Artifact #66: Soapy Smith, Horseshoe Saloon, Wells Dyea Saloon, Dyea, Alaska, 1897.

Envelope (front)
"Horseshoe Saloon"
Jeff Smith collection

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rtifact #66

      A Washington Post envelope postmarked in Washington D.C., January 17, 1898, addressed to Jeff R. Smith Jr., care of the Horseshoe Saloon, Seattle, Washington. The postmark on the rear reveals that it was received in Seattle on January 23, 1898. This was likely sent by Soapy's cousin, Edwin Bobo Smith, a reporter for the Washington Post. Another key hint is that it is addressed to "Jr," and few knew his father was Jefferson Randolph Smith, Sr.

      Between 1896-1898 Soapy was seeking to prosper in Alaska, already having predicted a major gold rush there. Soapy was based in Seattle, Washington waiting for signs that a major gold rush was on. Seattle was already becoming the primary port for sailing to Alaska, and it is very probable that Soapy was on the Seattle docks, July 17, 1897 when the S. S. Portland arrived there with about 4,000 pounds of gold in her cargo hold.
      In August 1897 Soapy made his way to Skaguay (later changed to Skagway), made some $30,000 in nineteen days, and returned to Seattle, where on October 1, 1897 he had a "rough and tumble" fight inside the Horseshoe Saloon, the same saloon addressed on the envelope. In November Soapy went to Washington D. C. for a visit with cousin Edwin. While there, Soapy obtained cousin Edwin's help in obtaining permissions and permits to open a "hotel" at Fort St. Michael, one of the early hot spots for gold rushes in Alaska. The letter that went with this envelope probably contained some final formalities about the permits, as 11-days later the Adjutant General of the War Department signed a letter giving Soapy his permits he sought. But by this time, Soapy had probably already decided on making Skaguay his new base of operations.

Envelope (rear)
"Wells Dyea Saloon"
Jeff Smith collection

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      The rear of the envelope reveals some hand-written notes scribbled by Soapy, two sets of notes, separated by a line. The top note is very hard to read. I see "13 Whiskey," "ship to Minnesota," and "Out for cow against Smith." An old friend of mine, Erik Anderson, sees "3 whiskey," "ship to Minnesota" (could it be "ship FROM Minnesota?"), and "cut for cash against Smith." The latter may refer to a bank draft.

     Alaskan historian Art Petersen, believes that "Out for cow" may be "cut for law." He believes the upper portion may a shortened form something like, "13 cases of whiskey ordered from a shipper in Minnesota. There will be a cut for the law paid for by ("against") Smith."

What do you see?

      The lower notes are easier to read: "Well's Dyea Saloon OK." A saloon owned by a man named Wells? I contacted the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and they provided me with a list of known Dyea saloons. Though there is no "Dyea Saloon," there is a "Dyea Beer Hall," located at the corner of 4th and Broadway in Dyea. Today, there are no remains of Dyea, but the Dyea Beer Hall is one of the few structures that the KGRNHP can locate on the ground, where it once stood. The name of Well's remains a mystery. Soapy probably wrote "OK" to remember that the saloon was fine with bunco men using the establishment for use, no doubt for a cut of the take. In letting my imagination run wild, I wonder if this Soapy's attempt to help, or swindle, a saloon in Dyea or Skaguay, in supplying a whiskey stock that is running low.

Wells Dyea Saloon: page 450.

"Poker is a game of chance, but not the way I play it."

— W. C. Fields

APRIL 18

1676: Sudbury, Massachusetts is attacked by Indians.

1775: American revolutionaries Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott, ride though the towns of Massachusetts giving the warning that "the British are coming."

1818: A regiment of Indians and blacks are defeated at the Battle of Suwann, in Florida, ending the first Seminole War.

1846: The telegraph ticker is patented by R. E. House.

1847: U.S. troops defeat almost 17,000 Mexican soldiers commanded by Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo, during the Mexican-American War.

