Moonshine Sonata
BILGER, BURKHARD
111ith Mountain Lake lies .D the foothills 0C tI I " I" '?. in 1. y ' Blue Ridge Mountains, All 11OUr's, winding, wini 91r, bling drive front conven 1.- 1 (- ~S J jellce "P I Sj On still...
...he asked, smiling impishly...
...A local n1:nl by the limuc of Him) s11ine...
...And then someone breaks the silence:'Carry, lie 'as's.'I didn't thillk y(n1 wanted o taste the mash...
...Crime Does Pay," a bright red bumper sticker above the board declares, ironically...
...i he tiCILFs wet, and his brake' aren't n [lrkitl...
...I like to live my life wide open," he says, and at first this seems almost comically inapt I've rarely met someone so guarded, so calculating...
...It's a cool autumn day, with clouds racing across the sun, but by the time we reach the back side of the house, I'm sweating beneath my fatigues...
...hen 1'rnn,r11,1nia ~]c.n...
...lure!- 11111 ia11 fL•rTIll: \111.ItIS:.11 sI'1:[:TlrOR \I:l1 ?11[11 ment the mash, the faster you can make money, and the less chance you'll get caught...
...1,11: it CL) u1,i r.altt nOCnn-tour hu,ihC•l, i:l I1kIllI i :Ur111.And 10 .1C]'l .[11L1[1],C.1!O)IIA 11,11 I'll- ilIL,t-L' 111.1]) .1 ]LLC.ll), Lit bet[ ]L al'll]ikIr 11.0 .1 csi•intL•C1.ln:..1 [r.nnku]k1~rr-.u]ti .1 1l'Wlllc irle !OF i c)Llnt.c•,+ lL,- It 11a, .:11 11 hU1il 111L1(11i,:1]nC1', 11.11 'e he(•tl .lt 11.11 1 )urine the "i 0 nine out if ten }~r(1})lC in F!-Allkilu C •L+LInt 11.10 ,11110 LY111t1LL 11L1]i ltl il!ic it .i1CUFi0!• .1 :cart-.!: L0]enl]„icin 1-c•}pc1lt('d...
...and he keeps bug"in us all the tinge to take hi111 (ill a raid...
...tISe MN Ch!lt-IILIIIci]Cd-LI.1lloII wills-V L Call 'em Hack },(1t,- ,aril (It 11 h:c h C.LII m.lke ahcnl: a lll]]iclrc;l ! all(1]), (1t i11cxin,l1it1C...
...Where I talked to Ine.i1 re1.etltie tiulu,h, I _cot .t vet ditfer-ent ,tot-1...
...What galls Beheler's crew most isn't that some moonshiners get away, but that they get away even when they've been caught...
...the hoe...
...In the end he'll net around $10,000 for about 120 hours of work-about six times the hourly rate he gets at the textile plant...
...In most ways Jim ran his business like any other young entrepreneur...
...It takes us about a week to get the operation set up and workin' perfect and about three weeks to work it...
...The materials for six black pots will run him about $2,000 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR May 2001 73 "It's been several people shot wearin' red;' he explains, handing me his camouflage jacket...
...oonshiners have always had to be stealthier than drug dealers...
...Thirty-six pots," Jim said, pausing to do the math in his head...
...anti the .tgenr, t .rune rLolling 1111...
...Earlier that morning Jim had taken me out for a drive...
...Jiliiiny_ 111o' 1.t11g11eLi S0 hard, 11L' peed in 11i, },;l]]t5 . ''I about byperyennl:ued nn-,rlt...
...They agree that it, nasty ,tuft, but that in eighteen wits they've confiscated only a handful of d:ulierous bitches...
...LlI I ]lah rlti lint•, lnCL,tclr> .Ilnn the 11 a1- are>utnahll, o-(• I IU1l]IL c)l) [c1 [ITC C. I•o]tn.1...
...For at least six generations, he says, his father's people have lived Within thirty miles of this place, marrying next-door neighbors or cousins as often as not...
...Though the backgrounds vary, the scenes are always the same: five barrel-chested men in camouflage, chopping up stills or posing in front of them, smiling for the camera like hunters with their kill...
...Joe ce ]'ins...
...They say it looks like a wild turkey's neck...
...I mean, lie's the nicest guy in the world, but lie's tl-cull the sit" and he's never worked liquor before...
...he ,.n,-"Taste it: oo]ltili]lle...
...The u/, Ill 'ILie gist 1u111p (tut and run.„ " fangs out the barrel, are trill of ,pC•11t 111.1,11 "'glow, von1'ye gut to tlixier,t.Itid that pent 111.1511 15 .ib(lot the ,(lrrlC•st lie ,tuashes Into a ditch "NYVell, that's when the truck stop,, but those barrels of ]sash ili back, they just keep on goin•: right through the . back window and all over Carry_ . "The rest of u,, were kind of in shock...
...They say it looks like a wild turkey's neck...
...One Saturday morning about ten years ago, Beheler was driving in the country with his eleven-year-old son when he stumbled on two men running a still...
...It's a landscape as lovely as it is 70 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR May 2001 I I I' I Propped next to his seat was the tarnished handle of a long, Medieval-looking dagger...
...Well, well, well...
...I tt•el like a kid in high school again...
...there, sonic[hill // rcnig...
...By now there are tobacco barns every hundred yards or so, and we begin to check them one by one...
...He doesn't even have electricity in his house, and he likes to live that way...
...threestory structure slightly a-kilter from when it was moved from beside the church-and through his back window you can see the remains of the log cabin where his mother was raised...
...At fifty he's the oldest member of the task force and the only one in civilian clothes...
...Rolling around on the floor of his car were two boxes of hollow-point .357 cartridges for his snub-nosed Smith &Wesson revolver, along with copies of Guns &Ammo magazine...
