Milwaukee is best known for its beer--and rightfully so. But in the days of Prohibition, the big alcohol suppliers were not Miller, Blatz, Schlitz, and Pabst. The Mafia had control, and it made its money by running alcohol as far away as Canada and Indiana, as well as with counterfeiting, the numbers racket, and two of the biggest heists in American history. From then on, the sky was the limit, as the Mafia indulged in extortion, protection rackets, and skimming from Las Vegas casinos. The Cream City had its crooked lawyers, corrupt cops, and even a mayor on the take. There was the blood of...

Explorer Jean Nicolet traveled down the Fox River in 1634 and explored an area of three waterfalls. Settlers arrived and began trading at this natural way station in 1760, establishing what became Kaukauna--one of the oldest settlements in the state. In fact, the first land deed ever recorded in Wisconsin happened here. The first state road followed in the 1820s, connecting Kaukauna with Green Bay, and people trickled in to work at the sawmills. Locks and dams were built to harness the river, and the paper mills were not far behind. It was then that Kaukauna was nicknamed the "Lion on the...