1861: Colonel Robert E. Lee turns down an offer to command the Union armies during the Civil War, instead, joining the Confederacy.

1877: Charles Cros writes a paper that described the process of recording and reproducing sound. In France, Cros is regarded as the inventor of the phonograph. In the U.S., Thomas Edison gets the credit.

1895: New York State establishes free public baths.

1892: McGinty, the petrified man belonging to bunco artists Soapy Smith, goes on display in Murphy’s Exchange, Denver, Colorado.

1899: Bat Masterson opens the Olympic Athletic Club in Denver, Colorado at the corner of Sixteenth and Market Streets. One of his regular boxers is “Reddy” Gallagher, one of bad man Soapy Smith’s toughs, who had followed Soapy to Alaska in 1898.

Town of Dyea, Alaska, 1897

DYEA, ALASKA 1897

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yea, Alaska 1897 covered in a layer of campfire and fireplace smoke, was located five miles from Skagway where Soapy Smith went. Dyea was founded first but the docking for ships was too unmanageable and Dyea died out, along with much of its early history. I found this photograph online at the University of Washington. The original is very poor in visibility, so I took the liberty of using photoshop to "clean" it up.

      Years ago, while researching for my Soapy book (Alias Soapy Smith), I came across the name Tom Cady as being Dyea's underworld boss. Up until my book was published, several historians gave Cady's name as proof that Soapy probably had no control in Dyea, but none of them had connected Cady as a member of the Soap Gang in Colorado, where he was known as "Sure-Shot" and "Troublesome Tom." My book covers quite a bit about Cady, as well as Dyea.

Courtesy of University of Washington Digital Collections. 

 











The following links will open new windows for additional research. Be sure to scroll.
Dyea
Tom Cady

Dyea: pages 13, 79, 414, 430, 432, 434-35, 440, 442, 450-51, 455, 460, 466, 470, 473, 477, 481-82, 489, 492, 495-96, 499, 506, 513-14, 520, 527-28, 550-51, 562, 566, 569-70.

Tom Cady: pages 79, 210-11, 229, 250-51, 253-57, 260, 264, 362, 450.

"The only certainty is that nothing is certain."

— Pliny the Elder

OCTOBER 12

1492: Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, sights Watling Island in the Bahamas, believing that he had found Asia while attempting to find a Western ocean route to India. The same day he claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain.

1792: The first monument honoring Christopher Columbus is dedicated in Baltimore, Maryland.

1860: Inventor Elmer Sperry is born. During his lifetime he will hold patents on more than 400 inventions. The most important being the Sperry Automatic Pilot.

1870: Horace Greeley visits Greeley, Colorado, the city named in his honor.

1870: Robert E. Lee dies peacefully in Lexington, Virginia at age 63. Lee is most famous as a confederate general during the American Civil War.

1872: Indian chief Cochise and General O. Howard sign a peace treaty in Arizona Territory.

1878: Eight cowboys from Dallas County get into a shootout with Deputy Sheriff Tom Gerren in Lewisville, Texas. One of the cowboys is shot in the hip and two horses are killed.

1882: The Tombstone Epitaph reports that bad man Johnny Ringo is drunk in Galeyville, Arizona Territory.

1892: In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Columbus landing the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance is first recited in public schools.

1895: the first amateur golf tournament is held in Newport, Rhode Island.

Tom Cady rules over Dyea, Alaska

"Troublesome Tom" P. Cady
Denver Post, March 3, 1902

 

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roublesome Tom Cady

    Years ago, while researching for Alias Soapy Smith, I came across the name Tom Cady as being Dyea's underworld boss. Previous to the publication of my book some historians gave Cady's name as an indication that Soapy probably had no control in Dyea. None of these historians had connected Cady as a member of the Soap Gang in Colorado, where he was known as "Sure-Shot" and "Troublesome Tom." My book covers quite a bit about Cady, as well as Dyea.
    I came across the following from the Morning Oregonian, May 10, 1898.