...Jim's people have been nuking liquor since as far hack as Willarei's limited recall will allow, and the outline of their history is roughly that of all moonshining in An ierica.There were three Scotch-Irish brothers who came first to 1'ennsyh.iuia and then niovcd south to .y-sa Virginia...
...grillning.Tlien a jar of liquid sunshine enleries• eight pears bobbin_ happily n]su{e ]t...
...I like raiding stills," he says...
...iii .]lttlicl, (311 :1 11111 1(1' '11001P,illl]e 111010...
...Crouching to catch our breath, we agree to split into two groups...
...i11f I.1IERICAN s1111CFAJOR Mn 2001...
...I was dividing my time between him and the revenue agents bent on hunting him down...
...So lies faster and taster, and he cant stop...
...Because moonshiners tend to distill during the day and deliver at night, the task force is on call twenty-four hours a day, and there's no such thing as a weekend...
...That's fifteen thousand pounds of sugar alone...
...I he Sm i[Ii tilnur)t.3in :out 11,as tile Ii 11"1L• 1,3rLe,t ill t it-,1111.3 h!,ror1• vet 1t• LiCM11, reel ton ie hcn a11,tL 111't11111Ll . I1 'K C to '-'k' tr-u11 n old !lewsreel• In week, or tr,nrl]ti, thnlutnh the South...
...But even so, a, I lift t]p 1erce's jar...
...We drove there on a dreary October morning, when the leaves of the surrounding forest were as faded and lifeless as spent mash, but to Jim the place still held a glamorous glow...
...off early to play- a round of golf...
...antic' people made tt the way they_ ]trade tine ttn•riiture- But n-h.it pride it involved, what craft...
...11i]rri;:u) lii>tc)n: ,CH11C ,.11'• C Lilild hC 111-ittL']I i]l tel llil c)1 11-lli,kel .1, 11C1k i. 1ne,riiC:i, • .1 1111, ]]]..nni .ul .nilnir.if'!1 ,t.Lhl1 1111][ of L nrr-Cn -1 \u \UliLirr...
...Then we mix the runs together in a barrel, get it down to around 100 proof, and put it in those gallon milk jugs...
...By the tiler the 11 II ],ke0 Cot LieL L11ir...
...He's spent his whole life in this area, and a good chunk of it crawling through the woods as a game warden or special agent...
...so they run up to it...
...The situation made him justifiably uneasy...
...Man by the name of Calhoun...
...his eye, filed on some middle distance In hi, nmerIIorv...
...And over in the corner, seemingly more From Noodling for Flatheads by B urk It a rd 8ilger...
...When you turned on the tap upstairs, moonshine came out...
...Whether it's really a town or just a minimart at a fork in the road is a matter of some local debate...
...Shut the door.- W1 liuner ,,]y,, npeliinz a tile c,lbinet he,]de bibs-And t11eri, suddenly, It" as ]f fell hick at the rlio ollsh]nel-,, reuilioil ,nni the "Inlie t,i,tuh h is lust been .11)])()llileesl- I ]-oltt every drawer .rod c.]rdhoard box, ]t 111]'111 1.115 stilt },O},hill11 (lilt, IN it ill,, roc )I i l were, full or jack-in-thc• hoxL's...
...But I don't need that kind of risk," Jim says...
...It's in such areas that riioon,hine has taken Its worst toll- I]1 I']?t+,ixt• died of wood alcohol poisoning in New York alone, and in 193II authorities estimated that titteen thnu,and pen pie had been partially paralyzed by "Jake," ii type of moonshine made ,vith ~atn.uea ginger...
...and letters come addressed to a larger town, twenty-five miles to the west...
...rtlhbintr ali ohol...
...At one point Calhoun sees me walking down the center of the road and shoos me to the side, then walks over and scuffs away my footprints...
...Inca ,OO11 Joys e Is telling os About the charcoal keg his Flther Used to (nvtt...
...Still, after half a dozen empty barns, even his commando form starts to go slack...
...tha' :hc hLyuur t,o or 17')1 11ru1c)krcl the tint .lt-tile,'•: !'0111: in L.L...
...two years before that, Jim's own mentor had been gunned down in his car...
...ell lie bestirs:,"volt have to know Garry to get it...
...Yeah, a wagonload of pumpkins and a two-ton Dodge pickup truck...
...For just a moment we huddle in the shade of a pine tree to get our bearings, then we veer off into the forest in single file...
...He knows the moonshiners' faces and their family histories, the cars they drive and the bars they frequent...
...In autumn the county roads burrow through the forests like children in a leaf pile, leaping up into sunlight on the other side...
...But there's an odd feeling, when you've been running around in the woods with funny clothes on for no reason, that you've been the butt of an elaborate practical joke...
...toward i +[L•ep hill [1 ]at 1001]], beyond the ,31uthea,rerri ,11ore...
...He speaks quickly and accurately, in a voice like honey mixed with seltzermore crisp and dry than an east Virginia drawl has any right to be...
...Joyce continues to the next section road and turns right, slowing to a crawl as he scans the landscape...
...A deeply rutted road skirts it on the other side...
...But a four-wheeler could make it...
...C=are/-, to 'let back to the road...
...11c]cl]t anti ob,ole[r 111,111 ail the, rc,t.,taill, •3 \]1.311 ,rill LL,cd rnucln,hnle 1're„ a human oil the, o.ik h•irrei, cu}, the t1 ]d-fa,Itlorted cat1101-11 to \(l ii' head-,tnli \'t3L1•Il lieu-,I rtnlnni1' ,Cr-'.n1 tr!tl .1 l,i/ hank!_ tanner} , ,},1.3,1111, ,[e.il[kirh thrtnlult .1 ,n anl}1...
...If the fruit ain't ripe, it'll turn your mouth inside out...
...1'w been told nitre th.iti once by nose...
