ben Ryzac