A "sure-thing" operator named Keady is held at Dyea on a charge of stealing about $2000 worth of silk and other merchandise while it was in transit to the summit. The marshal is very reticent about the robbery, and it is suspected that other and more reputable persons than Keady are implicated in it.

    The fact that the marshal was said to be "very reticent about the robbery" indicates that he was probably under the pay of the bunco men.

U.S. Marshal's office
Dyea, Alaska
Note sign regarding telephone service between Skaway and Dyea.

 

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    Tom Cady, sometimes spelled "Kady" or "Keady," was known in Colorado as “Sure-Shot” and “Troublesome Tom.” As a member of the Soap Gang he operated shell games for Soapy. He was known for his nasty temper and habit of carrying a 12-inch dirk. He followed Soapy to Creede, Colorado in 1892 and then back to Denver after that town's silver rush faded. Accompanied Soapy to Mexico in the 1894 in effort to recruit a private army for the President of Mexico. Cady became a prime suspect with Soapy in the 1892 shooting death of gambler Cliff Sparks. He followed Soapy to Alaska and became Dyea’s underworld boss. It is not known when Cady left Alaska, but it surely happened soon after Soapy was killed in July 1898.

• January 12, 1899: Cady did return to Denver, where he was arrested, along with others in a theft case. 
• June 9, 1899: Cady is mentioned in Denver newspapers regarding his wager on the Fitzsimmons-Jeffries boxing bout.
• December 19, 1901: In a Dallas, Texas theft case a "Tom Cady" pleaded guilty. He spent five-days in jail and a $10 fine.
• February 18, 1902: A comical article published in the Denver Post indicates that Cady plans to return to Denver, using Wolfe Londoner, Denver's old mayor.
• March 3, 1902: The Denver Post announces Cady's death in San Francisco, California on February 26, 1902. Because it is linked to the same joke from February 18th, this may be a false death report, common among the bunco men running from the law.

Tom Cady (link 1) (link 2)

Tom Cady: pages 79, 210-11, 229, 251-52, 253-57, 260, 264, 362, 450.

I had seen a carpenter pause at Tom’s three-legged stool that day, watch the game for a moment, then slowly slide his tool bag from his shoulder to the ground, put $5 on the table and pounce upon one of the shells. He lost this five and two more, called the shell man a thief and demanded his money back.
     "Yes," said the man, with his cold eyes fixed upon the top of the mountain. "I presume that’s what you wanted with my money—to give it back."

—San Francisco Call, 09/04/1898.

JUNE 16

1858: In a speech in Springfield, Illinois, Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln stated that the slavery issue had to be resolved. He declared, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

1867: Indians and the 3rd Cavalry do battle in the Gallinas Mountains, New Mexico Territory.

1868: Four members of the 1st Cavalry are killed by Indians while on mail escort in Toddy Mountains, Arizona Territory.

1880: Jim Tyler and Matthew Gray are indicted in Tyler, Texas for their involvement in the Sam Bass gang and the Eagle Ford train robbery of April 4, 1878. Tyler is not captured until July 21, 1881.

1890: The second Madison Square Gardens opens.

1881: John E. Wilcoxon, more commonly known as “Jim Moon,” is shot and killed by gambler, bunco man, Clay Wilson, in the Denver, Colorado Arcade Cafe, saloon, and gaming house.

1897: The U.S. government signs a treaty of annexation with Hawaii.

1898: The first issue of the Klondike Nugget is published in Dawson, Yukon.

1903: The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.

1906: An act of congress is signed by Theodore Roosevelt, which combines Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory into a single state, called Oklahoma.

Jesse Murphy mentioned as shooting Soapy Smith in The Dyea Trail, July 9, 1898

Skaguay Rises in Righteous Wrath
The Dyea Trail
July 9, 1898

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 man named Murphy had done his best to kill Soapy."