...cause the truck pulls a/y.1y and goes up a ,ravel road and into I field...
...It" (: [01C tO ?t Yi ] }'l-00f :mLI tlL10 i11 I- AN 111 ;l, tot tk1L 1.]11 Ct Llil tour ,ntk- YOU }DII that ,tuts iti 1-Onr iar .IT LI It']: run it•' I lie 11,11nr [7t [h c• Lr.]nle , ,I'ec cl: he i n17[]1ILIC...
...1;;.1111 Lil] .t ]C>,c•r I L L'.'f hn1:1.1' iei]er,i,n l e}h•.1:C l] rllC Lr\ 111 tit ln-i11" i:1L 1111 .t Lriel 0(110011 .1_'c• Ic IT- [o n]clrleV file till' C'il ik \\'•:r.'J li.tt .lc[ a1,0 c rc.licii :1)C l:lt(1'rl.] lzeve::llt• C. 111111 ncirlh:lL,~hin 1111) '111d Richmond to the c.t,l: 1L.I]Ci0h• ( 1-'C1111siuini, .uIll (:h.11'1[+tCC TO [hr NOW])-, ( .11.1r]e,(O1I [[1 [hr 11e?t tilci,t O1 rhct) kc•» than Chl-CL 11(111]-, .11A,:\Moo]i,hnler, 111 lig]rlltl pl-oduce d o,e to :1 nllflxm gallon, :1 1L•:L...
...Though the task force will end up destroying some five thousand gallons of moonshine this year, that's only 1/200th of the illicit liquor produced in the area...
...1ILosth' CO nluer-Cln' black,- I iomcnrtcle 1icl it i-• tI1c,C dlo', i, lilt ilit ]ilcrith fOr ,tr,uhci-> 1i •] ]1C,1-111;31 C1},L't-,i[]fM1...
...And though, for a nme, Jnii wanted nothing more than to get away from Zenith, lie eventually married the girl next door as well...
...gent Joyce brings the van to tA a sudden, grinding stop, Calhoun flings open the sliding door, and everyone barrels down the embankment...
...Most of the time it's out of the state the same day...
...And though they'll bust thirty-six stills-seven times as many as all the agents in Georgia put together-that's still a far cry from the hundred they busted in 1993...
...The other members of the moonshine task force scrutinize the roadside through tinted glass...
...I IiL ;r]::1lt.LtL I [ILL.i Ii the 1111Lie,r...
...They've got, like, different lives...
...C]t yL•.11•, (,t t.illllin lii11o[ishitne1...
...Beheler's task force gets its share of tip-offs from ex-wives, jealous rivals, and disgruntled relations...
...When motorboats puttered down streams in search of wood fires and exposed water pumps, moonshiners switched to propane and submersible pumps...
...it', the ti.olny stuf . The ridiL'L1loL1, ,iCilaCl(1I15 /'oti vet 1]11(7, "Like the tinge th.it copperhead crawled over Butch Wright's blot and he killed it with his ulnbrell•1:" .. Or the time C Tarry T liolllas Came with Lis, ''( irrald...
...Yet n hat (. ,rih xu1 ttnn]d left 1111 dr1n1Ncn rr led...
...loo C L' a„e, Tile •1 half a.illon1 of liLlnilr 511 pLlthie It", no-al-1y op aloe...
...Yott know /yhar I 1-c'iiie111ber best: (:alhrnnt <,I\ S. u-ipin hi, r isn't all the adventure cn' the busts...
...He toes all the wary to the bottom, the truck bouncily this way and that...
...making whiskey as they went...
...Lie has to drive all the way around this tield...
...nlfur]e .trul...
...He kept track of the moonshine market and adjusted his prices accordingly, monitored product quality and looked for ways to streamline production...
...Instead of three-piece suits, Jim favored T-shirts and baseball caps...
...the mountains hover above the horizon in pale blue outline, and curing barns keep watch from every hillside, their timbers warped and cracked and mortared with red earth...
...We run two stills a day, four runs per still...
...He makes a natural front man, with his graying temples and square-rimmed glasses, jowly cheeks, and smooth, articulate manner, and on days like today he's happy to be the designated driver...
...The next bump was clerical: Despite the fact that she was married, his mother chose to give him her maiden name-a reminder, perhaps, that he shouldn't always follow in his father's moonshining footsteps...
...dri mg a S31 I., it l I yehtrie it) pick iii hi, I'll-] for ,teak and lol!,trr- I he next d.ie• he, a hillbilly ,wlthOllt a pot to pee in...
...then...
...and "id"ger likker:' a, they called it, shipped to nonynlous shot houses and nip joins in the big city...
...It's been twelve years since Beheler started the task force, and in that time it has become the most successful group of its kind in the nation...
...They have doctor's degrees...
...I he taste I, deep .1nd ]Husky and ]-L'ti1-L'1]]L'ilt 1)1,1n, .lid IL'Iileiit courts MV torLiltte]1, iid Ilioo]15111ne s1'ems like [1111/- .[ Lt iI11L• .3~a11i-i11•Ither pots(1]1 nor I'll1111-iiht trot- . VI]ie.ll livelihood, List III elC Liss' for gnl/yII I11eI1 to May hide-,and-seek In the woos...
...A hundred year, ,1110, perhaps...
...It ,tire ,Hell, sweet flown [he 1)).311 had'.tili.''I 11 'C nec-er been mound no 13iIk1 1- ,till l~L tclre...
...A few years ago a still in northern Georgia was found in a basement, at the bottom of a hidden staircase...
...Unlike his neighbors' houses, it's placed far back from the road, screened by a row of whine pines and guarded by a myopic, mean-spirited dog named Goober...
...He's having a bad year...
...ch,isiil ion-n 5c ni has 1e5, local citizen...
...Copyright (c) 2000 by Burkhard Bilger...
