Grand Central Hotel: Denver's bunco bosom.

Grand Central Hotel, Denver
circa 1901
Call number MCC-9
(Courtesy of the Denver Library Digital Collection)

January 26, 2015

he Grand Central hotel in Denver, Colorado resided on the north-east corner of Seventeenth and Blake Streets, 1/2 block from Union Station, which made it one of the prime hotels utilized in a great many escapades by Soapy Smith and his Soap Gang of bunco sharps between the years 1879 to 1895, largely due to it's location, between the train station and Soapy's saloon and gambling house, the Tivoli Club. It's history of criminal association with the infamous gang of swindlers is still largely unknown. There are only a few key instances and examples, possibly due to graft, the payoff Soapy handsomely paid the hotel for its selective and occasional use.

The earliest account of Soapy performing the infamous prize package soap sell occurred in Denver in 1879. George T. Buffum was the witness, and he recorded what he saw in a 1906 collection of sketches of his frontier experiences.

I first saw him in the spring of 1879. Standing in front of the old Grand Central Hotel one day, I saw approaching me a man driving a bay horse hitched to a light buggy. He stopped by my side and lifted a box from the bottom of the buggy seat, and I noticed that it contained several cakes of soap. Looking at me squarely in the face, he said, “Will you allow me to present you with fifty dollars?” I declined with thanks, though such benevolence might have received more consideration had I been more familiar with his game.

— Alias Soapy Smith, p. 37.

The Grand Central Hotel
(Building on the right)
Courtesy Denver Library Digital Collection

The hotel was the probably the perfect residence for numerous members of the soap gang, although at this time only Ned "Banjo" (and "Professor") Parker is known to have been listed as living there in 1877 (Rocky Mountain News 08/23/1877).

William Relue, one victim of Soapy, sent him the following note:

Jan. 15th, 1887

Sir, if you will call at the Grand Central hotel, Room 7 and return to me that money you took from me on the 11th on the corner of Blake and 17th streets all will be well. If not I will see what can be done with you. If you comply with this [request] call between 2 and 3 p.m. this afternoon. Yours respectfully,

Wm. Relue

— Jefferson R. “Little Randy” Smith col.

The bottom floor of the Grand Central Hotel held street front businesses. Soapy opened a cigar store at 1531 Seventeenth Street, placing his young brother in charge and calling it the Bascomb Smith and Company Cigar Store. The whole setup was just a front for swindles, for travelers just getting off the trains. In the back of the store there was small room with a poker table, always waiting for the next victim of the "big hand" con, an illusionary innocent game of poker that never saw the dupe win. Bascomb listed the business address as his residence for a time. 

The Smith cigar store was located next to the saloon complex of George B. Fisher at 1535, 1537, and 1539 Seventeenth. A letter from Fisher to Soapy dated 1896 shows that the men were personal friends and that Fisher was well-acquainted with members of the Soap Gang. It is most probable, therefore, that victims were often brought to the Fisher saloon complex as prelude or finale to a swindle. All this information adds to the theory that the Grand Central Hotel was at one time a key instrument of the Soapy Smith criminal empire. I will report new findings as they turn up.

Grand Central Hotel: pages 34, 37, 88, 114.

There is not a man on the Denver police force who did not breath a sigh of relief when he read that “Soapy” was dead. It was bound to come, and all realized that, but the question bothering the police officials was how long “Soapy” was to go about killing other men.

— Rocky Mountain News
Alias Soapy Smith, p. 584.

DECEMBER 18

1787: New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1796: The Monitor of Baltimore, Maryland is published as the first Sunday newspaper.

1856: Lieutenant James Witherell of Company C, 2nd Cavalry, and two officers from the 8th Infantry, battle with a party of Apache Indians while scouting by the Rio Grande from Ft. Clark, Texas.

1862: The first orthopedic hospital, the Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled, is organized in New York City.

1865: Slavery is abolished in the United States with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

1894: Soapy Smith and John Bowers are arrested in Denver on complaint from Thomas Moody. Soapy pays a $300 bond to get them out of jail.