 

 

 

 

An extremely rare opportunity slid by me in an eBay auction listing for the July 9, 1898 (Vol. 1,No. 26) issue of The Dyea Trail (Dyea, Alaska), which sold for $406.00.
     This 8 page weekly publication measuring app. 12"x18" was started on January 12, 1898 and was one of two weekly newspapers in Dyea (the other being The Dyea Press). The inner pages (3-6) are printed on slightly smaller paper (10¾"x17"). This Newspaper only lasted about a year, roughly coinciding with the peak and ebb of the Klondike gold rush. There were 5,000 to 8,000 inhabitants in 1898 but by 1900 the town had dwindled to just 250, and by 1903 it had become a ghost town.

     This issue is important because it is the first report of Soapy's death from the shootout on Juneau Wharf, in Skagway, five miles away. Being published the day after the gunfight, it contains the earliest mention of Jesse Murphy shooting Soapy. The Skagway newspapers make no mention of Murphy having fired a single shot. I really hated not being able to get it.

     Unfortunately, the photographs used by the eBay seller are too poor to transcribe properly. 

 

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"Midway Saloon"
The Dyea Trail
July 9, 1898
"Renie Baker, Proprietress"

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"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

—Ecclesiastes 9:11

Soapy Smith and the McDermott cabin in Dyea, Alaska

Did Soapy Smith visit this cabin
The McDermott cabin
Dyea, Alaska
(Courtesy of KGRNHP, 586-85)

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e know that Soapy Smith arrived in Skagway within a month of its founding. What we do not know is when he visited nearby Dyea. One mention of the Well's Saloon confirms he went there but with no detail of the visit(s). Considering Dyea was already in existence when Skagway was founded it is probable that Soapy surveyed the location for possible business and residence.

The Historic Dyea Area
by Laura McCarley
Southeast Alaska Empire
Juneau, Alaska
December 9, 1977

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      Friend and National Park employee Bob Lyon sent me some information on the McDermott cabin in Dyea in which Soapy supposedly visited. In a 1977 interview (see above) Bill Mathews, mentions Soapy as one of the numerous cabin visitors. Mr. Mathews, now deceased, was a Chilkat Indian who lived most of his life in the Dyea and Skagway area which included the years during the Klondike gold rush where he claims he had personally known Soapy.
      Mr. Lyon states that the local story is that the cabin dates to the gold rush but the studies done thus far by the National Park Service show that they are not officially convinced. The cabin study can be found at the following link: Library of Congress
      The cabin was moved approximately 1 mile from its original location by the Park Service in order to protect it from further damage until such a time that a more thorough study can be completed.

McDermott Cabin 2009
Historic American Buildings Survey (#AK-225)
National Park Service

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Bob Lyon sent me the following (condensed) information.

      At the time of writing it [The cabin] was owned by the Pattersons. I don't think I'll ever run down the origins—it wasn't on the 1923 homestead survey and a new survey wasn't done when the Pattersons applied for the homestead. Must have been moved in sometime after the 1923 survey, but no one knows by who or when. The original homestead application wasn't approved, as the guy died right after the survey—no heirs.