...tr( )-I TI h Copper 10(11111...
...The gun that comes in most handy, Beheler adds, is loaded with BBs: "Keeps the dogs quiet...
...loinetl toll]- revenue •i~Ctlt, 111111 thel'H-gtnt,t All-( 1h14 1lclera'e i .unn-01 liu.ILI •3, well a, i 1ue,t1 ,iic't'irf I ho ,nil w,ts 11111111111 that [13,1 atterruoon: • C'.1111n111 s.tvs...
...My mind is still cloudy from sleep and clogged with half-remembered nightmares-of a silent, grim-faced circle of bootleggers waiting in the forest...
...reluctant to e]iierge trots their titnk-They Crack a few jokes about Randall Toner...
...Them high school kids never ask any questions" sweetly familiar...
...nrl,rrewiil the lid and )).IT tdit],, ine thc' jar-'.( >o .thr.id...
...Joyce adds, Randall blnev, he'll Have to be pIayI'LI by Tony lUnd,ill...
...Too rough for a car," Calhoun says, looking down...
...1111, COIL] .i_,nn and .tg.u11 Mat 11oori' lunn as Lit iri_ ,ill-[- tot, del]]andint triL un}lruti[.rh:e R1r modem ii eriiii]n:i: rate...
...They drive Mercedes...
...rcnl'hr,t rtiun...
...A black f 'i•' a r "By the time the whiskey comes out, it's close to 200 proof and flowing like a faucet...
...The shed was snugly built, there was enough water to supply a hundred distilleries, and the owner bought his grain from a hog farmer who lived down the road...
...He knew which cars the local agents drove and kept track of their movements...
...but the others stay behind a n-h]le lodger...
...To guarantee a conviction, they not only have to catch their man redhanded, they have to physically restrain him juries don't always trust an agent's eyes, and alibis are easy to come by...
...You know who lives here...
...llal-e Lit ]C 11] fTa1lkl111 C•LILltln...
...So you ferment and boil the mash in the same pot...
...and the ingredients to fill them about $1,200...
...Calhoun flips his hat around backward and surges into the brambles with a grunt...
...He said there'd be pumpkins, didn't he...
...Blackberry:' lie Nay...
...Audie, is hardly less humble, its name notwithstanding...
...It's been several people shot wearin' red;' Bev Whitmer explains, handing me his camouflage jacket...
...At first no one says a word, and we slink around as delicately as cats, prying open doors, peering under tarps, and squinting through chinks in the barns' wooden walls...
...But in recent years, prodded by groups like Beheler's, they've had to modernize their methods...
...im will never get caught that easily-or so he says...
...111111111 1" the enipt afternooil...
...the fifth member of the rrev, -. ,, Ii n', oft tnday- l hey- talk about the economic, of nioollslinie and hose it oFten destroys those who most profit tronl it...
...But when lie collies back coward us...
...its a killer:' Even a tevv- sips of Jake, 1 tell nn-self_ wouldn't he enough to hurt ]11c...
...But when most people get word, or whiff, of a still, they keep mum...
...The resulting "sugar liquor" isn't quite as smooth as his father's corn liquor, but Jim can't afford to be an epicure...
...Beheler once needed eighteen stitches after running headlong into a barbed-wire fence during a raid...
...7 hen• 1)•31 be nitric 1t]t,oil,hlne Ill en-ocLtucm tod,n than [hir[1 1l.il-s tgo, rlho, ,•3311: [kit fed' \11111+1 ignore it 111 ta1'tnr 31f the lr.u Oil drug, Are] [e't-nn ],[,- ( ;en]e ,11'e the I hint 1e,u•,• butting u11 •[111, ,11th reho]uu, /e•il: 3z...
...tell hint about (;at-ry...
...But those lLl/ 5 llltl,t 11,1-C seen 'e111 Q011311...
...While you're runnin' one still, you're already heatin' up the next one and adding new ingredients to what's left of your last what they call the backin's, or sour mash...
...Or paint thinner stained it with tobacco juice or iodine...
...the air clear;, and the taste that 1]ilgger s l, clean...
...Now, this guy you're gonna meet, he's at the other end of it: He's a still hand...
...But there are no barns in sight yet, only acres of thorny bottomland...
...I or the next twit Heck, C ..d1lou1 ,pent n-,-•3r11 :,L rv nlglkt oil tha[ I1111,]de ,c11nn1g the',-,tllc•1 VI ith II113,LUI.u...
...pumped it rn]t and ,hill}led it to .i n.3tt r-ire it nt nt }1Llnt.1 I-t,Ltl' subl]er,ible lutttti,S ran tmter to [11e ,[ill ti-()Ill .1 ]ILL-.11-1)'I port!, ek, of ,ug,tr and least fifteenl riser hi h kept the r r1cnrili,r !!lath 1vL•11 fedi, 1nd hale, t1t ,hrlnk-,1 ra},}1ed iaalloil milk lu,,, ,rind re,idi1- for trantporr...
...The others are already hustling into their gear: camouflage jackets and overalls, billy clubs and forty-caliber Beretta automatics...
...anti 1-ire.u n]s ,eizt Li 3•'?ti tills All Li 5!,1416 -ndlon, of liquor-1 by 1 ) r[, C111 11e 1111ttiber+ hid drolllled to a tingle ,till...
...THE 1111:RIt:1' til'1.i.I.UOR llat 2001 G 9 Even so, between 1985 and 1998 agents in six Virginia counties alone seized 538 stills...
...nIe1IIn' stutt in the world...
...hen- }'pail e .11V ccorkui,-e'Ln, Lleteetr es nn ti l)t bud e t t ]iii o~Ht iii .t te11 1uxn,lrr!e U.1111, 1)1'\i allii [hell between ,i)t},riier]ts of t r o.nne...
