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Soapy used different style patriotic banners on his saloon in Skagway,
Alaska making it easier to date photographs. This one is July 1898.

You might recall back on August 25, 2009 when I first posted about our friend, Averyl Veliz, an artist working through school with her project, A Klondike Tale with hopes that it would become an animated film. With Soapy Smith as the main villain I continued to follow her blog and her amazing artwork on this blog.

The Juneau Empire recognized her talent as well.


Thursday, February 04, 2010
Story last updated at 2/4/2010 - 10:26 am

Telling it like it was
By Amy Fletcher | Juneau Empire

Animated characters are usually geared toward children, and for this reason, a quick glance at the cartoonish images of "A Klondike Tale," Avery Veliz's planned feature length film set in Skagway, may lead viewers to a false conclusion. Namely, that this is a gentle story, one that willingly covers over the harsh realities of greed, corruption and prostitution rampant in Skagway in the 1890s, or at least one that treats them with disparaging humor.

But this is not the case.

Featuring a host of real-life characters such as Soapy Smith and Slim Jim Foster, Veliz's animated story doesn't shrink from the grim truths of the day, and contains many actual events and details, such as Smith's fake telegraph office and the dolls used to indicate prostitutes' availability in Skagway's saloons such as the Red Onion.

"This is a very serious story," Veliz said. "Although a lot of the art is very kid-friendly, the story has a lot of deep undertones that may not be appropriate for kids."

Veliz's creative map for the work-in-progress is laid out in a book, also called "A Klondike Tale." The book and 12 printed images will be on display and for sale at Zephyr on Friday as part of the First Friday Art Walk (see Page C8).

Veliz, who studied illustration for film and animation at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, wrote and illustrated the story contained in the book. Her sketches and digital images show her creative process in formulating the story and hint at what the film would look like on-screen. She also includes a textual version of the story at the beginning of the book.

The story, in abbreviated form at this stage, tells of Soapy Smith's reign in Skagway and the effect on those around him of the greed and corruption he epitomized, particularly the reaction of five Tlingit characters. Most of the Tlingit characters, represented as both animal-spirits and humans, attempt to push back against Smith and his ilk, and provide a counterbalance to Smith's corrosive influence on the town and the land around it. Prostitutes such as Mae provide another important aspect to the story, as she and her peers are trapped in Smith's world.

For Veliz, 25, the story is more than a professional project; it brings to the surface elements she's seen and heard her whole life. Her family has been based in Juneau since 1914, and though she went to school in Denali she spent every summer here, and grew up with an appreciation for a history of the area.

"I've always been fascinated by the Chilkoot Trail and the Klondike Gold Rush," she said. "I did hike (the trail) when I was 10, but I was really fascinated with it even beforehand."

Though Soapy Smith and his crew are compelling - and perhaps repulsive - characters, the story resurfaced in her mind with the image of a totem pole awakening on a mountainside, releasing the five animal-spirits held in the carving - eagle, orca, wolf, bear and beaver.

"A lot of the story is about contact, and when white men first come to the area," she said. "It's about that confusion, 'What do we do about it?"

Each of the five Tlingit animal-spirits spend much of the story as their human counterparts. Though Eagle is the most powerful character of the five, Veliz has placed Beaver and his human equivalent Swiftwater Bill in the main role. His character branches off from the other Tlingit spirits after he discovers the power of gold in that culture.

"He's got a lot of gold in his creeks and his streams and he realizes that that's what the people are after," Veliz said. "He doesn't place any value on it until the people come and the greed comes and the corruption comes. So he sells out basically to become one of them, and becomes really popular with the people and forgets the Tlingit world."

The incorporation of the Tlingit characters allowed Veliz to tap into another childhood appreciation: Her love of Native art. She remembers gazing at totem poles in Klawock as a young girl while visiting the family cabin on Prince of Wales island.

"I am really fascinated with the Tlingit art form, and the form-line and the graphic quality of it. And the fact that they use totem pole carvings and flat graphic artwork helped me to be able to transform things from 3d to 2d and back again."

