The Valley Gang was an

Irish-American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

street gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

during the early 20th century, which ultimately made the transition to

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

and became a de facto extension of the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or the Organization, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Chicago, I ...

under

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

. Formed in the

1890s The 1890s (pronounced "eighteen-nineties") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1890, and ended on December 31, 1899. In American popular culture, the decade would later be nostalgically referred to as the "Gay Nineti ...

, the Valley Gang was based in Chicago's Bloody Maxwell section on 15th Street, specializing in

pickpocket Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for Misdirection (magic ...

ing and

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

. By 1900 the gang had become a leading force in the Chicago underworld, later rivaling

Ragen's Colts Ragen's Colts was a chiefly Irish street gang which dominated the Chicago underworld during the early twentieth century. By the late 1920s and early 1930s, the gang became part of the Chicago Outfit under Al Capone. Originally established as a ...

, hired out for illegal activities ranging from labor slugging to murder for hire. During the mid-1910s, the local Irish mob was led by Paddy "The Bear" Ryan, who, operating from his

Irish pub In Ireland, a "pub" is an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. Irish pubs are characterised by a unique culture centred around a casual and friendly atmosphere, hearty food and drink, Irish sports, ...

on South Halstead Street, would control most of Bloody Maxwell by

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, until his murder by rival Walter "Runt" Quinlan, in 1920. After Walter Quinlan's death by Ryan's son Paddy "The Fox" Ryan, Jr., the gang was led by Frankie Lake and Terry Druggan who soon began bootlegging operations as the "Druggan-Lake Gang". Soon becoming successful distributors the gang, with partner Joseph Stenson, owned several breweries by the early 1920s using its wealth to gain political influence and police protection. In 1924, Lake and Druggan were each sentenced to one year in

Cook County Jail The Cook County Jail, located on in South Lawndale, Chicago, Illinois, is operated by the Sheriff of Cook County. It is sometimes referred to as ''California'' or ''Hotel California'', as its address is on California Avenue. A city jail has e ...

. However, while serving their sentences, they were allowed to leave the prison regularly due to support from

political boss In the politics of the United States of America, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of th ...

es such as 20th Ward alderman Morris Eller and bribes of $20,000 to Sheriff Peter Hoffman and prison Warden Wesley Westbrook. After a report by the ''

Chicago American The ''Chicago American'' was an American newspaper published in Chicago under various names from 1900 until its dissolution in 1975. Its afternoon publication was known as the ''Chicago American'', while its evening publication was known as the ...

'', Hoffman was fined $2,500 and sentenced to one-month imprisonment and Westbrook was sentenced to four-months imprisonment. The gang was soon noticed by

, due in part to the scandal, and upon their release in 1925 following the bootleg wars an alliance was formed between the gang and the Chicago Outfit, agreeing to give Capone 40% of their earnings in exchange for protection from Ragen's Colts gangsters Danny Stanton, William "Gunner" McPadden, Hughey "Stubby" McGovern, Raymond Cassidy, and Frank "Dutch" Carpenter (although many of these men would be killed during the bootleg wars). With the conviction of Druggan and Lake for

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

in 1932 the gang would eventually become absorbed into Outfit by the end of Prohibition. Serving as the Chicago crime syndicate's leading enforcers many of the gang members, including Terry Druggan, retired extremely wealthy.

Terry Druggan

Terry "Machine Gun" Druggan (1903 – March 4, 1954) was an

mobster and leader of the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

based Valley Gang from 1919 and through the

prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

. Druggan was very small in stature, with an explosive temper and a

lisp Lisp (historically LISP, an abbreviation of "list processing") is a family of programming languages with a long history and a distinctive, fully parenthesized Polish notation#Explanation, prefix notation. Originally specified in the late 1950s, ...

, and was well known throughout the Chicago area as a tough street fighter. He was also ambitious, and worked to extend his criminal reach beyond the Valley territory. By 1924, Druggan's gang was successful enough that even the most junior members wore silk shirts and travelled in

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

cars with chauffeurs. Druggan entered into several lucrative business agreements with

Johnny Torrio John Donato Torrio (born Donato Torrio, ; January 20, 1882 – April 16, 1957) was an Italian-born mobster who helped build the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s later inherited by his protégé Al Capone. Torrio proposed a National Crime Syndicate in ...

, and pulled the Valley Gang off the streets and remodelled them after Johnny Torrio's restructured version of Jim Colosimo's outfit. With the fortune he made during prohibition, Druggan bought a lavish residence on

Lake Zurich Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...

and a winter estate in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and owned 12 new cars. He had a swimming pool and tennis court, though he could not swim or play tennis, and kept dairy cattle, sheep, and pigs in his pastures. He owned a thoroughbred racing stable and raced his horses at Chicago's tracks, the horses wearing his family's ancient

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

color scheme. On one occasion, when he was disqualified at one track for fixing the race, Druggan pulled a gun on the officials and threatened to kill them all if they didn't change their ruling. They changed their ruling. With the end of

, the Druggan and Lake gang, as the Valley Gang was then called, was completely saturated into the Chicago syndicate's operations, and ceased to exist independently.

References

*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia: Second Edition''. New York, Checkmark Books, 1999

External links

* {{Organized crime groups in Chicago Former gangs in Chicago Prohibition gangs Chicago Outfit Irish-American gangs Irish-American culture in Chicago Irish-American organized crime groups