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Hello, friends. For my personal update, I’ve been working with Joan Lunden on her legacy memoir, which will be published in March of 2026. Joan was the longest-running female host ever on early morning television, and her post-Good Morning America career has been equally fascinating and full. I’ll let you know when she settles on a title and cover design. Next week, I’m headed out on my motorcycle to visit family in Arizona. I'm thinking of stopping in Roswell, New Mexico, because I am a connoisseur of roadside kitsch and conspiracy theories. The weather should be splendid. I’ll post the occasional picture on Instagram if you’re interested. I’ll be back on the Ohio River in late August/early September for a BMW motorcycle rally in Athens, Ohio. If you’d like to get together, please reach out. I’d love to meet you in person.Alright, on to the quiz. If you’ve read The Ghosts of Eden Park, you’re familiar with the role of the Ohio River in bootlegging, but it’s been used for lots of other illicit businesses over the years. Let’s see how you do with these ten questions.Note to my fantastic new subscribers:Monthly trivia is for sport. It’s not a test of intelligence or character. I couldn’t answer these questions without a significant amount of research, either! Do your best and enjoy learning something new. Would you share this quiz with someone else? Please?QUESTIONSAnswers in the footnotes. Have fun!* Going back to the 18th and early 19th centuries, Ohio River criminal syndicates capitalized on the river's ever-growing traffic to evade taxes or to smuggle contraband humans and goods. We’ll come back to the trafficking of humans in a later question. What goods were the basis for most of the criminal activity along the river? More than one may apply.* Tobacco and alcohol * Counterfeit currency* Everyday goods like textiles and grains* Newport, Kentucky, became a major hub for organized crime in the 1940s and 1950s while neighboring Covington, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio, did not. Which of the following reasons best explains Newport’s “success” as a crime town? More than one applies.* It was small enough that local law enforcement could be easily influenced, but close enough to a major city (Cincinnati) to draw in big-money gambling customers.* Figures like Newport Police Chief Frank "Screw" Andrews openly worked with crime bosses rather than against them.* Unlike Ohio, Kentucky had looser gambling laws, creating a gray area where illegal casinos could flourish with little state interference.* Newport had a history of vice industries dating back to the 1800s, including brothels and saloons that made illegal activity feel like "business as usual."* Las Vegas-style casino operators, like Moe Dalitz (who later helped develop the Vegas Strip), used Newport as a testing ground before heading west.* Newport, Kentucky, was known as a mini Las Vegas due to its numerous illegal casinos. Which famous mob family was heavily involved in running these operations? Hint: It’s the oldest of the “Five Families” that dominate the New York and New Jersey region.a) The Genovese Familyb) The Gambino Familyc) The Dalitz Family* Which Ohio River city was used as a stand-in for New York City to film the recent gangster movie, The Alto Knights, starring Robert De Niro?* Pittsburgh* Cincinnati* Louisville* The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 effectively criminalized freedom for escaped enslaved people, which was a major force in Ohio River border states. While it didn’t classify freedom seekers as criminals by legal definition, it subjected them to punishment, forced capture, and denial of rights in ways that mirrored criminal prosecution—without any of the legal protections given to actual criminals. Which of the following is true of this Act? More than one applies.* Unlike other legal systems where crimes have statutes of limitations, a fugitive slave could be hunted for life—even if they had lived freely for decades. * Anyone who helped a fugitive slave—whether by providing shelter, food, or transportation—could face fines of up to $1,000 (roughly $35,000 today) and six months in prison.* Slavery was legal under U.S. law at the time, so escaping from bondage was considered a violation of property law, similar to stealing a horse—except the “stolen property” was the person’s own body.* Freedom seekers were subject to hot metal branding, known as the “scar-based identification system.” This was believed to deter repeat escape attempts.* Blackbirding is the nickname for kidnapping free Black people and illegally selling them into slavery. If you watched the movie or read the book, Ten Years a Slave you will know about this history. Which of the following statements best describes how blackbirding networks operated north of the Ohio River before the Civil War? Choose one.* They were loosely organized groups of bounty hunters who only targeted escaped enslaved people.* They...