Veliz has carried aspects of Tlingit form-line design over into her non-Native human characters as well, most notably in the dark-set, mask-like eyes and ovoid shapes, to make them look like they are all part of the same world.

Though the subject matter is difficult and often grim, the story succeeds in bringing about a positive outcome. For one thing, Soapy's reign as 'King of Skagway' comes to an abrupt end.

"There's a lot of historical context I had to keep true," she said. "He still gets shot in the end of the story, so that's not a spoiler."

The main female character, the prostitute Mae, also manages to find redemption.

The design for Mae, like Veliz's other female characters, is reminiscent of the artwork of French painter Toulouse-Lautrec - and this is a well-considered decision. Toulouse-Lautrec was active at the same time as the Klondike Gold Rush. In addition, his milieu was not all that different, as he favored images of Moulin Rouge can-can girls and the men who watched them. His bright, garish color palette also provided inspiration.

"Some of his pictures are hard to look at because it does create an emotion in you... his color palette is almost meant to make your stomach turn over," she said. "And I kind of wanted that with my villains, you've got the puke green with the oranges. Its usually not a pleasing mix but somehow it works."

Veliz said she has already stirred interest in the movie through her blog, averylveliz.blogspot.com, and received a very positive response. She plans to stay right here in Juneau to promote the book and eventually other Alaska stories.

"This project made me really homesick," she said. "I really liked California, but after I started getting into this project I knew I had to come back."

• Contact Art & Culture editor Amy Fletcher at 523-2283 or amy.fletcher@juneauempire.com.

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The guns of bad man Soapy Smith?

The Alaska State Museum in Juneau, Alaska opened a temporary exhibit last year. It was called Historic Firearms From Alaska. They had on loan two weapons reportedly owned by Soapy Smith. Lucky for me my publisher, Art Petersen lives outside of Juneau and attended the showing. I already knew about these two Soapy related firearms and discuss them on the main website page, Soapy's Weapons. The photographs here, taken by Art are better examples of the ones shown on the website.

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The Guns of Soapy Smith display
Photo by Art Petersen

The weapons supposedly once owned by Soapy were on display separately from the other guns in the exhibit. The introduction in the case reads.

PRIED FROM HIS COLD, DEAD FINGERS: SOAPY SMITH'S GUNS

Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith arrived in Skagway in 1897. He was slain in a shootout less than a year later, on July 8, 1898. In that brief time, he carved out an empire that would make him the most colorful and memorable outlaw of the gold rush. Within months of his arrival, he and his cronies virtually ran Skagway employing robbery, extortion and even murder. While robbing the weak and gullible, Soapy made a show of helping widows, children and animals, a role he relished. Pressured by a vigilante committee after a particularly outrageous robbery, Soapy met his end in a gunfight with city surveyor Frank Reid, who also died. Citizens rounded up and jailed Smith's gang, which included the local deputy U.S. marshal. A new deputy marshal, J. M. Tanner, took over, and law and order finally ruled in Skagway.

These firearms were reportedly removed from the body of Jefferson R. "Soapy" Smith following his death in 1898.

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Soapy's Colt revolver?
Photo by Art Petersen

The display tag reads.

COLT REVOLVER, SINGLE ACTION ARMY
.41 caliber, single action, circa 1890s
Loan Courtesy of Maxine Selmer

This revolver was reportedly removed from the body of Soapy Smith by U. S. Marshal J. M. "Si" Tanner. Tanner led the roundup of Soapy's gang and helped prevent the outbreak of vigilante revenge. Tanner was deputized to replace the previous deputy marshal, who had been a gang member. Tanner kept Smith's revolver, and was later presented with a custom-made gold badge made of gold dust and nuggets from Soapy's poke.

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Another view
Photo by Art Petersen

This single action revolver is said to have originally belonged to Josias M. "Si" Tanner, who claimed that it once belonged to Soapy. The gun was later acquired by Harriet Pullen and showcased in the famed Harriet Pullen Collection.

