Soapy Smith's "STAR" notebook, 1882: Part #13 - page 13

Soapy STAR notebook
Page 13 - Original copy
1882
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

OAPY SMITH'S STAR NOTEBOOK

Part #13 - Page 13

This is page 13, dated 1882, the continuation of deciphering Soapy Smith's "star" notebook from the Geri Murphy's collection. A complete introduction to this notebook can be seen on page 1. Page 13 is a continuation from page 11 and 12, and concluding on page 14.

     The notebook(s) are in Soapy's handwriting, and often times pretty hard to decipher. A large part of this series of posts is to transcribe the pages, one-at-a-time, and receive help from readers on identifying words I am having trouble with, as well as correcting any of my deciphered words. My long time friend, and publisher, Art Petersen, has been a great help in deciphering and adding additional information. 

     I will include the original copy of each page, an enhanced copy of each page, a copy in negative, and a copy with typed out text, as tools to aid in deciphering the notes. There are a total of 24 pages. This means that there may be upwards of 24 individuals posts for this one notebook. Links to the past and future pages (pages 1, 2, 3, etc.) will be added at the bottom of each post for ease of research. When completed there will be a sourced partial record of Soapy's activities and whereabouts for 1882-1883.

     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.

     Rather than plans to go somewhere, this page is an accounting of where Soapy has already gone (Oregon, Washington Territory, California) in 1882. Previous pages contained to do lists, work notes, an itinerary. This page engages in journaling—the recording of past events, perhaps for the purpose of revisiting them, or memorializing them for oneself, like a diary entry. The interesting thing is that, although the writing records the communication of twenty-one-year-old Soapy Smith with himself, the writing also communicates with us about him 142 years later (and potentially far beyond today). 

     Below are my attempts to attempts to make the writing easier to see and decipher.

Soapy STAR notebook
Page 13 - enhanced copy
1882
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

Soapy STAR notebook
Page 13 - negative copy
1882
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

Below is what I believe to be the correct deciphering of the text, dated 1882. 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.

Soapy STAR notebook
Page 13 - deciphered copy
1882
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

Page 13

• Line 1: "McMinnville [Oregon] from"
• Line 2: "there to Independence [Oregon]"
• Line 3: "Corvallis [and] Albany [Oregon]"
• Line 4: "Eugene to Halsey [Oregon]"
• Line 5: "up to Sept 10th"
• Line 6: "Harrisburg [Oregon] Sep 11th"
• Line 7: "Junction City [Oregon] Sep 12th"
• Line 8: "back to Halsey [Oregon], from"
• Line 9: "there to Brownsville [Oregon]"
• Line 10: "Brownsville to Salem [Oregon]"
• Line 11: "Salem [Oregon] til [until] Sep 24th"
• Line 12: "Good fair Salem [Oregon]"
• Line 13: "to Portland Portland [Oregon]"
• Line 14: "to Dayton W.T. [Washington Territory]"
• Line 15: "Waitsburg, Walla [Washington Territory]"
• Line 16: "Walla [Washington Territory] no good."
• Line 17: "for me from"
• Line 18: "Walla Walla to (1882)"
• Line 19: "Spokane Oct 5th [1882]"

The scratched out figures that appear between lines 17-19 seems to be Soapy trying to remember how much he had made up to that point, which is not "Oct 5th of 82" but "by Sept 18th 1882" of line 20. It could be that he scratched out the numbers and that date because he decided that he had remembered incorrectly and gave up trying to compute how much he took in. The scratched out numbers, though, give a sense of how much he was taking in. The figures appear to be 

200.00
200.00
250.00
650.00

According to Tom's Inflation Calculator, $1 in 1882 equals $32.32 in 2024. So the total of $650 in 1882 would be equivalent to about $21,008 today.

• Line 20: "by Sep 18th 1882."
• Line 21: "Cheney [Washington Territory] Oct 6th"
• Line 22: "7 [th] to Dalles [Oregon] [Oct] 8th"
• Line 23: "to Portland, Or. [Oregon]"
• Line 24: "From there 9th to"
• Line 25: "Dalles, Oregon"
• Line 26: "Back to Portland [Oregon]"
• Line 27: "10th and sailed on"
• Line 28: "15 Oct for"
• Line 29: "San Francisco [California]"
• Line 30: "arrived 18th per"
• Line 31: "Steamship Queen"
• Line 32: "of the Pacific"

     Soapy is moving from place to place, never spending very long anywhere, but returning to most of the more profitable towns in a hit-and run method, which was very common for most of the confidence men of the wild west. Now with page 13, it appears reasonable to conclude that the writings from page 11 on were filled out in San Francisco or beyond. He's remembering the trip.

