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Minnesota 13 was the name given to the corn liquormoonshine distilled on many centralMinnesota Stearns County farms. It became well known across America and Canada as "Minnesota 13", a premium quality twicedistilled and properly agedwhiskey, (said by many to taste remarkably like "Canadian Club").Stearns County was populated predominantly byGerman American andPolish American Catholics at that time.Holdingford was considered the unofficial moonshine capital of Minnesota.[1][2] According to historian Elaine Davis, this was becauseorganized crime figures from theTwin Cities,Chicago, andKansas City, made frequent trips to the Holdingford area to purchase Minnesota 13, which was distilled by local farmers with the collusion of corrupt politicians and law enforcement in return forprotection money.[3] Monks atSaint John's Abbey in Collegeville, such asJustus Trettel, were said to have assisted farmers in their moonshining since the sale of alcohol was one of the few ways struggling farmers could earn a proper living.[4]
One story for the origin of the name says it came from a producer who hand-lettered his labels because he was proud of his product.[5] Minnesota 13 was also the name of an open pollinated corn variety developed by theUniversity of Minnesota and widely used in Stearns County because of its shorter growing season.
Eventually,federal agents managed to sharply curtail the large-scale manufacturing of moonshine in Stearns County. They engaged in illegalvigilantism by vandalizing sheds, barns, and other buildings suspected of housing illicit stills but for which insufficient evidence existed for the issuance of search warrants. They exploited divisions within communities by recruiting informers and they undermined the abilities of moonshiners to tip each other off by sharpening their raiding strategies. Increased surveillance and a bigger stick to prosecute in the form of theJones Act finally blunted community resistance.
However, while they managed to alter behavior, they failed to change beliefs. Stearns County had its revenge when it voted 4 to 1 for repeal of the hated18th Amendment. A number of books on local history refer to Minnesota 13 and its importance of helping people through tough times. The only book on the subject isMinnesota 13: Stearns County's Wet Wild Prohibition Days by Elaine Davis, published in 2007.