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Another view
Photo by Art Petersen

Engraved on the butt of the gun are J. M. Tanner Deputy U.S. Marshal. On the gun butt, near the hammer, it is engraved Soapy Smith and H.S. Pullen 1898. The gun used to reside in a retail shop in Skagway on display in a glass case along with other Soapy mementos and the Colt manufacturing paperwork. It is owned by Maxine Selmer.

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The "notched" grip
Photo by Art Petersen

The infamous notches on the grip do not help the case of ownership by Soapy but even more damaging is the double action revolver placed on Soapy's corpse the night of the shootout.

The newspapers that reported the gunfight made no references to any pistols on Soapy's person and the estate reported only one pistol having belonged to him, though he probably did have more. The most important piece of evidence comes from one of the several photographs of Soapy in the morgue. A pistol, assumed to be Soapy's, is laying next to him. This weapon is a double action revolver not a single action Army displayed in the museum exhibit.

My book, Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel, shows how patriotic he was throughout his life. After the sinking of the battleship Maine in Cuba at the start of the Spanish-American war Soapy created a volunteer private army for the war effort. The double action placed on Soapy in the morgue is believed to have been either a Colt's model 1889 New Army (.41 caliber) or Colt's Navy (.38 caliber) double-action as they look very similar. These models very popular in 1898 and during the war. Teddy Roosevelt carried one in battle that had been salvaged from the USS Maine. Records show that Soapy was very economically successful in Skagway. He easily could afford the most modern up-to-date armory for his personal preservation. It's just more circumstantial evidence that the pistol on his body was actually his.

The fact that the gun may have belonged to Tanner does cast some doubt on whether it was actually once owned by Soapy. Tanner has been accused of giving away several guns to people, claiming that they were once owned by the legendary bad man. The authenticity of this revolver remains a mystery.

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The accompanying holster
Photo by Art Petersen

The other weapon in the case has an interesting story behind it, as it belonged to Reverend John Sinclair of Skagway ... and whose going to accuse a man of the cloth of lying? He's not lying but the gun most likely did not belong to Soapy.

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Soapy's Derringer?
Photo by Art Petersen

The gun in the exhibit case is a Colt Model 3 Derringer .41 rim-fire that appears in Mission: Klondike, the story of Reverend John A. Sinclair's adventures in Alaska and the Klondike during the gold rush, written by the Reverend's son in 1978. The tag in the case reads.

COLT DERRINGER MODEL 3
.41 caliber, single shot, circa 1877 Loan Courtesy Skagway Museum 1999.016

This derringer was pulled from Soapy's pocket after the fatal shootout with Reid. The Reverend J. A. Sinclair, who officiated at Smith's funeral, received the gun as a gift.

The derringer is said to have been on Soapy when he died. There are two stories in the sons biography of his father as to how he obtained the gun. In one chapter it is explained that in lieu of payment for his services in the burial of Soapy, he asked for some personal memento of Soapy's. A vigilante gave him this gun and said it was Soapy's. However, the caption with the photograph states that the gun was given to Reverend Sinclair by the widow Smith.

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Certification of provenance?
Photo by Art Petersen

In 1900 Reverend Sinclair had the derringer certified that it was indeed Soapy's. However, this proves nothing as Commissioner Sehlbrede was not present in Skagway. What criteria did he use to ascertain that the firearm was Soapy's?

It is my belief that the derringer was not Soapy's. However, I also don't discount the reverends story of how he obtained it. Like Soapy's swindle victims, I believe the man of God was simply duped.

The main reasoning behind this is that the weapon is a rim-fire derringer made in the 1870s. In 1898 the primary cartridge was the center-fire. The mere fact that Soapy might have owned such an outdated gun. and a single shot, is ludicrous. Not to mention that anyone the slightest bit knowledgeable about the conditions of getting to and surviving in Alaska and the Klondike during the famed gold rushes would know that merchants and suppliers paid a fortune to get their merchandise shipped north. Room on ships was at a premium thus store proprietors only stocked items they knew would be needed, therefore obtaining ammo for an outdated rim-fire derringer in Alaska and the Klondike would have to be next to impossible.

