Soapy Smith on Wikipedia

Can-Can girls perform in the Days of '98 Show
Soapy builds his empire and dies several times daily in Skagway, Alaska
(note: the Jeff Smith's Parlor sign)

As a "just the facts ma'am" type of historian I am not a big fan of Wikipedia. Anyone can (and they do) make changes, add information, some of it not based in reality. It can be one-hell-of-a lot of work keeping a subject historically accurate. As much as I may complain about Wiki-p I admit a large number of people use it and the information contained within. In fact, a large number of my website hits come from people who came to my sites after visiting the Soapy Smith article on Wikipedia. This makes it worthy to keep track of articles that pertain to Soapy.

I got the idea to talk about Wikipedia today because of an article I added today about the Shootout on Juneau Wharf. I promised myself that once my book was published I would add as much as I felt was needed. Some of the other articles I have created, corrected or added over the years are as follows.

• Soapy Smith, which was originally created in German.
• Ed "Big Ed" Burns, which is one of those articles I mentioned in which someone insists on adding information without proper provenance, hence the notices "citation needed" all over the page.
• Martin Itjen
• Texas Jack Vermillion
• William Sidney "Cap" Light

Watch out Wikipedia more are on the way.

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Soapy Smith's grandfather, Joseph E. Edmundson

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Grave of Joseph E. Edmundson
Soapy's grandfather

Came across the memorial for Soapy's grandfather, Joseph Edmundson, father of Emily Dawson Edmundson (Soapy's mother) on Find A Grave. The 2 photographs of his marker shown here come from that site.

Joseph was born April 16, 1792 in Anderson South Carolina. Like Ira Elli Smith he won land in Coweta County, Sixth district, from the 1828 Georgia land lottery in Sixth district.

He died December 20. 1858 in Coweta County, Georgia and is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Newnan, Georgia.

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Close-up of Joseph's headstone

Source: A History of Coweta County from 1825 to 1880 by W. U. Anderson, page 19.

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Soapy Smith & the "big mit"

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Soapy Smith in
A "Big Mit" Game
Altered art by Jeff Smith

The following is a Rocky Mountain News clipping about a "big mitt" (crooked poker game) swindle that netted $240. The bunco men are "Joe" Bowers, who in reality is "Rev." John L. Bowers and "Professor" W. K. Jackson of the Soap Gang.

What is interesting about this piece of "friendly poker game" swindle is that it involves a victim who declined to sit in on the game, yet still lost $240! How it was done only adds to the mystique of these bad and truly intelligent bunco men. They were indeed masters of human nature.

Rocky Mountain News
October 5, 1894

JOE BOWERS IN LUCK.
—
The Oily Gentleman of Clerical Appearance Finds a Fat Fish.
—

Alluring Prospects of a Door-Plate Invention Draws a Small Sum from a Young Speculator, While the Great Chief
of Detectives Behymer Confesses That He Was Deceived by a Smooth Young Pedagogue from Colorado Springs.

—

Freeman Libby of Lyons, Colo., called at the station yesterday and complained that a brace of bunco men had induced him to give up $240. Libby has the general appearance of a stranger. He was attired in a cheap suit of cloths and wore a heavy coat over his blue jumper. His story was that he met Joe Bowers on Seventeenth and Larimer streets. Bowers represented himself to be a mining man from Cripple Creek who had an engagement with a Mr. Jackson to inspect some specimens. While the pair were discussing the questions of the day W. K. Jackson hove in sight. Bowers introduced him to Libby and the latter was invited to come with them and see the specimens.

In an easy and graceful manner the countryman was steered into the old St. Charles hotel, near Nineteenth and Market streets. There they found three men playing poker. They invited Libby and his friend to join in the game, but Libby declined. The countryman did not wish to prevent his friends from sharing in the game and told them so, thus aiding and abetting in his own downfall. Bowers and Jackson sat down at the table and played well. Jackson at first won everything in sight. His pile of chips soon began to disappear and he borrowed $100 from Libby who was eagerly watching the game, promising to give him a check. The $100 was soon gone and the smooth Jackson borrowed another $100 and then $40. Libby was then broke and he demanded his money back with the usual result. He complained at headquarters and warrants were sworn out before Justice Woodson for the arrest of Bowers and Jackson. They were arrested and released on bonds.

—

Libby, Freeman: p. 153
big mit: p. 87, 153, 197














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Real shell game in Manchester

The above video is brand spanking new. It comes from Kyf, a fellow member of the School for Scoundrels forum. On May 25 he posted the following.

Just back from Manchester [U.K.] and walked past a crew working the tops outside the station. I watched them for a while - Eastern European.

Two shills that were obvious - one either side of the table. They had just set up when I walked past.

The mark was the guy in the fluorescent jacket with a shill either side - the video clip was shot on my iPhone and a bit too obvious....you can see him signaling to someone behind me. Had to stop when a third guy came up behind me a little too quickly for my liking.

I laughed and walked away (hoping I looked like a tourist).

There appeared to be five of them in the team, two shills and two lookouts (including the guy I didn't see until he was behind me) both well away from the game. I came back a few minutes later and spotted the fourth lookout on the far side. ...

... He was good although his shills were far too obvious in betting/playing - but I guess that depends on your point of view, knowledge of the game etc.

Playing at £20 (British Pounds) a time I saw him take two marks for the short time I was there.

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Colonel Soapy Smith, 1894

In 1894 Soapy Smith had taken on the title of "colonel" Jefferson Smith. Normally Soapy did not fear using his real name but during political reform it was common that he would simply change his last name during a swindle in order not to be recognized as that "scoundrel from Denver." The following newspaper clipping presents an interesting and typical modus operandi of a poker game swindle known as "big mit." It is very likely that the "Colonel Johnson" noted in the story is none other that Soapy himself, with members of the Soap Gang. Enjoy!

New Castle News
November 17, 1894.


BAINBRICH BUNCOED
A Rio Blanco Stockman Pays $360 to see the Colonel.
—

The moral cleanliness claimed to have been inaugurated in Denver by the populist administration, chief of which was the driving out of bunco men and gamblers, will hardly be vouched for by Mr. Bainbrich, a well-known stockman who lives near Craig [Colorado], as the following from the Denver Republican shows:

"He said he came to Denver Saturday morning and about dusk met two men near the Albany hotel, who stopped him to enquire about what would be the probable result of the late election in Rio Blanco. A word led to a conversation and soon Bainbrich and his street acquaintances were like old friends.

"The strangers talked mining to the ranchman, as such strangers are prone to do on occasions of that kind, and then one told him about the splendid gold ore specimens that were in the safe of his friend, Colonel Johnson. If Bainbrich would accompany them to the colonel’s office they would give him some of the specimens. Bainbrich went.

"The 'colonel' is never in, and he was not in on Saturday evening. To kill times while waiting for him, bunco steerers always play poker with ranchmen. Bainbrich’s bunco steerers roped him into a game. When they showed down on the last pot played the Rio Blanco man was minus $160 cash and a $200 check and he hasn’t seen the colonel nor the specimens yet."

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Quick quotes.

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Letter to Soapy Smith
from "Bat" Masterson

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Soapy Smith thrashes 3 detectives, 1891

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19th century police corruption

In October 1891 Denver city reformers and religious organizations joined together in an attempt to rid Denver of its saloons and gambling dens. Calling themselves the Law and Order League they hired ex-city deputy, William Glasson of the Glasson Detective Agency to find dirt on certain saloon proprietors including Soapy. Glasson made the mistake of underestimating Soapy and started spreading a fictional story that he had beat him up at their first encounter. Taking offense at this lie Soapy grabbed gang members, John "Reverend" Bowers, Felix Friend and "Cap" William Light to pay a little visit to the Glasson office. The following newspaper article gives a hint as to the outcome which is fully detailed in my book, Alias Soapy Smith.

The Salt Lake Herald
October 4, 1891.

A DETECTIVE AGENCY
—
"Soapy" Smith Licks Three "Glasseye" Detectives.
—

DENVER, COLO., Oct. 3, —[Special telegram to the Herald.] —Private detective business received a set back in Denver this morning. "Glasseye’s Detective Agency," on their word, is a sight in the King block. To-day word reached the ears of Jeff Smith, better known as "Soapy," that Glasseye, the proprietor of the place, had been advertising that he had given "Soapy" a whipping. Mr. Smith went to Glasseye’s agency, but the proprietor was out. Three of the employees were in, and one of them made an impudent remark to the inquiries "Soapy" make and struck him beside the nose with a heavy revolver. Smith used his fist on his assailant, knocking him senseless. He then whipped the other two detectives and smashed every article of furniture in the room. Expecting further trouble, he has gotten a crowd of toughs about him to-night and is waiting for an attack. The so-called detectives were badly beaten and Mr. Smith wears their badges and carries their guns.

