The Layman-Odem Revolver from Soapy Smith's, Jeff Smith's Parlor

The Layman-Odem revolver and letter
photo by George Layman

 

(Click image to enlarge)

he Layman-Odem revolver

      Named after owners George Layman and Albert Odem, this artifact was introduced to me by owner George Layman via Larry Zeug, an old friend.



      The revolver is a nickled Harrington and Richardson Young America Bulldog. A more complete history of this model can be found at the NRA Museum. Mr. Layman claims the letter and revolver are authentic. This post is not meant to be an authentication or a judgement call, but rather am merely reporting on an interesting story and claim. The letter that comes with the pistol reads as follows.  

This Young America revolver was given to my uncle in 1935 by Willie Neuille. Mr. Neuille got the revolver from a Mr. J. Tanner who owned a hardware store near Skagway and found the gun hanging on a nail behind the bar in the old Jeff Smith’s Parlor saloon around 1911. I owned it ever since my uncle gave it to me during the war.

Albert Odom

The Layman-Odem revolver and letter
photo by George Layman

 

(Click image to enlarge)

      The letter is fascinating in itself, including the mention of "J. Tanner," which is most likely vigilante Josias Martin Tanner, who witnessed Soapy Smith's murder on Juneau Wharf on July 8, 1898? The following day he is made a temporary deputy U.S. marshal by Judge Sehlbrede, until the U.S. Marshal agrees and officially swears him in. Tanner did indeed operate a hardware store in Skagway, where it has been reported numerous times that he sold old guns and artifacts that he claimed "once belonged to Soapy." The fact that this revolver came from Tanner may strengthen or weaken the authenticity of the claim that it was "found ... hanging on a nail behind the bar in the old Jeff Smith’s Parlor saloon."

      Another question arises with the 1911 date. After Soapy Smith's demise in July 1898, his partners in the saloon business, John and Frank Clancy, took over the saloon until 1899. Until 1900 it was the Sans Souci Restaurant and Oyster Parlor. In the Fall of 1900 the city of Skagway purchased the building to house the fire department's Hook and Ladder Company. The insides of the building were gutted, including the front bar. Martin Itjen purchased the building in 1935 and made it into a museum. "Around 1911," when the revolver was found, the city fire department had already owned the gutted building for a decade. If this story is authentic then there is some important information missing. 

"The class of people who want to get something for nothing are no match for those who give nothing for something."

— The Daily Standard, August 2, 1882

SEPTEMBER 11

1609: Explorer Henry Hudson sails into what would later be named New York harbor and discovers Manhattan Island and the Hudson River.

1776: A Peace Conference is held between British General Howe and three representatives of the Continental Congress, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge. The conference fails to reach an accord and the war for independence continues for seven more years.

1777: American forces under General George Washington, carrying the “stars and stripes” (American flag) into battle for the first time, are forced to retreat at the Battle of Brandywine Creek.

1786: The Convention of Annapolis opens with the aim of revising the articles of the Confederation.

1789: Alexander Hamilton is appointed by President George Washington as the first secretary of the treasury.

1814: The U.S. fleet defeats the British Navy in the Battle of Lake Champlain, Vermont during the War of 1812.

1842: 1,400 Mexican troops capture San Antonio, Texas. They retreat, with prisoners.

1857: Indians, incited by Mormon Elder John Lee, kill 120 Arkansas settlers bound for California, in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Utah Territory. The Mormons persuaded the emigrants that they could freely pass unharmed if they surrendered their arms. The Indians murdered all but 18 children. Twenty years later, on March 3, 1877, Lee would be executed for his part in the murders.

1875: The first comic strip to appear in a newspaper is "Professor Tidwissel's Burglar Alarm," featured in the New York Daily Graphic.

1877: The first comic-character timepiece is patented by the Waterbury watch Company.

1878: Outlaw Billy the Kid spends the night at John Chisum's camp, New Mexico Territory.

1883: The mail chute is patented by James Cutler. The device is first utilized in the Elwood Building in Rochester, New York.

1885: Apache Indian Chief Geronimo, and a small band of Indians, shoot a man cutting poles, murder another in ambush, and murder a teen herding cattle, kidnapping his 11-year-old brother.

1897: A ten-week coal workers strike in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio comes to an end. The workers win an eight-hour workday, semi-monthly pay, and company stores are shut down.

1904: The U.S. battleship Connecticut is launched in New York.

1910: The first commercially successful electric bus line opens in Hollywood, California.