_______________

      The evidence I've turned up in the last few weeks suggests—we have no idea where it came from. The only maps are the survey maps from a 1924 homestead survey and the dimensions given don't match the cabin, plus it was, until 2002, in a completely different location from the buildings in the survey. When the homestead was re-applied for in 1947, they didn't do a new survey. So the cabin was either missed in the 1923 survey, which I doubt, or moved in sometime after that and we have no idea when. The only anecdotal account I could find identifies it as gold rush and cites local old timers who said it was from then. I'll attach a copy of the newspaper article by a woman who lived in the cabin, but doesn't say exactly when! Dang these people! The park is supposed to be doing a dendrochronology test on the cabin, which will tell us when the logs were cut. If cut in the 1890s, then it must be gold rush, as no one would use logs to build that had been on the ground for more than a couple of years—not in that climate.
     The logs in the McDermott cabin are whole, some of them, so a core sample to the center would do. Don't want to drill all the way through, really. We don't usually date that way, as most don't have such concentric rings.  The 1920s date comes from the homestead application. A.T. Wilson detailed the buildings, though he doesn't actually say he built them, he describes them as "improvements." But he says he had two houses and a barn. The surveyor mentions one house and barn—and none of his measurements of the buildings are very close to Wilson's. And neither Wilson's nor the surveyor's measurements are the same as the McDermott Cabin. Wilson detailed what he had done for qualifying for the homestead patent. He mentioned the buildings and that he'd fenced 60 acres, cleared 20 acres, I think, and listed in some detail the crops he was raising—carrots, cabbage, rye, and a couple others. Considering all the detail, I doubt he would have left out the McDermott Cabin if it was there. So Wilson dies before the patent comes through and he has no heirs they can find. So the patent reverts to the Feds. The Pattersons claimed the same parcel in 1947, getting the patent in 1953—but the Feds didn't do a new survey, just used the one from 1923! So what buildings were on the land, no one can be sure, though we have photos of the cabin from the Patterson's time there in the late 40s, early 50s. But what else might have been on the land, no one knows. There were a fair number of squatters in the valley, too, who moved buildings and built cabins. This isn't a squatter's cabin, I'd say. Squatters didn't usually build this substantially. It's a solid cabin. So, if it wasn't there in 1924, but was in 1947, someone moved it in during that time period. So it could well be the Kinney Bridge toll point, even though the 1947-2002 location is far from the bridge site. But we just don't know, lots of guesses. I'll go with the oral history until I have some reason to disprove it. Oral history can be completely wrong, but is often right, too. So that's why I want the park drilling that sample. Some research cored a bunch of trees in that area, and by comparing overlapping tree rings, he was able to date tree ring events, you know an especially cold or dry winter, that sort of thing, and certainly took it back as far as the gold rush. That's how the Anasazi ruins at Chaco Canyon were dated, by the logs used in the roofs. Which confirmed the carbon dating. My best guess on the cabin is it was gold rush era, moved in by Wilson after the survey, or some squatter, moving one of the buildings from Dyea or vicinity. So I'm done with the nomination unless they do the sampling, then we'll see.
      The park has no plans to rehab this building anytime soon. They'd like to turn it into a trail information cabin, but that's way off in the future.  I wouldn't be too surprised if Bill Matthews exaggerated the list of people he saw in the cabin, but I have trouble believing he'd invent the whole thing, that's why I'm going with a gold rush date, unless I find something to definitely disprove that. Dendrochronology would answer some questions. The park has a kit for that and there's a baseline for the Skagway-Dyea area. You can date a tree from the rings, if somebody's done a baseline. 

      I found this information very interesting and valuable. I hope you all did as well. I wish to thank Bob Lyon for furnishing this information. For more on the parks plans for Dyea see Administering the Dyea area

Sources:
Robert Lyon, NPS employee
Southeast Alaska Empire, 12/09/1977.
Library of Congress

 

"I just finished your book wow! It was like going back in time in a time machine, it’s nice to finally come this close to the truth at last, and get to see Soapy through a much different lens."

—Clyde Vongrad (regarding Alias Soapy Smith)

MARCH 22

1622: Indians attack and kill 347 colonists in the James River area of Virginia.

1630: The first legislation to prohibit gambling is enacted in Boston, Massachusetts.

1638: Anne Hutchinsoon, a religious dissident, is expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1733: Joseph Priestly invents carbonated (seltzer) water.

1765: The Stamp Act is passed. It is the first direct British tax on the American colonists, and is repealed on March 17, 1766.

1775: Edmund Burke presents his 13 articles to the English parliament.

1790: Thomas Jefferson becomes the first U.S. Secretary of State.