Law & Order League: p. 184, 186-87, 192, 234.
William Glasson: p. 83, 186, 192.















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John Morris mistake.

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Soapy enjoys a Fort Worth theater?

While doing some research on the death of John H. Morris alias "Fatty Gray" I found a blunder in my book. That's a part of historical research. It's a given that there will be some mistakes. There is just no way around it when one deals with so many unknowns. Part of the job of this blog is to disclose new facts as well as mistakes. Here is what I discovered.

For many years my family thought the John Morris of Fort Worth, Texas was also the John Morris, alias "Fatty Gray" of the Soap Gang. It is a known fact that one of the early starting points for Soapy's criminal career was in Fort Worth. I personally do not recall the The Fort Worth Daily Democrat giving "Fatty's" middle initial and I might have thought it a mistake of the newspaper at the time. That simple middle initial was the clue. I noticed that the more I investigated the more I saw John C. Morris as apposed to John H. Morris. At first I thought perhaps the "H" might be a newspaper mistake in the Denver newspapers but once I came across Morris in Robert K. DeArments book, Jim Courtright of Fort Worth: His Life and Legend, Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 2004, I realized I had the wrong gentleman. Perhaps it was the fact that the John Morris in Fort Worth died December 21, 1881 killed by Deputy U.S. Marshal William Polk Rayner, many years before Morris of Soap Gang fame died in a Murray, Utah saloon brawl.

This mistake was not for lack of trying. I read the Fort Worth Daily Democrat page by page until January 1882 and never saw a death notice. Somehow I missed it. Soapy is known to have left Texas in July 1880 to the city of Leadville, Colorado. From July 1880 to January 1881 I did not see Morris' name in print and surmised that perhaps he had left Fort Worth, possible with Soapy. Actually the only mistakes regarding John "Fatty Gray" Morris are his Fort Worth citations on pages 33-35 and 85. The remaining information is correct with provenance.

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Quick quotes.

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36th annual Soapy Smith Wake/Party.

At the moment this post was published there are only 46 days left until the 36th annual Soapy Smith Wake. Actually, it's more of a party! You will find a countdown clock in the far right sidebar if you wish to keep track.

For the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California this is the 6th annual event. This is the one I attend because going to Skagway every year is just too dang expensive. This is one of the main party's of the year for the Magic Castle but it is by invite only, and there are only so many spots for guests. If you would like to attend this great event you need to contact me ASAP to get on the list. Nearly every person who has attended one Wake comes back annually. It's a party you won't want to miss!

HISTORY AND PHOTOS OF PAST WAKES

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36 Bad Guys in American History

"Maybe, in the end, it is the sheer fascination with
evil that makes these individuals so compelling."

Here is another example of authors and historians including Soapy Smith as an important contributor to exciting criminal history. I'd like to think I had a big hand in making that a reality. Now the hard part is getting them to tell the true story without adding their own invented fluff. Soapy doesn't need any added help if authors would just take the time to do a little simple research, but I'm digressing, mainly because I have not read this book as of yet and for all I know he used my website as a source. i wonder if he gave me credit as a source? Oh there I go again!

36 Bad Guys in American History, by George Cantor, Barnes & Noble, 1999 and 2007. 224 pages, ISBN: 9780760790779.

The following is from the book and is not my personal opinion as I have not read or seen the book as of yet. I am very interested in the section on Soapy Smith if anyone has a copy of this book.

A total of 36 the most fascinating characters in our nation's history have always been the outlaws.

Defying authority and pursuing an underworld version of the American dream, they continue to fuel the public's interest years after their deaths. How did the most feared individuals of their day become the subjects of romanticized myths and folklore?

Bad Guys in American History provides a provocative analysis of why America's villains continue to fascinate us. And why, ironically, the states and territories that once pursued them now find that these criminals have become a steady source of revenue.

Bad Guys in American History tells the stories of some of our country's most compelling outlaws, from their first crimes to final fates. Also included are two of the most famous prisons in our history and three notorious courts of law.

