Bootleggers Cove is a coastal neighborhood along the tidal flats of Cook Inlet, about 0.73 miles (1.2 km) northeast of Westchester Lagoon and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) west-southwest of downtown Anchorage, Alaska. The Alaska Railroad and the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail follow the coastline between the residences and the tidal flats. The cove is named for historical alcohol smuggling. During the late Wisconsin glacial period, five glaciers advanced and retreated over what is now the Anchorage bowl, leaving deposits of water-saturated clay. The clay beneath much of downtown Anchorage—known as the Bootlegger Cove Formation—amplifies seismic vibrations, while more consolidated soils in the hills to the east remain more stable. This formation is prone to liquefaction during earthquakes, causing ground instability and landslides; it contributed significantly to the destruction wrought by the 1964 Anchorage earthquake. The formation is mostly covered in the Anchorage basin by sediments deposited during the Pleistocene as cover sand during the waning phases of the glacioestuarine environment in which the underlying formation was laid down.

Glaciers extensively sculpted the Cook Inlet landscape during the Pleistocene, preparing the region for human settlement. Radiocarbon dating marks the disappearance of ice from lower Turnagain Arm at around 10,000 years ago, and the beginning of retreat in the upper Kenai River drainage at 13,730 years ago. Though land became available shortly after deglaciation, access corridors may have restricted human entry before 8,000–9,000 years ago. The ancestral Dené entered Alaska from the east, moving downstream along major river systems and differentiating into various dialects. The Dena’ina reached Cook Inlet via two routes: one group migrated through the Kuskokwim drainage; another came from the east via the Copper River. Those who crossed from the Copper into the Susitna River drainage merged with Dené already there, becoming the Upper Inlet Dena’ina. These people subsisted on migratory marine and terrestrial animals, salmon, herring, birds, and small mammals. Each spring and early summer, the Dena’ina fished for king and silver salmon at Ship Creek, and north of the creek erected wooden scaffolding over the mudflats to harvest salmon at low tide. In 1915, settlers built a tent city at that fish camp.

The Alaska Bone Dry Law took effect in 1918, prohibiting the importing, manufacture, and sale of alcohol—two years before national Prohibition followed ratification of the 18th Amendment. Consumption remained legal, fueled by illicitly obtained liquor. Police frequently found and destroyed stills and arrested bootleggers, yet Alaskans of all classes continued to drink freely. In Anchorage, cigar stores and pool halls served as fronts for alcohol sales. Most bootlegged spirits were locally distilled moonshine, though some were imported from Canada. Notorious local figures such as Russian Jack Marchin and Ed Olsen, known as the Phantom Swede, used Bootleggers Cove for deliveries. In 1925, U.S. Marshals arrested Olsen and seized 120 gallons (546 l) of “white mule” liquor from the woods along Chester Creek near the cove. Prohibition ended in Alaska and nationally in 1933, when both the Alaska Bone Dry Act and the 18th Amendment were repealed. The Bootlegger Cove area was significantly affected by the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake, which caused extensive damage due to ground shaking and landslides, leading to major structural failures and ground displacement.  Read more here and here. Explore more of Bootleggers Cove and Anchorage here: