Soapy Smith's stereo-view photograph in Leadville, Colorado, July 21, 1880

Soapy Smith in Leadville, Colorado
July 21, 1880
Soapy and partner, rear, between carriages
Courtesy Kyle Rosene collection

(Click image to enlarge)

Soapy Smith's stereo-view photograph
Leadville, Colorado, July 21, 1880

Where was it taken?

WHERE IN LEADVILLE WAS THIS TAKEN?

(Click image to enlarge)

     Those who have read Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel may recall seeing the photograph (#6A) above, in the first photograph section of the book.
     Soapy sent the above stereo-view card to his sister in Texas, writing on the back

This is a crew of freighters we met in Leadville on the 21st of July 1880 in the morning on the day that Gen Grant arrived. You can see my photo by looking between the two wagons next to the man with the apron and his sleeves rolled up. JRS. [Soapy is between the two men, or in the rear, 3rd from the left]

     In other writing Soapy tells his sister Eva that the former president (1869-1877) is on horseback in the background. If you look closely you can see Grant on a very blurry horse.
     It is Leadville, Colorado, July 21, 1880, the day ex-president U. S. Grant arrived in the city. There is a parade in his honor and photographers Luke and Wheeler set up a stereo-view camera to take some photographic mementos of the day's celebration. The camera faces north on Harrison Avenue when Soapy and an unnamed bunko partner step into the street to have their picture taken.

     The exact location of where Soapy and the photographers were located has been a long-standing question. The older biographies (The Reign of Soapy Smith and Soapy Smith" King of the Frontier Con Men) mention Soapy operating his soap sell racket on the corners of Harrison Ave., and 3rd street, but did not list a source. This photograph was taken on Harrison about a block away from 3rd street, but that means little as far as provenance goes.
     Two Facebook friends and historians in my Soapy Smith's Old West group, Mr. Don Hendershot and Mr. Gary Demoney, took up the task of trying to pinpoint the location. Photographs, maps and knowledge were shared on Leadville's streets. Mr. Hendershot examined the photograph and determined that Soapy was likely standing at 2nd street and Harrison Avenue. Mr. Demoney sent me an 1882 bird's eye view of Leadville, and by comparing the buildings in the photo with those in the bird's eye view, I was able to pinpoint where Soapy was standing when the photographer took the picture. Soapy was on Harrison Avenue, between 2nd and Chestnut streets.

Bird's eye view Leadville, Co., 1882
Full map
Denver Public Library Special Collections
Call Number CG4314.L51882.S8

(Click image to enlarge)

Bird's eye view Leadville, Co., 1882
Close-up
Denver Public Library Special Collections
Call Number CG4314.L51882.S8

(Click image to enlarge)

Sanborn map 1883
Harrison Ave., between 2nd and Chestnut streets
Where Soapy was standing for the photograph
Library of Congress

(Click image to enlarge)

Leadville, Colorado today
Approximate spot where Soapy stood
Google Maps

(Click image to enlarge)

Harrison Avenue looking north
From the corner of Chestnut Street
Denver Public Library Special Collections
Call Number CHS.X4611

(Click image to enlarge)

The striped (red, white, blue bunting) telephone pole with at least ten pin cross arms, on the right side of the photograph above is the same striped pole seen to the right of the stereo-view photograph showing Soapy, at the top of this post. Examining and comparing the building fronts, roofs, facades and false fronts to the building fronts in the bird's eye view close-up shown above, clearly indicates that this photograph shows the approximate location of where Soapy had his picture taken.
     I want to thank Gary Demoney for locating this photograph and others.

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

Leadville, Colorado
Apr 30, 2010
Apr 04, 2011
Feb 14, 2012
Jun 03, 2013
Apr 23, 2017
Apr 13, 2020
Jul 21, 2021
Apr 14, 2023

Leadville, Colorado: pages 10, 36-37, 75, 77-78, 116, 123, 134-35, 144, 152, 176, 189, 192, 219, 225, 292, 297, 347, 349, 420, 509, 594.  

"Until lions have their historians,
tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters."

~African Proverb

Soapy Smith's "STAR" notebook, 1882: Part #8 - page 8

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
Page 8 - original copy
1882

(Click image to enlarge)

 

OAPY SMITH'S "STAR" NOTEBOOK

Part #8 - page 8

     This is part #8 - page 8, the continuation of deciphering Soapy Smith's "star" notebook from the Geri Murphy's collection. A complete introduction to this notebook can be seen on page 1.
     The notebook(s) are in Soapy's handwriting, and often times pretty hard to decipher. A large part of this series of posts is to transcribe the pages, one-at-a-time, and receive help from readers on identifying words I am having trouble with, as well as correcting any of my deciphered words. I will include the original copy of each page, an enhanced copy of each page, a copy in negative, and a copy with typed out text, as tools to aid in deciphering the notes. There are a total of 24 pages. This means that there may be upwards of 24 individuals posts for this one notebook. Links to the past and future pages (pages 1, 2, 3, etc.) will be added at the bottom of each post for ease of research. When completed there will be a sourced partial record of Soapy's activities and whereabouts for 1882-1883.
     Important to note that the pages of the notebook do not appear to be in chronological order, with Soapy making additional notes on a town and topic several pages later.

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
Page 8 - enhanced
1882
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
Page 8 - enhanced
1882
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

     Here is what I believe to be the correct deciphering of the text, dated 1882. Do you agree, or do you see something else? There are two words I have not been able to decipher positively. All comments, suggestions and ideas are welcome! I will update the new information to this post.

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
Page 8 - deciphered
1882
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

Click image to enlarge

Page 8 (bottom).

• Line 1: "Sherman Show [circus]"
• Line 2: "Oregon City [Oregon] 29th"
• Line 3: "__?__ 1882"
• Line 4: "population 1,800"
  
  Art Petersen, who has been aiding me in deciphering Soapy's handwriting, writes,
  

       Lines 3 and 4; are conundrums for me. The name appears to have 4, 5, or 6 letters. Clearly appearing after the smudgy word are the #s 1882. The only letter that seems for sure is the last, an "o." Among possible Oregon cities, here are two nominations: Echo and Toledo. The next line, though, lists a population of 1,800. Neither of these towns in 1882 could have had a population that high. Of the two towns, my pick as possible is Echo. It was on the Oregon Trail, and Wikipedia indicates travelers were still known to be traversing "the trail" into the 1880s. So Echo was a known site that had a transient population for decades. Toledo, on the other hand, was a gold placer mining site; it was remote and went into decline sooner than Echo. This site for me remains the best possibility. The population listed, though, does seem high for 1882.

• Line 5: "Salem [Oregon] pop. 5,000"
• Line 6: "Albany [Oregon] 1,800 [pop.]"
• Line 7: "Eugene City [Oregon] 1,117 [pop.]"
• Line 8: "Lf"
  
  Art writes,
  

       Line 8; "Lf." The L in these two letters seems certainly an L, as comparison shows. No city in Oregon that begins with L has an f in it except Lafayette. Did Soapy begin to write that name, find himself unsure of the spelling, and left it, only to write it out a bit a later? No other thoughts occur to me about the two letters.

• Line 9: "Hillsboro [Oregon] 600 [pop.]"
• Line 10: "Lafayette [Oregon] 783 [pop.]"
  
• Line 11: "Dalles [Oregon] 6200 [pop.]"
• Line 12: "Corvallis [Oregon] 1,188 [pop.]"
• Line 13: "Jacksonville [Oregon] 960 [pop.]"
• Line 14: "Kalama [Washington Terr.] Aug 29, 1882"
• Line 15: "fare from Olympia [Washington Terr.]"
• Line 16: "to Portland [Oregon] 29 Aug"
• Line 17: "1882 $6.80"
  
  Art writes,
  

       The last 4 lines; may be related. The rather dark, clear letters appearing there seem to be KalamaeA[t?]ng. After it appear the following numbers: 291882. The # is not a sum total of the previous population numbers. Neither is it a reasonable population # for any location in the Northwest at the time. The possibility remaining is that the # contains 2 sets of #s—29 and 1882. That year is repeated 3 times on the page. If the last 4 digits are the year, 1882, that leaves the number 29. Now back to the word. Suggested is the Washington Territory town of Kalama. It's on the way from Portland to Tacoma, WA, and a spur reaches to Olympia. In 1880, after the Northern Pacific decided to put its headquarters, not in Kalama but in Tacoma, the Kalama population plunged to 129. It's not out of the realm of possibility that the town in 1882 had a population of about 29. Another possibility is that 29 is a date. In fact, it is repeated on the last two lines: 29 Aug / 1882. I have puzzled over the letters after the apparent Kalama and have come up empty. How could they fit with Kalama. Surrounding clues strongly suggest Kalama to me, but the A[t?]ng leave me stumped.

  My response.
  

  I believe that line 14 reads "Kalama [Washington Terr.] Aug 29, 1882."

  Art writes,
  

       Line 15-16; Here's where the potential link to Kalama comes in. Recorded is "fare from Olympia to Portland." Kalama is on the way, 38 miles from Portland and 71.5 miles south of the Olympia.

        Line 17; A fare of $6.80. The southern spur of the Northern Pacific in 1882 ran from Portland, through Kalama and to Olympia with a short spur, and on to Tacoma. See the 1883 NPRR map.

Interpretation: Page 1, page 2, page 4, page 5 of this notebook shows Soapy's plans for traveling through Oregon and Washington Territory, making and changing plans before successfully venturing there, several times. Here in 1882, on page 8 he makes makes notations of Oregon and Washington towns and their populations, perhaps not wishing to stop and waste time at smaller communities. Details include traveling by train from Oregon to Washington, and returning to Portland, Oregon from Olympia, Washington, for $6.80, the equivalent of $211.96 in 2023.

 

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

STAR NOTEBOOK
April 24, 2017
Part #1
Part #2
Part #3
Part #4
Part #5 
Part #6
Part #7
Part #9 (not published yet)
Part #10 (not published yet)
Part #11 (not published yet)
Part #12 (not published yet)
Part #13 (not published yet)
Part #14 (not published yet)
Part #15 (not published yet)
Part #16 (not published yet)

Oregon: pages 38-39, 42-43, 119, 166, 339, 440, 475, 499, 506, 530-31, 577.
Washington state: pages 443-44, 489, 498, 512, 518, 554, 579.

"Honesty is the best policy…unless you can tell a convincing lie."

—Keith C. Cobb
Exceptions to the Rules, 2001

Soapy Smith's "STAR" notebook, 1882: Part #7 - page 7

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
Page 7 - original copy
1883

(Click image to enlarge)

THIS POST UPDATED
August 21, 2023

OAPY SMITH'S "STAR" NOTEBOOK

Part #7 - page7

This is part #7 - page 7, the continuation of deciphering Soapy Smith's "star" notebook from the Geri Murphy's collection. A complete introduction to this notebook can be seen on page 1.

The notebook(s) are in Soapy's handwriting, and often times pretty hard to decipher. A large part of this series of posts is to transcribe the pages, one-at-a-time, and receive help from readers on identifying words I am having trouble with, as well as correcting any of my deciphered words. I will include the original copy of each page, an enhanced copy of each page, a copy in negative, and a copy with typed out text, as tools to aid in deciphering the notes. There are a total of 24 pages. This means that there may be upwards of 24 individuals posts for this one notebook. Links to the past and future pages (pages 1, 2, 3, etc.) will be added at the bottom of each post for ease of research. When completed there will be a sourced partial record of Soapy's activities and whereabouts for 1882-1883.
     Important to note that the pages of the notebook do not appear to be in chronological order, with Soapy making additional notes on a town and topic several pages later.

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
Page 7 - enhanced
1883

Courtesy of Geri Murphy

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
Page 7 - negative
1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

Here is what I believe to be the correct deciphering of the text. Do you agree, or do you see something else? There are two words I have not been able to decipher positively. All comments, suggestions and ideas are welcome! I will update the new information to this post.

Page 7 (bottom).

• Line 1: "For license"
• Line 2: "Tombstone City 12.50"
• Line 3: "County [Cochise] 6.50"
• Line 4: "Board one week 15.00"
• Line 5: "[total] 34.00"
• Line 6: "E B. [East Bound?] Dr [drive] to __?___"
• Line 7: "To 7.00"
• Line 8: "to 40 percent of"
• Line 9: "15.00 6.00"
• Line 10: "A watch 4.00"
  
• Line 11: "[total] 17.00"

Interpretation: Soapy makes notations of his expenditures to and from Tombstone, Arizona, 1883. He note his purchases of a city license, a county (Cochise) license, and one weeks stay at an unknown hotel (December 17-22, 1883).
     Line #6: is where deciphering runs into a snag. On the previous page of the notebook (page 6) Art Petersen notes that "Soapy bought a ticket from San Francisco, CA, to El Paso, TX, for $60. He was riding the Southern Pacific, which in 1880 had reached Benson on its route east." Today, when traveling to Tombstone from Benson you take the AZ-80 East. Could "E B. dr to (can't read town name)" mean "east-bound drive to (can't read town name)?" Art believes it might be "Exit Benson drive to (can't read town name)." 
     Line #7: appears to be cost "to" a destination for $7.00.
     Line #8 and #9: 40 percent of $15.00 is $6.00. Was this some sort of payoff?
     For lines #7-#9, Art Petersen believes "To reach Tombstone, Soapy had to take one of the several stages running from B. In leaving Tombstone, he calculated the cost of the drive back to Benson. It was $7, but in calculating that, he remembered that he had not yet accounted for the cost of the drive from Benson to Tombstone. There were several coaches in competition with one another at the time and always cutting their fares. The standard was was often cut to $4, $5, or $6, or $7. Soapy didn't remember what price he paid to Tombstone but he remembered the discount--40%, so he calculated that from the standard fare to find the $6 he paid. So he returned to Benson at some point presumably to continue his journey to El Paso, TX. He still had the rest of his ticket for travel.
     Line #10: He purchased a watch for $4.00.
     Line #11: Total expenses are $17.00 

Close-up
undecipherable word
Page 7

     Line 6 contains an undecipherable word that plagued me, so I posted close-up enlargement of it on some of the Tombstone history groups on Facebook, hoping someone might recognize the word as a place or name.
     Previously, I thought it was the name of a place, but from every individual who responded, I received the following suggestions.

• "JR"
• "JRs"
• "JR's"
• "JP"
• "JPs"
• "JP's"
• "IR" 
• "IRs" 
• "IR's"
  

It's a bit of a long shot, but could Soapy have sent his father ("JRS") $7? It is known that Soapy loved his father, but did not have a whole lot of respect for him. Perhaps he might have written "JRS" rather than "father?" It is known that his father wrote letters asking for money.
    Art Peterson writes,

     I'm sorry to report that I remain puzzled. You provide some helpful comparison letters. Those took time to gather, showing you're as uncomfortable with the burden of the puzzle as I--probably more as you are the master puzzler of the notebook! Well, of all the comparison letters, I side with those who see JP. Soapy seems to drop the right leg off his Rs in a strong, vertical fashion whereas with a P, the line tends toward the horizontal. Today, the letter before the second suggest "Cl," but I have no idea what to do with those. Of the comparison letters, J seems closest to me--a hastily formed J.
     So what might JP stand for? In line with your payoff thought, JP could stand for Justice Peace. Or it could stand for some person, his initials. I looked again at all the towns around Tombstone; none suggests the letters in question.
     I also read the stagecoach history again to see if one of the names of the several owners of stage lines might be related. No. The article, Stage Coach Lines gives an interesting transportation picture of the region.
     Young Soapy at that time wanted to keep track of his costs. He lists the ticket from SF. He records a benchmark, being in LA. He records his basic costs in Tombstone City. It makes sense to me that he would record the cost of travel from Benson to Tombstone, and the $7 one way is in line with the fare about that time. His wanting to keep track of his costs keeps dragging me back to interpreting the $7 & $6 as the cost of transport over the 24 miles between Benson & Tombstone. If those costs or one of them is not for transport, why would he leave the cost out? There could be an explanation, of course--that he let the driver make a "sure thing" bet with him for the ride and the driver lost, making the $6 for something else, maybe for what you say, a payoff. Could be you're going to have to leave this line in an unknown state, the worst kind for a puzzler.
     Seems to me you've made a worthy effort on this line. Maybe time to move on. When it comes time to put together a transcription of the whole (which would make a very interesting read since it seems to be pretty much chronological and makes a narrative), there'll be opportunity to look back with fresh eyes.

I have to agree with Art. I could guess, but with so many choices I don't see it fair to history to "decide." I leave it for a future time.

THANK YOU ART PETERSEN FOR YOUR SKILLS IN
DECIPHERING AND RATIONALE 

 

 

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

TOMBSTONE
Mar 23, 2009
Sep 25, 2009
Nov 13, 2009
Aug 19, 2010
Dec 26, 2010
Sep 04, 2020
Feb 25, 2021
Mar 04, 2021

STAR NOTEBOOK
April 24, 2017
Part #1
Part #2
Part #3
Part #4
Part #5 
Part #6
Part #8
Part #9 (not published yet)
Part #10 (not published yet)
Part #11 (not published yet)
Part #12 (not published yet)
Part #13 (not published yet)
Part #14 (not published yet)
Part #15 (not published yet)
Part #16 (not published yet)

 

 

"Never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump."

—Edward Francis Albee (1857-1930)

Soapy Smith's "STAR" notebook, 1882: Part #6 - page 6

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
page 6 - original
1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

THIS POST UPDATED
August 21, 2023

OAPY SMITH'S "STAR" NOTEBOOK

Part #6 - page 6

      This is part #6 - page 6, the continuation of deciphering Soapy Smith's "star" notebook from the Geri Murphy's collection. A complete introduction to this notebook can be seen on page 1.

     The notebook(s) are in Soapy's handwriting, and often times pretty hard to decipher. A large part of this series of posts is to transcribe the pages, one-at-a-time, and receive help from readers on identifying words I am having trouble with, as well as correcting any of my deciphered words. I will include the original copy of each page, an enhanced copy of each page, a copy in negative, and a copy with typed out text, as tools to aid in deciphering the notes. There are a total of 24 pages. This means that there may be upwards of 24 individuals posts for this one notebook. Links to the past and future pages (pages 1, 2, 3, etc.) will be added at the bottom of each post for ease of research. When completed there will be a sourced partial record of Soapy's activities and whereabouts for 1882-1883.
     This page has been successfully deciphered, and positively dated 1883.
     Important to note that the pages of the notebook do not appear to be in chronological order, with Soapy making additional notes on a town and topic several pages later.

 

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
Page 6 - enhanced
1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

Click image to enlarge

 

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
page 6 - negative
1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

 Click image to enlarge

     Here is what I believe to be the correct deciphering of the text. Do you agree, or do you see something else? There are two words I have not been able to decipher positively. All comments, suggestions and ideas are welcome! I will update the new information to this post.

Rear of page 5 (top).

• Line 1: "Left San Francisco" [California]
  
• Line 2: "Dec 8th paid for 1883"
  
• Line 3: "fare to El Paso Tex 60.00"
• Line 4: "Left Los Angeles Dec 14th"
  
  

Interpretation: An accounting of his travels in California and Texas in December 1883.

Page 6 (bottom).

• Line 1: "Sales in Tombstone" [Arizona]
• Line 2: "A.T. [Arizona Territory] 1883"
• Line 3: "Dec 17th Mon. [Monday] .....$65.00"
• Line 4: "Dec 18th T [Tuesday] ...........$58.00"
  
• Line 5: "Dec 19th W [Wednesday] .....$53.00"
• Line 6: "Dec 20th T [Thursday] ..........$57.00"
• Line 7: "Dec 21st F [Friday] ...............$23.00"
• Line 8: "Dec 22nd Sat [Saturday] .......$58.50"
• Line 9: "...........................[total]..........$314.50"
• Line 10: "Sent b[?] Dixon"
  
• Line 11: "$20.00 Dec 22nd 1883"
  
• Line 12: "Po [Post office] order Tombstone"
• Line 13: "Sales in Tucson" [Arizona]
  
• Line 14: "Monday Dec 24 1883"
• Line 15: "1 sale ...................................$90.00"
  

Interpretation: Soapy worked the prize package soap sell racket in Tombstone, Arizona, between December 17-22, 1883 raking in $314.50 for six days work, which is equivalent to $10,148.26 in 2023. That a nice sum, especially considering that each day of work likely amounted to just several hours, and the fact that the pay of the average soldier in 1883 was $13 a-month! Also interesting is that Soapy was only 23 years old at this time. Making this kind of money, one might understand why Soapy chose to remain in the bunco field. 
     Line #10-#12 Soapy sends "b Dixon" $20.00. Was this a loan to someone named Dixon? Was Soapy paying Dixon based on a loan from Dixon? Could "Dixon" be a town, such as Dixon, California, or Wyoming?

     Soapy operates in Tucson, Arizona on December 24, 1883 (Christmas eve) for a profit of $90.00.

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

SAN FRANCISCO

Oct 06, 2009
Dec 26, 2009 (pt. 1)
Dec 26, 2009 (pt. 2)
Jan 03, 2012
Feb 22, 2021
Feb 23, 2021

TOMBSTONE

Mar 23, 2009
Sep 25, 2009
Nov 13, 2009
Aug 19, 2010
Dec 26, 2010
Sep 04, 2020
Feb 25, 2021
Mar 04, 2021

STAR NOTEBOOK

April 24, 2017
Part #1
Part #2
Part #3
Part #4
Part #5 
Part #7
Part #8
Part #9 (not published yet)
Part #10 (not published yet)
Part #11 (not published yet)
Part #12 (not published yet)
Part #13 (not published yet)
Part #14 (not published yet)
Part #15 (not published yet)
Part #16 (not published yet)

"Nobody ever went bowlegged carrying away the money they won from me."

—"Poker Alice" Tubbs

Soapy Smith's "STAR" notebook, 1882: Part #5 - page 5

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
page 5 - original
1882
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

     

OAPY SMITH'S "STAR" NOTEBOOK
Part #5 - page 5

     This is part #5 - page 5, the continuation of deciphering Soapy Smith's "star" notebook from the Geri Murphy's collection. A complete introduction to this notebook can be seen on page 1.

     The notebook(s) are in Soapy's handwriting, and often times pretty hard to decipher. A large part of this series of posts is to transcribe the pages, one-at-a-time, and receive help from readers on identifying words I am having trouble with, as well as correcting any of my deciphered words. I will include the original copy of each page, an enhanced copy of each page, a copy in negative, and a copy with typed out text, as tools to aid in deciphering the notes. There are a total of 24 pages. This means that there may be upwards of 24 individuals posts for this one notebook. Links to the past and future pages (pages 1, 2, 3, etc.) will be added at the bottom of each post for ease of research. When completed there will be a sourced partial record of Soapy's activities and whereabouts for 1882-1883.
     This page has been successfully deciphered, and positively dated 1882.
     Important to note that the pages of the notebook do not appear to be in chronological order, with Soapy making additional notes on a town and topic several pages later.

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
page 5 - enhanced
1882
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
page 5 - negative
1882
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

     Here is what I believe to be the correct deciphering of the text. Do you agree, or do you see something else? There are two words I have not been able to decipher positively. All comments, suggestions and ideas are welcome! I will update the new information to this post.

Rear of page 4 (top).

• Line 1: "Salem Fair" [Oregon]
  
• Line 2: "Mo. [Monday] Sept 18th 00.00"
  
• Line 3: "T. [Tuesday] Sept 19th sales $109.00"
• Line 4: "W. [Wednesday] 20th sales 150.00"
  
• Line 5: "T. [Thursday] 21st 107.00"
  
• Line 6: "F. [Friday] 22 111.00"
• Line 7: "T. [Tuesday] Sep 19 in Salem 65.00"
  
• Line 8: "Total $542.00"
  
• Line 9: "4 days work"
• Line 10: "Dayton, W. T. [Washington Territory]"
  
• Line 11: "Sep 27th 90.00" [Sept]
• Line 12: "28 55.00" [Sept]
• Line 13: "29 25.00" [Sept]
• Line 14: "30 85.00" [Sept]
• Line 15: "255.00" [total]
  

Interpretation: In examining the calendar Between 1876-1893, it can be seen that the dates listed, for instance, Monday, September 18th, only occurs in 1882.
     Soapy Smith worked the Oregon State Fair of 1882 in north Salem, the state capital, between September 18-22, 1882. He jots down five days of monetary amounts for each day, totaling $542.00 (the equivalent of $16,894.58 in 2023). The fair ran September 19th through September 22nd.
     Note on line 7, he adds another Tuesday profit of $65.00 "in Salem." Line 3, the first Tuesday notation was for money made at the fair, while the second amount was made "in Salem itself.

     It is known that Soapy was operating his prize package soap sell racket in early August in other parts of Oregon. On August 2, 1882 he purchased a vendor's license in Portland. On September 16, Soapy purchased a vendor's license granting him permission to "hawk his prize soap" on the city streets of Salem for the period of one week from September 16, 1882 to September 23 for the fee of $15.25. The license is filled out by City Recorder, Charles W. Bowie.

     Next, Soapy goes to Dayton, Washington Territory and works four days [I believe] at the Columbia County Fair. In 1859 the dates for the fair were set for September 28-30, so it makes sense that those dates were the same when Soapy operated on September 27-30, 1882. He made a total of $255.00 (the equivalent of $7,948.56 in 2023).

 

Page 5 (bottom).

• Line 1: "Santa Cruz" [California]
• Line 2: "Cal [California.] 19 & 20th of Oct"
• Line 3: "13 sales $190.00"
• Line 4: "Hollister" [California]
  
• Line 5: "2 days work"
• Line 6: "22 & 23rd. Oct $235.00"
• Line 7: "Gilroy 31 60.00" [California]
• Line 8: "Vallejo 29th" [California]
• Line 9: "Oct one sale 93.00"
• Line 10: "St Helena" [California]
  
• Line 11: "Dec 2nd one sale $114.00"
• Line 12: "Woodland [California] Nov 29th"
• Line 13: "one sale $91.50"
• Line 14: "Tulare [California] Dec 12. $52.00"

Interpretation: I believe the year is 1882 (October-December), as the top page is dated 1882. Soapy is traveling through California, operating, at least on this page, October 19 - December 12, 1882.

     Santa Cruz County Fair (originally called the Agricultural County Fair) opens for the first time on October 16, 1882, three days before Soapy arrived there. He operated 13 separate sales for a total of $190, which is equivalent to $5,922.45 as of this posting.

     Next, Soapy arrives in Hollister, California where he operated for two days, October 22-23 making $235.00. I could not find much on Hollister's history in 1882, but obviously it was large enough for Soapy to make the equivalent of $7,325.14 in 2023 dollars, for two days work.
     Soapy worked in Gilroy, California on October 31, 1882, where he made $62.00 ($1,932.59 in 2023). Gilroy was known as the "Tobacco Capitol of the World" and there was a "Tobacco Festival" which ended in 1882, and likely Soapy was not aware, probably going by a "fair list" he had purchased, leading him to all these fairs he was attending. This could explain why Soapy stayed one day, perhaps even just hours.
     Soapy operated one sale in one day (October 29) in Vallejo, California at one of several Solano County agriculture-related fairs. The sale profited $93.00. ($2,898.89 in 2023.

     In St Helena, California Soapy operated one sale on December 2, 1882, raking in $114.00 ($3,553.47 in 2023) at possibly the County Exposition, the only fair I could find in the area in 1882.
     On November 29, 1882 operates one sale in Woodland, California for $91.50 ($2,852.13 in 2023). I could not find any fairs previous to 1893.
     Soapy arrived in Tulare, California on December 12, 1882, making $52.00 for one day's work. ($1,620.88 in 2023).
     On this page of the notebook Soapy operated for just 18 days between September 18 - December 12, 1882. In that three week time period he made $837.50. This is the equivalent of $26,105.56 in 2023!

 

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April 24, 2017
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"If you steal from one person its plaigarism, 

if you steal from four, its research."

~Wilson Mizner, confidence man