Each entry includes lively background information about these celebrated bad guys and thrilling accounts of their exploits. But Bad Guys in American History goes even farther, examining the reasons behind these outlaws' enduring legends, detailing the routes and sites of their most famous adventures, and providing valuable information on the locations of their thefts, murders, and shootouts, should you wish to visit these infamous places yourself.

Soapy is in good company with the other 35 characters the author chose to write about. They include.

Salem Witchcraft Trials
Blackbeard
Benedict Arnold
Joh Bulter and Bulters's Rangers
Simon girty
Aaron Burr
Jean lafitte
The harpe Brothers
William Clark Quantrill
John Brown
John Wilkes Booth
Belle Starr
Henry Plummer
Wild Bill Hickok
Jay Gould
Billy the Kid
Hatfields and McCoys
Jesse James
Black Bart
The Dalton Gang
Judge Roy Bean
Joaquin Murieta
Jacob Waltz and the Lost Dutchman Mine
Lizzie Borden
John D. Lee and the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Judge Isaac Parker
Butch Cassidy
Wyatt Earp
Yuma Territorial Prison
Pancho Villa
Al Capone
John Dillinger
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
Bugsy Siegel
Alcatraz Prison

Do you own a copy of this book? I would love to hear from you. Thank you.








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Soapy's sisters in Temple, Texas, 1900.

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1900 Federal census
Bell County, Temple, Texas

Kyle Rosene sent in the 1900 census for Temple, Texas showing Soapy's sisters, Emma Lou and Eva Katherine renting a home at 318 N. 11th Street. Emma Lou married gambler Robert Gardner in 1893 and this is their home. Living with them is Eva Katherine Light and her 3 children. Her husband, William S. Light died in 1893 after accidentally discharging his gun. Two of the children, William Jeff Light and Emma Ruby Light are Williams but the third, Lucile was born in 1898, five years after William had died. There is no solid explanation for Lucile. She could be born out-of-wedlock or adopted, perhaps not legally but taken in, we do not know yet. If any family member has any information please let me know and I will post it here.

This census, if correct (they often are not) gives us new information on the births and lives of Soapy's two sisters, a longtime mystery to my side of the family. Thanks to the help of their kin we all are learning about them.

• Emma Lou: Born October 1873, married Robert Gardner. She can read and write English.
  
• Robert Gardner: Born October 1867. Robert and Emma Lou married in 1893. His parents are unknown, his father being born in Kentucky and mother in Arkansas. Robert lists his occupation as "gambler" and out of work for the last two months at the time the census was filled out.
• Eva Katherine Light: Identified as Elizabeth. Born February 1872. Mother of 3, dressmaker, and can speak and write English. Eva's 3 children are as follows.
• William Jeff Light: Identified as Willi J., born October 1889 in Temple, Texas and in school.
  
• Emma Ruby Light: Identified as Emma R., born May 1891 in Texas. Attending school.
  
• Lucile ?: Born February 1898 in Texas.

I ask the families help with these members...

Below is a Google map of 318 N. 11th Street as it looks today. Towns and cities sometimes changed their street numbering so this may be incorrect. Enjoy.

View Larger Map







Emma "Emmie" Lou Smith: 22, 121, 377, 397, 403-04, 589.
Eva Katherine Smith: 9, 22, 82, 121, 193, 216, 397, 403-04, 594.
Robert Gardner: 197, 354, 360, 397.
William Sidney "Cap" Light: 9, 82-83, 184, 193-94, 207, 214-18.
William Jeff Light: 22.

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More on Morris: "Fatty Gray"

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The gold miners

Back on May 18, 2010 I reported that there was a small omission from my book sources regarding the death of John H. "Fatty Gray" Morris in a saloon in Murray, Utah. Fellow gang member Henry "Yank Fewclothes" Edwards mentioned in a 1914 newspaper interview that Morris had "died with his boots on" in Murray, Utah. The fact that these men wrote many letters to one another tells me that Edwards probably received word via letter of Morris' death.

I found the following sources and they will be included in the second edition along with any new information found on Morris.

1.) Shortly afterward [1896] came news that the surly “Fatty” Gray had also come to an untimely end, slain in a lowly saloon row in Murray, Utah. Intoxicated himself, Gray chose to quarrel with a harmless-appearing “bar fly,” whose resentment took the form of a quick draw and a shot from the hip, which pierced Gray’s heart. (The Reign of Soapy Smith, Collier & Westrate, p. 209)

2.) The old gang was breaking up. Doc Baggs and Canada Bill long since had departed. Fatty Gray had gone to Utah, where he was killed in a gun fight at Murray. (Soapy Smith: King of the Frontier Con Men, Robertson and Harris, p. 149.)

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Soapy's sisters and a grandson

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The Bloody Ballad of Notorious Bad Man Soapy Smith’s Wretched and Violent Demise

It's been about a year since I last heard this ballad and I am just as excited today as I was then. It has a place of honor on the main website on this page. Although Ed the author does a splendid version of his ballad I wonder how it would sound produced professionally? Any ideas, comments or suggestions? Enjoy!

The Bloody Ballad of Notorious Bad Man
Soapy Smith’s Wretched and Violent Demise

by Ed Parrish © 2008

The lyrics

Alaska in the Gold Rush days, where life was cheap and thin,
Such desperate times were perfect times for brutal, desperate men.
In Skagway, Soapy’s grifter mob left many miners broke,
And if you weren’t a gambler, they’d just rob you of your poke.


(Refrain)

With a pistol in his pocket and a rifle in his hands,
Soapy went alone to fight the vigilante band.
To shoot a few and chase the rest into the icy bay,
They’d wish they’d never messed with Soapy Smith of old Skagway.


Where your life ain’t worth a sawbuck, and your end is just ahead,
And the only law comes from your guns in a lightning hail of lead,
Soapy was the boss man. He ran old Skagway’s crime,
’Til the outlaws got together and said Soapy’s out of time.


With bad men cheating bad men, they’re going to spill bad blood.
They’re outlaws taking trips to hell down through Alaska’s mud.
The Skagway vigilantes couldn’t make him run away,
Soapy came straight at them to chase them into the bay.


(Refrain)

With a pistol in his pocket and a rifle in his hands,
Soapy went alone to fight the vigilante band.
To shoot a few and chase the rest into the icy bay,
They’d wish they’d never messed with Soapy Smith of old Skagway.


The bullets started flying a’twixt Soapy Smith and Reid,
Until they both lay on the wharf, and there they both did bleed.
Then Jesse Murphy turned ol’ Soapy’s lever gun around,
And blew out Soapy’s heart as he lay helpless on the ground.


When the shooting stopped and cordite clouds thinned out enough to see,
Soapy went to boot hill, with the grifters’ guard, Frank Reid.
Nobody mourned old Soapy when they sent him off to hell.
Skagway wouldn’t miss him, not so’s anyone could tell.


(Final Refrain)

Bold as brass and full of fire, there in the midnight sun,
Soapy went straight at the mob, though he was only one.
He’s waiting in the pits of hell now with his guns in hand,
He’ll hunt them through eternity – that vigilante band.

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"Big Ed" Burns in Leadville, 1879.

The following newspaper clipping includes Soap Gang member "Bid Ed" Burns. It is clearly reminiscent of the battle between the vigilante Law & Order Society of 101 and Soapy Smith's Committee of 317 in Skagway, Alaska in 1898, 19-years later.

Deseret News
November 26, 1879

LEADVILLE, Col., 22—At one o’clock on Monday morning 45 masked citizens forced Sheriff Watson to surrender to them a prisoner named Charles Stewart, a notorious footpad, who had threatened to kill the man who had him incarcerated as soon as he should get out. Stewart was 20 years old, begged piteously for his life and for time to write to his mother at Conneautville, Penna., but was only allowed time to say a brief prayer and was then hanged. The mob then took Ed. Frodsham, and although he struggled furiously, hung him in a workmanlike manner that indicated familiarity with the hangman’s trade. Frodsham has been jumping lots, driving off occupants by force, and conducting himself in a generally objectionable manner. The following note was pinned to his back:

"Notice — To all thieves, bunko steerers, footpads and chronic bondsmen for the same, and sympathizers of the above class of criminals:
This is our commencement and this shall be your end. We mean business. Let this be your last warning. Particularly Cooney Adams, Conner, Collins, Hogan, Ed Burns, Ed Champ, P. A. Kelly, and a great many others who are well known to this organization. We are 700 strong."

P. A. Kelly, who has been accused of taking bribes while city marshal, and Jim Bush have been warned to leave or share the same fate. The "Thugs" and bad characters have also banded together and claim that having 750 names enrolled they will immediately begin avenging their comrade’s death and will punish every one of the vigilantes who executed them. They have already threatened to burn the town, and have sent notices to some people suspected of having been concerned in the hanging, to leave.

