[Excerpt ~ "Capone's "Fortress West"]

Effective January 16, 1920, The Volstead Act was

enacted as the 18th Amendment to our Constitution.

On December 5, 1933, it was repealed by the

21st Amendment to our Constitution.

Thirteen years notable for an increasing crime rate and a level of brutality never experienced before in this country.

The 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America was the breeding ground which ultimately gave birth to “organized crime” in the United States.

The unintended consequences of this law not only led to the rise and organization of racketeering, but also resulted in thousands of deaths attributable to the toxic substances bootleggers were using to either make or cut their liquor.

A casual disregard for this law became part of the American way of life as they pursued ways to continue drinking. This popular little ditty said it all.

Mother’s in the kitchen, washing out the jugs;

Sister’s in the pantry, bottling the suds;

Father’s in the cellar, mixing up the hops;

Johnny’s on the porch, watching for the cops.”

Small local gangs were engaged in petty crimes typically perpetrated on their own people in their local downtrodden neighborhoods. They spent their relatively short lives in and out of prisons. Very few were successful, and very few eked out more than a minimal existence for their efforts.

Al Capone was considered the most successful of these gang members. His incredible rise to riches was based on meeting the needs of the thirsty public. His skills in dealing with other rising mob bosses and his leadership were incomparable.

A complicated man, he was intelligent, charismatic, ruthless, relentless, and surprisingly compassionate.

In 1929, at the height of his career, most of the public and the press viewed Capone as a gentleman and loved him for providing the drinking public with the products they so greatly desired.

The I.R.S. estimated Al Capone’s income in 1929 at $100,000,000 a year (untaxed) while the average American was earning just $1,000 a year.

Massive quantities of money flowed into Capone’s hands, but a large amount also flowed out. In Cicero, a suburb of Chicago, it was estimated that Capone spent $30,000,000 a year in payoffs to police officers and other law enforcement officials, not to mention the local government officials. But this was only one area where he was spreading his bribes.

Little is known about Capone’s West Coast operations. Los Angeles officials also reaped the benefits of Capone’s generosity and provided protection for his “West Coast Hideaway” which he built in the Coachella Valley in 1919. His lieutenant for West Coast operations, Joseph MacKenzie, referred to only as “One Arm,” supervised the building of this unique compound and continued working for Al by running his bootlegging from the Southern California coastline to the Salton Sea.

The up and coming Hollywood Stars created by the new and exciting Silent Film Industry were some of Capone’s biggest and most loyal customers. Capone prided himself on supplying only the good stuff. “Rot gut” liquor was forbidden in his organization.

He was fascinated by and loved to rub elbows with these elite and glamorous people. One especially took his fancy. My mother, Gladys Walton, also known as “The Glad Girl.” When she was just nineteen, Al Capone introduced himself while she was filming The Untameable and that was the start of their tumultuous ten-year love affair.

Despite Capone’s generosity to the public, sentiments turned against him following the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day massacre .

Commissioner Chamberlin of the Chicago Crime Commission said in 1930, “An indifferent public has permitted Capone to prosper for ten years. An aroused public sentiment will bring his downfall.” In 1930, the Commission published a list of “public enemies” on which Capone was listed first as Public Enemy No. 1.

Regarding the accusations of being Public Enemy No. 1, Al made the following statement:

“All I ever did was sell whiskey to our best people. All I ever did was to supply a demand that was pretty popular. Why the very guys that make my trade good are the ones that yell the loudest about me. Some of the leading judges use the stuff. When I sell liquor it’s called bootlegging. When my patrons serve it on silver trays on Lake Shore Drive, it’s called hospitality.”

Our story takes place during these vibrant and exciting times.