Exclusive: We Caught Up with the Town’s One-Legged Bootlegger Because it was Easy

TF: What are some ways we still see prohibition-era influence in Colorado? 

Dicky: Something people don’t know: to this day, most Colorado mountain towns are still influenced by the remnants of the Smaldone crime family. But not Tripping Falls. That was an agreement my grandpa made a long time ago. In exchange for giving bootleggers a secluded place to stash stills and barrels, the town of Tripping Falls was granted eternal immunity.

TF: So you’re saying most mountain towns are still influenced by the Colorado crime family that came into prominence in the early 1900s?

Dicky: Yep. Even though the last Smaldone brother died in 2006, the extended branches of that family control almost all commerce in Colorado mountain towns. But not the big, corporate ski resort towns. Those are controlled by corporate mafia overlords.

TF: Tell us more about your grandpa. Tripping Falls has a long and fascinating history with moonshine and prohibition, but not a lot of people know about it.

Dicky: Part of the reason we have the Moonshine Masquerade to this day is because of my grandpa and the Smaldones. If you know your Colorado history, you know that Tripping Falls residents started wearing masks during prohibition.

TF: Right, that made it easier to keep operations going with a sense of anonymity.

Dicky: It made it harder to rat people out. The problem was, how do you trust everyone to follow the rules?

TF: I sense a story about busted kneecaps and horseheads in beds coming…

Dicky: It wasn’t like that. The town was small enough, and the bootlegging industry was profitable enough, that the Smaldones could afford to pay everyone a weekly stipend to keep their masks on and mouths shut. Or so the story goes. Nobody ever ratted. Not one single person.

TF: How did the Prohis always seem to miss Tripping Falls? If it was such a hub of bootlegging activity, didn’t it start to raise suspicions after a while?

Dicky: They came by a few times — the ones that the Smaldones didn’t have in their pockets. We’ve managed to thrive in this remote wilderness, but the outside world has always had trouble getting in.  And there were still grizzlies in the area back then, so it wasn’t worth the time to come poking around hundreds of thousands of acres of grizzly-filled land to find a few barrels of booze.

TF: I’m just gonna ask it. What happened to the leg? Was this a moonshine-related accident? I’ve heard it’s really easy for alcohol vapor to build up and explode when making moonshine.

Dicky: I’ve had a still explode near me. but this was from a car crash.

TF: Drunk driver?

Dicky: The irony’s not lost on me. But it’s funny that “normal” distilleries can make 144 proof alcohol legally and moonshining is still frowned upon.

TF: Why do you still make moonshine?

Dicky: It’s a family tradition. Plus it’s not like I have a lot of other things to do.

TF: You could dress up as the lamp from “A Christmas Story.”

Dicky: The sense of humor. That must be why you have so many readers.

TF: You could have breakfast at IHOP.

Dicky: I know you’re joking, but I would kill for an IHOP up here.

For now, Tripping Falls’ tradition of moonshiners, bootleggers and outcasts appears to be in tact as we enter the summer events season. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog for info on upcoming events, like the Moonshine Masquerade, where Mashburn plans to present his newest chemistry experiment to thirsty event-goers.