Felix B. Mulgrew: newspaper man, entrepreneur, Klondiker, friend of Soapy Smith

Felix B. Mulgrew
7/30/1854 - 5/30/1915
Karen Hendricks collection

(Click image to enlarge)

ELIX B. MULGREW
friend or victim of Soapy Smith's?

Karen Hendricks is the great-great-granddaughter of Felix B. Mulgrew. Mulgrew was a newspaper man, entrepreneur, Klondiker, and had some running correspondence with his friend, Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith. Through Karen we learn a little more about one of Soapy's many associates, or was he a victim? On February 16, 2008 Karen wrote.

Hi,

     I wrote a few days ago regarding my gg-grandfather Felix B. Mulgrew and his correspondence with Soapy Smith. I would still like to know where this correspondence could be found or microfilmed or photocopies or anything! I am more than willing to pay for them!
     I also misquoted my information on his champagne sale. That should have been to Swiftwater (not Wild) Bill Gates!

     Thanks

Karen Hendricks

I responded immediately,

Hi Karen,
     Here is what we have right now. We know that the two men knew one another, but the only existing correspondence is between May and November 1897. Soapy had just returned to St Louis to be with his family when on May 13, 1897 he wrote a letter to Felix B. Mulgrew in San Francisco. There is no record of that first letter Soapy had sent.

     It is believed that Soapy had contacted Mulgrew for some financial assistance in his quest to build an empire in Alaska during the start of the Klondike gold rush which he knew was coming. Two months after writing Mulgrew, the steamer Excelsior arrived in San Francisco and the steamer Portland arrived in Seattle, each with over a ton of Klondike gold on-board. Soapy was financing an empire building trip to Alaska, which was not going to be cheap. In order to set up his operations correctly and as fast as possible, Soapy was looking to borrow money, taking on partners in his venture. I believe Soapy sent word out to potential financiers regarding his intentions of profiting from the stampede. Mulgrew had some money and was more than willing to financially back Soapy's plans. From San Francisco, Mulgrew took a trip up to Spokane, Washington and loaned Soapy $3,500. But within a couple of months Mulgrew got into an economic bind and needed his loan paid back.

Mulgrew writes,

82 Haight St.

May 27, 1897

Friend Jeff:
     Your letter dated 13th inst., reached S. F., where myself and wife were temporarily out of town, so I did not get it until yesterday. I fear this may not reach you in St. Louis but trust it will be forwarded O.K. We were both glad to hear from you, but sorry you were sick. Possibly too much Tennessee, Virginia Scedlers and other Spokane beverages was the cause of your undoing. Hope you are well again and have regained your cherry laugh.

     I hope for our mutual sake you will strike oil soon. I am getting close to cases. I’ve dealt out $6000 since I met you. If I was able I would lease a building on Third st., just off Market, for a term of years for a saloon. Capt. White had his faro game on the 3rd floor for years. It is a small 3-story building, adjoining the old Nucleus Bldg., now being demolished for the new Examiner office. It will thus adjoin the Examiner building, and across Third St. will be the Call building, while across Market will be the Chronicle building. An all right place, with hot lunch from 2 to 4 a.m., will catch the printers (if the right people have the place), and there are two floors above for club rooms and games. It is a great opportunity and I only wish you and I could grab it.

     I can get police indulgence if anybody can; but it is not necessary for me to tell you that, as you know it already.

     This is one of the best opportunities I have had for some time and if we can pull it through we would find the money coming pretty easy.

     Best regards for you and hopes for your prosperity, I remain

     Yours truly,

F. B. Mulgrew

Little is known of their association, but the fact that Mulgrew started off his letter with "Friend Jeff" indicates they knew one another pretty well, as close associate confidence men and members of the Soap Gang addressed Soapy as "Friend." Soapy was just starting to set up his empire at Skagway, Alaska and visited Seattle to spend the winter of 1897. One newspaper account reported that Jeff had returned from Skagway with around $15,000. Mulgrew sent his last known letter to Soapy after hearing of his return.