     Soapy arrives in San Francisco on October 18th 1882. An old blog post of mine shows that "Jeff R. Smith" registered into the Brooklyn Hotel on October 29-30, 1882. Soapy went to San Francisco at least four times, staying in the same hotel. Soapy remained in town at the Brooklyn, where on November 2 "Jeff R. Smith, Ft Worth" signed the hotel register and again on November 13. Also signing the register on the 13th was "John Taylor, Denver." Could Soapy have stayed in San Francisco for a time and been joined by John Taylor, his old mentor and partner in crime? Note that this time he lists his residence as "New York," and each time he registers he changes his "resident" city. Likely this is for self-protection purposes ("I'm from Denver, I've never been to San Francisco before.").

     The Steamship Queen of the Pacific is a very interesting story in itself. Construction of the 336-foot, iron hulled, commercial passenger cargo steamer was built in Philadelphia  for The Oregon Railway and Navigation Company and the Pacific Coast Steamship Company in 1882. She had three decks, two masts, and could carry 300 passengers.

Queen of the Pacific
San Francisco Chronicle
October 15, 1882

As Soapy noted, he arrived in San Francisco on October 18, 1882, which matched the mention in the San Francisco Chronicle, October 19, 1882. Interesting to note that the trip from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco took 52 hours (four days, four hours).   

 

52 hours from Portland
San Francisco Chronicle
October 19, 1882

The day following Soapy's arrival in San Francisco the captain of the Queen of the Pacific was arrested.

AN ANGRY CAPTAIN
San Francisco Chronicle
October 20, 1882

Below is the contents of the newspaper story.

AN ANGRY CAPTAIN

His Arrest Caused by a Hotel Runner.

E. Alexander, Captain of the Queen of the Pacific, was arrested yesterday by Officer Eagan on a warrant sworn out by C. M. Barnes on a charge of using vulgar language. It seems from the complaint that Barnes was a passenger on the Queen of the Pacific on he down trip, and that while he was soliciting among the cabin passengers he was attacked by the first mate, who handled him very roughly, tearing his coat nearly off of him, the mate claiming that he had no right to solicit in the cabin, as he had only a third-class ticket. Barnes had the first mate arrested on the arrival of the steamer, and in attempting to go on board of the steamer yesterday the Captain called him a dirty loafer, and told him that if he ever came on board the steamer again he would smash his head. Barnes, the complaining witness, is a runner for the Brooklyn Hotel.

Is it a coincidence that Soapy was staying at the Brooklyn Hotel?

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

THE STEAMSHIP QUEEN

     The steamship name, Queen of the Pacific was shortened to Queen in 1890. The same steamship that carried Soapy Smith and his gang back and forth between Skagway, Alaska and Seattle, Washington during the Klondike gold rush (1896-1898), 15-years after he traveled from Portland to Seattle in 1882.

     The Queen played a key role in the founding of Skagway, Alaska, where Soapy would soon control the criminal underworld. On July 26, 1897, just nine days after the steamship Portland arrived in Seattle with its “Stacks of Yellow Metal,” the Queen anchored in deep water near Mooresville (Skagway, Alaska) and asked Captain Moore, the owner of the land, for permission to unload passengers and supplies. The Queen’s Captain Carroll did not know whether his passengers were entering the United States or Canada as the area was claimed by both countries.

     Soapy Smith's second voyage on the Queen [of the Pacific] was in September 1897. Soapy, Jerry J. Daly and Jack Jolly arrived in Skagway, Alaska just a few weeks after it was founded as a trail-route to the gold fields in the Klondike, Canada. The three men worked swindles on the stampeders with great success. Working 19-days of the 23 that they were there, they made about $30,000 dollars. On the 23rd day they boarded the Queen for Seattle.  

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

STAR NOTEBOOK
April 24, 2017
Part #1
Part #2
Part #3
Part #4
Part #5 
Part #6
Part #7
Part #8
Part #9 
Part #10
Part #11
Part #12
Part #14
Part #15
Part #16

Part #17 
Part #18
Part #19

Part #20
Part #21
Part #22 (not published yet)

Part #23 (not published yet)
Part #24 (not published yet)

"If, after the first twenty minutes, you don't know

who the sucker at the table is, it's you."

—Author Unknown

BUNKO THIEVES of San Francisco in 1876, and their comparison to the Soapy Smith gang.

BUNKO THIEVES.
Evening Post
(San Francisco)
May 6, 1876

(Click image to enlarge)

 

 

 

unko thieves of San Francisco in 1876

and their comparison to the Soapy Smith gang.