It is believed that when the reverend asked for a personal item of Soapy's in lieu of monetary payment, one of the vigilantes duped Sinclair into accepting a "worthless relic" as payment for his labor.










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Soapy Smith at Find a Grave

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Skagway postcard showing effigy of Soapy Smith guarding "largest gold nugget in the world," a product of tour bus proprietor, Martin Itjen.

You can pay your respects and even leave virtual flowers at Soapy Smith's memorial at Find a Grave .com.

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Quick quotes...

“Card sharping has been reduced to a science. It is no longer a haphazard affair, involving merely primitive manipulations, but it has developed into a profession in which there is as much to learn as in most occupations.” — John Maskelyne, 1894

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Another fake Soapy Smith artifact.

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Soapy Smith's powder flask?

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Close-up of flask
"To Bill Cody From Soapy"

Fellow historian couple, Ginny and Ivan sent me information on an upcoming auction (February 24, 2010) that contains three gunpowder flasks that are supposed to have belonged to Soapy Smith. One of them is engraved (more like scratched) and presented as a gift to Buffalo Bill Cody.

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"Buffalo Bill" Cody


I am always happy to receive information about Soapy Smith artifacts whether authentic or fakes, but I admit I was especially thrilled to hear about one of the flasks coming up for auction because it gave me the chance to finally see it. I had first learned of this flask back in the 1990s when someone sent me a Xerox copy of a page from a gun book that had been published in the 1950s. Unfortunately the photo was so small on the page that nothing could really be seen, and I had the bad luck of not being able to locate a copy of the book for a decent price, considering I believe the item is a fake. The book has no provenance or source where the flask came from or how the owner obtained it.

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Soapy's flasks?

Ginny informed me that the flask was being auctioned off by Little John’s, an auction firm I happen to be well acquainted with. I can say from several years of personal experience in attending their auctions that their reputation is ... debatable. It has been many years since I have attended one of their auctions but it is obvious by reading the catalog description for the flasks that their "character" remains the same. The gun book from the 1950s only listed the one engraved flask, however Little John’s has had the fortunate luck of having three flasks once owned by Soapy for bid.


The auction description:

Lot 659
Lot of three (3) powder flasks with attributed ownership to famous Alaskan pioneer and con man Soapy Smith. These flasks have long been known to collectors and are pictured in Soapy Smith King of the Con Men by Robertson and Harris. One Hawksley shotgun flask with adjustable charger, 2-3/4 drams of powder, measuring approx. 8” from tip to end. The body of the flask engraved “To Bill Cody, from Soapy.” One Donnelley powder can with screw top. One somewhat crude American made primitive powder flask with tin body and brass top, crudely soldered, with spring release. The three flasks are in good condition and show patina finish.
Est.: $1,000-$2,000.

Let’s examine some facts:

Little John’s cannot honestly state that these flasks “have long been known to collectors.”

Little John’s is wrong in stating that the flask(s) are “pictured (let alone mentioned) in Soapy Smith: King of the [Frontier] Con Men.”

The use of the sobriquet “Soapy” began with a newspaper story in 1885, meaning Soapy, age 25, was already a rising business man and underworld power in Denver, Colorado and absolutely not using a cap and ball pistol (that required the use of a powder flask) for personal protection, let alone owning 3 flasks.

Soapy hated to be known as “Soapy Smith.” The only time he ever used the alias was to command fear. He certainly would not have used that moniker to sign a gift to Buffalo Bill Cody, a man of whom he did not known personally.

If this was indeed a gift to Bill Cody, Soapy (in 1885) would have been making enough money to afford a nicer flask with professional engraving. I don’t see Soapy scratching the flask with his name so crudely that it looks like a child did it, and then hand it over as a gift to Buffalo Bill.

Am I right or do you disagree? Let me (us) know please...