1794: Congress bans U.S. vessels from supplying slaves to other countries.

1822: The New York Horticultural Society is founded.

1858: James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok, age 20, is elected village constable of the Monticello Township, Johnson County, Kansas.

1863: A stagecoach is attacked by Indians near Eight Mile Station in Tooele County, Utah Territory. Passenger Judge Mott takes the reigns and outruns the attackers after the driver is killed and another passenger is wounded.

1871: William Holden of North Carolina becomes the first governor to be removed by impeachment.

1872: Illinois becomes the first state to require sexual equality in employment.

1874: The Young Men's Hebrew Association is organized in New York City.

1875: Silver is discovered in the Pinal Mountains of Arizona Territory.

1877: 3 civilians are reported killed near Fort Clark, Texas.

1881: Outlaw George Manuse, reputed leader of a gang of rustlers in the Powder River region of Wyoming is lynched by vigilantes for killing a deputy sheriff in Miles City, Montana. He was scheduled to hang on April 2. Supposedly his hide was made into a pair of moccasins and a tobacco pound.

1882: Congress outlaws polygamy.

1883: Apache Indians kill three people at the Total Wreck Mine in the Whetstone Mountains, Arizona Territory.

1886: Abilene, Kansas turns on electric lighting for the first time. A local newspaper writes "time will tell whether it will be to the interest of the city to use the same to any extent."

1886: Seattle, Washington turns on electric lighting for the first time.

1903: Niagara Falls runs out of water due to a drought.

Soapy Smith in court: The US Commissioner journal for Dyea, Alaska, 1898; Part 1.

Soapy in "court"
March 9, 1898
From warrant to dismissal
Courtesy Alaska State Archives

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IVIL AND CRIMINAL ACTIONS
The legal journal of the U.S. Commissioner Court
Dyea, Alaska; part one of eight.



     John U. Smith, the U.S. Commissioner, the U.S. Marshal's office, and the court, were all stationed at Dyea, five miles from Skagway, even though Skagway was the "metropolis" of the area. The next large town was Juneau 100 miles away. While serving in Dyea John kept a legal journal of the legal proceedings.

"Vol 1 Criminal"
The cover of the journal
Courtesy Alaska State Archives

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Inside cover of the journal
Contents
Courtesy Alaska State Archives

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Following is the transcription of page 148 (top pic).

United States vs Jeff R. Soapy Smith - Vilo [violation] Sect 3526 O.C. gambling

March 9: Complaint filed by U.S. Deputy Marshal John Cudihee

March 9: Warrant issued.

March 9: Warrant returned and filed.

March 9: Defendant arraigned and asking for time to plead. The hearing was set for next Monday at 7 pm at Dyea. Defendant allowed to go on his own recognizance.

March 14: Defendant appeared and the court being unable to act the hearing was indefinitely postponed.

March 29: dismissed.

     Interesting to note that the early entry of his name is just Soapy Smith. "Jeff R." was apparently added later as it is written in smaller text. So what crime was Soapy charged with? Gambling. It is interesting to note some of the events that were taking place, in which were laid at the "gambler's door."
     On Monday evening March 7, 1898, between 6 and 7 miles from Skagway on the White Pass trail near Porcupine Hill, Peter Clancy Bean, a twenty-five-year-old miner from Williams, California, was murdered. Powder burns were on his face and a .38 caliber slug in his left breast. Near his body was his empty pocketbook. However, the Daily Alaskan reported $300 in gold was found in his belt as well as $33.72 in cash in his pockets. It was believed his killer, or killers, were frightened away before searching the corpse. His killer(s) was never discovered. It is always possible that a member of the Soap Gang was involved in this robbery turned murder but there is no accusations or evidence that point to this, and hardly not enough to arrest Soapy.
     On March 8 the vigilante Committee of 101 posted "warning" handbills in Skagway and along the trails. The warning was meant for Soapy and his gang, though not mentioned by name, to remove themselves from Skagway. On March 12, two days after his arrest, Soapy posted his own "answer to warning" handbills around town. The following day, March 13, U.S. Deputy Marshal John Cudihee had his hands full when gambler Sam Roberts is shot and killed outside of his cabin in Dyea. The Seattle Times states that Roberts was one of Soapy's gang members, and he may very well have been, but at this time this is no known connection.
     This charge for "gambling" could possibly be linked to the charge of robbery made in the March 3, 1898 edition of the Seattle Daily Times, in which Mr. Frank Secombe,