...Yet .3~C[1](i117~ to Chel'ir,:11ia Alcohol 13e1-eralOe Control IIL11111 (ii I },Cr: c]It of lo.a1 ii100101line i, ,(11Li (1111 of ,C.Ite...
...He's like a modern bum...
...But no one here has ever been shot...
...phone operators don't list it...
...Possessing 74 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR May 2001 firearms at the scene of a crime carries a much stiffer penalty than making moonshine, so most bootleggers do without them...
...The first bump he hit was of a genetic kind: He was born severely color-blind, unable to distinguish between a red and a blue, though he does perceive color after a fashion...
...pecial agent Gerald Joyce swings his van into a narrow country road...
...A V Ce lull tell viol that the L11111011.11', defint•, nnlork,hine .i, lle_.ili1 di,tilled 11 II r,kev ii ILI rl).it it e.niied Cki,it name 11L•L,ILt,e 1t „, t, ot[L•rl ]]],1111• under ricer of rli,11t-YOU'l1 le.u'rt 111.3[ nintlnIll itte i, Made trorn A r11•n11 of rait1.le.ttt,,u,.i-,.tnl' 1larer, Char r1]i, 1]a<h i, tCl-r11en[eti ar)tl hnilc•d...
...They call this an Arkansas toothpick...
...He just has this thing about wannri, to bust ]noonshiners...
...They call this an Arkansas toothpick," he told me...
...but ,pent mash niclls like a high n. So) naturally ,onle(1rle asks Carry ]f lie w.lnt, to taste it- \o, lie sans, lie doe,Ii t //'.IIIC CO taste the 1u,is11- But Iic•'11 take the' truck .ind drne It In:, lovce tike, a breath .11 Id nm at the others_ rolling the tar of pears het/yccIi his han\(1/y...
...Calhotirl remember, a still the.- once busted that ,in ellvd just like lack I )aniel...
...In Franklin County, moonshine memoirs fill the local paperback racks, the convenience stores sell moonshining T-shirts, and a county fair isn't complete without its copper-pot still...
...Then he calls ,. Joyce on his walkie'talkie, and we head back toward the road...
...After a quick conference with Jimmy Beheler, the group's leader, Joyce decides to drop us off about a half mile to the side of the farm, where we can hike in unobserved...
...k111da dumbstruck...
...t was neither a revenue agent nor a publicity officer who took me to the Smith Mountain still, but a local moonshiner I'll call Jim Stoat...
...But then they know him just as well...
...I think this is what's known in the business as a dead end...
...i11(i Pip-, the tutee, to the Ltoul,lm• key ,unlc bilk) call it t thutn} c r--anci the...
...Over the years they've all suffered their share of lacerations and bruises, poked eyes and twisted knees, from stalking, chasing, and wrestling moonshiners...
...These days the biggest stills have moved indoors-whether in tobacco barns, chicken houses, or purposebuilt structures-where water and heat are easy to come by...
...Bill beroic vce Li'Lild 1]],tke •1 note oil it• they 11-•1, ,11[tttill' do n:• 11-hell tile' ,e'.3rt 11 u.n-rant n.t, ri1.1111- read...
...bnutleuee r, were I IM111ng their still...
...It was meant for whacking, not stabbing, he added reassuringly, but I knew that this part ofVirginia had had its share of moonshine-related killings...
...l h...
...lioL-.ll1,L Bootle_ i, a 1,r.\ 1 ttil.ttioti rather th,t1 .1 crtnnnll ntien,e• lie n...
...Ititide the tin•n•-ti1•e-bl-uHaetr-hxit cv,trclltiit,L• 111'1-C' tllir-rr '3x 5 !i )-_Allnn }tin[,, e,tcla 1c•111- tilled tt1 the 11r111 \, 1111 terrnenrin, math...
...And although making moonshine is a felony, most first offenders get off with a THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR May 2001 75 ,mall tine...
...Well, there are the pumpkins, anyway...
...While others scanned the Wall Street Journal, he kept a file of clippings from local papers, noting which colleagues had been busted, what kinds of sentences they were given, the size of their stills, and where they were established...
...and 1\'hirnler reltiinisee5 sonic 111o1'e about the Smith tilourit:un bu>C...
...111.1t break, Chen1 Ill) for a while: three 1!1 oleo in .[ till' tx1r11,,ur r(lun({ec1 by Ill.i,(~1i 1, u-, (11-L'yrty 5111(1]', i111.3~i11111L C11C•11],elyes ][I tliii,e .Ic(()I-, hodtes...
...He'll usually hire two still hands, at $125 a day, and a cook at $200 a day, and together they'll produce around two thousand gallons of liquor before they're done...
...We work our way through a patch of blood-red sumac, the greenbriers catching at our clothes as we pass...
...Behind him all banter suddenly ceases...
...After a few hundred yards we reach a winding creek, thick with algae, and then a steep slope that leads to an airy grove of white oak...
...peltectly I51L•,L•1•/L•Li...
...Now York...
...I guess if no one prosecuted murderers, they wouldn't exist, either-there'd just be a bunch of dead people lying around...
...So one day were working and /yatrhlng this place with Carry, when a tl-uek sullies by wit 11 .1 bL111c11 of bar rel...
...That fact has hardly made him a local hero, however...
...Moonshine has never been more than a side business for him, though a lucrative one...
...irt,ea their ]t• .unl ker}•:n;~ till lu,1l:t1 JIM h]Ih :'11,111LI11 [h.u It \1tn] : kill } rLlpbe 1(11,x- ra1c10n,1±1nC 111.1: kct• 01+.0]1 k' :t like 11110ntl cm .1 kc;J: I'Ili..]clcll•:1i.1 to ]111• pot l, ]-L'.lll1- 1111 a r[7lll--by-e]1h[ gIrlp of ,[.]]]tle„ ,[eel 111th ][, CIlLI, n.ulCLI Cr• You make the ,ide (1111 nt - 01Oak ;uId Cut a rOUITMI-INCILl 1101C ill Oil: :op...