1898: A new automobile speed record is set at 39 mph.

1899: President McKinley commutes the sentence of Soap Gang member “Slim Jim” Foster in the robbery of John D. Stewart in Skagway, Alaska, after one year due to his having contracted consumption.

1903: The Panama Canal Zone is acquired 'in perpetuity' by the U.S. for an annual rent.

1912: The discovery of the Piltdown man in East Sussex is announced. It will be proved a hoax in 1953. Bad man Soapy Smith had a petrified man found in 1892. It was not proven to be a hoax until 2012, when it was determined that the corpse was intentionally mummified. 

Soapy Smith and the Brackett Wagon Road, Skagway, Alaska, 1898

"The Light of Other Days"
A gang of thimble riggers working a dupe
"Thimble rigging" is the shell and pea game, with thimbles
(Credit: friend Tom Frank)

(Click image to enlarge)

uthor Cathy Spude shared a gem from her husband's files.

Cathy writes,

Reading a little farther, I found another article that named Soapy. It is date-lined September 3, and published September 14 [1897]. It is also in the New York World, probably written by Scovel. He worked with a committee of Skagway citizens who were trying to improve the Skagway Trail before Brackett obtained the rights and took over the improvements and construction. This article lists the names of all the businesses and individuals who donated the $1,173 they had raised to date to pay workers on the trail. I list the donors below, alphabetized:

Businesses
Alaska Southern Wharf Company
Battery and Parks
Blockett and White
Dalby and Grant
Fleming and Hornsby
Jackson and Hotchkiss
Klondike Saloon
Klondike Trading Company
The Lighter Company
Manley and Hill
McClellan, A. D. and Co.
Miller and Brogan
Presnall and Sawyer
Richit and Miller
Schmidt, C. and Co.
Sherry and Co.
Skaguay Wharf Company
Troy Laundry
Yukon Bakery

Individuals
Bakers, Jack
Bauer, H. A.
Bennett, C. M.
Brault, T. E.
Brooks, William
Burkhardt, Joseph
Cameron, H. J.
Carcarred, J. J.
Church, Mrs. Anna
Clayson, F. H.
Coselett, J. J.
Davis, William
Dawey, C. E.
Day, J. S.
Deneret, Harry
Dennison, C. H.
Dowling, John
Dunham, F. W.
Edison, John
Forrest, Frank
Graham, James
Henderson, A.
Higgins, Harry
Hoefer, H. R.
Johnson, T. K.
Kelly, Charles
Kirby, John
Klinkowstein, M.
Knight, G. A.
Kossuth, Mrs.
Laure, G. W.
Lengfader, Charles
Littlefield, Dr.
Long, C. B.
Lynch, L. S.
Martin, E. B.
McKenzie, John
McNulty, Ed
Morris, E. W.
Murphy, J. F.
Nugget Saloon
Palmer, James
Pinkham, R. A.
Rays, Charles
Reid, F. W.
Rice, George L.
Runnals, Dr. H. B.
Sedley, H.
Smith, Jeff
Smith, W. B.
Stanley, John
Wadleigh, F. H.
Walker, D. W.
Wise, F. A.

Both Bob and I apologize for not having the page number for this article. He says he was in a time crunch when he was reading these, like decades ago, and was looking for different material. He was good enough to get dates, and has all of the New York World articles in one folder, but not always page numbers. Few publishers require page numbers in their citations these days. ...

Cathy

Thank you Cathy Spude.
 

__________

ALIAS SOAPY SMITH
BOOK SALE

(Click image to enlarge)

Link to purchase
__________

"When I disagree with a rational man, I let reality be our final arbiter; if I am right, he will learn; if I am wrong, I will; one of us will win, but both will profit."

— Ayn Rand

MAY 14

1787: Delegates gather in Philadelphia to begin drawing up the Constitution.

1796: The first smallpox vaccination is given by Edward Jenner.