Though the article is written well before Soapy’s criminal reign in Denver, it gives a number of comparison clues to how the soap gang in Denver operated. I will add my thoughts and notes within the article. These were not written down rules, but rather common sense in the art of manipulating human nature for the most profit without being arrested.

Evening Post
(San Francisco)
May 6, 1876

BUNKO THIEVES.

The Shrewd Swindlers with Whom San Francisco is Infested.

Their Haunts and Ways of Taking In the Unwary—Some of the More Notable Characters—How Railway Travel is Injured by Their Operations—Fleecing Tourists from Australia.

“Will you walk into my parlor?” said the spider to the fly,
It’s the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to show you when you’re there.”

[Soapy Smith appreciated the poem, "The Spider and the Fly" by Mary Howitt (1829) and it's unintended comparison to the bunko man and the victim. In the mid-1890s he picked up a print of The Web of Arachne by Fernand Le Quesne and is believed to have hung it inside the Tivoli Club in Denver. When he opened his saloon in Skagway, Alaska, he hung the print on the wall and fittingly named the saloon, Jeff Smith's Parlor.]

The Web of Arachne
by Fernand Le Quesne

(Click image to enlarge)

Had the author of the composition from which the above lines are taken chosen to set forth the preliminaries to the invitation, she would, no doubt, have presented an interesting detail of the measures taken by the sagacious spider to insure an acceptance of his invitation by his intended victim. Externally, the appearance of Monsieur Spider was such as to inspire confidence and respect. Natural defects were overcome by artfulness, and the ordinary ungainly appearance improved as much as possible. The natural ugliness of the arachnidan visage was concealed by an open, winning smile. The hairy legs were brushed into glossy smoothness, and though rather thin, seemed the perfection of gentility. The rasping voice of ordinary occasions was softened into one more seductive in tone, and, in short, the tout ensemble of the tempter was as much altered for the better as the necessities of the occasion demanded and the funds at his command, and the furnishing of his toilet-table, would allow. Not only in this direction but in others was his sagacity manifested. (much of next sentenced missing) … crack in the wall, where the potent attraction of a ray of sunshine, or some other equally strong inducement, caused the congregation of an unusual number of flies at that point. His sagacity was further manifested in the selection of one fly in particular to whom he should extend the invitation. It was not offered to flies in general, but to a single individual, and we are led to believe that as the spider, concealed in the darkness of his inner den, looked out upon the passersby, he let one after another pass unheeded, and paid no special attention until he caught sight of one whose particular fatness excited his appetite or whose unsophisticated appearance promised an easy victory. Then

THE TEMPTER SIDLED FORTH.

Clambered gently over the meshes of the net until the outer one was reached, and dangled there in suave composure waiting the coming of his victim, who upon arriving was gracefully saluted with the compliments of the day. The advances being pleasantly received the conversation took a more confidential turn, and soon the fly could not fail to see what a great impression his shapeliness and talents had produced upon his particular friend the spider. No doubt it curiously happened, according to the statement of the spider, that before taking up his present location he had dwelt near the family of his young friend the fly, knew his father and mother well and all the family. All this, however, was but preliminary to the gentle invitation couched in the nicest language and offered in the softest tones. “Will you walk into my parlor?” The fly confiding and flattered, willingly consents, is ceremoniously assisted inside by the spider, who can hardly restrain himself from satisfying at once his appetite, is taken up the dark pathway, beyond the light of day and the reach of his friends and adds one more to the list of the latter’s victims, while he diminishes the number of fools in the world by one. This occurrence is a common one, and takes place more frequently, perhaps, in our city than anywhere else. The spiders are human beings—the term men would flatter them too much—who, having in the great process of evolution descended direct from the tarantula, display all the villainy, treachery and lack of principle characteristic of that animal, with a corresponding amount of knavery and cowardice. Their dens are scattered about the city, hidden from all eyes, save those of the sharper, his victim and the police. The webs, invisible though they are, await the traveler on every corner, though they are most numerous on Montgomery street, on and near the corner of Bush, and from there up to Kearny. Here, also, the spiders may be seen in full force every day, dressed shabbily or fashionably, as suits their purse or the object they have in view. Gamblers, pickpockets, ropers-in, confidence men, monte men and blacklegs of high and low degree, throng the principal thoroughfares with nothing, save in the lower grades, to indicate their trade, and