San Francisco,

Nov. 29, 1897

Jeff R. Smith, Esq.:

     Dear Sir – “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” I’m busted- up a stump, and about as desperate as you were when we first met. That Spokane trip cost me about $4,000, in all, including $3,500 I advanced you. When I got back and paid some debts, helped along some poor people, I soon found myself down to cases, or within a few hundred of being so. It was a case of “dig up,” again, so I started for the Klondike. A party here agreed to pay my wife and children $50 a month for a year, in consideration of a half-interest in what I located. Well, I didn’t get there. Our river boat broke down and we were frozen in at the mouth of the Yukon. I had to borrow money to get back to Frisco.

     I don’t know which way to turn. As I had about $7,000 only a few months ago, those who knew me naturally think I ought to have money now. I don’t know anybody I can borrow of, and I must raise at least $200, but actually need $300. Hell is to pay all around. If I had $200 to $300 I would get on my feet and pull out. I have a chance to book 100 people for Dawson at $300 each, including 1,000 lbs. of provisions, besides transportation. That would give me $30,000. I can get a 150 ton boat, to carry 100 passengers, delivered at St. Michael, for $20,000. Such a boat would give 100 tons freight capacity, aside from the 50 tons allotment to passengers, and at 5 cents per lbs. I can take in $10,000 from freight. Thus I would take in about $40,000, while $30,000 would pay for the boat, grub, etc. That would clear the boat and give about $10,000 in cash, and to that could be added what the boat would earn next year on the river. I would let her freeze up somewhere near Dawson and use her for a hotel for 8 or 9 months. I have two or three capitalists on the string for this plan, but that is for the future. I’m dead broke now, and I want you to be my friend if it breaks a leg – or breaks somebody else.

     My wife often speaks of “Dr.” Smith and always says: “Jeff will pay you when he prospers.” I feel sure you will too, but a little now is an absolute need.

     In Seattle recently I heard you had been in town and was flush. I met Mr. Thompson, who told me you had gone to Nashvill (sic). I wired you there, to the track. I am sending this letter to Mr. Thompson to forward, as he probably knows your address. For the gods’ sake do not disappoint me. My wife sends best wishes for your happiness.

     Yours truly,

H. B. [F. B.] Mulgrew

Soapy's response to Mulgrew's plea for help is unknown, as there are no further (known) letters between the two men. As Soapy was well-known for paying off his debts, it is hoped that he paid this one.
     In Mulgrew's last letter there are detailed plans to head to the Klondike. It has to be wondered if he stopped in Skagway to see Soapy? His name does not appear on the list of names from the Skagway Historical Society, but the list is lacking.
     The above letters by Mulgrew were found in Soapy's personal effects after his death in 1898. They were published, along with a number of other letters in an article entitled, "Correspondence of a Crook," January 1907 and February 1908. It was later republished in Alaska-Yukon Magazine, October 1908. p. 385-386. The spelling of Mulgrew was published in the magazine as "H. B. Mulgrew" but Karen Hendricks showed me Mulgrew’s signature and it is clear that the “F” could easily be mistaken for an “H.”
     Famed Canadian historian, Pierre Berton mentions the letters in his book, Klondike Fever, listing Mulgrew as a "political fixer" because of the comment, "I can get police indulgence if anybody can." Mulgrew does write to Soapy about saloons and gambling operations so it does appear that there was more to her great-great-grandfather than Karen Hendricks realized, as seen in her description of Mulgrew.

     My gg-grandfather was born in San Francisco in 1854. About 1856 the family moved to Healdsburg, but did live for a time in San Francisco after that. In 1876 he and his brother John F. Mulgrew started the "Healdsburg Enterprise." They sold the newspaper a few years later and Felix went on to dabble in real estate, being a newspaper reporter and served a term as a representative for Sonoma county. He and his brother John didn't seem to be able to settle down in one town or job, they were always on the go! We know that Felix was involved in the Klondike gold rush as his name appears on the Klondike rolls and on the 1900 census, his name appears on board ship in Alaska. After 1900 though, it is hard to track him. We know he was involved in the Alaska Transportation Company from the article about his dealings with Swiftwater Bill Gates. In 1906 he was touring the gold mines of Nevada and was involved in the sale of the Esmeralda mine. He died in 1915 at one of his daughter's home.

     He had two daughters, Flora and Louise and one son, Martin. Flora is my great-grandmother. The wife referred to in one letter, would be his second wife, Blanche.

