OAHT 1519: Gangster Jack Zuta
This Geocache WAS part of the 2015 Oconomowoc Area Historical Tour:
Just west of this location where the boat launch is now located, was a resort called Lake View Hotel and gangster Jack Zuta was gunned down.
The story begins…. On July 1, 1930 an attempt was made on Zuta's life on State Street in Chicago's Loop. Surviving the attempt Zuta went into hiding. He quickly left the city and headed to a resort region in Waukesha County, Wisconsin near Milwaukee, to hide and recuperate. Zuta originally checked into one resort under the name J. H. Goodman with two other men and a woman. He later sought refuge on his own. Zuta ran into a friend, Tony Scaler, a Milwaukee speakeasy owner, and the two spent time fishing and swimming together during the last two weeks of July.
On August 1, a young lady working at a local drug store stated that Zuta came in and made a phone call. “He asked for Chicago,” she remembered. He was nervous and cursed on the phone, “You better send someone up here damn quick. I want a bodyguard and an escort back to Chicago, and you better send ‘em here in a hell of a hurry.’
Later that Friday evening, Zuta was in the dance pavilion of the Lake View Hotel on Upper Nemahbin Lake where he was dropping nickels into a player piano. As couples danced nearby, the current show tune, “It May Be Good for You but It’s So Bad for Me,” was playing. With his back turned, Zuta didn’t notice five men who walked into the pavilion in a single file line. One man carried a machine gun, another a pistol, the others a combination of rifles and shotguns. Just as Zuta turned to face his assailants, a bullet ripped through his face just below his nose. The shot spun him around and, as he tried to run, 15 more shots hit him in the head and body, several being fired after he fell. The shooters hurried out and, along with three lookouts, took off in two automobiles with Illinois license plates.
Zuta's death however resulted in the uncovering of a large amount of corruption in Illinois. Zuta, a meticulous record keeper, had much information later found in various safe deposit boxes. This information lead to the capture of a large whiskey shipment to Moran and to information about police raids on several breweries, as well as detailing Mafia payoffs to state and city officials.
The name, "Zuta," later became slang for revenge. In 1931, after a $50,000 bounty was placed on him, Capone said, "Nobody's gonna' 'Zuta' me." History and picture courtesy of the book "Oconomowoc Barons to Bootleggers" by Barquist.
Permission was granted to hide this cache by: Jeff Stoll – Owner