UNDISTINGUISHABLE FROM MEN OF RESPECTABILITY,

Except by those “fly” enough themselves to know them and their doings. In this “profession,” as in all others, there are different grades of “honor,” according as the work performed is difficult or easy. The burglar who skillfully breaks into your house at night looks down with contempt upon him who merely snatches your watch in a crowd, and quite as contemptuously does the latter, proud of his own skill, look upon the sneak thief who creeps through an opened front door, takes an overcoat and umbrella from the hat-rack and stealthily crawls off to his pawnbroker. The majority, however, prefer swindling to stealing. It is more genteel in the first place, is much less precarious and there are more avenues of escape in case of arrest. The only stock in trade required for the business is a knowledge of human nature, a glib tongue, a thorough lack of principle and a previous acquaintance with some branch of swindling. These qualities make up the sharper, and as they are possessed in a greater or less degree determine his status among his brethren. As the capabilities of the members of the gang vary, so do the means by which their, or rather his, mind as to the method of approach and the way in which to work. It is a matter of often-expressed wonder how the gentlemen who “toil not” managed to keep well dressed and well fed, and yet the swindling business offers as great, if not greater field for individual enterprise than any other. From a “hogging” faro game, bunko and the more aristocratic methods of swindling, down through the intermediate stages of three card monte, the strap game, card and billiard games generally, loaded dice, etc., to the humbler practices of “standing in” with clothing dealers, the ways of turning a dishonest penny are varied and numerous. The sharpers live at the expense of travelers, either from the outside country, from the East or more distant localities, who, unacquainted with the city and its denizens, fall an easy prey. This city, owning to the number of people who are constantly coming and going, the immigrants and travelers from the East and from Australia and China, is

A CHOSEN SPOT

For the fraternity, and the number of them is something startling. Then, in addition, their ranks are receiving constant accession from the hoodlums of the city, the greatest ambition of many of them being to be successful card throwers, or sharpers of some sort. The one department of “bunko” swindling claims the attention of a large number, who working methodically and carefully, are successful to a far greater extent than the few complaints and tales of distress that are told at the Police Office would lead one to imagine.

[The number of known successes is few as they were not published or written down, minus a few examples of profits Soapy noted in his private notebooks and writings as he traveled from town to town in the early days as a nomad bunko man and his operations in Denver and the Tivoli Club. In Denver he was able to pay his gang, his debts, and afford a good life for his wife, Mary and their children, purchased properties, at least one home, and charity to the needy. According to his Mary, at the time of his death Soapy had made near 40 million dollars (stolen).]

The “bunko” men are divided into two distinct gangs, one “going for” the more aristocratic passengers from the East and Australia, and the other for the immigrants and steerage passengers, called “stinkers” in the elegant parlance of the gang. Though well known to each other, the bunko men usually hang together in gangs of three or four, that number being all that is needed to operate at one time. Their loafing places are, as stated before, around the corners of Bush and Montgomery and Bush and Kearney streets. They are also scattered along Kearney, and at the corner of Kearny and Commercial streets there is a saloon which forms their general headquarters.

[Not much different years later within the soap gang organization. Unlike the article, the soap gang in Denver was often divided into numerous groups in numerous locations on and around Seventeenth street, between the Union Depot and Larimer street. There were big mit (fake poker) games, the auction house, the gaming rooms of the Tivoli Club, etc. They also hung together in groups of three or four. When Soapy went to Skagway, Alaska for the very first time in 1897, he went with two other bunko operators, and it was three of the gang that robbed John Stewart in July 1898.]

It is a small, shabby place on the northeast corner, and is kept by a little old man familiarly called “Uncle” by the bunkoists. “Uncle” is a short, fat man with a bald head, who may usually be seen, for all the world like a bloated spider, standing near the door of his “dive.” His head is bald with the exception of a few locks around the sides, his face is red and bloated; his nose so swollen by toddy efflorescence as to have become shapeless and spread over a large part of his face; his eyes are deep-set and small, with a villainous twinkle; a long tobacco-stained gray beard partly conceals a dirty shirt; and altogether he seems fitly named when designated as the elder relative of so promising a family. Around his place and in it may usually be seen a number of sharps and bunko men; those who gather there are as a general thing members of the plebeian division of the gang. This plebeian division is presided over by one "Blewy,” who makes periodic trips out into the country, gets acquainted in various towns, and is therefore prepared, when the harvest season is over, and the “hands” have come to town for a good time, to show them around, exhibit the elephant and the “lively flea” to them, and

TEACH THEM THE WAYS OF THE CITY.

