Soapy Smith's roulette table up for auction.

Soapy Smith's roulette table
Courtesy of Potter and Potter Auctions

(Click image to enlarge)

 

OAPY SMITH'S ROULETTE TABLE UP FOR AUCTION!

Potter and Potter Auctions the Ricky Jay Collection.

 

Auction Description: Lot 318

SMITH, “Soapy” (Jefferson Randolph Smith, 1860 – 98). “Soapy” Smith’s Roulette Table and Wheel. Denver: George Mason and Co., ca. 1890. Handsome full-size roulette layout, table, and wheel manufactured by the noted gambling supply house and owned and used by notorious con man “Soapy” Smith. 95 ½ x 40 x 31”, outer wheel diameter (cradle) 31 ½”. Hub bears the manufacturer’s name. Wheel spins freely. Sold with a Mason and Co. check rack (stencil-marked by the maker underneath), and a later set of chips, likely manufactured by H.C. Evans of Chicago. Layout rubbed and worn, but in good condition overall; finish of table and legs also worn, but overall, a sturdy and impressive relic not only of the American west, but one of its most notorious figures, and among the most prominent makers of gambling equipment of the era. Accompanied by a letter of provenance from Smith’s descendant to Ricky Jay attesting to the provenance of the wheel and table, the family’s ownership of same, as well as a catalog from the sale of the Pullen Alaska Museum collection by Greenfield Galleries of Seattle, featuring the roulette wheel on its cover. One of the more notorious denizens of Skagway, Alaska, Smith’s reputation was as a con man, gambler, and criminal of considerable renown. After his family fortune was lost in the aftermath of the Civil War, Smith prospered by becoming a criminal kingpin in Texas, operating rigged games of Three Card Monte, poker, and the venerable Three Shell Game. Later, he lived and conned in Colorado for years, in both Creede (a mining boom town), and Denver. It was in the latter city where this wheel was manufactured by the famous firm of Mason and Co., one of the best-known gaming supply houses of the era. The sobriquet of “Soapy” was conferred on Smith thanks to a sleight-of-hand swindle devised to sell bars of soap. Smith demonstrated to a crowd how valuable cash prizes were hidden in the paper wrappers of a select number of bars, and when some customers ripped open the paper packaging to discover the hidden loot, business boomed. But these winners were “Soapy’s” accomplices – the laymen in the crowd never stood a chance of finding hidden greenbacks. A simple dexterous dodge made certain the bars of soap with the extra bills went straight to those in cahoots with the con man. Smith died in a gunfight in Juneau, Alaska on July 8, 1898. A dispute over a game of Three Card Monte led to the shootout that cost him his life.

Minimum Bid: $5,000
Estimate: $10,000 - $20,000
Number of Bids: 0
Time Left: [As of this post (01/12/2023) there are 43 days left]

  

Soapy Smith's roulette table
Courtesy of Potter and Potter Auctions

(Click image to enlarge)

     The roulette table belonged to my great-grandfather Jefferson Randolph Smith II, alias "Soapy" Smith. It is very possible that he used the table in one or more of his gambling houses in Denver and Creede, Colorado, etc., each location mentioning "roulette" being offered. He knew the George Mason Company of Denver well, as their store was only about two blocks from Soapy's Tivoli Club saloon and gaming house.  

     In 1897-98, during the Klondike gold rush Soapy shipped the table to Skagway, Alaska. As shipping to the new camp was at a premium, it is believed that the equipment, wheel, layout, etc., minus the table and legs, were shipped at a cost of $1,000 (according to Harriet Pullen). The table and legs are believed to have been made in Skagway, but it is equally possible that the entire setup was shipped. Either way, the items were likely crated because if
the ship company saw illegal gambling equipment, the charge might have been
even more. An enormous price, but Soapy knew he would make his money back very quickly.

     After Soapy's death and the gold rush subsided, the table eventually made it's way to the Pullen House hotel operated by gold rush pioneer Harriet Pullen, who claimed to have known Soapy. The roulette table and other Skagway artifacts were placed in her hotel as a private museum of the Days of '98. The museum and hotel remained open until Pullen's death in 1947.

Soapy Smith's roulette table
Harriet Pullen age 80
standing with Soapy's roulette table
Pullen House, Skagway.
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)

Soapy Smith's roulette table
Harriet Pullen spins Soapy
Smith's roulette table
Pullen House, Skagway.
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)

     In 1959 Harriet Pullen's granddaughter Mary Kopanski moved the Pullen museum to the Food Circus Balcony at the Seattle Center in Seattle, Washington. In the 1970s the Seattle Center announced that they were tearing down the building and thus evicting the museum. Mary Kopanski decided to sell the collection at auction in 1975.

 

 

Pullen House Museum advertisement roulette table
Soapy's roulette table is mentioned
Pullen House, Skagway.
Jeff Smith collection

 

(Click image to enlarge)

 

      In 1973 My father, mother and I went to the Pullen collection auction in Seattle, Washington, where my father purchased the roulette table, Soapy's grave marker and other artifacts. Considering Soapy was a confidence man, my father believed that the table might be gaffed (rigged for cheating) and so when it arrived from the auction house he proceeded to carefully take it apart to examine it but no gaffing could be found. It's a square (honest) table. We built a saloon and gambling hall in a back building to display the roulette table and my father's gambling collection. I inherited the roulette table upon my father's passing in 1987.
     In the 2000s I sold the roulette table to magician/actor Ricky Jay, a big fan of Soapy's.

 

Soapy Smith's roulette table - Seattle Center museum 
Magazine article on Pullen Museum
Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington
Jeff Smith collection

 

(Click image to enlarge)

 

 

     Ricky Jay, an absolute master of slight of hand and card tricks passed away in 2018.
          Ideally, I would like to see the table sell for an enormous amount. High enough that the media might notice and report on it. One of my primary goals since the 1980s has been to see Soapy Smith become a very well-known character of the old west. All Soapy needs is a major motion picture or series about his life and death! 

