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May 18, 2023

*BONUS* The Tale of Whale Cove: Hidden Spirits in a Smuggler's Paradise

*BONUS* The Tale of Whale Cove: Hidden Spirits in a Smuggler's Paradise

Join us for a sip of history, as we unveil a remastered version of a previous Patreon Live! We'll take you on a thrilling adventure to Whale Cove, where we unravel the tale of a mysterious boatload of booze smuggled around this hazardous coastline in the Prohibition-Era Pacific Northwest. Along the way, we discuss the 18th Amendment, the Women's Christian Temperance Movement, and the not-so-secret dealings of bootleggers and mobsters.

As always, we wrap up with a tarot reading to gain deeper insight into the themes discussed. We explore the power of intuition, as well as the symbolism of our card. So, grab a drink (responsibly, of course), sit back, and join us on this captivating exploration of booze in the olden-days, the Prohibition-Era, and one of the many not so savory secrets of the Pacific Northwest.

In this BONUS episode we're sharing a promo from our friends at Florida Men on Florida Man, or FMOFM! (IYKYK)  and check out the Kid's Version: The Sunny Coast Clubhouse if there's a kiddo in your life in need of some new, awesome programming!

--------- HIGHLIGHTS ---------
0:00:03 - Illegal Activity on a Boat (166 Seconds)
0:09:21 - Corrupt Police & Confiscated Liquor (81 Seconds)
0:12:11 - Survival Sex Work & Spousal Abuse (84 Seconds)
0:15:16 - The Sea Island (112 Seconds)
0:21:21 - Smuggling Booze (77 Seconds)
0:27:34 - Investigating a Vehicular Crash & Bootleggers (57 Seconds)
0:32:05 - Anonymously Tipped Heist (58 Seconds)
0:36:29 - Prohibition (and its eventual Repeal) in Oregon (102 Seconds)
0:40:02 - Tarot Reading Interpretation (101 Seconds)
0:51:55 - Beach Party Theme for Patreon Live (90 Seconds)

We're celebrating our Podiversary @ UFO Fest in Downtown McMinnville.There's a whole weekend of festivities @ McMenamin's Grand Lodge as well! Also, the $1 tier of our Patreon remains open for a limited time. There are so many ways that you can support the show: BuyMeACoffee, Apple Podcasts or the Buzzsprout Subscription Feature, or by leaving a rating & review on Apple Podcasts.  It helps get us seen by more creepy people just like you!  Visit our website!  Find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Patreon,  & more!  If you have any true crime, paranormal, or witchy stories you'd like to share with us & possibly have them read (out loud) on an episode, email us at pnwhauntsandhomicides@gmail.com or use this link
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Transcript

--------- HIGHLIGHTS & TRANSCRIPT ---------

0:00:03 - Illegal Activity on a Boat (166 Seconds)

0:00:03 Speaker 1
Now it shouldn't be shocking, given that it's a weird boat out in the middle of the sea. Already told you it's prohibition rum running, blah, blah, blah. But these guys were hauling more than band-aids and baby blankets. No, you don't say Probably none of either. The boat was in fact carrying some rather illicit cargo, that's right, a literal boatload of booze. Hi Cassie, hi Katelyn, hi creepy people. 

0:00:43 Speaker 2
Hello, hello. 

0:00:47 Speaker 1
If you're new to our creepy corner of the world, this is PNW Haunts & Homicides, where we chat about true crime, the paranormal and all things creepy in the Pacific Northwest, which is what PNW stands for, And we do a terror reading at the end of every episode just for a little deeper insight into whatever we're talking about. 

0:01:10 Speaker 2
So make sure you stick around if you're into that All right, and I don't think we really have any new announcements. 

0:01:19 Speaker 1
We have some things that you can look at in the show notes for upcoming events, unless we don't Yeah unless we don't Yep. All right Moving right along. So today's episode Cassie has already heard. 

0:01:38 Speaker 2
I have, but you're all in luck because my memory is terrible, so it'll be just like it's the first time I'm hearing it. 