Such tuition, however, is slightly more expensive to those that have money than would be lessons on the best method of swaying a nation from Queen Victoria. One of “Blewy’s” right hand men is a man who may be seen every day around the saloon above mentioned. He is a man about five feet ten inches high, wears a dark gray suit of clothes, a flat black felt hat, such as is usually sported by hoodlums, and has a red, wrinkled face, with sandy mustache and short chin whiskers. His face has a hardened, “tough” look, and his expression invariably causes the observer to wonder when he got out of San Quentin. The aristocratic division is run by “Slim Jim’s Brother,” a brother of the notorious monte man. Chicago Jack. Boston Charley and Tibbetts have already been hauled up before the Police Court on charges of bunko swindling, and Tibbetts is now spending a term in the County Jail. Slim Jim’s brother, “Chicago Jack,” and Harris are about the same hight[sic], five feet eight, or a little below it. They dress on ordinary occasions somewhat alike, in dark suits, usually wearing short sack or frock coats. Harris wears a soft, dark felt hat—has black hair, slightly curling, a black mustache, and an incipient beard on his chin. He dresses to be seen around the corner.

[Likely that the moniker of "Slim-Jim" was pretty common, but then again, it's hard not to imagine that it could be referring to "Slim-Jim" Foster of the Skagway, Alaska, soap gang who assisted in the robbery of miner John Douglas Stewart, that also involved the game of three-card monte.]

These men and their associates are expert cardsharpers, and are up in

ALL KINDS OF SWINDLING.

But their attention has been of late devoted principally to bunko. Whenever an Australian steamer gets in they are on the alert. Around the railroad offices on Montgomery street can be counted any number of them, and their adroitness is a matter of astonishment even to those who know their skill and mode of acting. Two Englishmen run with the gang who are evidently Sydney birds, and these make themselves especially useful. Among the number are men who have traveled in many parts of the world, through the East, in Europe, and in Australia, and are sufficiently conversant with the various cities to make themselves appear to have many acquaintances and to be well known there.

It is the custom for one or more of the gang to go down to the steamer on its arrival, “spot” the newcomers that look most promising either for greenies or money, and note to what hotel they go. A glance at the hotel register afterward tells the place from which they came, and so the sharper is able to inform his confederates of the name of the selected person and where he hails from, together with such other information as might be gained from a confederate on board the steamer or from any other source.

[No need to "glance at the hotel register for the soap gang in Denver as the local newspapers published who was at which hotel, giving their name and where they hail from and sometimes their occupation and why they are in Denver, whether it be business or pleasure. This made obtaining victims from the hotels much easier than those in 1876 San Francisco gangs could.]

That member of the gang who is best acquainted with the place in question then makes it his business to become acquainted with the man and gain his confidence. He may impose upon some acquaintance of his intended victim and obtain an introduction, or he may follow the latter until some very natural way of making his acquaintance presents itself. Nearly every one of the sports has some “gal” in some one of the low concert saloons who introduces him as Mr. Smith, of the London and San Francisco Bank, or Mr. Brown, of the Bank of California, and the greenhorn usually takes it all in and is gratified at forming so aristocratic an acquaintance. Very commonly, however, no circumlocution is used, and the bunko sharp walks up to the man on the street, claiming his acquaintance at once. A gentleman who has seen this done several times says: “It is perfectly astounding how they impose upon a man when they have once settled upon him. They walk up with the most perfect air of gratified surprise, grasp the man’s hand warmly and shake it vigorously. The man is astonished at first, but time after time, after a short conversation I have seen them

WALK OFF ARM IN ARM,

The victim seeming quite [rest of sentence missing]. An invariable accompaniment of the unexpected meeting is an invitation to drink, usually given by the latter, and the two go off to a saloon “kept by a friend of mine” to get the libation that renews the acquaintance. The first meeting usually takes place on Montgomery street, and the drinking saloon selected is a little den on the south side of Sutter, between Montgomery and Sansome near the middle of the block. It is a small, dark place in the rear which is a small board patrician through the door of which a green-baize covered poker-table is visible, and where a small game is usually going on. The two go to this place and get a drink, and the liquor is usually “snuffed” to such an extent that whatever the victim selects for a drink is sure to go to his head and intoxicate him in very short order. Having got him partly or wholly drunk, he is in a fit condition to understand the beauties and mysteries of “bunko.” The sharper confidentially informs him that he has

JUST DRAWN A PRIZE IN A LOTTERY.

And invites him to accompany him to the office and get the money. To the office then they go. These offices are situated in various places, each gang having its own. No one of them remains long in the same building, owing to the precarious nature of the business, but moves, as soon as a good haul has been made, to some other locality. The office is fitted up with ledgers, advertisements of lotteries, and is represented as an agency. A doctored copy of the statutes concerning lotteries, and the rules governing them, lies where it will be likely to seen. The successful candidate receives his prize in bona fide gold coin, and is usually given another ticket which he generously offers to his newly-found friend, or by drawing with it and winning so excites the latter’s cupidity that he is anxious to try his hand, and a “special drawing,” as provided for in the rules, is inaugurated for his benefit. There is really no game at all to it, but it is so explained to the victim that there seems to be

