The Bootleggers Athletic Club

Sep 30

The Bootleggers Athletic Club organized in 1923. They started with a baseball team and added other sports as the club grew, but baseball is what the club was famous for. For several years they dominated the Twilight League, playing not only other Montana teams, but Canadian teams as well. Their competition ranged from various locals like the American Breweries’ Orange Crush and Swastikas Athletic Club teams to the Canadian Clowns team and the ‘colored’ House of David team of Michigan.

Their official newsletter, The Mash Barrel, featured varying articles and a couple of usual staples like “The Distillery Mouse” and “Diamond Sparkles.” Since the club operated during Prohibition, many suspected they were funded by or cooperated with actual bootleggers. The club had chosen the name in jest originally, but defended it, foreseeing the repeal of Prohibition. They knew one day the name would be no more detestable than Buccaneers or Pirates. In the end they outlived Prohibition, and in 1934 the club combined with a few other locals to become the Great Falls Athletic Club and received funding from Great Falls Breweries Company.