0:01:47 Speaker 1
Yeah, except this time you'll actually be able to interject a little bit more. That's true, yeah, so for those of you that don't know, we actually talked about this story for a Patreon live and the Patreon still has access to the recording of the live stream. But now we're going to do it afresh here and we're going to let Cassie I don't know get a word in edgewise maybe. 

0:02:13 Speaker 2
I know Cassie does these things where we have a time limit and she's like oh sorry, you can't talk, oh my, gosh, yeah, this will be fun. 

0:02:25 Speaker 1
We were pretty loose in the live show, except for it was like okay, but I have to get through all of the content and we have this time limit, yeah, yeah. So it was really super casual, except for it was really intense and stressful. 

0:02:40 Speaker 2
It was fun, though. We had a delicious cocktail that you get to see, so if you are part of the Patreon, check that out. 

0:02:46 Speaker 1
Yeah, and I do know that we had a couple of people that 

0:09:21 - Corrupt Police & Confiscated Liquor (81 Seconds)

0:09:21 Speaker 1
She is posing in a picture with the Portland police in front of a cache of 108 cases of liquor waiting to be destroyed. Man, and you probably remember this picture. 

0:09:36 Speaker 2
Of the original Karen, yeah. 

0:09:41 Speaker 1
The police department used its basement as a warehouse for confiscated liquor. They only destroyed as much as the public demanded, which was there a big public demand. 

0:09:58 Speaker 2
What does that mean? They kept some. 

0:10:01 Speaker 1
I'll explain. Okay, i don't remember this part. 

0:10:04 Speaker 2
Oh my gosh. 

0:10:04 Speaker 1
Yeah, vice squad members sometimes delivered cases of liquor to City Hall and most speakeasies paid corrupt police officers for protection and tip-offs before liquor raids Interesting. So I guess that's what that means. They only destroyed as much as the public demanded. 

0:10:26 Speaker 2
So like as much as the public knew about. but if there was any they didn't know about, they were like hmm, or you know as much of the public that actually wanted it destroyed that they knew about, so it's kind of a layered. 

0:10:39 Speaker 1
It's a real onion situation. 

0:10:41 Speaker 2
Yeah, oh my gosh. 

0:12:11 - Survival Sex Work & Spousal Abuse (84 Seconds)

0:12:11 Speaker 1
Women were often placed in precarious positions, forcing them to turn to survival sex work or left vulnerable to spousal abuse in one form or another, which also don't love. No, not great. Unless you were lucky enough to hit the husband jackpot with a progressive, free thinking, emotionally well-rounded and truly loving partner, it was very easy to end up in dire straits at the hands of someone with more than his fair share of booze on his breath. 

0:12:47 Speaker 2
Yeah, it makes sense why a lot of women didn't like it. 

0:12:52 Speaker 1
Yeah. All that said, one quick glance at this image which it's going to make it on the socials for this one, because it's whoof I just couldn't help but think my God, someone, get this woman a stiff drink. 

0:13:09 Speaker 2
A stiff something. 

0:13:13 Speaker 1
Although, to be fair, I don't know if any of the temperance movement. it sounds like they were basically just like no booze y'all, But I like to think that they were like, yeah, we're all about this prohibition stuff, but then they had like bra flasks. 

0:13:32 Speaker 3
Yeah. 

0:13:34 Speaker 2
Only for the women.

0:15:16 - The Sea Island (112 Seconds)

0:15:16 Speaker 1
Let's introduce the vessel doing the Lord's work out there on the dark sea waters of the old timey PNW. 

0:15:25 Speaker 2
I love it. 

0:15:26 Speaker 1
Old timey beach. Yeah, vibes, let's go. The Sea Island was a Canadian rum runner out of Vancouver, bc. So just clarify this is a boat. I know its name is the Sea Island. It's not an island, it's a boat, it's a boat. It's a boat. As the crew aboard the Sea Island approached Will Cove this particular evening in February, the engine was only firing on a singular cylinder, which, as remains true, when we did the live stream, i got nothing. 

0:16:05 Speaker 2
How many cylinders should there be? 

0:16:07 Speaker 1
Yeah, i don't know I am given to understand that is bad. 

