Prohibition era rum runners and criminals made a great deal of money. So did moonshiners. That doesn’t mean they kept it, people tend to spend easy money fast. However, it does make for a logical target to pursue.
Moonshiners Caches, Rum Runner Stashes, and a Bit of Salvage
You not only can focus on the prohibition caches, but on their copper equipment, as sometimes the law caught up to the stills and destroyed them. The law, however, would leave the wrecked still, and often I’ve heard that the copper from the stills can still be found. At current prices, it sells for a pretty penny. Not to mention, some artifacts left behind like crockery are collector’s items.
Moonshiners and rum runners were well known in the area for their wares. Local history usually remembers it, the local historical society may even have files on these men and women. Tracking down their homesteads can be done using tax rolls, census, and property transfer research at the courthouse.
Bigger operations began spilling into organized crime, and you may discover that organized crime learns to launder their ill gotten gains and use the banking system. So chose targets that likely buried their loot, not laundered it. How to do that? Frankly, I don’t know but I suspect the local history legends will indicate how large a gang they were involved in, if they were in a gang at all.
The main focus of Prohibition targets will fall in the 1920’s through the 1930’s. The activity was illegal, and the rum runners and moonshiners understood that every two bit crook knew where to find them so it makes sense that their illicit earnings were hidden.
