August 28, 2021

New photo of Frank Reid's grave

Frank Reid's grave
Can you see the grave?

(Click image to enlarge)


ADDENDUM INFORMATION ADDED: AUGUST 31, 2021
(see bottom of article)
 
 

 
arliest known photograph of Frank Reid's grave.


     Frank Reid was the vigilante combatant who shot and wounded "Soapy" Smith during the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, July 8, 1898. Reid died twelve days later, receiving Skagway's largest funeral up to that time. When I first saw this photograph on eBay I thought it was another one showing Frank Reid's first wooden grave marker. There are numerous markers in the background that are bleached out white and cannot be read or identified, and I had originally thought the one in the center of the photo was Reid's grave. It was only after I took a closer look that I found a "new" photograph of Reid's grave, probably taken shortly after the burial service ended and the attending crowd left.


Frank Reid's grave
The grave mound is hi-lighted

(Click image to enlarge)

With Reid's grave highlighted in the photograph above, the entire gravesite becomes clear. Two, possibly three wreaths are evident, one huge and semi-upright with a ribbon attached. The other two are horizontal also with a ribbon. Below these in the foreground are at least three bouquets of flowers, one in front of the other on the left and another on right before the horizontal wreath.


Frank Reid's grave service
The earliest grave service photo

(Click image to enlarge)


The photograph above depicts the grave site service at Reid's grave. Note that there are numerous hats taken off and "resting" at shoulder height. That July sun in Skagway can get rather warm.


Frank Reid's grave
Wooden marker in place
Date unknown
Courtesy of BC Archives Collection

(Click image to enlarge)


The photograph above was taken some time later. A wooden marker has been placed on Reid's grave. Note that trees surrounding the grave(s) have been cut down.


Frank Reid's grave
As it looks today
minus wear and tear.




ADDENDUM INFORMATION


Frank Reid's Grave
The first marker?

(Click image to enlarge)

A closer look of the photograph above by Art Petersen reveals what appears to be the very first grave marker for Frank Reid affixed to the open face of a split log. This is a small temporary marker properly identifying the grave until the wooden marker seen in the photograph within the article could be completed.



 
 
 









Frank Reid:
Jul 7, 2021










Frank H. Reid: pages 10, 439-41, 447, 477, 529-42, 544, 547-53, 555, 574, 576-77, 579, 585.





"Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math."
—Unknown










August 19, 2021

Artifact #85: Letter from Soapy Smith's cousin Edwin to Soapy's son Jefferson, February 25, 1937

Artifact #85
Letter-page 1
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)


 

   
 
 still think we could do well with the projected biography"
(Edwin was working on a biography of Soapy Smith)



An interesting letter from Edwin Benson "Bobo" Smith, the cousin of Soapy Smith, to Soapy's son, Jefferson Randolph Smith III. Those that have read the book Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel might recall that Edwin and Soapy grew up together in Georgia, traveled the state hunting, and started working the cheap John (jam auction) sales racket in Texas together. Edwin was ready to join his cousin full time but credits witnessing the shootout between the outlaw Sam Bass gang and Texas Rangers, resulting in the death of Sam Bass, with his choosing not to follow Soapy's career path.
     When reading the transcription of the letter below keep in mind that it was written February 25, 1937, so Edwin is 78 years old and Jefferson is 49. Edwin and Jefferson wrote to one another since Jefferson was young, wishing to learn as much as he could about his father. Who better to ask than a family member who grew up with his father?

Artifact #85
Envelope-front
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge) 
 
     The above envelope is part of the Fort Sumter Hotel stationary. Note that the stamp is upside down. Was this intentional or an oversight? Perhaps a sign that Edwin's eyesight was not as it once was? Also note that the address for "Mr. Jeff Smith" is listed as "City Hall." Jefferson was very involved in St. Louis politics, choosing to work behind the scenes. One of his fears was that his political rivals would find out that his father was the infamous crime figure "Soapy" Smith, thus ending his political career. He was very cautious that anyone would find out about his father, even going to the effort of hiding his father's large collection of letters and documents behind a false wall in the family basement.