EVERY CHANCE OF WINNING

And none of losing. The cards are drawn from a box and are twenty-six in number, twenty-five being blanks and one entitling him to a prize. When the cards are drawn, the rule is that when a blank comes out the player must “represent” or double-up, or lose what he has already put up. Inspired by the fact that the prize card is sure to come in time, and feeling confident in the game, inasmuch as the man who is conducting it puts up an amount equal to his every time, he keeps on doubling till his funds are exhausted and he cannot come to time, when the “Cashier” coolly sweeps the board and informs the victim that he has lost. A great deal of discretion has to be exercised by the sharpers in picking out men who will not “squeal.” That is, after losing their money, raise a row about it, have the men arrested, and so on. In many cases the bunko sharp is compelled to return a portion of the money to avoid such trouble, and sometimes comes to grief at the hands of the law. In such cases the matter is compromised with the man, his money is returned and he is induced to leave, so that when the case comes up for trial the sharp escapes for lack of prosecution.

[Very little difference in the operations between the San Francisco gangs of 1876 and Soapy Smith's gang in Denver of the 1880s-90s, where there are many examples in which the newspapers report that the victim did not show up to court and the prosecution had no choice but to drop its case. In Denver and later in Skagway, Alaska, this developed into the unconventional procedure of arresting the victim, as well as the con man, in order to make sure they appear in court]

One of the most pernicious modes of gaining the confidence of the travelers, adopted by the sharp, is to represent himself as a railroad agent for some of the Eastern routes. This has really hurt the travel here, the railroad men say, and given

A VERY BAD REPUTATION TO SAN FRANCISCO

Among the foreign traveling public. The Englishmen coming here from Australia are the best game for the sharpers, partly on account of their being usually well supplied with money and partly on account of their ignorance of this city and “its ways that are dark.” Besides this they are not in the habit of squealing, unless they are severely bitten. One of them who came up two steamers ago related his experience. He met a man who was going east on the same train with him, at least that was his statement, and they went around to see the sights together. They wound up, both comfortably “full,” in a saloon on Merchant street, almost in the shadow of the City Hall. Here the Englishman was shown a magnificent gold quartz specimen by his friend, and they and some others raffled for it. Shaking dice for this led on to shaking for money, and, as the Englishman phrased it, “Buggah, the fellahs if they didn’t cozen me out of twenty-five souvrins.”

THE HAULS MADE BY THE SHARPS

Are sometimes very large. Slim Jim’s brother made one haul of £1,400 sterling from one man, £500 of it being sovereigns and the rest £5 notes. The sovereigns he exchanged for United States money in a broker’s office on Montgomery street. The sharps frequently go into the broker’s offices with English gold and notes in smaller amounts. How it happens that they are allowed to carry on their game when from “Nibsy,” the curly-haired “snide jewelry” man, to “Liz,” the bunko apprentice they are all well known to the police is a problem which “no feller can find out. Every day some one is swindled, and the sharpers grow fat while the police smoke good cigars on the street corners. There has been of late among the railroad offices some talk of a vigilance committee to clean the fellows out, as they are all well known, and if no other remedy can be had it certainly would be a good thing for them and for the city.

[Although not confirmed via the newspapers, it is likely that "every day some one is swindled" in Soapy's Denver kingdom as well. It is circumstantial evidence that Soapy worked almost every day, including New Year's Day, etc. In Denver there was little to fear of vigilantes, but it was vigilantes that ended Soapy's life in Skagway, Alaska. Read the whole story in my book, Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel]

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

  

"I never cheated an honest man, only rascals. They wanted something for nothing, I gave them nothing for something."

—Joseph "Yellow Kid" Weil

Soapy Smith and Deputy U.S. Marshal Sylvester S. Taylor, Skagway, Alaska

Sylvester Slade Taylor
Four months after Soapy's death
San Francisco Chronicle
November 3, 1898

(Click image to enlarge)

 

EPUTY U.S. MARSHAL SYLVESTER SLADE TAYLOR
(04/03/1867 – 05/12/1958)
 

The Latest On A Forgotten Lawman.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Sylvester Slade Taylor, known as "Vess" to his family, has a black mark upon his record as a lawman which appears to be one of the reasons he remains largely unknown. In Skagway, Alaska, 1898, he was under the pay of bad man Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith. After Soapy's death, via vigilantes, Deputy U.S. Marshal Taylor was "arrested" by the vigilantes along with members of the soap gang, charged with negligence of duty for his lack of performance after the robbery of miner John Douglas Stewart, and held until his boss, U.S. Marshal James McCain Shoup, arrived to relieve him of his duty. Historically, this is what Taylor is most famous for.

