Prohibition and Rum Running
in Fernie
The bar room of Gate’s hotel, c. pre-1908
In the shadow of national
sesquicentennial celebrations,
commemorating the centennial of
the Prohibition Act going into effect
in British Columbia has been largely
overlooked.
At the start of the 20th century, Fernie
was a significant regional industrial,
commercial, and government centre.
11 bars within 10 blocks downtown
illustrate the level of commercial
activity. Numerous wholesale liquor
businesses boasted stock of the finest
wines and liquors west of Winnipeg and
The Ft Steele Fernie Brewery produced
a well-loved Pilsner beer. Shipments
of liquor reached as far as Washington
and Saskatchewan on the busy coal
trains. Fernie was one of three mining
communities known for "working hard,
playing hard" that voted 'wet' against
the overwhelming 'dry' vote.
The effects of the Prohibition Act were
felt immediately when it went into
effect on October 1, 1917. The Fernie
Free Press of May 12, 1917 in an article
titled "The Future of Hotels," noted:
"The hotel business is passing through a
20
trying period. One of its main sources
of revenue has been legislated out of
existence throughout two-thirds of
North America." By January, 1918, the
Hotel Northern's ad ceased mentioning
liquor, and "Café & Special Rates" were
promoted. While "near-beer" could be
sold in hotel bars, the hard stuff could
not and the trade went underground.
In Fernie, three entrepreneurs
seized opportunity and became rival
bootlegging kingpins, their fortunes
only increasing after BC became one
of the first provinces to repeal the
legislation in 1921. Emilio Picariello,
Jack Wilson, and Mark Rogers all had
business interests—including legitimate
export and import companies—in
Fernie that would provide a front for
their illicit rum running enterprises.
The citizens of B.C.'s Elk Valley and
Alberta's Crowsnest Pass largely turned
a blind eye to regular shipments of
liquor passing along the mountain
back roads. APP Constable Stephen
Lawson, on the other hand, was zealous
in enforcing Alberta's Prohibition Act,
which lead to his dramatic and untimely