Lake Ontario Rumrunners and "The Secret Ever Keeps"

The Origins of “The Secret Ever Keeps” .....

During national Prohibition in the US (1920-1933), beer and liquor arrived in New York State from many points in Canada . Prohibition was a federal law, but Al Smith – Governor of New York during much of the period (1918-20 and 1922-1928) – stifled the state legislation that would have made Prohibition state law as well. Smith, a Democrat and Catholic, opposed Prohibition on both political and religious grounds. As a result of his actions, during the thirteen years of Prohibition, New York ’s State Police had no authority to prevent traffic in alcohol. Neither, in many cases, did county or local police.

Thus, other than to drive the price of whiskey and beer to levels that made smuggling extremely profitable, the 18th Amendment had little effect on the citizens of New York .

Oswego County , which borders the eastern end of Lake Ontario , was no exception. Two IRS agents were stationed in Syracuse (35 miles away) and that was the extent of it. On the lake, however, it was a different story. The Oswego Coast Guard station became the scourge of rumrunners - leading the entire great lakes in seizures and arrests.

Being a resident of Oswego County , such a colorful history represented a wonderful opportunity for me, and I did my best to take advantage. With journals of the now-inactive Oswego Historical Society in hand, and after conversations with Mr. Frank Sayer of Oswego - whose father was one of the two "Revenuers" based in Syracuse - Jake Eastland's rise from poverty required only a small extension of the imagination. The details of his smuggling operations are based on actual events, and as accurate as my sources could make them.

When further research revealed the Revolutionary War existence of a British warship and her supposed loss five miles NE of Oswego, the possibility of lost treasure became too strong to resist. HMS Ontario was a snow brig of twenty-two guns built at Carleton Island near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and launched in May 1780. She disappeared in October of the same year while bound for Oswego from the Niagara River .

Although "The Secret Ever Keeps" places her near Oswego , recent reports hint of flotsam discovered off Toronto . This is open to dispute, as the storm that destroyed her was reportedly a fierce Northwest gale which could have driven her east toward Oswego . As of this writing (2008), HMS Ontario has yet to be located. Many have sought her. That much is certain.