Even gangsters need a vacation

By Rebecca G Carlson
Sun contributor

Al Capone in Leelanau County?! According to local historian, journalist, and storyteller Larry Wakefield, “Even gangsters, it seems, have to take vacations,” he wrote in Ernest Hemingway Fished Here.

In the mid-1990s, my friends and I were given the opportunity to walk with a property owner in the area along Lake Michigan, south of Duck Lake, to the ‘rumored’ cottages of gangster Al Capone, AKA Scarface. While there was heavy tree growth, we walked a two-track until coming upon a run-down, two-story cottage looking like it was going to fall into Lake Michigan. The front porch of the cottage sat precariously on the edge of a bluff overlooking the lake.

We saw a partial structure that we were told was once a gun-tower. There were several other run-down outbuildings. The whole area was remote.

A couple of us walked the main floor of the larger cottage. The house had empty beer cans and broken liquor bottles, broken windows, and a few stained mattresses. It was in sad shape, but so cool to see. Our friend explained the cottage’s name was Heartsease. Thus, began my journey down the rabbit hole of local lore and colorful stories that surround Leelanau’s connection to Al Capone.

At the time, our group had no reason to question the information, especially as we walked the grounds of Heartsease. Although authentic facts seem non-existent, the local myths of Leelanau’s connection to Capone survives through multiple generations.

During Wakefield’s research into Al Capone in Leelanau County, he shared in an interview that several local residents remember Scarface. Lake Leelanau Dew Drop Inn bartender, Fred Bromwell, recalled when “Al and the boys came into the bar and set up for drinks.” Karl Detzer “recalls seeing Capone go by in his armor-plated Cadillac…” as well as listening into “gangster conversations between Capone and his men” over party-line phone calls with friend Charlie Blume (MyNorth.com). Wakefield further explores the story of Heartsease and connections to Al Capone in his book Ernest Hemingway Fished Here. In this “true North country tale,” he explains ‘the how’ of the connection to Heartsease.

The widow of the original owner of Heartsease married Frank J. Prince, a newspaperman with potential connections to the Chicago underworld. “It was with Prince’s permission that Capone used the [Lake Michigan cottage] in the late 1920s” (Wakefield 44). True? Is there genuine proof? Did Capone engrave his name somewhere on the property: ‘Al was here’?

In addition to the Wakefield documents, I spoke with several tavern owners in Leelanau County and Sleder’s in Traverse City about the connections to Al Capone and bootlegging in the area. The rabbit hole got deeper.

Recently, I interviewed Sleder’s Marketing Manager, Chrissine Cairns. Her brother and sister-in-law took over ownership of Sleder’s from Chrissine’s parents in 2019. A Slabtown marvel, Sleder’s is Michigan’s oldest, continuously operating restaurant since 1882.

When asking Chrissine if she believed Sleder’s had any connections to Al Capone during Prohibition, her response was simple. The connections between Chicago (Al Capone’s base of operations) and Sleder’s as well as the Leelanau Peninsula and Traverse City areas during prohibition are too numerous to discount. And yes, there is a rumored connection to Capone.

According to Chrissine, Sleder’s strong connections to Chicago exist through the first three-generation of owners: Vencil, Louis, and Louie Sleder. The bar, tables, chairs, and booths were sourced from Chicago. The mahogany bar was crafted in Chicago and delivered in a single 21-foot piece that is still intact in 2026 and a well-loved fixture of the Sleder’s.

Furthermore, she added that there was a rumor that Al Capone personally guaranteed Louis Sleder (son of Vencil) alcohol for his “Soda Shack” during Prohibition. I did ask Chrissine if there was any wall graffiti from Capone or other gangsters in the basement at Sleder’s. Sadly, no dice.

In an era prior to Air Tags, iPhones, and other electronic tracking devices, it would have been easy to travel and work under the radar. During Prohibition, secrecy and illegal activities created a symbiotic relationship between suppliers and buyers:  loose lips sinks ships. Otherwise, everyone would have been in jail.

I understand, once again, there is no written contract that confirms this Al Capone – Sleder’s rumor, but how can all these tales be falsehoods? Based on the people I have interviewed and their accounts, I would suggest there is zero proof Capone WASN’T in Leelanau and Traverse Counties.

What is known? There was a lot of steamer traffic over Lake Michigan between Chicago and Leelanau and Traverse Counties. Overland from Detroit, while not impossible, seems improbable for the movement of large quantities of liquor. From most of my research, alcohol was moved over water in and around Northern Michigan (our Canadian neighbors were very helpful that way) to supply this area.

In one article, the smugglers, or “Rum Fleet,” came up with an ingenious method for moving alcohol over water. As the Lake County Star newspaper explained in 1925, “Rum Smugglers use Traffic Light Code” to move hooch. “State police…discovered…smugglers…along the Canadian Border…have copied the system of lights employed to direct traffic” in protecting their vessels and people. Red, police in the area. Yellow, proceed with caution. Green, all clear! Adaptation as its finest!

1920s Chicago, Illinois = Al Capone and his crime syndicate. Capone = organized crime, illegal liquor sales and transportation to neighboring states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana. So, while Capone was not hand delivering every bottle of bathtub gin, he was controlling the network that manufactured, sold, and transported the illegal goods to many areas of Michigan: Mackinaw, Petoskey, Charlevoix, Au Sable, Saugatuck, Lansing, etc. He oversaw and visited these locations (per several other sources).

What sense does it make that Capone would exclude covering and potentially visiting the territory of Leelanau and Traverse Counties? While there is no verifiable evidence either way, it seems a reasonable leap of logic.

However, according to Professor of Ancient Roman History at the University of Berkeley, Robert Knapp, it never happened. Cue the Debbie Downer music.

As clearly stated in his book, Gangsters Up North: “Al Capone never set foot in Leelanau County’s Heartsease…” (Knapp 28). The author is emphatic that the Leelanau County rumors only take a more precise shape after local writer Larry Wakefield shared the story of Al Capone and his connections to Heartsease in several newspaper articles.

Knapp explains, “The background Wakefield provides as evidence is completely lacking in any proof that Capone was present” (27). He almost takes a dismissive tone about Wakefield’s work in his book even though Wakefield was a respected local historian and journalist. He repeats over and over, “I have not been able to find any evidence for this…” (Knapp 224), as if the gangsters would leave calling cards and written proof of their illegal activities. “I have benefited greatly from the authors who do cite their sources” (Knapp 8). This suggests that because Larry didn’t cite sources, as if offering the names of actual locals was not enough, everything he wrote was false?

In a Northern Express interview referencing gangster activity in the area, Knapp states, “I was very frustrated with Traverse City. I was sure there had to be at least stories…” Isn’t that what Wakefield was providing?

So, are all the Al Capone stories that have been handed down for the last century in both Leelanau and Traverse counties false? Did all those people make up colorful accounts about Scarface? Sure, they make for wonderful narratives, but to what end?

I would argue the sheer volume of Al Capone tales can’t all be false. Even Knapp points out that “the Purple Gang and Capone set up shop on Mackinaw Island and set up shipments” (224). So, the Up North area wasn’t unknown to Capone and the Purple Gang. Doesn’t it seem illogical that these two criminal groups would only visit the areas surrounding us avoiding transporting and selling smuggled liquor into the Traverse City and the Little Finger areas?

As I was sharing some ideas for this article with another local, their response: “We know how to keep secrets, keeping cards close to the vest and not blab.” Right! So, perhaps the reason there seems to be zero concrete evidence of Capone in the Leelanau Peninsula and Traverse City is because we, the locals, appreciate keeping the secrets secret.

I’ll let the reader decide.