In the border valley, local tradition held that smuggling was a crime but not a sin, reflecting how ties between people on both sides of the border were often stronger than the laws dividing them. Maine became the first state to go dry in 1851, and when Prohibition became U.S. law in 1920, the river, the geography, and strong cross-border connections turned the Valley into a major route between wet Canada and dry Maine, with widespread local involvement suggested by tales in every town and the saying, “The bars are empty and the basements are full.” Repeal ended this era in 1933. Frenchville's Fred Lévesque built one of the largest smuggling networks along the border while operating from Saint-Hilaire across the river, claiming to have made $2 million with 2,000 small bootleggers, 500 vehicles, and 10 ships; stories also credit him with hijacking a train to cross the border and assembling 400 smugglers to block an associate's arrest. Smugglers were said to disguise cargo under bearskins in sleighs, hide it in apple barrels, hay loads, and perhaps coffins, and although smuggling could be dangerous, the risk was often low because many who were caught were released or had fines paid from profits. Alcohol was not the only thing smuggled, and not only gangsters took part, as many Valley residents suffered under customs laws seen as arbitrary, giving rise even to a tale of cows wearing boots to hide their hoofprints.