1804: William Clark sets off the "Corps of Discovery" expedition from Camp Dubois. A few days later, in St. Louis, Missouri, Meriwether Lewis joins the group.

1853: Gail Borden applies for a patent for condensed milk.

1862: The chronograph is patented by Adolphe Nicole.

1864: Five men are hung in Virginia City, Montana Territory.

1870: It is reported that thirty people are killed by Indians between Kit Carson and Lake Station, Colorado Territory.

1874: Tiburcio Vasquez is wounded by George Beers and surrenders, after his hideout near Los Angeles, California is discovered.

1874: McGill University and Harvard meet at Cambridge, Massachusetts for the first college football game to charge an admission.

1878: The name Vaseline is registered by Robert A. Chesebrough.

1878: Regulators led by Billy the Kid steal 27 horses from a ranch on the Pecos River, near Lincoln, New Mexico Territory.

1897: "The Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Phillip Sousa is performed in public for the first time at a ceremony unveiling a statue of George Washington.

1897: Guglielmo Marconi makes the first communication by wireless telegraph.

1898: Bad man Soapy Smith opens a saloon named Jeff Smith’s Parlor in Skagway, Alaska.

Was Soapy Smith better known that Wyatt Earp? Cathy Spude's concern.

The "good-old-days"

athy Spude's endeavor to prove Soapy Smith was nothing more than a small time crook continues. A few days ago she created a new page on her website with the focus of disproving an old post of mine. Her page is entitled, Soapy graphs: Soapy Smith and Wyatt Earp: Who was Better Known? and revolves around a discovery I made back on October 3, 2010 under the title, Was Soapy Smith more well known than Wyatt Earp?



I acquired the idea of using the Google newspaper archives as a simple comparison tool from a friend who used it on a Tombstone forum to show all the newspaper articles pertaining to Wyatt Earp between the years 1880-1970. I have always heard that Wyatt Earp was not real well known when he was alive, and that his fame came much later. Because of that I invariably wondered if Soapy might have been more well known than Wyatt, while the two men were alive (1860-1898). When I saw the comparison graph on the Tombstone forum I thought it would be interesting to show a comparison between the two men using the articles in the same Google newspaper archives. This was never meant to be a precision study as no online data base contains every newspaper ever published, let alone all the issues of the titles they do have, plus, these online data bases consistently add to their collections, so for this reason I did not bother to show the X and Y axis comparisons. This comparison was just a simple case study. Because of this I did not bother to publish every newspaper title, of which there were many, all across the United States, which included Arizona, where Wyatt Earp was most famous, and Colorado, where Soapy Smith was famous, along with most of the other states, but did not include Alaska, where the figures for Soapy would have dramatically increased. Per a request I performed separate comparisons for New York and Los Angeles.

This does not sit well with Cathy, who writes,

If you take a look at his bar graphs, prepared by Google News Archives, you will see that there are no scales, and no idea of what database of newspapers the articles come from. In other words, we don't know if the Wyatt Earp scale is the same as the Soapy Smith scale, and we don't know if Google News's 1880's newspapers were mostly large cities only (including Denver) and didn't include the smaller towns such as Tombstone, Dodge City and the cow towns where the Earp name would have been more familiar.

Checking up with Google News today, almost two years after this posting was made, it is impossible to determine how Smith came up with his data. The graphing feature he cites doesn't exist and Google News does not talk about its database of newspapers.

Again, it was just a comparison of what Google had available, which was quite a lot. At the time I did not wish to write down every single newspaper title as there were just too many. It never dawned on me that anyone would question the graphs because they were easy to do and figured anyone could do their own study in short order, plus the fact that I knew that new titles would be added as time went on.

Cathy did decide to perform her own comparison and writes,

What I CAN do is provide the kind of data that I found missing on Smith's graphs. GenealogyBank.com is a database of over 6,100 historic newspapers that can be searched on-line for a very reasonable yearly subscription fee. They have made an effort to cover every state for all time periods for both large and small population towns.

