Soapy Smith's corrections to the Seattle Daily Times: 03/30/1898

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 am still here in business, and expect to remain. 
Respectfully yours,
JEFF R. SMITH.
Called “SOAPY.”

In February 1898 The early steamship crews and returning miners gave scolding accounts of Skagway and Soapy Smith. The Seattle Daily Times had called Soapy a crook who controlled Skaguay. Although he indeed was a crook and he did control the town, he had no intentions of admitting it or allowing others to talk about it without rebuttal. Things began to pick up for Soapy's reign in March. The vigilante committee of 101 had tried to rebel in early March but were quickly cowed into non-action of their threats, the opening of Jeff Smith's Parlor, the start of the Spanish-American War and Soapy's private militia moved Soapy's popularity high enough among the citizens and merchants that he retained his position. Being settled in Skaguay, he sought to extend his enhanced reputation, towards the newspaper attacks in Seattle and San Francisco. He first sent a rebuttal to Seattle, which the Times published.

HON. JEFF. R. SMITH, ESQ.

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Writes From Skaguay Correcting False Impressions.

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MAKES A POLITE REQUEST

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Which The Times Most Cordially Grants—States That He Is On The Side of Law and Order and Was Never Convicted of Crime.
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     “Soapy Smith” of Skaguay sends The Times the following courteous letter, which is cheerfully published:

     SKAGWAY, ALASKA, March 22, 1898.

     Editor The Times—Dear Sir: I have noticed at different times various pieces similar to the one enclosed in regard to myself. I beg leave to state that I have no gang, and that I have not been ordered out of Skaguay, or any other place, and that I expect to live here as long as I see fit to. I have taken the side of law and order here time and time again, and all reports like the one enclosed are base falsehoods. I helped a lot of citizens stop a murderous mob from hanging a man that no one knew whether guilty or not, and thereby caused the dislike of some of the members of the murderous outfit. I acknowledge I have been in the saloon and gambling business for a number of years, and when all games and saloons were placed under strict police surveillance. And I have never had any trouble in my place of business; was never convicted of any crime in my life, and don’t think that I am being treated right. I don’t think you want to hurt me or my business by publishing such stories, as I am sure I [have] never done you or anyone an injury without cause. I am still here in business, and expect to remain. Respectfully yours,

JEFF R. SMITH.

Called “SOAPY.”

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When Soapy received a copy of the March 30, 1898 Seattle Daily Times, he clipped out the article for his personal scrapbook. The original clipping (artifact #143) resides in my personal collection.

Newspaper clipping: page 491.

"But it could be set down as a rule, old-time gamblers say, when “Soapy” Smith sat down to play that the dealer folded back his shirtsleeves another notch and the lookout man took up a fresh chew tobacco and moved his chair closer."

—Rocky Mountain News, July 11, 1915

NOVEMBER 19

1794: Britain's King George III signs the Jay Treaty, resolving the issues left over from the American Revolution.

1850: The first life insurance policy for a woman is issued to 36-year-old Carolyn Ingraham, purchasing the policy in Madison, New Jersey.

1856: Lieutenant Walter Jenifer and a detachment of Company B, 2nd Cavalry, are on a scout from Fort Mason, Texas, when they attack a band of Comanche Indians near the Llano River.

1861: An attempt to take Indian Territory by Confederate forces fails in a battle at Round Mountain.

1863: President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of a national battlefield cemetery in Pennsylvania.

1872: Fort McKeen, Dakota Territory, is renamed Fort Abraham Lincoln.

1873: Outlaw James Reed, the first husband of outlaw Belle Starr, and two accomplices, rob the Watt Grayson family of $30,000 in the Choctaw Nation.

1879: Vigilantes force their way into the Leadville, Colorado jail and lynched two prisoners. A note of warning was pinned to one of the corpses.

1880: Corteze D. “Cort” Thomson loses a foot-race in Greelet, Colorado for a $250 side-bet. Thomson is the lover of Denver brothel madame Martha A. “Mattie” Silks. In 1892 Thomson is involved with bad man Soapy Smith in the shooting death of gambler cliff Sparks in Denver. In 1898 Silks accuses Soapy of plotting to murder her.

1881: Virgil Earp testifies at the gunfight behind the O.K. Corral hearings in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.

1887: The Montana Central Railroad line, between Helena and Great Falls Montana, is completed.

1893: The first newspaper color supplement is published in the New York World.

1895: The "paper pencil" is patented by Frederick E. Blaisdell.