0:16:11 Speaker 2
Obviously there should be more than one, Yeah. 

0:16:14 Speaker 1
I don't know Whatever That's basically sporting. Talk to me and I think everybody knows how we feel about that. I was perfectly willing to tell you about amendments to the Constitution, because we all know that's a spicy topic, but I draw the line at digging in on the mechanics. So yeah, sorry. 

0:16:35 Speaker 2
I'm with you. My eyes would have glazed over anyway if you tried to explain it. 

0:16:42 Speaker 1
In any case, the ship was very quickly dashed against the rocks. I know, oh no. 

0:16:50 Speaker 2
Who could have seen that coming Party foul? Yeah, am I right? 

0:16:58 Speaker 1
It's just kind of one of those things where you're like wow, huh, come on, never saw that coming. 

0:17:06 Speaker 2
Yeah, laird, it was dangerous work. 

0:21:21 - Smuggling Booze (77 Seconds)

0:21:21 Speaker 1
The men would later tell the authorities that the sea island just accidentally drifted into the cove. Okay, okay, in this instance, just like law enforcement at the time, i'm inclined to believe that the cove was, of course, actually their true destination. Right, number one, it seems, the party's responsible for the trucks that were likely waiting on standby for a spirited hand-off. Oh, i see what you did there, right, right, okay. So they were not prepared to abide by the maritime code and risk going down, at least metaphorically, with the ship because they'd taken off in order to avoid jail time. So the guys in the trucks were, like bye, abandoned by the transport vehicles awaiting the shipment. The crew then buried their precious cargo on the sandy beach before them. So you're just a big old copycat wanting to bury little airplane bottles Yes, exactly. Historians and locals have speculated this was likely the usual system for offloading the booze, as it might avoid detection. 

0:27:34 - Investigating a Vehicular Crash & Bootleggers (57 Seconds)

0:27:34 Speaker 1
Anywho, at this time Trooper Johnson of the Oregon State Police was beginning to investigate the vehicular crash. It's a little tiny car, the old timey car with the nosey belts. He quickly realized that the plates had been switched, thereby blowing the cover of the Canadians who'd been seen in Hebo. Prior to boarding a bus to Portland, he was like hey, i wonder if this weird car that, like, has the plates switched out and is, like, overturned and abandoned, has anything to do with these bootleggers that also crash their boat. Probably not Unrelated. I would say Listen, if this was a serial killer they would definitely be thinking these are unrelated. That's just how that goes, you're right. Right. Their descriptions were wired to Portland, where the men were arrested. 

0:32:05 - Anonymously Tipped Heist (58 Seconds)

Oh, law enforcement had been alerted by an anonymous tip that something was going to happen that evening in Toledo. Be more vague. Something's gonna happen. It's like somebody's like speaking of tweens, somebody's like Facebook posts from middle school where you're like I'm so unhappy, but don't ask me what this is about. Yep, oh man, as officers were heading into the small town to investigate, they happened to pass the actual trucks hauling away both the bootleggers and the booze. Oh those are big trucks. What are those? What are they doing there? I don't know When they arrived to find the prisoners escaped from the jail and loot, all missing from evidence. Suddenly, those trucks they'd passed didn't seem so benign. 

0:36:29 - Prohibition (and its eventual Repeal) in Oregon (102 Seconds)

0:36:29 Speaker 1
On December 5th of 1933, president FDR would see to the end of the wildly, wildly unpopular nationwide prohibition of alcohol. Yay, yay, oh, should we do a clink? 

0:36:45 Speaker 2
Yeah, let's do it Clink. Thanks, FDR Buddy. 

0:36:49 Speaker 1
God, what a solid guy. Despite its long relationship with temperance, lawmaking with debatable levels of success, Oregonians proved to be ready to drink again. No shit. 

0:37:03 Speaker 2
You know what I mean. 

0:37:04 Speaker 1
It's just like riding a bicycle but with beer. Voters passed a repeal initiative and the state was back in the business of booze. 