Cathy is mistaken when she writes, "they have made an effort to cover every state for all time periods for both large and small population towns." I enjoy reading old newspapers looking for clues to fill in the gaps as to where Soapy traveled. I have thoroughly checked out GenealogyBank.com's list of newspaper titles and I can vouch that some key cities and newspaper titles are missing from their data base. There are enough missing to warrant my not using their service. Even so, if you take a look at her graph, you can see that in the 1880s and 90s Wyatt and Soapy are close together, not a "landslide" as Cathy reports.

On January 23, 2012 I performed another comparison, this time using Gale Primary Source Media and Archival Solutions, the largest data base of digital newspapers in the United States. I used the same method as I did in 2010, between the dates 01/01/1860 - 12/31/1899. Once again Soapy beat out Wyatt, by 210% Wyatt's score is 164 while Soapy won with 345.Although the largest data base it is far from complete so again this is just a simple comparison. Apparently Cathy did not see this comparison study as she does not allude to it on her website. She does, however, try to disprove my graphs with another comparison graph of her own, between Soapy and J. M. Tanner. Cathy writes,

Now, to show you why its all a function of what newspaper base you're looking at and how you ask the question, the graph below shows you the number of newspaper articles about Soapy Smith and J. M. Tanner in Alaskan newspapers in the three decades that Si Tanner lived in Alaska. If Jeff Smith's reasoning is correct, the number of newspaper articles written about a man shows how well known he was known in the place he lived. As you can see, Si Tanner was much better known than Soapy Smith.

The main flaw in her reasoning is that she starts her graph in 1900, AFTER Soapy was deceased and at the RISE of Tanner's career as a lawman and politician in Skagway. Naturally, Tanner would have been mentioned in the newspaper a lot more than Soapy, because Soapy was dead. What would have been interesting is for her to include the years 1897-1898 in her comparison, when Tanner was a complete unknown.

"Saluting the memory of Soapy Smith, forever inseparable and significant to the Old West history of the Mile-High City."

―Robert Bandhauer

AUGUST 23

1838: The first class graduates from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts, one of the first colleges for women.

1842: Explorer John C. Fremont carves his name in Independence Rock, Wyoming.

1858: "Ten Nights in a Barroom," a melodrama about the evils of drinking, opens in New York City at the National Theater.

1868: Three members of the 31st Infantry are killed by Indians near Fort Totten, Dakota Territory.

1868: Eight settlers are killed by Indians between Pond Creek, Kansas and Lake Station, Colorado Territory.

1873: Outlaw Tiburcio Vasquez is involved in the “Tres Pinos Massacre.” He is believed to have killed 42 men. On March 19th 1875 Vasquez is hanged for the murders committed during the “Tres Pinos Massacre” at San Jose. California

1877: John Wesley Hardin is arrested by Texas Ranger John B. Armstrong on a train for the murder of Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb in 1874. Armstrong killed Jim Mann and pistol-whipped Hardin until he was unconscious.

1882: Two murders are lynched from a tree in Globe, Arizona Territory.

1892: The printed streetcar transfer is patented by John H. Stedman.

1945: Lawman Elfego Baca dies at age 80 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Soapy Smith ranks 6th place.

amily member and Friends of Bad Man Soapy Smith member, Christina Kelley "Tina" Marshall sent me the following "Top Ten" video on CON MEN. Soapy Smith is #6 in the ranking. His story starts at 01:08 on the timer. The two sources mentioned for the bit on Soapy are the books, Scams by T. Ogunjobi and Which End of a Buffalo Gets Up First? by G. Hubbard. I found no information when I Googled the first book. I have heard of the second book but have not read it. I am guessing it is just the usual general information. It's good to see people are noticing Soapy as an important figure of history. Enjoy the video.

