East Sioux Falls was filled with quarrymen who worked hard and often spent their leisure time in local saloons. As temperance and prohibition gained popularity and neighboring towns often could not open such establishments because of protesting churchgoers, East Sioux Falls maintained a thriving bar trade that even drew residents from Sioux Falls by electric trolley. A bar was always part of town life: the saloon was built before the church, remained open long after the church had closed, and the last bar operated until the 1960s. Quarry work also brought many new faces to East Sioux Falls, not all of them honest, and the combination of backbreaking labor and a lively saloon business gave the town a rough character. Among the more memorable swindlers were Fred Swenson, described as a gay and dashing bartender, who fled to Norway with $400 after leaving debts and scandal behind; J.E. Payette, who stole almost $2,000 while drawing up contracts for the quarry company; and Edmund Bebro, using the name Harry Phillips, who conned Judge S.L. Tate out of $500 with false cablegrams before fleeing town with Mrs. Thomas and a 3 year old child.