Handbills for the 101 and 317

I updated the handbill photographs on the main website for the committees of 101 and 317 this afternoon. Previously I utilized a table mock up but nothing beats the real thing. I replaced the tables with the pic below. My book has photographs of the two original handbills located and on display at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau, Alaska. Below are actually copies of the handbills that I had made in the 1980s. The printer did an excellent job of copying the handbills from photographs of the originals.

(Click on images to enlarge)

The story behind the handbills is an amazing one and is covered in detail in my book. A miner had been shot and killed on the White Pass trail. Being that Soapy's bunco men worked the trails it was decided by a group of men that fault lay with Soapy and his gang. The handbill on the left was published in the newspaper and printed copies were posted about town. Normally that warning would have been enough to scatter the short con operators but this was Soapy's gang. A meeting was called for and held, to represent the "law-abiding" sector of Skagway. I can imagine the surprise and downright shock when the vigilantes awoke to the handbills (right) posted around town. Reading them both together and deciding who the "good-guys" were must have caused many a debate at the time.

It is interesting to note that Soapy's member count of 317 just happen to be the address of Jeff Smith's Parlor.

     

Committees of 101 and 317:  p. 467-69, 512

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