Artifact #85
Envelope-rear
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)
 
     The hand-written letter and envelope is in my personal collection (item #85). Following is the transcription for ease of reading.

1201 M St. nw [M Street, northwest]
Washington D.C.

Feb 25, 1937

      Dear Jeff: From the porch of the Hotel you can see Fort Sumter where all the trouble began between the North and the South; Charleston is really a most interesting old town and quaint beyond description. I stayed there awhile after leaving Savannah.
     Wherever I go I get myself interviewed as you will see by clipping – Native modesty, eh? Needless to say I interview myself.
     Now I am back home I feel improved after my sojourn down the line but am pretty shaky yet! It would have been fine had I been able to prolong the stay in that soft climate.
     By this time I trust you have caught on to something worth while. Outside of government employment Washington affords scant hope and even Uncle Sam is a poor prospect unless there is some big influence back of an applicant.
     The situation here is confusing but it seems to me that Roosevelt is destined to slip; he made a bonehead play in his Supreme Court proposal, regardless of any good intent.
     I still think we could do well with the projected biography [Edwin was working on a biography of Soapy], yet am assailed with fears as to my strength not being up to the mark, I truthfully can not dictate, never could.
     Just as soon as I can get up the nerve to tackle the job I’ll let you know. Meanwhile write me fully. My best love to you and your wife and it would be a great pleasure to see her.
     When in Ga. [Georgia] I thought of going to the old home town but that section has just about as bad winters as Washington or St. Louis and I was dodging the cold.

Write soon
E. B. Smith
 
Artifact #85
Letter-page 2
Jeff Smith collection

 (Click image to enlarge)
 
 
 
Artifact #85
Letter-page 3
Jeff Smith collection

 (Click image to enlarge)
 
 
     Edwin B. Smith passed away just over three years later on November 1, 1941, never publishing his biography on Soapy, titled Boyhood Days of Jefferson Randolph Smith II and Edwin Bobo Smith, which resides in my personal collection. Edwin's writings are the best accounts of Soapy as a youth and young man, and were used extensively in telling the story of Soapy in the early days.

* Special thanks to my publisher, Alaskan historian, and longtime friend, Art Petersen of Klondike Research for his help in deciphering the handwriting of 78 year old Edwin Smith.











Edwin Benson "Bobo" Smith:
 
Jefferson Randolph Smith III
May 04, 2021  










Edwin Benson "Bobo" Smith: pages, 20, 22-30, 32, 35-36, 333, 425, 428, 444-49, 589.
Jefferson Randolph Smith III: pages, 7, 107-08,167, 417-18, 546, 584, 587-89.




"Every crowd has a silver lining"
—P. T. Barnum









August 15, 2021

William Deutsch, Alias "Henry Dutch," Tivoli Club manager, property owner

William Deutsch
Palace Theater's Tivoli gambling den
Denver Republican
June 13, 1882

(Click image to enlarge)





 

 illiam Deutsch

 Alias "Henry Dutch"

 

 

(Much of the information comes from the book Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel)


Tivoli Beer Hall
Managed by William Deutsch

(Click image to enlarge)

     William "Henry Dutch" Deutsch was a Denver business property owner and business manager in the 1880s-90s. His early story is currently unknown, everything known thus far beginning in 1881-82, when he managed Ed "Big Ed" Chase’s Palace Theatre’s saloon and gaming annex, the Tivoli Beer Hall.(1) For ejecting a John Burns from the Theatre in March 1881, Deutsch is arrested for assault and battery.(2) The Denver Republican for June 13, 1882 (see top of post) states that Deutsch left (or is fired) the Beer Hall, opening the Lyceum Vaudeville Theater in South Pueblo, Colorado, while the Rocky Mountain News writes on June 3, 1883 that he is proprietor of the Tivoli Variety Theatre in Pueblo. At the same time the News states that he is the proprietor of the Tivoli Beer Hall in Denver.(3) In 1887-1888 he is listed in the city directory as proprietor of the Alhambra Beer Hall at 1321 Seventeenth Street(4) and as its manager in 1889.(5)


