Soapy Smith news and pranks

(Click image to enlarge)

Yesterday I posted about a practical joke pulled on me by Skagway businessman, Dennis Corrington. The above photograph shows one of my own. It was 1989 when I went to Skagway and placed an "antiqued" sign near Frank Reid Fall, changing the name to "Soapy Smith Falls." I'm such a card.

Today's post is a combination of recent news.

Dave Elstun, coordinator of the first annual Soapy Smith Wake in Denver, Colorado is preparing a press release for the event "We are doing the Wake on July 7th at 7 PM. It is taking the form of a saloon show."

Linda Aten posted a request on our discussion board asking about her great-great-great-grandfather's connection to Soapy. Linda writes,

"I have been trying to find out information about my GGG grandfather who left my GGG grandmother and was not ever hear from again. The story was that he was in Alaska during the time of Soapy Smith. He did some mining in Leadville and the story is that he and several others went to Skagway. I was able to trace him to Montana in 1900 with a new wife and then to California for the rest of his life. His name was William Paige Hyatt. Do you have any information as to whether he was connect to Soapy Smith. I understand he was quite a scoundrel in his own right."

Please, if anyone out there has any information on William Paige Hyatt contact Jeff Smith.

Karen Cuthbertson is in Denver searching for the marriage certificate of Jefferson R. Smith and Mary Eva Noonan. Although we know they married in Denver on February 1, 1886 there seems to be no record. We await to see what Karen finds.

Vintage piano music king, Dave Bourne, is looking to possibly record Ed Parrish's ballad, The violent Demise of Soapy Smith.

Jeff Smith

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