...They're often hidden underground or behind false walls, and they may pump their liquor to a separate, inconspicuous building for loading...
...Only a few months earlier, two bootleggers from the same family had shot a third to death...
...in 1. y ' Blue Ridge Mountains, All 11OUr's, winding, wini 91r, bling drive front conven 1.- 1 (- ~S J jellce "P I Sj On still summer days inillwork-ers and tobacco farniers from Roanoke and I7anv'ille like to go there with their ice chests and portable TVs, pitch their tents among the dogwood and magnolia, and imagine what it niight have been like to raise a family and erect a cabin and hunt for food among the parsimonious trees...
...Moonshining is a cat-and-mouse game, everyone says, but it feels suddenly as if we're the mice: camouflaged like forest animals, skulking around in the underbrush, trespassing on private property...
...For a while, a local businessman even put up a billboard that declared Franklin County the "Moonshine Capital of the World...
...and it brine' L:re 11 u+ed to be OILY rtu•te, ,lttltlt or] ,l 1 nblicitl waiter tend kilo-'-hut be [he tulle I got here i[ n•1+ iuut1_ _one...
...Great lovers of "ardent spirits," they had refined [lie arts of Scottish and Irish whiskey making, only to have a crushing excise tax placed upon their wares...
...Then, like a dog marking his territory, he drove up the driveway and spun around, spraying gravel from his back wheels as he left...
...suggest ditterently- Today he take...
...T-11L' 110[o' lt1]itil,Lil;.3blc...
...111,[()[1...
...yeas all hot lirld'e, '.t, arre,teci event--1,0111- 1111W, th,rilantled h, Prohibition-A, delll,llld ,kvrocketed, sonic nlnnn,linler, be .in to throvy Ire...
...His hazel eyes are small, watchful, and unclouded by resentment...
...Possession of moonshine is only a misdemeanor in Virginia, whether it involves a gallon in the backseat or a thousand gallons in the trailer...
...When Whitmer rejoins us, his slumped shoulders tell the same story: no shiny new lock and chain, no fresh tobacco sticks, no booze...
...and even after a night's sleep, his short black hair lies molded to his scalp, as if gripped by an invisible skullcap.Years in the military have given his body a lean, knobby look, and he sits with a certain stiffness, as if watching himself from a slight distance, constantly correcting his posture...
...Jim's double-wide mobile home sits about five nudes from the minimart, a stone's throw from a Presbyterian church...
...i-he smell 111111 .t hint rut r11a1t to it- like .t stroll,- beer ails tot a trace or bitterI r!e„ or IL)1n1•t11rig'lightly rotten 1[ ][• core...
...yet lit• nevet>perit inure than a Ie•w I11ou th" In sail...
...Ou :nc.a :nnuil,hi11er...
...Sad but true," he says...
...Moonshiners may have the most violent history of any group in the country, yet it's a peculiar fact that Americans seem incapable of harboring bad feelings toward them...
...their product is so much bulkier, their manufacturing methods so much more complicated and conspicuous...
...But then I think that by "wide open" he means open to any possibility, and that much, certainly, is true...
...ranklin County,Virginia, unlike most places renowned for their moonshine, seems at first glance to have nothing to hide...
...1101 ClLLL\LI •(1 .111(i ie...
...instead of lawyers, he tended to back his deals with firearms...
...11100011 the 11 hi,kc'1 RC LO!]io]i 11',1, poll IO,t- till, ,.1n1C' h.1[[1C' 11(1u:Ll he fnl;Lhl IL ]ln trn...
...Published by arrangement with Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc...
...and then He buys his sugar wholesale in large pallets from Sam's Club...
...But all those advances have come at a cost: Moonshining, once the quintessential egalitarian enterprise, open to any hardworking man with a few dollars, now has its own class system...
...He hit, the trout fender of one of the police cars...
...Or as Jim's father, a moonshiner himself, put it: "Dealin' with strangers is like bitin' a persimmon...
...I here n,t, n+ n]uch 111,3,11 Ch.tt the 'n1e11 had carr1L•tl tlirough ,1S u!rhe, of rt],L!lauur] ,u,d I'll papet': to touch ni:ich that C•ilhouri anti the ether, ,a L TL' ,iri•ard that dun]}1itt it night Lii,turb the pH balarltL• OF rile like- :Ill the end the...
...Four out of five leads end up this way, I know...
...aiSL' were thllikiii of L;etti ii u5 sonic a,c]lt5- l Ili illiiikin shout Sta11onc fog- 111,- IMI-t .. ''I d be ll,tpp' with Sean (.ornery...
...Jim may sell his liquor at the still site for $15 a gallon, but the distributor sells it to the shot houses for $30, and the customers there pay $1 a shot...
...I lley'II play that ronl,n]tir_ I )ehre Ion era ihn]L to dr.ith: levee ty,-"li]u ll ,CC hint one day all ,licked up...
...But when I ask Beheler about it today, he shakes his head...
...he ,. "I Sweat /ye would have heard the noonslillIe1-, laughiti', 1(x1...
...lilt ,''Kdc a },i-(1},•It1c hln ncr utt(erneath.The tla]lle, ATV .11(1111 ten 111 hc, hi0h...
...A fen- of the nlnon,hnler, I talked to ;,]la tllc•,e vwere ]1ot11ing bill ,rare ,torte,, passed around by revenuers...
...and then lie about runs over my toes...
...Beheler spits in the bushes...
...These facts made me nervous, but not nearly as nervous as I made Jim...
...I wouldn't even carry this damn heavy thing," Calhoun says, patting his Beretta, "if it weren't for the possibility of a booby trap...