0:37:13 Speaker 2
How much throwing up do you think there was that night It's like so the streets were running with throw up Eww Girls, i mean, if you haven't drank well, theoretically it wasn't legal, but I'm sure people were still drinking. 

0:37:29 Speaker 1
Oh yeah, people were still drinking a ton. Well, and here's the thing is like even though he repealed the nationwide prohibition of alcohol, it wasn't just like automatically. All of the states got boozed back again. That's true. 

0:37:46 Speaker 2
I like to think it was though. 

0:37:47 Speaker 1
Yeah, just like that night, immediately, like suddenly, everybody's just getting cases of booze delivered to their house Party in the USA. You're like, okay, that makes sense. I get why FDR, like people, say he's like the best president, do they? I don't know Whatever. 

0:38:03 Speaker 2
Who cares For this reason? this reason alone. 

0:38:07 Speaker 1
Yeah, Okay. So none of that happened. That's historically inaccurate. 


0:40:02 - Tarot Reading Interpretation (101 Seconds)

0:40:02 Speaker 2
Oh okay, We got the high priestess in reverse, which we literally just got. 

0:40:07 Speaker 1
For the second time today. 

0:40:09 Speaker 2
Yeah, interesting Okay. 

0:40:15 Speaker 1
So you have to take a look at the little book, because we've already just read this one. Oh, that's true, and it's even in the reverse. It's same orientation. 

0:40:25 Speaker 3
Yeah. 

0:40:25 Speaker 1
That is so weird. 

0:40:27 Speaker 2
That is really weird, but I can kind of see, i think, how it relates to just kind of remembering what it was. 

0:40:35 Speaker 1
You know what's interesting? I'll read the keywords. and then there is a second little extra excerpt that I didn't even see. Oh, the ADHD of it all. 

0:40:46 Speaker 2
You know, i thought you read too. I don't know, we'll see. 

0:40:49 Speaker 1
I didn't Okay, So our keywords are intuition, emotions, feminine power, imagination, spirituality and the inner life. 

0:41:02 Speaker 2
Okay, can I read my keywords just really quick? Yes, so the questions also say secrets, mystery, hidden talents and knowledge, accessing the subconscious stillness. Because they needed stillness on the water, because I imagine that's kind of part of the reason they wrecked was maybe the water was. 

0:41:25 Speaker 1
Yeah, i don't know, oh my gosh, this is weird. No, it had it, verifiably, definitely. Okay, this is really interesting because I feel like this would have really shed some light on our last conversation, where we drew this card and I left it out. And now here we are. 


0:51:55 - Beach Party Theme for Patreon Live (90 Seconds)

0:51:55 Speaker 2
Well, don't crash any boats or lightening boats on fire or try to boot like booze, because that's very dangerous. Yeah, it's got a real Murdock vibe to it.  

0:52:05 Speaker 1
I wouldn't know And I'm sorry It's always going to be Murdock. It's a very, it's a hard CK and I know that's not how it's said, but I don't care.  

0:52:17 Speaker 3
How is?  

0:52:17 Speaker 1
it such. Murdock, murdock Yeah.  

0:52:22 Speaker 2
Pretty much.  

0:52:23 Speaker 1
Pretty much.  

0:52:28 Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah.  

0:52:42 Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, i Yeah, hey, hey, hey, mike. Oh my god, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey Hey the beach, oh my God. So it's like a, it's like great Gatsby, but like with bikinis and sand.  

0:53:15 Speaker 2
Yeah, and like neon lights and really mashers and DJs.  

0:53:20 Speaker 1
Okay Yeah, All right. Well, there's the. There's the theme of the next Patreon live.  














--------- EPISODE KEYWORDS ---------

Prohibition, Speakeasies, Rum Running, Shipwreck, Bootleggers, 18th Amendment, Women's Christian Temperance Union, Smuggled Booze, Oppressive Patriarchy, Daring Escapes, Liquor on Beach, Booze, Tarot Readings, Intuition, Emotions, High Priestess, Relaxation, Socializing, Material World, Secrets, Mystery, Hidden Talents, Knowledge, Stillness, Subconscious, Murdock Spelling, Molly, Beach Party, Great Gatsby