Legendary gangster carries Moose Jaw connections
Did legendary mobster and bootlegger Al Capone have a presence in Moose Jaw in the 1920s? Maybe he did…maybe he didn’t? But the story is cool. Wikimedia Commons photo
The question is always there – did he or didn’t he? What there is no question about is the wide variety of tunnels and excavations under the streets and businesses of Moose Jaw, going well beyond traditional basements and storage spaces. They were used by immigrants to travel between areas of the downtown core – some say illicitly, some say to avoid the cold. They weren’t high tech constructions but they got the job done in the early 1900s. And that’s where Mr. Alphonse Capone comes into the equation. It’s long been rumoured that Capone – the legendary mobster, crime boss and businessman known mostly as one of the most powerful bootleggers of the Prohibition era – set up stakes in Moose Jaw at the height of his powers. Whether to let the heat cool off when the feds got too close for comfort, or simply as another avenue with which to funnel liquor into the Dry States,
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Research done by family members casts little doubt – his greatneice Deidre Capone said in a Metro Regina article back in 2013 they were certain he was active up in this part of the world in the 1920s via rail-line connections between Chicago and North Dakota, with only a short trip to Moose Jaw from there. The extent of his business in the city is completely unknown – Capone was famous for his secrecy and ability to cover his trail, to the point that, famously, prosecutors were only able to take him down by way of tax evasion charges. That hasn’t stopped Moose Jaw from romanticizing Capone’s fame and notoriety. Hotels and bars are named after him and the famous Tunnels of Moose Jaw tour gives patrons a rundown of what it might have been like in Capone’s heyday in the city. It matters little…The idea is enough, and there’s no question it makes for one heck of a cool story.