Missouri

More than three-quarters of Missouri voted to repeal Prohibition on August 19, 1933. Ten days later, on August 29th, a convention took place ratifying that decision. Missouri's experience with Prohibition was characterized by overzealous enforcement by officials who were sometimes criminals themselves.

  • In April of 1925, a story ran about how the federal government, in response to reports of bootlegging on some islands on the Missouri River, decided to bomb the islands with mustard gas.

  • Also in 1925, one patrolman and another former policeman tried to steal liquor from a bootleggers' cave, which evidently didn't sit well with the bootleggers. The two men were later found dead, with “blows on their head and their throats. . .cut.”


Sources:

DEFIERS OF LIQUOR LAW FACING GAS, Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File); Apr 23, 1925; ProQuest Historical Newspapers Los Angeles Times (1881 – 1986), pg. 2

OFFICERS ARE SLAIN IN BOOTLEGEGRS' DEN, The Washington Post (1877-1954); Feb 23, 1925; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1877 – 1991), pg. 1