A list of forty-three names appeared on the front page of the Fargo Forum on this date in 1917. Those named were persons arrested the previous morning in Minot during North Dakota’s largest criminal raid in history. Most named were charged with buying and selling liquor, a crime listed as a ‘common nuisance’ and carrying a maximum penalty of $1000 and six months imprisonment at the time. The raid was launched in Minot by the North Dakota Enforcement League under the leadership of Attorney General William Langer. The League itself was established by Robert Griffith of Grand Forks to aid in the enforcement of North Dakota’s prohibition laws. These laws were primarily restrictive of the sale and manufacture of alcohol, but also included gambling, prostitution, and tobacco restrictions. During North Dakota’s forty-three years of prohibition, several raids were launched by the Enforcement League, but these paled in comparison to the spectacular raid launched on the evening of May 7, 1917.

Headlines in the paper screamed “Forces of Evil at Minot Given Rude Awakening”, and that is just what happened. The raid included area officers, detectives, state and county officials, and even forty Minot citizens. Several days before the scheduled raid, F. L. Watkins, Superintendent of the Enforcement League, led a group of detectives to investigate in the city. After obtaining sufficient evidence on several Minot establishments, the group reported their findings to North Dakota Attorney General William Langer, who began planning the extensive raid. Over fifty officials and volunteers gathered in the office of Attorney Langer on the evening of May 7 to hear Langer outline the plan. The appointed time to strike was fixed at 10:45 p.m. The synchronization of the raid was vital to the plan in order to prevent those who might escape one raid from warning others. The surprise of the raid was also ensured by Attorney Langer, who commandeered the Minot telephone exchange to prevent warnings by phone.

In total, sixty people were arrested in the raid and ten dray loads of liquor were seized. The following day, citizens of Minot awoke to find several of the city’s businesses closed, and several prominent proprietors under arrest. After filling the county jail to capacity, officials took over the Windsor Hotel to house additional prisoners. Several women were later caught attempting to escape from a second-story window by means of a makeshift rope of tied blankets. State’s Attorney O. B. Herigstad believed that the raid was the first step in making Minot a “clean city.”

Written by Jayme Job

Sources:
Fargo Forum and Daily Republican. May 8, 1917: p. 1, 2.
Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, May 9, 1917: p. 1.
http://www.naha.stolaf.edu/pubs/nas/volume24
http://www.state.nd.us/hist/chrono
http://www.in-forum.com/specials/century/jan3/week27

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