...But I don't like creepin' out there in the bushes during hunting season...
...Everything about the place was contrary to the old moonshiner's creed, which preaches mobility over permanence, humility over ostentation, yet Jim couldn't help but admire its scale, its chutzpah...
...We run up and sav,'C=arry, are /oil ok.uvt Are yon okav'' And lie says 11e I,- But I 111e.Ii1_ lies 1LI,C coveted i I I that nla,lh, There arc cluttips of ]t in his hair and it's all over hi, tact...
...Ut t.L]IICLI [help .I> tile), hid rile Iridi hop" atol kept [heir' (+111) C 1,1]]][•1...
...and tiecluent tilk of retiretueiit...
...i, just ,another ,word for poison...
...And we ain't got but a quarter of an hour to get through it...
...his beard is trim and well kept...
...Sad but true...
...But Jim, I know, is nothing like those men...
...Which leads me to think that they must have changed the way they do business...
...The town of Zenith, where Jim byes with his wife, Kelly, and his boy...
...We got this a ten- week, ago ' he sass...
...I )o Vol-1 have aiiv connection, Co Hoilywood=" lie want, to know...
...Propped next to his seat, like a second gearshift, was the tarnished bronze handle of a long, medieval-looking dagger...
...He stops and picks at the scorched remains of his mother's house, a few yards behind his trailer...
...The real profits, of course, lie further up the food chain...
...Altogether, the tern}, R-as capable (it piodtic anti tonic tour rhtnl,.u1d _•tlln:l, of c h]•kev L 1er1,C•1-C'[k 11.31+-- ]]lelt-e r11111 e1]01-i_li [ii keep t1 \311.111 L]t', niebri•t[ecl...
...1 thte 11111,]de 111111 their n-alkie-t.tlkle, and gin), .3t tire r-t•.iL11, the ]nu0n,l]]ner, 11 id taken oft...
...Whitmer peels off to follow a path into the woods, while the rest of us pass through a small stand of pines and across a meadow covered with spindly black stalks of ragweed...
...Hud 111.3[ [he alcoholic fiuuec ,are cooled to ht}u]d 33) •i run,, [n i>[ed copl,eir pipe kncn n a, a ,,,orl11, ybu'II learn th1t rli•tkin" 1]111 !line na< uutlalled iii 11'11, 11111.11 the to den it uo,•ernnietat under (;cO]ie lt.a,l)]nLtoil tr1:},o ed a Ltu nn all liLluo!lint it you hid collie it) th,tr ,:u]]e place one n ii itt•r- II iorrir), iii 131113- et}ul}1}led n !ill a Ill 'h}1lnreretl tele,(,_o}1L•, lens till h[ live ~Ot[et1 ,t 1110 IV u},-to-datt• c r AUOl1- i r•tinu) ,-oItl' ,C01)C aertl,S the lake •s clear 11 aterc...
...Some of these guys will shoot at anything that moves...
...He pointed to the front door and asked, half-jokingly, if we should leave him a note...
...When agents prowled the woods with infrared scopes, night-vision goggles, and motion-detecting cameras, moonshiners got the same equipment...
...he bulletin board behind Jimmy Beheler's desk is crowded with yellowed newspaper clippings and curling snapshots...
...rnloi..t 'til: v. o ti:,: l lo.tl n ,rrw-lc nt rut- ,-c,tlc-rti []-:it111 pr(irir,: ,? 1ioi 00;110 c.u-ne uni four bu,hek, of (OrlI it •I tulle...
...The big operators have brick houses," Jim says, walking around his place, waiting for another moonshiner to arrive...
...J. E. Calhoun, who joined the group soon after the Smith Mountain bust, glances at my burgundy T-shirt and red sneakers: "You expectin' to do some runnin', boy...
...When helicopters began to scan the forest, moonshiners camouflaged their stills with maple-leaf stencils...
...Si iirictvhiere t 101• h1, it [OIL] 111111...
...I \VL1 •u )ti 11.1]aJ.rirILL tI-il Ythe rr,ult ]ni~ilt ,:n- lnnre aLl(r,1t t it• :1nIC•ric,ul e11.i1•acte.'-.il,ot]C the perentu it b lair 1,Cl1CeC]I li:,Cl-P, 211Li the t-ubC Ll[ 1a11- ti]ILC e the l•: L1l1'1]11)LI• ::C}L:cn 1n.ikinti 11.1, .Ill L"LI'lLtl::l trcl]1tiC]-.'tl::t-},i...
...and ;tli-pri,itigly nlilcl, a tth .i taunt afterglow of tornialclehvde..'Not bad:' I saw lust to 'let their _,oat, For a beat oar twos they exC hatge glattces.li]d the tooiii1 puke to yuiekeli...
...I elleral ,1,111'c1i+ bore tin, i,ut: In 1')71 1 the l51-11-eau t,i .~1 3)h31LTobacco...
...At the lake's visitor center they can see sepia photographs of their ancestors and a few examples of the tools they used: A wooden scvrhe and a handmade lathe, a Corn cutter, a rusted sausage stuffer...
...It sve ((laid lust lace been a line 1Ilote Lluiet...
...Parked at the foot of the mountain, we looked up at the slope where the agents had done their stakeout...
...Maps don't show it...
...He buys his sugar wholesale, in large pallets from the local Sam's Club"Them high school kids never ask any questions...
...I ended up catching both those guys...
...car h.iner]e,, or ,ack, of ,te itinlg Ili.ititlre• Into the !tall to lix tell ternle]]tit]nl...
...This is gonna be fun...
...sweet...
...ill the hack- Jittt]ny and ILandall ale close by...
...About five miles from his house, he suddenly pulled up in front of a small ranch house with a silver trailer beside it...
...And though the agents carry guns, firing at a fleeing bootlegger is out of the question...