JUNE 30

1841: The Erie Railroad rolls out its first passenger train.
1859: Charles Blondin becomes the first person to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
1863: George A. Custer, age 23, is made brigadier general of Union Army volunteers.
1864: On the western slopes of the California Sierra Nevadas Yosemite, Valley Park becomes the first state park in the US. It is named after the Yosemite Indians.
1867: The 18th Infantry and Indians fight near Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming.
1882: Edward Fulsom, a hardened criminal who fled to the Indian Territory to escape justice in February 1881, is hanged in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for the murder of William Massingill, whom he beat to death with his pistol butt during a saloon brawl. Dropping from the gallows did not snap Fulsom's neck and the outlaw's pulse continued for sixty-three minutes before the doctors pronounced him dead.
1891: The first passenger train ascends the summit at Pikes Peak Mountain, Colorado. In 1806 it was thought that no one would ever succeed in climbing the mountain.
1893: Texas Ranger Captain Frank Jones is killed by Mexican cattle thieves, Jesus Olguin and his son, Severio, when he attempted to arrest them. The Olguins were never prosecuted because the incident occurred on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande.
1895: Three armed men escape from the Oklahoma County Jail in Oklahoma City. The men are Bob and Bill Christian, held for the murder of a Pottawatomie County deputy Sheriff, and Jim Casey, held for the murder of a Canadian County deputy sheriff. Chief of Police John Jones and Officer G. Jackson confront the escapees at Grand and Broadway and a gunfight ensues, in which Chief Jones and Jim Casey are killed. The Christian brothers escape.
1908: An explosion in Siberia, knocks down trees in a 40-mile radius and struck some people unconscious near the 40 mile mark. It was believed by some scientists to be caused by a falling fragment from a meteorite.

How did I miss this one?

eriously, how did I miss this? A film about Soapy Smith was scheduled to be released on February 26, 2010 and I knew zilch about it!

While surfing the net I happened across a page on CrimeTV.com about Soapy that someone had copied and pasted the information from Wikipedia, a common practice so it seems. At the top of the page are some page tabs, with one reading, "Contributors." On that page in the lower right side is an info box with the following text.

Distributed by -- Overture Films
Release date(s) -- February 26, 2010
Running time -- 101 Minutes
Country -- United States
Language -- English
Budget -- $20 million
Gross Revenue -- $53,771,250

My first course of action was to look up Overture Films, which I found to be no longer in business, my first clue as to why the film has not been released, if it was ever made. I have yet to locate any other info on the supposed film. According to the Los Angeles Times (July 23, 2010) John Malone's Liberty Media closed down Overture Films when attempts to sell the company showed a lack of profit. Marketing and distribution operations for Overture Films was handed over to Relativity Media. I have contacted everybody I felt might have been involved with the project and thus far have heard nothing back, stay tuned ...

JUNE 10

1776: The Continental Congress appoints a committee to write a Declaration of Independence. 

1801: The North African State of Tripoli declares war on the U.S. The dispute is over merchant vessels being able to travel safely through the Mediterranean.

1806: The New York Commercial Advertiser becomes the first U.S. newspaper to cover the sport of harness racing. 

1854: The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, holds its first graduation. 

1856: Frank Jackson, a Sam Bass Gang member, is born in Llano County, Texas. 

1857: First Lieutenant George Crook is wounded by an arrow as he leads the 4th Infantry against Indians in Pitt River Canyon, California. 

1858: The Army takes control of Fort Bridger, Wyoming Territory. 

1859: The Comstock Load is discovered in Utah Territory (Nevada). Over $300 million in silver and gold is taken out of the ground over the next 20 years. 

1865: John Keene is the first person hanged on the "hanging tree" in Helena, Montana Territory. 

1877: John Good, a Texas cattle rancher is accused of being a horse thief by a man named Robinson, and when Robinson's revolver gets tangled in his clothing John Good shoots and kills Robinson with four shots. 1881: The James-Younger gang robs the Davis and Sexton Bank in Riverton, Iowa, of $5,000. 

1885: Salina, Kansas celebrates the arrival of the Missouri-Pacific Railroad. 