The Deutsch Block
Tivoli Club at far left

(Click image to enlarge)

     Deutsch obtains property in Denver
on Seventeenth and Holladay streets (later named Market) in 1886.(6) He builds the Deutsch Block, where in February 1888 he receives permission to open a saloon at that location. The north corner of that Block houses Soapy Smith's and Ed Chase’s Tivoli Club.
     In city directories for 1890-91 and 1893-95, Deutsch is listed as proprietor of the Tivoli Club,(7) but it is Soapy who controls it. In June 1892 the Rocky Mountain News mentions him as proprietor.(8) The city directory in 1897 lists the Tivoli Sample Room at the same location.(9) Soapy left in 1895-96 so the Tivoli is under Deutsch's control now.


Tivoli Sample Room
"WM. DEUTSCH, PROP."
Courtesy, Geri Murphy collection



A business card lists his name for the “Tivoli Sample Room” located on the “corner 17th and Market streets.”(10) A “sample room” was a step above a saloon in class, some of which served only wines.


Whiskey flask
for William Deutsch
Courtesy of
the Jerry Hazalet collection


Deutsch’s name also appears on a personalized glass whiskey flask, the label reading, “Fine Old Monogram whiskey, Bottled expressly for Wm. Deutsch, Tivoli Seventeenth and Market Street, Denver Colo.”(11)


"Tivoli"
Denver map
1908
Note "TIVOLI" circled in red

(Click image to enlarge)

It is believed that William Deutsch kept Soapy's Tivoli saloon going until at least 1908, according to a Denver map. At some point he opened a hotel in the Deutsch building as well.

SOURCES:
(1) Rocky Mountain News 03/06/1881
(2) Rocky Mountain News 03/12/1881
(3) Rocky Mountain News 03/06/1883.
(4) Denver City Directory 1887 and 1888.
(5) Denver City Directory 1889.
(6)
Rocky Mountain News 8/12/1886
(7) Denver City Directory 1890-1891, 1893-1895.
(8) Rocky Mountain News 06/19/1892.
(9) Denver City Directory 1897.
(10) Tivoli Sample Room business card, Geri Murphy col.
(11) Whiskey bottle, Jerry Hazalet col.











William Deutsch
January 2, 2009
 










William Deutsch: pages 80, 131-32, 248.





"By gaming we lose both our time and treasure - two things most precious to the life of man."
—Owen Felltham










August 13, 2021

Luther Woods: Soapy Smith Gang Member



LUTHER WOODS
Soap gangster
Denver Republican
October 12, 1882

(Click image to enlarge)



 
hat about Luther Woods?
Member of the Soap Gang
 
 
 
 
 

Luther Woods, David Rice and Miner Smoot, proprietors of the gambling rooms over the Collender billiard hall, were arrested for keeping a gambling house, the complaining witness being William Shedd, who claimed to have lost $800 in the house. On their trial before Justice Sopris, yesterday, the defendants were discharged. They then had Shedd arrested for frequenting gambling halls.

      Not a lot is known about Soap Gang member Luther Woods except an incident in 1898 involving a joke that turned sour and made Soapy look bad. This latest newspaper find shows that Woods had an early history in Denver, Colorado, apparently as a proprietor of gaming rooms. I love the account of having the victim arrested, "for frequenting gambling halls." If Woods remained in Denver then it is very possible that Soapy knew him for a longer period than previously known. 
     It was in April 1898 that Soap Gang member Harry Green got on Soapy's bad side when he orchestrated a joke upon a newspaper reporter that involved Luther Woods and other gang members, pretending to be other people. Green pretended to be Soapy himself. The ruse was discovered by Soapy who sent off an angry letter to Green.
     Harry Green again pretended to be Soapy when arrested on May 1, 1898 in Tacoma, Washington. Although not actually Soapy, the newspaper account only added to the growing negative stories about Soapy. It is unknown if the real Soapy ever saw Luther Woods, let alone Harry Green, again.

SOURCE:
Denver Republican, October 12, 1882.













Luther Woods:
June 21, 2020










Luther Woods: page 497.





"Luck never gives; it only lends."
—Swedish Proverb