states that the Hon. Soapy Smith is still the "warmest lobster" of the Skagway crroks. He and his gang boss the town and are running it wide open. A Swede entered this scoundrel's joint and was looking at a game when someone said, "why don't you play?" "I don't want to," he replied. "Don't want to, eh? Well, I guess you ain't got no money!" "Yes, I have, too," he replied somewhat proudly and drew out his roll containing about $500. Some one snatched it and the laugh was on the Swede, for he never saw it any more. 

One newspaper reports that U.S. Deputy Marshall Cudihee "is now the sole guardian of peace for Skagway and Dyea, it is almost impossible to keep the sure-thing gamblers and others of their ilk off the trails ..."

U.S. Deputy Marshall Cudihee
sole guardian of peace for Skagway and Dyea
The Daily Republican
May 23, 1898

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* A very special thank you to Art Petersen who located and copied the pages of the journal.












(links will be added as they are published)
Commissioner's Journal: part 2.
Commissioner's Journal: part 3.
Commissioner's Journal: part 4.
Commissioner's Journal: part 5.
Commissioner's Journal: part 6.
Commissioner's Journal: part 7.
Commissioner's Journal: part 8.

U.S. Commissioner John U. Smith: pp. 440-41, 460, 477, 496, 499, 506, 512.
Deputy U.S. Marshal John Cudihee: p. 500.

"Congressmen, lawmen, criminals, parsons, writers, and businessmen called him friend and asked after him."

— Alias Soapy Smith

AUGUST 12

1851: Isaac Singer is issued the patent on the double-headed sewing machine.

1860: Temple Lea Houston, son of Texas President and Governor Sam Houston, is born in Austin, Texas. He is the first child born in the Governor's Mansion.

1861: Apache Indians attack and kill 15 Confederate soldiers in Texas.

1864: General Alfred Sulley's party reaches the Yellowstone River during the largest campaign against the Plains Indians thus far.

1865: Disinfectant is used for the first time during a surgery by Dr. Joseph Lister.

1867: President Andrew Johnson suspends Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, which leads to Johnson’s impeachment.

1868: Captain Fredrick Benteen of the 7th Cavalry reports that Indians have killed seventeen civilians on the Solomon River, Kansas.

1877: Thomas Edison invents the phonograph making the first sound recording.

1878: John W. Swilling, the founder of Phoenix, Arizona Territory is jailed as a suspect in a stage coach robbery that involved two murders. He dies in jail before he can be tried.

1879: The first National Archery Association tournament takes place in Chicago, Illinois.

1881: Cow-boys attack three Mexican soldiers, killing one, outside of Tombstone, Arizona.

1897: The vigilante Committee of 101 is formed in Skagway, Alaska, in response to Soapy Smith and the Soap Gang.

1898: The Spanish-American War ends with the signing of an armistice protocol in Washington D.C. It specifies that Spain relinquishes authority over Cuba and Puerto Rico. Disposition of the Philippine islands is to be decided by American and Spanish negotiators, who meet in Paris for a formal peace treaty.

