It’s not what I expected in the little town of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Who would have thought that a gangster from Chicago, Al Capone, would be bootlegging alcohol in tunnels under Moose Jaw?
It must have been a big change for Mr. Capone, who was raised in New York and then controlled Chicago’s crime scene, to visit a town hundreds of times smaller.
My family and I arrived at 7 PM for the Chicago Connection Tour. We were guided across the street where we met Miss Fanny, otherwise known as the lady of the bar. The tour is an interactive show with a couple of actors who do a great job at entertaining, complete with old Chicago accents and lingo.
We were shown a quick video in the bar that gave us some history of Al Capone and the alcohol bootlegging industry. We were then treated as bootleggers ourselves and brought into the tunnels to meet gangster Gus, who guided us through the rest of the tunnels. The accents were great. The way it’s all organized is great. There was suspense. Some people even got scared (like my mom).
All in all, it was a great show and if you ever find yourself passing through southern Saskatchewan, it’s worth the visit.
You can also enjoy a latte across the street where the tour begins.
Learn more at www.tunnelsofmoosejaw.com.
Have you been to the tunnels of Moose Jaw before?
I find it fascinating to hear about the bootlegging that was going on during prohibition. Prohibition only lasted a few weeks in Quebec so Capone saw it as an opportunity and brought a lot of alcohol through the province and particularly through Hull (where we live). Tim and I work in a brewery here and inside is a small museum that talks about those days, very interesting times.
Wow, that is interesting. I was amused that all this went down in Moose Jaw of all places. It was even called “Little Chicago”…which is an understatement. haha. I can’t imagine how different it must have been for the guys transitioning from Chicago to Moose Jaw. Definitely worth a stop on a drive through Saskatchewan.