1898: U.S. Marines land in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.

A wrong corrected: revisited

The End of Soapy Smith
by Andy Thomas

(Click image to enlarge)

 can still remember how upset I was when a good magician friend of mine told me about the book, Alexander Conlin: The Man Who Knows by David Charvet in late 2004. Mr. Charvet used the contents of a letter I wrote to make it appear that I agreed with a silly invented story that Conlin was actually the man who shot and killed Soapy Smith. Although I fully proved Charvet's "mistake" in using my words out of context he refused to make the necessary changes in his 2007 "revised" edition.

Why am I bringing this up now after all these years? Once something stupid gets printed, it's there to haunt you forever. Although on May 24, 2008 (Magic Cafe forum) David Charvet admitted he was wrong after publishing his "revised" edition the damage was done. I knew that one day his concoction would pop up again to remind me of the hassles I had the first time around.

Recently, mentalist Wayne Hoffman posted a video on Youtube of his trip to Skagway, Alaska, looking for the grave of Soapy Smith. The video shows Mr. Hoffman going through Skagway searching for Soapy's grave. While I very much appreciate his enthusiasm for Soapy's history, it is the inclusion of David Charvet's invented notion that Conlin was the man who shot Soapy. Below is the video for your enjoyment.

There is nothing to the theory that Conlin killed Soapy. Conlin never said he did, nor did anyone else. In fact, except for his word, there is no tangible evidence that Conlin ever went to Skagway, Alaska where Soapy was killed.

In 2004 I created my first website on Soapy. When Mr. Charvet's book was released I made a page entitled A Wrong Corrected in which I told the true story of the letter Charvet used out of context, as well as the story of my conversations with John Pomery, now deceased, the man who actually did the research work for Charvet's book. Here is that story...

In the early 1990s I was contacted by John Pomeroy for information about Soapy for a book he was writing on Claude Alexander Conlin, a well-know mentalist of the early twentieth century.

John and I discussed his theory that Claude Alexander Conlin, known as Alexander Conlin, had been a member of the Soap Gang in Skagway, Alaska. The only evidence is the few remarks made by Conlin himself. Mr. Pomeroy contacted me with the idea that one of the men standing by Soapy in two photographs might possibly be that of Conlin. One day I received a phone call from an excited John Pomeroy, in which he claimed he had paid for some expensive computer photograph comparison work between the known photographs of Alexander Conlin, and that of the man standing next to Soapy inside and outside of Jeff Smith's Parlor. He informed me that everything matched up, proving that the man was indeed Conlin. I had no knowledge of any such process but in the time I knew him he seemed honest enough so I believed him. After that phone conversation I wrote a letter of congratulations on my Soapy stationary and sent it off to him. In all the time I knew Mr. Pomeroy, not once did he ever mention any theory that Conlin may have been the man who shot and killed Soapy.

Because of Mr. Pomeroy's "computer comparison proof" I passed on the story that one of the men in two photographs of Soapy was positively identified as Conlin. That information made its way into my public presentations, interviews and a few published articles for several years before I learned the truth. The truth is that there was no scientific computer comparison of the photographs, at least none surfaced in Charvet's book.

In 2004, I learned that David Charvet used that congratulatory letter I wrote to John Pomeroy (see above) in the footnotes of his book, Alexander Conlin: The Man Who Knows, to make it appear that I agreed that Conlin had shot and killed Soapy. Being that Mr. Pomeroy never mentioned any such theory to me I can only conclude that the story is the invention of David Charvet, to improve sales of the book.

The Smith family has known for years who killed Soapy, well before I started speaking with John Pomeroy and well before Charvet's book was published. Our findings that Jesse Murphy was the man who fired the fatal bullet first appeared in print in 1998 in the Skagway News. I can't recall precisely what I had said at the time but I'm pretty certain I told Mr. Pomeroy as well, yet he still did not mention any theory on his part that Conlin had shot and killed Soapy, which is something I know I would remember hearing.

