 |
| John H. "The Kid" Foster Fort Collins Courier (Fort Collins, Colorado) May 18, 1923 |
(Click image to enlarge)
he "Kid" Foster
In the past I mistook "John Henry Foster" and "W. E. Foster," as being one and the same. Both were members of the Soap Gang, and so many of the confidence men used alias,' some having numerous, some whose real names have yet to be discovered. Luckily, I figured out the puzzle before Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel was published. [1]
John Henry Foster, alias "the Kid" (later using the alias of "J. W. Reed"), did belong to the Soap Gang, but his history previous to 1898 in Skagway, Alaska is not known. Was he a member of the Denver bunco brotherhood? Time may reveal the answer.
In Skagway, Foster ran the Grotto Saloon, one of four saloons opened by August 1898.[2] Soapy Smith arrived in Skagway on August 20, 1897 and naturally gravitated towards the saloons, so it is likely that if the two men did not know each other previously, then they would have met on or around August 20th. It is known that Soapy, with the help of Frank Clancy, aided Foster's election to become a city counsel member, assisting Soapy's reign in Skagway.
(Click image to enlarge)
The above photo shows Holly Street (later changed to 6th Avenue). If Cathy Spude's location map in Archeological Investigations in Skagway, Alaska: Mascot Saloon is correct, then Foster's Grotto Saloon was located in the approximate location shown within the red circle. It is not known if this was the original location from August 1897 when it was opened. Soapy's saloon, Jeff Smith's Parlor, will occupy the First Bank of Skaguay shown in the blue circle, opening in the spring of 1898. In the meantime, Soapy and the gang worked out of numerous saloons, including the Grotto.
(Click image to enlarge)
The above photo shows 6th Avenue (previously Holly Street). Foster's Grotto Saloon, the approximate location, is pointed out, as is Jeff Smith's Parlor (Clancy's in this photo).
After Soapy was killed, it was first revealed to the town that Foster and others were actually working with the bunco men. Some either fled or were arrested by the vigilantes that took Soapy's empire down.
John Henry Foster, alias "the Kid" (later using the alias of "J. W. Reed"), did belong to the Soap Gang, but his history previous to 1898 in Skagway, Alaska is not known. Was he a member of the Denver bunco brotherhood? Time may reveal the answer.
In Skagway, Foster ran the Grotto Saloon, one of four saloons opened by August 1898.[2] Soapy Smith arrived in Skagway on August 20, 1897 and naturally gravitated towards the saloons, so it is likely that if the two men did not know each other previously, then they would have met on or around August 20th. It is known that Soapy, with the help of Frank Clancy, aided Foster's election to become a city counsel member, assisting Soapy's reign in Skagway.
 |
| The Grotto Saloon Holly Street Skagway, Alaska (circled in red) Pre-spring 1898 Courtesy of KGNHP |
(Click image to enlarge)
The above photo shows Holly Street (later changed to 6th Avenue). If Cathy Spude's location map in Archeological Investigations in Skagway, Alaska: Mascot Saloon is correct, then Foster's Grotto Saloon was located in the approximate location shown within the red circle. It is not known if this was the original location from August 1897 when it was opened. Soapy's saloon, Jeff Smith's Parlor, will occupy the First Bank of Skaguay shown in the blue circle, opening in the spring of 1898. In the meantime, Soapy and the gang worked out of numerous saloons, including the Grotto.
 |
| The Grotto Saloon 6th Avenue Skagway, Alaska Post-spring 1898 Courtesy of University of Washington Library |
(Click image to enlarge)
The above photo shows 6th Avenue (previously Holly Street). Foster's Grotto Saloon, the approximate location, is pointed out, as is Jeff Smith's Parlor (Clancy's in this photo).
After Soapy was killed, it was first revealed to the town that Foster and others were actually working with the bunco men. Some either fled or were arrested by the vigilantes that took Soapy's empire down.
... two thirds of the city council of six was also under Jeff’s control. At a special meeting, tendered were the resignations of J. H. Foster, Frank E. Burns, and W. F. Lokowitz. Council member J. Allen Hornsby was not there because he was being fired from his position as editor of the Daily Alaskan for complicity with Jeff Smith and was being “asked” to leave town. As Counsel member Spencer could not attend the meeting, the single remaining “member, Chairman Sperry,” had by himself “to make, second, put before the house and vote on a motion to adjourn.” Even “The new school board” that day reported it was “now ‘shy’ a member.” The Citizens’ Committee soon replaced the four counsel members with men of its own and then had control of the city.[3]
It is not known if Foster fled, or was detained and forced to leave. Foster went (returned?) to Denver, Colorado where at some point between 1898 and 1922 he became a member of the Blonger Gang, the successors of Soapy's reign in Denver.
Foster was working with con men, J. K. Ross and Arthur Cooper in extracting $50,000 from C. H. Hubbell, who was arranging to hand over the entire sum when the three con men were arrested [4] on August 24, 1922, Foster was arrested during a monumental raid that netted 33 of the main Blonger gangsters, shutting down Blonger's empire permanently. In 1923, during one of the most publicized trials to that time, the Lou Blonger and his cohorts were convicted and sentenced to prison at Cañon City Penitentiary. Lou Blonger died there just six months after he arrived.