     Other than his involvement with Soapy Smith in Skagway, not much was known of Sylvester S. Taylor previous to 2010. In that year I had the pleasure of corresponding with a descendant of Taylor (second cousin twice removed) a family historian connected with the Ancestry.com profile for the Taylor family. This descendant wished to remain anonymous for privacy reasons and I still respect her wishes to this day. At the time, the Taylor family was not certain that their Sylvester Taylor was the same Deputy U.S. Marshal Taylor of Skagway, Alaska, fame. Even today the Ancestry profile mentions neither the lawman's profession nor his connection to Soapy Smith, however, there are solid links between the two that prove the two Taylors are one and the same.

     In every empire Soapy constructed, one of the first hurdles to jump was bounding the courts and the law under his control. Large graft payments were a common necessity in order for Soapy and his men to operate in newly arrived camps and towns. In Skagway, Alaska, 1898, one of the hurdles was 31-year old Deputy U.S. Marshal Sylvester Slade Taylor, who replaced Deputy U.S. Marshal James Rowan after he was killed on January 31, 1898. There are no details of how or when Taylor was lured into the criminal side of the law and placed on Soapy’s payroll as it was kept secret until early June 1898 when Mattie Silks publicly accused Taylor of being involved with the murder and robbery of Ella Wilson as well as being instrumental in a plan to murder of Silks. All of this was according to Silks herself and is questionable. Details of her accusations and story are equally interesting and can be found in my book, Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel.

Sylvester Slade Taylor
Taylor and Maddox family reunion
Palo Alto, Texas, August 6, 1922
From Taylor and Bevers Pioneer Families of Palo Pinto County, Texas
by Bobbie Ross, 1996

 

     Taylor’s final fall occurred after three of the soap gang swindled some funds and then outright robbed miner John Stewart’s gold in Skagway, Alaska, on July 8, 1898, which directly led to Soapy's death at the shootout on the Juneau Company Wharf. With the collapse of soap gang rule in Skagway, the vigilantes rounded up the gang and accused Taylor of being directly involved with Soapy, of silencing the news of the robbery, and of failing to arrest the culprits in the case. Vigilantes went to the home of Taylor to arrest him, only to find him sitting in a chair holding a baby (probably Stephan Alaska Taylor, born two months prior). Taylor was ordered to stay inside his home or risk death. Later he was accused of offering the return $600 of Stewart’s gold to Alaska’s Governor Brady if allowed to leave Skagway a free man. This request was denied and Taylor was charged with “willful neglect of duty.” [1][2] 

     U.S. Marshal Shoup arrived on Thursday, July 14, and within hours fired Taylor from his position and appointed vigilante J. M. Tanner in his place. The Daily Alaskan reported “ex-Deputy Marshal Taylor” was charged with "attempted extortion from a stampeder," but as the complainant left Skaguay for the interior, that charge was set aside, leaving only the charge of “willful neglect of duty, laid by Mr. Stewart.” Taylor was brought before the Committee of Safety to answer to the charges against him on July 15, 1898. “He waived examination” and was ordered held pending posting of $5,000 bond until his trial at Sitka, Alaska. Deputy U.S. Marshal Tanner took Taylor into custody.[3] Marshal Shoup later defended his hiring of Taylor, stating that when he appointed the man, he came “with exceptionally strong recommendations, having served in a similar capacity in Idaho …, where his reputation as an officer was unassailable.”[4] From Taylor's hearing in Skagway, it was discovered that from 1891 to 1896, Taylor had been constable and deputy sheriff in Nanpa, Idaho, and during a portion of that time, he was a deputy US marshal, and from May 1896 to January 30, 1898, he had been city marshal of Nanpa.[5]

     Reverend R. M. Dickey wrote that he associated with Taylor in Skagway, had dinner with him “and his friendly wife in their snug home.” In the fictional account of his time in Skaguay, Dickey characterized Taylor as “Strange and puzzling…,” “clever,” acting “With great courage,” a man of feeling who “completely broke down” in telling of a little girl who had died some ten years before.

And yet some people in Skaguay suspected that he was in fraternity with Soapy Smith and his league of cutthroats. We never believed that. And yet…. … Our conclusion was that he was a big-hearted man who fully determined to do right but who had in some way come under the power of Soapy and that he writhed under it. … There was something there, but whatever power Soapy had over him we never knew. It may be that he found himself powerless to enforce the law strictly and decided to follow a mediating path with the law breakers to amend their effect as best he could. Having submitted to appeasement once, perhaps he was in Soapy’s power.[6]

     On November 3, 1898, while awaiting the final results of his trial, a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle had Taylor's likeness published (see top picture). On December 10, 1898, Taylor was acquitted of negligence. Evidence of his wrongdoing as a lawman was ample, but none of it was evidenced in court.[7] Though acquitted of negligence, Taylor’s career as a lawman was over. His name was now manacled to the legendary Soapy Smith, and no key could unlock it.