I could not idly stand by while David Charvet passed off falsehoods as fact, especially when my name is involved as a reference to give credence to a ridiculous theory. Between 2004 and 2008 I combated the falsehood and made sure Mr. Charvet knew the facts. In 2007 he knowingly republished the false information using the excuse that my own letter was his proof. The actual reason for the letter was of no importance to him. Only after publication of his "revised" edition would he admit that he was wrong.  Yes, it appears that he got away with publishing his invented story, but what did it cost him in the long run? 

When a historian intentionally falsifies the facts in a published work, it can come back to haunt them. One deliberate false fact will automatically have a reader question and suspect the book's remaining "facts," not just for the one book, but for every book in the author's name, past, present, and future. It can ruin a reputation.

Following are a couple of comments made by others regarding David Charvet's claim and his book

• That Frank Reid may not have been the only person to shoot Soapy is accepted by quite a few folks today, but to imply that Conlin had something to do with Soapy's death is simply a fabrication and a fairy tale. It certainly doesn't give the reader much confidence in the myriad other 'facts' presented in the book. -"Silverking" (from the Magic Cafe forum)

• Generally, I suppose there are at least three types: sentimental pap (which I find stomach turning), unfounded speculative filler (much different from reasonable and logical editorial attempts at interpretation), and false filler. The last for me is not just a supreme disservice but a crime against history. -Art Petersen, publisher, historian (6/20/2007)

David Charvet
February 10, 2010

Alexander Conlin: pages 9, 80.

MAY 1

1674: Horse racing is prohibited in Massachusetts. 

1784: Marie Thible is the first woman to fly in a hot-air balloon. The flight was 45 minutes long and reached a height of 8,500 feet. 

1805: Tripoli is forced to conclude peace with the U.S. after conflicts over tribute. 

1812: The Louisiana Territory has its name changed to the Missouri Territory. 

1816: The Washington was launched in Wheeling, WV. It is the first stately, double-decker steamboat. 

1868: Cheyenne Indians attack Kansa Indians in Kansas. 

1870: “Wild Bill” Hickok is sworn in as marshal in Abilene, Kansas. 

1898: The Seattle Times publishes Mattie Silks accusation of her planned murder by Soapy and Deputy US Marshal Sylvester Taylor. 

1892: The Sierra Club is incorporated in San Francisco, California. 

1896: Henry Ford makes a successful test drive of his new car (a quadricycle) in Detroit, MI.

War of 1812: 200th anniversary

id you know it is the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812? Yeah, I didn't know either. What do we know about this war? Ok, I don't know that answer either, but I do know that Soapy Smith's grandfather, Dr. Ira Ellis Smith fought in that war so I found this short video which will explain the importance of this anniversary...sort of.

Ira Ellis Smith
August 18, 2011
August 16, 2011
June 26, 2010
September 10, 2009

Ira Ellis Smith: pages 9, 11, 19-20, 594.

MAY 16

1866: The U.S. Congress authorizes the first 5-cent piece to be minted. 

1868: President Andrew Johnson is acquitted by one vote during a Senate impeachment. 

1870: Ten workers on the Kansas Pacific Railroad are killed by Indians in Colorado Territory. 

1888: The first demonstration of recording on a flat disc is demonstrated by Emile Berliner. 

1888: The capitol of Texas is dedicated in Austin. 

1900: Lawman Jesse Tyler leads a posse after cattle rustlers near Thompson, Utah. Believing that they were riding into an Indian camp, Tyler and deputy Sam Jenkins dismount and approach the camp, but the occupants turn out to be a band of rustlers led by Harvey Logan of the Wild Bunch. The lawmen realizing the mistake try to escape but both are shot and killed by Logan. The rest of the posse flees the scene, returning for the bodies of Tyler and Jenkins 2 days later.

Soapy Smith and the Johnstown Flood of 1889.

