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| No Good Place for Sharpers. Los Angeles Daily Herald May 4, 1882 |
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as Soapy Smith in Phoenix, Arizona in May 1882?
The Los Angeles Daily Herald, May 4, 1882, reports the following.
At the time I published Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel, Soapy's whereabouts between 1881 and 1882 were uncertain. Since then a lot of new information has surfaced. Family collections contain few personal letters or newspaper clippings to show his activities. To survive, however, is a letter of reference that may explain his whereabouts, and his rapid movement between towns and states. Dated May 12, 1882, from the South Pueblo, Colorado, office of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, it reads,
Could confidence man “Soapy” Smith have been in Phoenix in May 1882? There is no hard provenance yet, but the timing seems open to the possibility.No Good Place for Sharpers.
PHOENIX, A. T., May 3.—Three bunko sharps and top-and-bottom men were arrested here this morning. The officers are after another. The citizens are determined that, if not convicted, they must leave town, or cottonwood trees will bear the same fruit as in 1879.
At the time I published Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel, Soapy's whereabouts between 1881 and 1882 were uncertain. Since then a lot of new information has surfaced. Family collections contain few personal letters or newspaper clippings to show his activities. To survive, however, is a letter of reference that may explain his whereabouts, and his rapid movement between towns and states. Dated May 12, 1882, from the South Pueblo, Colorado, office of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, it reads,
To whom it may concern
The barer Mr. Jeff. R. Smith has been in the employ of this company for the last fourteen months in the capacity of train baggage master. During that time he has served us it has been to the satisfaction of all concerned. He leaves our employ in good standing.
W. H. Bancroff
The letter bears the superintendent’s personal stamp. Two possibilities are that Soapy actually worked for the Denver and Rio Grande and had been on the job, or that the letter is a forgery, perhaps so that Jeff might move about by train, unmolested by railroad security. Either way, what came to be Soapy's life-long focus makes probable that he was swindling train passengers.
In the summer of 1882, Soapy surfaced in Salt Lake City. He purchased a merchant’s license to operate on the sidewalk at South Temple, between East Temple 1st and East streets for the term of three months, starting June 11, 1882. The fee was $2.75. Though the license was good until September, he did not stay the full term. During this period, Soapy seems to have been a “hit and run” nomad, staying in each location long enough to swindle victims, and then leaving before facing prosecution.
Less than two months later he was in Portland, Oregon, where he purchased a vendor license dated August 2, 1882. An edition of Portland’s Daily Standard of the same date exposes the infamous prize package soap sell for the first time.
On January 25, 1883, Soapy acquired a license to “purchase goods” in Gonzales, Texas. Then on May 26, he paid $2.50 for the privilege of selling soap in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Just 4 days later, he bought a license to sell in Washington City, Iowa, some 300 miles away. At some point in 1883 Soapy made his way to Tombstone, Arizona. A small notebook in his handwriting notes money made while there. On December 26, 1883, he paid $4 for a vendor’s license in Phoenix, Arizona. Six days later, on New Year’s Day, he was arrested in San Francisco for operating the “soap racket.” This tells us that Soapy was constantly on the move between towns across the West.
In the summer of 1882, Soapy surfaced in Salt Lake City. He purchased a merchant’s license to operate on the sidewalk at South Temple, between East Temple 1st and East streets for the term of three months, starting June 11, 1882. The fee was $2.75. Though the license was good until September, he did not stay the full term. During this period, Soapy seems to have been a “hit and run” nomad, staying in each location long enough to swindle victims, and then leaving before facing prosecution.
Less than two months later he was in Portland, Oregon, where he purchased a vendor license dated August 2, 1882. An edition of Portland’s Daily Standard of the same date exposes the infamous prize package soap sell for the first time.
On January 25, 1883, Soapy acquired a license to “purchase goods” in Gonzales, Texas. Then on May 26, he paid $2.50 for the privilege of selling soap in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Just 4 days later, he bought a license to sell in Washington City, Iowa, some 300 miles away. At some point in 1883 Soapy made his way to Tombstone, Arizona. A small notebook in his handwriting notes money made while there. On December 26, 1883, he paid $4 for a vendor’s license in Phoenix, Arizona. Six days later, on New Year’s Day, he was arrested in San Francisco for operating the “soap racket.” This tells us that Soapy was constantly on the move between towns across the West.
Was Soapy in Phoenix, Arizona, in May 1882? It's a possibility. The research continues.
Phoenix, Arizona
Oct 05, 2009
Dec 26, 2015
Dec 22, 2019
Phoenix, Arizona: pages 40-41.
"Card sharping has been reduced to a science. It is no longer a haphazard affair, involving merely primitive manipulations, but it has developed into a profession in which there is as much to learn as in most occupations."
—John Maskelyne, 1894
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