Was Al Capone ever in Yorkton? That’s one of the questions which filmmaker Kelly Riess hopes to answer in the upcoming documentary Finding Al, which is exploring the connections between Al Capone and different cities in Saskatchewan.
Riess says that they’ve been travelling from Chicago and into Saskatchewan looking for stories that connect Capone to the province. Through the process, Riess has heard several stories about a Yorkton connection, as well as in surrounding communities.
“I met a guy from Rhein who had a storage house on a farm that Al Capone may have used to store alcohol. We also heard rumors that Capone may have stayed in the Balmoral Hotel in Yorkton, which was destroyed in a fire, and there’s even rumors that the Balmoral had tunnels under the hotel. We’re interested in coming to Yorkton and exploring those stories and seeing if we can validate them.”
Coming years after the fact, Riess admits there can be a challenge just finding information on the people and places where Capone may have visited. She says that exploring Yorkton’s archives and speaking to local historians might finally shed light on some of the rumors and stories that she has heard.
“A lot of the stuff we hear is family stories, but what’s interesting is sometimes you can hear the same story from two different parts of the family tree who don’t know each other.”
The province’s connection to bootlegging was largely due to an easy to cross border, Riess explains. While it was difficult to cross in Ontario, the prairie provinces were an easy way to get into Canada.
“It was kind of the perfect hub for people to get across the border, whether using the back roads or the Sioux line, there wasn’t as much security back then.”
Saskatchewan’s criminal past is something that has been kept quiet for a number of years, and Riess believes that it was because people didn’t want to acknowledge what was happening. Now that time has passed, she says people find the stories more entertaining than shameful. She notes that Moose Jaw is a prime example, while it now proudly showcases its tunnels they remained a secret until the 1980s, something which the city initially didn’t want to talk about.
Riess says what they need now is people to come forward with their stories to share them, and shed light on what connections Yorkton might have to bootlegging. She says people should contact her at kellyriess@gmail.com or visit findingaldocumentary.com if their family had a connection.
“A lot of the stuff we hear is family stories, but what’s interesting is sometimes you can hear the same story from two different parts of the family tree who don’t know each other.”
The province’s connection to bootlegging was largely due to an easy to cross border, Riess explains. While it was difficult to cross in Ontario, the prairie provinces were an easy way to get into Canada.
“It was kind of the perfect hub for people to get across the border, whether using the back roads or the Sioux line, there wasn’t as much security back then.”
Saskatchewan’s criminal past is something that has been kept quiet for a number of years, and Riess believes that it was because people didn’t want to acknowledge what was happening. Now that time has passed, she says people find the stories more entertaining than shameful. She notes that Moose Jaw is a prime example, while it now proudly showcases its tunnels they remained a secret until the 1980s, something which the city initially didn’t want to talk about.
Riess says what they need now is people to come forward with their stories to share them, and shed light on what connections Yorkton might have to bootlegging. She says people should contact her at kellyriess@gmail.com or visit findingaldocumentary.com if their family had a connection.