     Once able to leave Skagway, Taylor took his wife, Maud Ellen Stewart, and their five young children, including Stephen Alaska "Lou" Taylor, born in Skagway on May, 13, 1898, back to Idaho. In 1900, with the help of family member Pleasant John Taylor and an older brother or cousin, who was a "showman" and “movey projectionist,” Sylvester became manager of the show. In 1910 his occupation was still listed as “showman, vaudeville and movey projectionist." In 1919 Taylor's occupation is listed as working at the Isis Theater in Idaho.

      In the following from a Texas newspaper article from August 1922, Sylvester reminisces his early days in Texas, which includes a strong link to a career in law enforcement, considering his three older brothers were Texas Rangers.

      Early settlers will remember the three brothers of this family, who were Texas Rangers, known from border to border of the state of Texas as Ham [Hannibal Giddings Taylor], Eph [Ephraim Kelly Taylor] and Pleas [Pleasant John Taylor] (Doctor Stephen Slade Taylor’s sons). They lived in the days of Indians, and became Rangers to protect their homes, according to Sylvester Slade Taylor, of Reno, Nevada, who is in Fort Worth, visiting his son, S. J. Taylor, 1312 College Avenue. This is the second visit to Texas in thirty-five (35) years and the first time he had seen his sister, Mrs. Sarah Susan Taylor Click for thirty (30) years.
     "I went back home and went swimmin’ in the old swimming’ hole, in the nature way,’ the Texan said. ‘But the most exciting of the whole trip was when we went out to the Hart Ranch and saw a oil well brought in. They seem to bring ‘em in while you wait out there. It was the first one I’ve ever seen brought in and believe me it was some sight to these old Nevada eyes." He recounted many interesting things about the early days and the Indian raids. Remember the killing of the elder Dalton, father of Robert Dalton, owner of the Dalton Oil Tract. He saw his first train in Fort Worth, Texas.[8]

     In 1930, at age 63, Taylor is listed as a cigar salesman in Reno, Nevada. At age 73 in 1940 he is listed as an attendant at a local college in Spokane, Washington. Eighteen years later, on May 12, 1958, Sylvester Slade "Vess" Taylor passed away at age 91.

     At the time I published Alias Soapy Smith in 2009 I depended on the Taylor family tree on Ancestry.com complete with the inevitable mistakes that come with creating such a tree, for the pre and post-Skagway history of Sylvester Taylor. Thus, I was made to believe that Taylor "died comparatively young, though, in 1916 at age 49.” Since then, the information found on Ancestry.com has been updated and his actual death date, as shown in the death certificate below, is May 12, 1958, in Portland, Oregon.[9]

 

Death Certificate
Sylvester Slade Taylor
Courtesy of Ancestry.com

(Click image to enlarge)

 

 

NOTES:

1. US v. Sylvester S. Taylor. Whiting wrote that Taylor was found "with a baby on each knee, for protection and also, sympathy." 
2. Distant Justice: Policing the Alaskan Frontier, by William Hunt, 1987, p. 64. 
3. Daily Alaskan 07/15/1898, p. 1. 
4. Skaguay News, 07/15/1898. 
5. Criminal case 1028-US v. Sylvester S. Taylor. Record Group 21 – US District Courts. Box 16 – 01/01/05 (2). National Archives and Records Administration, Pacific Alaska Region, Anchorage, Alaska. 
6. Gold Fever: A Narrative of the Great Klondike Gold Rush, 1897-1899, by R. M. Dickey, Ed, Art Petersen, Klondike Research. pp. 84-85. 
7. Distant Justice: Policing the Alaskan Frontier, by William Hunt, 1987, p. 65. 
8. 1880, 1900, 1910 US Census, Taylor/Holloway Family Tree, accessed through Ancestry.com. 
9. 1880, 1900, 1910 US Census, Taylor/Holloway Family Tree, accessed through Ancestry.com.

 

 

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

Sylvester Slade Taylor
Dec 24, 2010
Mar 23, 2014
Aug 13, 2017
Aug 18, 2017
Aug 24, 2017
Jan 14, 2020
 

Taylor, Sylvester S.: pages 508-12, 520, 527, 562, 575-78, 580-81.

"The Reverand Porter was fascinated with the game and firm in his belief that he could pick out the shell under which nestled the little black ball, but when the shell was lifted up the little black ball had mysteriously disappeared, as had also $52 of his hard earned wealth."

—Boulder Daily Camera, June 29, 1893

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