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| Soapy Smith's "star" notebook page 2 - original 1882 Courtesy of Geri Murphy |
(Click image to enlarge)
THIS POST UPDATED
August 23, 2023
OAPY SMITH'S "STAR" NOTEBOOK
Part #2 - page 2
This is part 2 - page 2 continuation of deciphering Soapy Smith's "star" notebook in Geri Murphy's collection. A complete introduction to this notebook can be seen on page 1.
The notebook(s) are in Soapy's handwriting, and often times hard to decipher. The goal is to transcribe the pages and receive help from readers on identifying words I am having trouble with. I will include the original copy of the page, an enhanced copy, a copy in negative, and then one with my deciphering, as tools to aid in deciphering the notes. There are 24 pages which means that there may be upwards of 24 individual posts for this notebook. Links to all the pages will be added at the bottom of each post for ease of research. When completed there will be a sourced record of Soapy's activities and whereabouts for portions of 1882-1883.
Unlike page 1 this page has text written on the back of page 1, which is seen when page 1 is turned to page 2. As with page 1, we can see the pencil "staining" sediment from resting on-top of the writings on the bottom page. The deciphering will be separated into two sections ["rear of page #_ (top")] and ["page #_ (bottom)]."
Important to note that the pages of the notebook do not appear to be in chronological order, with Soapy making additional notes on a town and topic several pages later.
Important to note that the pages of the notebook do not appear to be in chronological order, with Soapy making additional notes on a town and topic several pages later.
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| Soapy Smith's "star" notebook page 2 - enhanced 1882 Courtesy of Geri Murphy |
(Click image to enlarge)
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| Soapy Smith's "star" notebook page 2 - negative 1882 Courtesy of Geri Murphy |
(Click image to enlarge)
Here is what I believe to be the correct deciphering of the text. Do you agree, or do you see something else? All comments, suggestions and ideas are welcome! I will update the new information to this post.
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| Soapy Smith's "star" notebook page 2 - deciphered 1882 Courtesy of Geri Murphy |
(Click image to enlarge)
Rear of page 1 (top).
- Line 1: "Tournament"
- Line 2: "Hollister Cal" [California].
- Line 3: "Oct 23 + 24th"
Interpretation: These
are planning notes. Soapy made plans and then later (in this case on
page 5) he wrote the actual dates he was in the location as well as the
amounts he made. He had initially planned to be in Hollister, California, on October 23-24, but he writes on page 5 that he was there October 22-23, "2 days work" and making $235.00. The year, determined on page 5, is 1882. The remainder of markings on this top portion is pencil residue from the bottom portion.
Page 2 (bottom).
- Line 1: "Sherman Circus"
- Line 2: "Moscow 15th" [Idaho Territory]
- Line 3: "Colfax 16th" [Washington Territory]
- Line 4: "Palouse 17" [Washington Terr.]
- Line 5: "Farmington 18" [Washington Terr.]
- Line 6: "Spangle 19" [Washington Terr.]
- Line 7: "Spokane 21st" [Washington Terr.]
- Line 8: "Sprague 23d" [Washington Terr.]
- Line 9: "Dalles 25 + 26th" [Dalles City, Oregon]
- Line 10: "Vancouver 28th" [Washington Terr.]
- Line 11: "Oregon City 29th" [Oregon]
- Line 12: "John Taylor" [Soapy's mentor?]
- Line 13: "216 Wharton St"
- Line 14: "Phila. Pa." [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]
- Interpretation: The month is probably October of 1882. Soapy planned to follow the Sherman Circus spanning through Idaho Territory, Washington Territory and Oregon, but at some point crossed out everything except for "John Taylor" and his address. This is most likely Soapy's mentor talked about in my book, Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel. These are planning notes. Did he go? There are no other mentions of these plans elsewhere in the notebook.
All I could find online about the "Sherman Circus" was the newspaper ad below, and a mention that “Educated horses were a highlight of the Sherman Circus, which appeared in San Diego, California in 1881 and 1883."
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| Great Sherman Circus The Oregonian September 12, 1882 |
April 24, 2017
Part #1
Part #3
Part #4
Part #5
Part #6
Part #7
Part #8
Part #9
Part #10
Part #11 (not published yet)
Part #12 (not published yet)
Part #13 (not published yet)
Part #14 (not published yet)
Part #15 (not published yet)
Part #16 (not published yet)
Old card players never die, they just shuffle away.~Author Unknown
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