Did Soapy Smith operate in Cleveland, Ohio, 1896?

Tina Petersen points out "Sylvester" the petrified man
Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe, Seattle, Washington
According to photographic comparisons Sylvester is actually McGinty
Soapy Smith's petrified man from Creede, Colorado 1892
Photo taken by Art Petersen

(Click image to enlarge)

  found this interesting, religious related joke about Soapy Smith in the pages of the Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) March 11, 1896. Did Soapy spend time in Cleveland, Ohio?

The Scriptural Way

      Dusty Rhodes: "I seen Soapy Smith yistiddy for th' fust time since he give us the shake. He looked tuff."
      Weary Walker: "Wot was he up to?"
      Dusty Rhodes: "He hed on trowsis made out o' flour sacks an' he was gittin' out somebody's ashes."
      Weary Walker: "Soapy must be keepin' Lent."
      Dusty Rhodes: "How so?"
      Weary Walker: "In sackcloth an' ashes."

      Soapy was traveling around the country, staying on the move, waiting and hoping to hear from his attorney in Denver that a case against him for attempted murder was dropped down to a lesser charge. He knew this was unlikely as his younger brother Bascomb was already serving a one-year sentence in the same case. We know that in late February 1896, before any possible Ohio trip, Soapy went back to Denver a couple of times. After visiting Ohio Soapy made his way to Gillette, Colorado where he was arrested on March 19. On April 1, 1896 Jeff boarded the steamer General Canby for his first trip to Alaska.
      At this time there is no provenance about any possible time in Cleveland, Ohio in 1896.

 

"That which can be asserted without evidence
can be dismissed without evidence "

—Christopher Hitchens

APRIL 6

1789: U.S. Congress begins regular sessions in New York City.

1830: Joseph Smith organizes the Mormon Church in New York.

1830: Mexico disallows further emigration into Texas by settlers from the U.S.

1862: The Battle of Shiloh during the U.S. Civil War begins.

1862: The explorer, John W. Powell, loses his right arm during the Battle of Shiloh.

1865: One third of General Lee’s Army is cut off by Union troops during the Battle of Sayler's Creek.

1875: Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for the multiple telegraph, which sent two signals at the same time.

1875: Indian Chief Black Horse and 10 others are killed, and 19 soldiers are wounded near the Cheyenne Agency, Indian Territory.

1886: The “anti-dude” club of Newton, Kansas is formed and sets fines for various infractions including $5 for carrying a cane, $10 for wearing kid gloves and a plug hat, and $20 for parting one's hair down the middle.

1900: George Scarborough, a peace officer and a cattle detective, dies from gunshot wounds received during a gunfight with four suspected rustlers near San Simon, New Mexico Territory. Scarborough was known as the man who killed the man (John Selman) who killed Wesly Harden.

1909: Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson claim to be the first men to reach the North Pole.