...Standing there gazing at the golden eagles, he looked like a small boy at the gates of Xanadu, dreaming of his own mansion on a hill...
...The recipe Jim uses is 75 or 80 percent sugar-about four hundred pounds per pot-along with cornmeal or horse feed, malt, and Fleischmann's yeast...
...I don't know," Calhoun says, leaning back and scratching his stomach...
...Btn-in, Innoll,liirie ]s like plavitt' Russian roulette", wihard told tie-"It wont hurt va if it's goodI mean, you ran drink that v,-hire lightnin' and go to work the next day- lint the bad stuff...
...According to Joyce, the tobacco barn in question has a shiny new chain and lock, some freshly cut sticks by the door, and a stash of moonshine inside...
...1111 nnuld have made Out •Cl-el) inure• htkidl•fed ill the ,no1r i,atiertrly w,ttehin" a long silver toed beliov -he11 Iitst a few dal, hefctre• on (.IIrrtt II a, Eve nio1-1r11u• 1. I-C:,il11cur11, then .! ,i,ecial agent with the eoinnty III er]rr'I dc•},•n-tniel[, had gotten .t r,tl1 lit in] ,t Itle.kl r.u'n]er...
...He sets up a still once a year in the fall, runs it for a month or so, and then dismantles it, keeping the copper cap and worm for the next go-round...
...Fresh nia,h may Smell like .i 1(,.if of bread...
...The landscape here is open-armed and welcoming, lush with tobacco and spreading oaks and braided by slowmoving streams...
...11]1: tell~ tale 0:1e 171t1i-1111...
...Course, you can make the most if you own it, and haul it, and sell it yourself...
...they i THHE AMERICAN 5PECT:1'I'OR Hair 2001 71 C]'C IT L1n-]V fi11' [heir 1\ 11 kind J: 111 ]tnL•h• ,111C],g]i [c) ~LAel n11icnr...
...J.uN of '{.l]nNolI },lu[tt aid j,1rs of pc•.ich: JAI-, of cherry 11loon'] IIIle a1lot ]11111-5' 1. ]1-, [)t ,%-I Inc lilinluts: the e„e1k e a71d frL11t...
...Seen in retrospect, Jim's life has been like a bumper-car ride with the pedal always to the floor: full of drive and nervy self-confidence, but marked by jolting, split-second redirections...
...And 61r I nlonient the Joyce looks away for a second...
...I hCtl 1-C1t1 C:i.<C Cha:.,Ct 1C i:p oil LitlLECr block, in a ,ilal'cn1 .re nch...
...Known as Ulsterrncn, after the part of Northern Ireland from which they hailed, they had come to America fleeing smallpox, sheep rot, drought, and winter fevers, but especially repressive land policies.Tireless farmers, they had introduced the potato to Ireland and turned miles of bog into productive farms, only to have their rents doubled or tripled when the leases ran out...
...From his front window you can see his father's house-a yellow...
...They cooked it in ,,,31va]]lzed steel oldi,tilled it in car radiators that gave oft lead front soldered hart...
...People keep saying that the moonshiners have gone, but we keep finding more stills," one agent told me...
...ails{ it's dripping, down his ,hart Into hi, pants, So were all }ti st .tarts at 111111...
...Just when they arrived is unclear, but they most likely belonged to the great Wave of Scotch-Irish settlers that flossed down the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road between die 173(K, and the 177cs...
...t1...
...Then Joyce reaches under 111, desk aitd pith, out a halt-itilion ]11,ison 1.11- tilled with White lightning...
...Beheler's best answer to such apathy is a dogged work ethic and a love of the chase...
...That's the place," he says, jerking his chin toward a white, one-story farmhouse...
...but if 111.tti- I'ii ,11 e.1r 1t o-ould retell like th.t[~' 1C'heri C'.ik11nilti e,!tte •3r-iunLi Liter rh.it d,o• he c,111nt the ,cent tl_lht •M P, :.i he.!Liv, v e.!tt },1.ete1Le lit the •ur• •i, 1t even cook Ill the' tkclgk)hLn-110011 11.3d decided tt, bake bread at the sane title...
...A tall wrought-iron gate, surmounted by gilded eagles, fronted the property, a white gazebo stood in the middle distance, and the silver shed glimmered beyond it...
...Once in America...
...You put that stuff in your car and it'll run it...
...I just bailed out of the truck and told my son to stay right there;' he remembers...
...lleheler ,:1y, it doesn't get to III]]] :uiynu)re-you do what you ealt do, you do tilt best you can do, and that's alt yon Can do--but hi, rilio)d...
...Even Calhoun, standing there with his linebacker's build and Beretta automatic, is more vulnerable than he seems...
...Never sell to someone you don't know," was the first rule of moonshining...
...I hev cut their product with bleat 11, turpentine...
...innocuous-one thats easy to hurtle past as you head toward some more dramatic vista and the locals like it that way...
...lntl it ,oLlilLu like au Cllgirir rennin real 1c]Llcl-\[hen the n iLh ,tart, t,(Ii:i11 . 1,111 jplu I L c)}+}'er a}, over the hole.,C;ll it ni[ll •(IT ly r1-c }1.1,10...
...We're doing the same things, but we aren't catchin' 'em as much as we used to...
...But others admitted that there have always been too sorts or nioon,hine: the decent stein: which i, kept at home and sold to neighbors...
...1velc-clnn!at [hey hc•.l.l..I ed ,(111th .lcrol,, rhc i]]1L]Llch:]1111a I:i1r1-• ale] tilt .~11r hrnir<, •il 1 clcncn *,1•L• Sheilando.th \illle1...
...The source said it was in a tobacco barn, at the back end of the property...
...buckling under peer pressure, At first all I can sense arc• the tilttie, burnll, through In- little by little...
Vol. 34 • May 2001 • No. 4