The Chronicle and the Herald forces have also been ordered to quit those papers having advocated extreme measures to check the outlawry and crime which have been decidedly on the increase of late.

"Big Ed" Burns: p. 43, 77-79, 101-02, 120, 176, 210, 405, 487, 489, 571.













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John H. Morris alias "Fatty"

See May 22

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SALOON #5

"I'd rather be found wrong and learn the truth
than think I'm right and never know." -Jeff Smith

I am so proud of that saying I made up, but there are times I wish I didn't have to use it. This is one of those instances, although it is just a case of simple omission.

It was brought to my attention that there is an incomplete citation for a quote on page 86 of Alias Soapy Smith regarding the death of John H. Morris alias "Fatty Gray" and "Fatty". The quote reads

Fatty was killed in a saloon in Murray, Utah, but the date is unknown.

The footnoted source (#3) reads, Denver Post 11/15/1914, p. 10. Item 163, author’s col. This is an interview with Henry "Yank Fewclothes" Edwards. The problem is that one of the two sources meant to be published was mistakenly left out. Henry Edwards reported that Morris "died with his boots on in Utah country." The remaining information that he had been killed in a saloon in Murray, Utah is from a different source. This should be a rather small correction but there is a snag. I can't locate the source. I know for certain that the information is somewhere in my vast files. I spent half-a-day in storage going through cabinets and boxes of stored files and am frustrated that I have not successfully located the provenance as of yet. I hope that there will be some patience in letting me find this piece of the puzzle, after all, many of my files and notes are not years, but decades old. Rest assured that I do have the information and that sooner or later I will come across it and I will post that source here.

In the mean time, on a history forum one of the members, Paul Cool, posted an excerpt from Simon Schama, "Dead Certainties [Unwarranted Speculations]" p. 320, and I'd like to repeat it here.

"... historians are forever chasing shadows, painfully aware of their inability ever to reconstruct a dead world in its completeness, however thorough or revealing their documentation. Of course they make do with other work: the business of formulating problems, of supplying explanations about cause and effect. But the certainty of such answers always remains contingent on their unavoidable remoteness from their subjects. We are doomed to be forever hailing someone who has just gone around the corner and out of earshot."

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Soapy's wife and daughter.

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A couple more nice photographs from the Mike Moriarty collection. The one above was taken in Chicago. I'd like to hear from anyone who might be able to add some information about this photograph, including answering the questions, Why was Mary in Chicago? and who are the Buttran's?

Below is another fine piece from Mike's collection of two unidentified children in 1919.

WHO ARE THEY?

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Denver History: 150 Years, parts 3 and 4.

The following videos are the last two of a four part series called Denver History: 150 years. Click the following links to see PART 1 and PART 2.

PART 3

PART 4

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Call of the Wild, 1972

Friends member "Bungalo Bill" sent me the following email.

Hi Jeff.
I stumbled onto an old movie starring Charlton Heston titled, "Call of the Wild." I can only assume it was based on the book by Jack London.

The interesting part takes place in Alaska where Heston's character runs a dog sled carrying the mail from Skaguay to Dawson. One scene showed frozen dead horses along the trail. The scenes in Dawson closely resemble the sort of action going on in Skaguay, and there is even a town boss character who looks a lot like Soapy! Wrong town, but right kind of guy.

Check it out if you have the time.

I found this video on YouTube with a clip from the 1972 film and although I have yet to see the whole film that character Bill mentions just has to be the character shown near the end of the clip..

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Jeff Smith's Parlor in Finland?

The photo and some of the information below have been added to the main website page Soapy's Saloons.

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Jeff Smith's Parlor
Finland

The above photograph was not taken in Skagway, Alaska but in the "Auria" Tankavaara Gold Village - Sodankylä, Finland! It was a decade or more when I first learned of this location and it was posted in the old website but I note that it is not mentioned in this blog. The village is where the world championship gold panning competitions are held annually. As part of the atmosphere the promoters built one building to represent the history of the major gold rushes. Jeff Smith's Parlor proudly represents the Klondike gold rush.

The site where the photo was found is Waymarking, a site devoted to cataloging and mark­ing on maps interesting and useful locations around the world. The Parlor is in the section for exact replicas.

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