1898 John and Frank Clancy Skagway business card: Artifact #32

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All the artifacts listed with numbers, as the one above (artifact #32) came from the saved scrapbook files of Soapy himself. #32 is a large size business card from John and Frank Clancy, Soapy's partners in Skagway. Note that the card reads, "Clancy & Company" at the top. It is believed that this is in reference to Soapy. Soapy was a silent partner in their saloon and gambling businesses as exposing  his connection to any gambling could quickly ruin trade if his reputation were to follow him to Skagway, which it eventually did. Even on his own gaming halls and businesses Soapy did not advertise his name. The only business he boldly attached his name stay to was Jeff Smith's Parlor, and it was merely a saloon with no outright gambling inside. This was his parlor, much like a parlor in a persons home during the Victorian era, it was for the proprietor to shine in the eyes of his guests.   

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Note that the back of the business card has the mileage destinations from Skagway, which was certainly handy to the Alaskan and Klondike traveler and stampeder. This surely indicates that the card was made for the Skagway business over that of the Dyea establishment. Clancy's in Skagway opened sometime in January 1898.

John and Frank Clancy were well known saloon proprietors in Seattle. They decided to join the gold rush. It is not known exactly when or where Soapy, John, and Frank met but it very well could have been in Seattle as Soapy gained many associates and established many new friends while going back and forth between Seattle, Tacoma, and Alaska. Once in Skagway the brothers Clancy quickly made friends with the business community and the Skaguay News, which wrote of their new enterprise;

Of all the places of resort in Skaguay that known by the above name is one of the best known and most popular. Located in the business center of the city, it is always to be found by the newcomer, and all old-time residents know Clancy’s.

All visitors to this place are treated with uniform courtesy. There is music and dancing every evening. Clubrooms are maintained in connection, and a first-class cafe is soon to be added. The management leave no stone unturned to make their visitor enjoy themselves.

Rev. Robert M. Dickey also wrote of the Clancy business, but only in his private diary where he wrote,

"Weary looking girls exerting their last strength to lead men astray. Gamblers stealing hard earned money from men who ought to have more sense.”

Frank Clancy was the manager of Clancy's while John Clancy partnered with Soapy in the opening of Jeff Smith's Parlor but with his name in large font across the front of the building it is obvious Soapy was in control. Within months Soapy aided Frank in winning a seat on the city council. Considering Soapy consistently worked fraudulent election schemes in Denver, Skagway was most surely an easy election process to manipulate and win. Thumbing through my book there are numerous business, social, and political events in Skagway in which Soapy and the Clancy brothers are listed together.

One of the main events for the fourth of July festivities in 1898 was the ball, held at Clancy and Company's dance hall connected to the restaurant and gaming hall at the corner of Runnalls and Shoup streets (7th and State today). Admission was free so no doubt the gambling room was where the overhead for the ball would be recuperated.

Over in the neighboring camp of Dyea the newspaper there listed an ad for "Clancy and Company" located at River Street and Wilson. Soapy may have been a partner in their Dyea enterprises but he apparently was not able to control the newspapers there. The Dyea Press freely warned of Soap Gang activity. “Dyea has everything that every other town in Alaska has, except ‘Soapy’ Smith.” Located in the same issue was this warning: “Don’t play the shell & pea games in Wrangle and Skaguay or you will have to walk home.” The underworld of Dyea may have been under the control of Thomas "Troublesome Tom" Cady, a member of the Soap Gang.

In the ending days of Soapy's empire and his life, John Clancy appears to have double-crossed Soapy as he is the only gang member completely exonerated from punishment by the vigilante's although Clancy was a definite crime partner. Stranger still is that John is made executor of Soapy's estate.

Here are links to other posts on this blog pertaining to this topic:

December 27, 2010
June 24, 2010
April 14, 2010
August 20, 2009
July 4, 2009
June 7, 2009
October 5, 2008

Business card: page 456.

Clancy and Company: pages 481, 523, 595.
Frank Clancy: pages 455, 461, 471, 516, 521, 552-53.
John Clancy: pages 455, 461, 471, 481-82, 543-46, 552-55, 558, 585, 595.

Jeff Smith

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