Foster was released on a $5,000 bond, dropped down from $11,000. He returned to the court on time, one month later (October 28, 1922) and had his trial. Upon being found guilty, Foster attempted to escape hiding in a locker. That information is included in a story on Foster published seven months later, on May 17, 1923 when it was feared that Foster might once again attempt to escape prison by gaining access to a dentist, outside the prison wall. The Fort Collins Courier published the story the following day.
Foster was working with con men, J. K. Ross and Arthur Cooper in extracting $50,000 from C. H. Hubbell, who was arranging to hand over the entire sum when the three con men were arrested [4] on August 24, 1922, Foster was arrested during a monumental raid that netted 33 of the main Blonger gangsters, shutting down Blonger's empire permanently. In 1923, during one of the most publicized trials to that time, the Lou Blonger and his cohorts were convicted and sentenced to prison at Cañon City Penitentiary. Lou Blonger died there just six months after he arrived.
Foster was released on a $5,000 bond, dropped down from $11,000. He returned to the court on time, one month later (October 28, 1922) and had his trial. Upon being found guilty, Foster attempted to escape hiding in a locker. That information is included in a story on Foster published seven months later, on May 17, 1923 when it was feared that Foster might once again attempt to escape prison by gaining access to a dentist, outside the prison wall. The Fort Collins Courier published the story the following day.
―
Bunko Man, Heavily Guarded, to Visit Dentist-Teeth Hurt
―DENVER. May 17.—False teeth and jail victuals, according to the officials of the district attorney’s office, are the responsible for a court order issued today permitting J. H. Foster, convicted bunko man, to leave his cell at the county jail.Foster is to start visiting a dentist to have a new plate made. He will be the first of the twenty convicted men to appear on the city’s streets since the trial.“I’ve got to have a better fit, if I’m going to chew this jail grub,” is Foster’s complaint.Foster, alias the Kid, according to Deputy Sheriff Jim Marshall, will be accompanied to the office of a dental specialist in the Metropolis building by an armed guard.Special precautions are necessary, according to Marshall, because it was Foster who hid in a small closet the day the twenty bunko men were being led to their cells after the jury verdict had been returned.Foster was missed from the line and a search was made for him immediately. He was found hiding in the locker, possibly intending to make a break for freedom before he was missed. Marshall declares that he is determined to keep close watch on the man to prevent any possible attempts at escape in the future.[5]
On September 15, 1925 Foster was released from the Colorado state prison at Cañon City. He walked right into the hands of federal officers waiting to arrest him for another crime he had committed, and surely believed he had gotten away with. The Ogden Standard Examiner reported the event the following day.
―
BUNCO MAN FACES MAIL FRAUD CHARGE
―
CANON CITY. Colo., Sept 16.
– (AP) – As he stepped from the state penitentiary here Tuesday at the completion of a sentence imposed following his conviction as a member of the Denver “bunco ring.” John H. Foster was arrested by federal officers on a warrant charging him with using the males to defraud, issued at Jacksonville, Fla.
He will be taken to Denver to await officials from Jacksonville. New, foster entered the prison in June, 1923. To serve a sentence of from three to 10 years.[6]
 |
| John Henry Foster arrested again Ogden Standard Examiner September 16, 1925 |
(Click image to enlarge)
Footnotes
1. Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel can be purchased HERE.
2. Archeological Investigations in Skagway, Alaska: Mascot Saloon, by Catherine Holder Spude, p. 18.
3. Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel, p. 563.
4. Denver Post, September 6, 1922.
5. Fort Collins Courier (Fort Collins, Colorado) May 18, 1923.
6. Ogden Standard Examiner, September 16, 1925.
For information regarding John H. Foster's time and trial with the Blonger Brothers: Visit Blongerbros.com
December 22, 2014,
John H. Foster: page 80, 518, 563.
"They shot all night. You could hear the shooting and see the flashes in the hills when they were shooting. They weren’t shooting at anything, they were just shooting. The gang was hiding in the hills. One guy hid under our house, until dark, and then he tore out. Mother wouldn’t tell on him. We didn’t want the guy to get shot. He stayed under there until it got dark and then he beat it."
—Royal Pullen, Alias Soapy Smith, p. 563.
DECEMBER 31
1775: The British repulse an attack by Continental Army generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold at Quebec. Montgomery is killed in the battle.
1841: The state of Alabama enacts the first dental legislation in the U.S.
1852: The richest year of the California gold rush produces $81.3 million in gold.
1862: U.S. President Lincoln signs an act admitting West Virginia to the Union.
1873: Four soldiers of Company B, 25th Infantry are attacked by Indians at Eagle Spring Texas. One Indian is wounded.
1877: U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes is the first to celebrate his silver (25th) wedding anniversary in the White House.
1879: Thomas Edison gives his first public demonstration of incandescent lighting in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1891: New York's new Immigration Depot is opened at Ellis Island, to provide improved facilities for the massive numbers of arrivals.
1897: The city of Brooklyn, New York, is absorbed by the city of New York.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for leaving your comment and/or question on my blog. I always read, and will answer all questions asap. Please know that they are greatly appreciated. -Jeff Smith