The Great Conemaugh Valley Disaster
Flood and Fire at Johnstown, Pa.
(subtitled) Hundreds Roasted Alive at the Railroad Bridge
Published by Kurz and Allison Art Publishers, 1890

(Click image to enlarge)

he Johnstown Flood of 1889 has been the subject of many books, films, songs, a national park, a museum, and even made into an episode of a 1947 Mighty Mouse cartoon, the difference being one with a happy ending. The real event did not have a cartoon ending. At the time the flood was responsible for the largest American civilian death toll ever recorded.




The South Fork dam, 14 miles from Johnstown, Pennsylvania fell into disrepair and recent heavy rains filled the reservoir far higher than the engineers who built the dam had ever intended. Warnings were sent by telegraph but they were ignored. On Friday, May 31, 1889 the water began overflowing and then the dam suddenly collapsed, unleashing 20,000,000 tons of water into the Conemaugh River Valley, destroying everything in its path. Before the flood hit East Conemaugh, train engineer John Hess tried to warn the residents by tying his train whistle down and racing to town ahead of the wave but there was not enough time to get to safety for many. When the water reached the town, the wave was cresting nearly 40 feet high. 2,209 people drowned, crushed by debris, or were burned in fires caused by the blockage of debris at the Old Stone Bridge (see picture at top). Johnstown was devastated.

In the aftermath, people around the country rallied to help the survivors and later to rebuild the town. The flood provided the newly formed American Red Cross under the leadership of Clara Barton with its first test. Barton and her staff of 50 doctors and nurses arrived in Johnstown five days after the flood. 1,376 miles away in Denver, Colorado Soapy Smith read about the disaster and jumped to attention to aid those in need. The following comes from my book.

Jeff read newspapers. They gave him political weather reports, listed prospective visitors, revealed opportunities for assisting politicians with their problems, and measured “Soapy Smith’s” level of exposure to public view. At one time Jeff employed a clipping service to gather news articles about him from major newspapers around the state. Two of the last photographs taken of Jeff, one standing at the bar in his saloon in Skaguay and the other on horseback there, show him in possession of what appear to be newspapers. He was also interested in national affairs, including natural crises such as poverty, hunger, and epidemics and in man-made disasters. In these cases, he often responded by opening his pocketbook to make contributions and often encouraged his friends and others to do the same. The disastrous Johnstown, Pennsylvania, flood of May 31, 1889, was one of the worst natural disasters of its kind. After heavy rains, the 1852 dam 14 miles above the river valley town gave way and sent a 20-foot high, debris-filled wall of water roaring down the narrow valley. The catastrophe was of astonishing scale. In moments, Johnstown was completely destroyed, and over 2,000 people were dead, including over 100 entire families and nearly 400 children. The disaster was on the minds of everyone and in their conversations. Jeff and friend John Kinneavy each gave fifty dollars out of their saloon businesses to aid the victims and their families, which in contemporary dollars amounts to $1,479. The Denver Chamber of Commerce appointed a committee to solicit donations, and a list of those donating was published in the News. Of over 200 donations, 18 were for more than $50. In September 1888 Jeff gave $10, or $296 today, to a subscription being taken for yellow fever victims in Jacksonville, Florida, no small amount for victims 1,475 miles away.

Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel

page 133

Sources
Johnstown National Memorial
Johnstown Flood Museum
Wikipedia: Johnstown Flood

Johnstown Flood donation: page 133.

MAY 11

1792: The Columbia River is discovered by Captain Robert Gray. 

1858: Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd U.S. state. 

1872: Passengers on a Kansas Pacific train protest against the senseless killing of buffalo from railroad cars. 1889: Robbers unsuccessfully attempt to steal $28,000 in gold and silver in the Arizona Territory. During the attack two members of the 24th Infantry Regiment took heroic action to fend off the robbers. Sergeant Benjamin Brown and Corporal Isaiah Mays (both black soldiers) received the Congressional Medal of Honor for their bravery. Eight soldiers are wounded and eight of the attackers are arrested. 

1894: Workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company in Illinois go on strike.