On this date in 1913, the North Dakota State Legislature passed a law making bootlegging a crime, with first time offenses punishable by 6 months to a year in the Bismarck Pen.

The term “bootlegging” originally referred to smuggling items by hiding them inside the upper “leg” portion of a boot. During prohibition, the term came to mean selling liquor on which the required federal taxes hadn’t been paid.

Bootlegging is sometimes confused with “moonshining,” which is the illegal manufacture of whiskey or hooch; the term refers to the time of day whiskey makers operated their outdoor stills – after dark. Moonshiners and bootleggers were often partners – one made the product, the other sold it. Here, in North Dakota, a lot of bootlegging involved smuggling in from Canada.

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