     For more photographs of the roulette table see the "Potter and Potter Auctions" link below.

SOURCES

• Potter and Potter Auctions
•  

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

 

Soapy's roulette table: pages 74, 124-25, 126-27, 419-20, 451, 456, 471, 480. 

"He made fortune after fortune and spent it all in riotous living and in good deeds, for it must be ever said of "Soapy" that no hungry man ever asked aid of him and was refused."

——San Francisco Examiner, February 25, 1898

Soapy Smith's shoulder holster

SOAPY SMITH'S SHOULDER HOLSTER
Jeff Smith Collection

(Click image to enlarge)

oapy Smith's shoulder holster is another artifact that I plan to take to the Wild West History Association Denver roundup in July. The story of this holster and how I came to possess it, is a story in of itself.
      After the Klondike gold rush had passed and Skagway settled down, some of the residents started collecting up some of the early artifacts. Hotel entrepreneur, Harriet Pullen, collected and displayed artifacts in her Pullen House. When there were enough people lodged in the hotel she would give a talk in the hotel parlor amongst some of her treasured artifacts and tell the story of Skagway, Soapy Smith, and the gold rush.

Shoulder holster close-up
Note the nice stamp-work
Jeff Smith Collection

(Click image to enlarge)

      The pictured holster was most likely given to Harriet Pullen. for her gold rush museum, by J. M. Tanner, one of the vigilantes who was on the wharf the night Soapy was shot dead. Tanner became a deputy U.S. marshal, handling Soapy's belongings so it makes sense that he would have this, although he was supposed to have logged it with Soapy's estate for auction. He also donated other artifacts to the Pullen collection which will be discussed at a later date.

Shoulder holster close-up
Note the inked signature (center) "HSP" [Harriet S. Pullen]
Jeff Smith Collection

(Click image to enlarge)

      In 1954 the threat of losing an important historic jewel galvanized the community as residents rallied together to save the endangered Pullen Collection. Harriet Pullen had run her grand hotel until her death in 1947, and in more than 40 years of operation she had collected an enormous treasure trove of gold rush artifacts. Pullen's granddaughter reopened the hotel in 1950 but the collection had already begun to deteriorate. Bruce Black, park naturalist at Glacier Bay National Monument (GLBA), visited the Pullen House and found the hotel in a state of disrepair - he was particularly concerned with the artifact collection. Since the NPS had no official role in the city, all he could do was urge the Territory of Alaska or some other entity to take possession of the collection and care for it properly. His plea and those of many other concerned citizens were unheeded - the Pullen House closed for the last time in 1959 and the collection went to Lynnwood, Washington with its owner. Pullen's treasures were eventually sold piecemeal at auction, and the collection was lost to posterity.

- Legacy of the Gold Rush pages 53-55.

      From 1959 until the early 1970s, the Pullen collection was on display in a building adjacent to a food pavilion. The owners of the property wanted to do some improvements and so evicted the Pullen collection. The owner of the collection at this time was Mary Kopanski, a great-niece of Harriet Pullen. Knowing the importance of the collection to Alaska, she gave the state the first option to purchase it for $200,000. They turned down the offer, which upset a whole lot of people in Alaska. The price was very fair. In fact, Mary made more than the $200,000 she offered to sell it for. In July 1973 a five day auction in Seattle, Washington sold off the collection piece-by-piece.

Shoulder holster
Jeff Smith Collection

(Click image to enlarge)

      My uncle Joseph Jefferson Smith, was the first in my family to learn of the action plans. He contacted his brother, my father, John Randolph ("Randy") Smith about it, and my father, my mother, and I made the trip to Seattle and attended all five days. The adventures I had attending that auction are a story in itself. My father passed on the shoulder holster as he had spent $6,000 already, just for the roulette table and there was the grave marker still awaiting sale. The holster, handcuffs, saps, and a few other Soapy Smith related items went to one high bidder, and that was the last time anyone had seen those items since. Who would guess that these items would once again surface for auction, and that the Smith family would be given a second chance to obtain them? In case the thought may have crossed your mind, yes, these items are the very same items that sold in 1973. The auction house tags and catalog numbers all match up with the ones I have in my collection.   

Shoulder holster
Jeff Smith Collection

(Click image to enlarge)

      I still need donations to cover the costs of my trip to Denver to put this item, and many other items, on display. You can read the story of this planned trip, as well as donate if you choose.

 

At scheduled intervals the Guards would exercise a neat maneuver and fire a volley into the air as Jeff would lift his hat and acknowledge the plaudits of the crowd. It was Soapy’s greatest hour.

— Rev. John Sinclair (Alias Soapy Smith), p. 522

MAY 6

1835: James Bennett begins publishing the New York Herald.

1851: The mechanical refrigerator is patented by Dr. John Gorrie.

1851: Linus Yale patents the clock-type lock.

1856: The Army from Fort Tejon and Fort Miller ride out to protect Keyesville, California from attacks by Yokut Indians.

1859: John Gregory discovers gold (Gregory's Gulch), “the richest square mile on earth,” near the city of Denver, Colorado.

1861: Arkansas is the ninth state to secede from the Union during the Civil War.

1868: The U.S. begins paying annuities to the Crow Indian tribes of Montana Territory.

1877: After defeating General Custer’s 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Indian Chief Crazy Horse surrenders his people to the U.S. at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, whereas, Sioux Chief Sitting Bull leads 1,500 of his followers into Saskatchewan, Canada to ask protection from the Queen.

1882: Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act, which bars Chinese immigrants from the U.S. for 10 years.