Smugglers of the West
Tales of Contraband and Crooks
- Publisher
- Heritage House Publishing
- Initial publish date
- Nov 2011
- Category
- Organized Crime, General, General
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781926936918
- Publish Date
- Nov 2011
- List Price
- $9.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781926936000
- Publish Date
- Dec 2011
- List Price
- $4.99
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Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 15
- Grade: 10
Description
Do you think the smuggling of drugs and people is a new phenomenon in Canada’s west? Think again! Between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries, many daring smugglers carried contraband goods and people into western Canada across the US–Canada border or into BC from Asia. Smugglers of the West tells the dramatic tales of the bold criminals who smuggled Chinese immigrants, opium, liquor and a host of commodities ranging from wool to live animals to tobacco. Among them are Boss Harris, the shadowy kingpin whose opium-smuggling empire stretched from Victoria across North America, and King of the Smugglers Larry Kelly, who reputedly tied illegal Chinese immigrants to pig iron so they could be tossed overboard if American patrollers got too close. Rosemary Neering takes readers into a shadowy world where no item was too small and no risk too large for the men and women who carried goods and people clandestinely across the border.
About the author
Rosemary Neering is a Victoria-based writer, editor, and photographer. She has published numerous articles in noted periodicals such as British Columbia Magazine, Canada's History Magazine, and Western Living. Rosemary also has over 40 book-length publications to her name, including A Traveller's Guide to Historic British Columbia and Down the Road. Her most recent publications include The Pig War: The Last Canada-US Border Conflict and British Columbia Bizarre: A Compendium of Facts, Stories, Whimsies and a Few Outright Lies from Canada's Wacky West Coast. When Rosemary isn`t travelling throughout BC looking for new stories, she enjoys time at home with her partner, Joe, and her cat.
Librarian Reviews
Smugglers of the West: Tales of Contraband and Crooks
With the first custom duties set around 1858 in BC, came the first smugglers. Goods were carried on men’s backs, horses and canoes to evade the law. Gold, foodstuffs, wool, tobacco, liquor, opium and humans were smuggled across the border. Smuggling Chinese men into the United States went hand in hand with smuggling opium. Between 1887 and 1890 some 4000 Chinese men entered BC legally with the Canadian government profiting from the $50 per person head tax. At least half of the immigrants were then smuggled into the US. Both intricate smuggling networks and independent crooks got in on the action. Eventually with the development of wireless telegraphy, ham radios, codes and systems for handling immigrants, smuggling became more difficult. The author recounts the daring exploits of smugglers and of determined lawmen who pursued them.Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. BC Books for BC Schools. 2012-2013.
Other titles by
A Traveller's Guide to Historic British Columbia
Down the Road
Journeys through Small-Town British Columbia
The Spanish on the Northwest Coast
For Glory, God and Gain
British Columbia Bizarre
Stories, Whimsies, Facts and a Few Outright Lies from Canada's Wacky West Coast
Wild West Women
Travellers, Adventurers and Rebels
The Canadian Housewife
An Affectionate History
The Pig War
The Last Canada–US Border Conflict
Heart of a Peacock, The
Government House
The Ceremonial Home of All British Columbians