     I have attached a few files. One is of a letter written to one of Flora's sons. As you can see from the signature, it is very easy to mistake his "F" as an "H." So I whole-heartedly believe the H. B. Mulgrew is really F. B. Mulgrew. There is no one in California with the surname Mulgrew at that time that has a first name that begins with the letter "H."

     I look forward to your replies and will look over the Friends of Soapy Smith info. I have been to Skagway a couple of times and have friends who live in Alaska so have always felt a connection to that area.

Karen Hendricks

Grave marker
Felix B. Mulgrew
Find-A-Grave

(Click image to enlarge)

Karen sent me a photograph of Mulgrew (at top), and also included another photograph (at below) found among the belongings of Felix Mulgrew, by his daughter Louise. For some unknown reason and proveance, it is believed to be a member of the Smith family from Sheridan, Missouri. Soapy's wife lived in St. Louis, Missouri, so it is, at the very least, possible to be a family member.  

Attention Smith family members!

Do you recognize this Smith?
Please notify us here if you have any information

Unknown Smith?
Sheridan, Missouri
Karen Hendricks collection

(Click image to enlarge)

SOURCES:

(1) Karen Hendricks, great-great grand-daughter of Felix B. Mulgrew.

(2) Find-A-Grave: Felix B. Mulgrew

Felix B. Mulgrew: pages 432-433.

"I consider bunco steering more honorable than the life led by the average politician"

— The Road (Denver newspaper), February 29,1896

MARCH 30

1822: Florida becomes a U.S. territory.

1842: Dr. Crawford W. Long performs the first operation using ether for surgical anesthesia.

1848: Niagara Falls stops flowing for one day due to an ice jam.

1854: Sixty Dragoon soldiers are tricked into an ambush by several hundred Jicarilla and Ute Indians in a canyon near Taos, New Mexico. Called the Battle of Cieneguilla, 22 soldiers are killed, and more wounded, before they were able to retreat.

1855: Thousands of "Border Ruffians" from western Missouri invade the territory of Kansas to force the election of a pro-slavery legislature.

1858: Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia patents the pencil.

1860: John Rooker shoots and kills Jack O’Neil in ambush while hiding inside the Western Saloon in Denver, Colorado. O’Neil escaped justice on a fast horse.

1867: U.S. Secretary of State William Seward reaches an agreement with Russia to purchase the district of Alaska for $7.2 million (two cents an acre), a deal ridiculed at the time as “Seward's Folly,” and “Seward’s icebox.” It would be the final resting place for outlaw "Soapy" Smith.

1870: Texas is the last Confederate state readmitted to the Union. Six years later it will be the new home state for the parents of Soapy Smith.

1870: The 15th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race, is passed by Congress.

1889: Robert Leroy “Butch Cassidy” Parker, Tom and Bill McCarty, and Matt Warner rob the First National Bank of Denver, Colorado of $20,000. According to one account, Tom McCarty approached the bank president and stated, "Excuse me, sir, but I just overheard a plot to rob this bank." Obviously upset, the bank president asked, "How did you learn of this plot?" To which McCarty replied, "I planned it." Pulling out his revolver he exclaimed, "Put up your hands!" Four men, Cassidy, Tom and Bill McCarty, and Matt Warner rode out of Denver with $5,000 each from the robbery. Soapy Smith has an account there.

1890: Fire destroys a major portion of the business district in Flagstaff, Arizona Territory.

1903: U.S. troops are sent to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to protect American interests during a revolution.

1905: President Theodore Roosevelt is chosen to mediate in the Russo-Japanese peace talks.

1909: The Queensboro Bridge in New York opens, linking Manhattan and Queens. It is the first double decker bridge.

1909: Seminole Indians in Oklahoma revolt against meager pay for government jobs.

1909: The Army abandons Fort Washakie in Wyoming. The fort was built in 1871 and originally named Camp Brown, but its name was changed in 1878 to Fort Washakie to honor Shoshone Indian Chief Washakie, who had made peace with the white people. The Shoshone were given tracts of land in the Wind River Reservation. The fort was established not for protection against Indians but for the protection of the Shoshone Indians from the Sioux, Cheyenne, Crow, and Arapahoe Indians. The fort was a military outpost for almost 40 years and never saw any battles. The fort and many of the original buildings are still in use today by the Shoshone tribal government.