September 16, 2014

Young actor plays Soapy Smith








ust a short time ago, the following video appeared on Youtube. I contacted the person who published it, but have yet to hear back. I was hoping to have some details about who the young man is and why he is portraying Soapy. Obviously it is for a school project. I wanted to tell him, "well done."






 




"It is possible that … some injustice has been done to Mr. Smith which should be corrected, if only out of regard for the distinguished family to which he belongs, for the sun never sets on the Smiths." [San Francisco Examiner]
Alias Soapy Smith, p. 493.



SEPTEMBER 16


1620: The Mayflower, with 102 passengers, departs from Plymouth, England. The ship arrives at Provincetown, Massachusetts on November 21, 1620 and then at Plymouth, Massachusetts on December 26 where the start the Plymouth Colony.
1630: The village of Shawmut, Massachusetts changes its name to Boston.
1782: The Great Seal of the United States is impressed on its first document, a prisoner of war agreement with the British.
1867: The 10th Cavalry fights Indians on the Saline River, Kansa. Two civilians are killed.
1880: Charles Earl “Black Bart” Bowles robs the Roseburg. Oregon-Yreka, California stage a mile from the Oregon border. At the conclusion of the robbery he leaves behind an unusual calling card: a poem.
1882: Bad man Soapy Smith purchases a street vendors license in Salem, Oregon in which to sell his prize package soap.
1889: Outlaw Bob Younger, age 34, dies of tuberculosis in the Stillwater, Minnesota State Penitentiary. He and his brothers were serving life sentences for their part in the 1876 Northfield, Minnesota bank robbery.
1893: The "Cherokee Strip" in Oklahoma is swarmed by hundreds of thousands of settlers seeking cheap land. Not to be confused with the Oklahoma Land Run on April 22, 1889.




September 13, 2014

2016 Reunion in Skagway, Alaska!

JEFF. SMITH'S PARLOR
Opening 2016
(Click image to enlarge)






et's get two dupes with one bar of soap!






GRAND OPENING OF JEFF SMITH'S PARLOR
AND
SOAPY SMITH FAMILY and FAN REUNION
July 4-8, 2016


      The restoration of Soapy Smith's saloon in Skagway, Alaska is set for completion in 2016. My source at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park tells me that they are shooting for a July 4 grand opening but there is always the chance that the date may be postponed due to unforeseen delays. What more of a perfect time to have a Soapy Smith family/fan reunion in Skagway! The park service says they can arrange a private tour if the grand-opening is delayed. The last time the family was there in force was in 1998 for the 100th anniversary of Soapy's demise
      This idea is in the planning stages and I am creating a site devoted to this reunion trip. It is an expensive and time consuming trip so we need to plan early. Start saving your money! This will be a trip you will not want to miss!
      Personally, I have an idea of my trip schedule, and I invite anyone to tag along. My trip includes a day trip to Seattle, Washington where McGinty (Soapy's petrified man) resides. There are also interesting places to visit, such as the building which held the Owl Saloon where Soapy has an altercation. This location also holds the famed "underground tour" and the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park - Seattle Branch museum. Next is a stop in Juneau, Alaska where Soapy was arrested for selling his prize package soap. The state museum holds a few interesting Soapy related items, including a lock of his hair, and the only two known to exist, handbills of the famed vigilante Committee of 101, and Soapy's response handbill from the Law And Order Society of 317.
      Skagway has lots to do! We will be there for the July 4th parade and on July 8 for the Soapy Smith wake (held there since 1977).

ALL IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME!


 




      "I never knew anything about Jeff Smith only what my husband had said [about] his being the king of the gamblers, and that naturally made me afraid of him. Well, you remember that night when Parson Uzzell was giving out loaves of bread to all the hungry people? I went to the [People’s] Tabernacle one night, but I got there too late. Every loaf of bread was gone, and not a penny in the house. I don’t know what I was doing only standing alone when a gentleman came close up to me and … pushed a piece of paper in my hand, and before I could even talk, he said: Take that, lady, it will get you all the bread you want.
     I turned to say thank you, sir, but he was gone…. I am only a woman, but I have got a vote and so has my husband, and anybody who does an act like that for us shows that they have hearts that are in the right place, and I think that they are better than the people who abuse them.
"
Alias Soapy Smith, p. 329.



SEPTEMBER 13


1878: Outlaw, James “Frank” Towle, of the Sam Bass Gang is shot dead during a stagecoach robbery. His body was hidden by the other unknown accomplices, and was found 3 months later by stage driver, Boone May, who cut off Towle’s head for evidence in order to claim an outstanding reward. Bad man Soapy Smith had witnessed the death of Sam Bass 2 months previous.
1884: Soapy Smith purchases a street venders license in Del Norte, Colorado to hawk his cash prize package soap.