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James Mark Rowan

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The grave of Deputy U.S. Marshal James Mark Rowan
courtesy of the Skagway Historical Society

The Skagway Historical Society has a nice post on Deputy U.S. Marshal James Mark Rowan, killed in 1898 by John Fay who was in turn protected by Soapy at gun-point from being lynched by an angry mob.

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Western Writers of America review Alias Soapy Smith.

(Click Image to enlarge)

My book received a great review from Western Writers of America, Inc. in the January 2010 issue of their Roundup Magazine (p. 31).

JEFF SMITH. Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel.
Klondike Research. Hardcover, 628 pps., $26. ISBN 978-0-9819743-0-9.

Soapy Smith had a colorful history in the Old West. Throughout his criminal dealings in Denver, and Leadville, to the under-world element in the silver camp of Creede, Colorado, to the great Klondike gold rush, and Skagway, Alaska, where he met with death, Smith’s exploits have only managed a chapter at most in the annuals of history. Until now. Jeff Smith is the great-grandson of the con-man of the West: Jefferson Randolph Smith II. Better known as Soapy Smith.

Smith’s biography is the culmination of years of research and verification of family documents, court records, and personal letters. The details of Smith’s life from his Georgia beginnings to his murder in Skagway are laid out in neat chronological order. The reader gains an insight into the life of Smith, his dealings in the under-world, his con games, who he was and why he was. Backed by extensive documentation, enhanced with photos and personal letters, many never before published, this book is a must for anyone interested in the history of the Old West, games of chance, and the life and times of Soapy Smith. —Linda Wommack

Trivia
Frank C. Robertson, author of Soapy Smith: King of the Frontier Con Men (1961) was a past president (1959-1960) of the Western Writers of America.

Soapy Smith in Whitehorse Canada?

Soapy gets caught in Whitehorse
"They always get their man?"

The above picture was found on an unrelated family trip blog to Canada that found its way to me. This is one of those face cut-out picture opportunities in which the tourist gets to replace the historic face with their own. A member of the N.W.M.P. who has just caught Soapy Smith in Whitehorse. There is no provenance that Soapy ever stepped foot in Canada.

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The Columbia Hotel, Denver

I found this photograph showing the Columbia Hotel and Cafe Company located on the south-west corner of Seventeenth and Market Streets in Denver, Colorado in the 1890s. Soapy's saloon and gaming house, The Tivoli Club is just out of camera view on the far left of the photo, directly across the street (south-east corner) from the hotel.

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Soapy Smith and "Shorty" Galbraith

We are back. It will take a week to get back to normal but it feels great to be operating again.

I recently corresponding with Jo Anne Galbraith, granddaughter of George Oliver Galbraith, alias "Shorty." She contacted me to find out if I had some information showing that George was involved with Soapy in Skagway, Alaska.

She writes,

Hello Jeff,

I got your name and address from the Skagway Convention & Visitors bureau. They said you have done a lot of research into Soapy Smith and his cohorts.

My name is Jo Anne Galbraith and my father told me many years ago that my grandfather used to bootleg whisky to Alaska at the turn of the century. My father even told me there was a picture of him hanging in a bar in Skagway. He was known as "Shorty" and I was wondering if you ran across that name in any of your research.
Thank you for your time.

In another email she writes,

My grandfather George Oliver Galbraith AKA Shorty was in the state of Washington by 1900 or 1904 so I would think his time in Alaska must have been before that. Probably during the gold rush.

Thanks for your time and responding so quickly!

Jo Anne Galbraith

Jo, I was not able to find any documentation on George "Shorty" Galbraith but I am willing to bet that if he was in Skagway in 1897-1898 and involved in "criminal activities" then he most likely had dealings with Soapy Smith.

There is no concise record or count of all the men who worked for Soapy. Some were temporary, while they were in town, while others worked for Soapy for years. I am very hopeful that there are records somewhere, perhaps within the Smith family collections, that show the name of Galbraith. In the mean time don't give up!

ATTENTION SOAPY DESCENDANTS: Please look in your records and see if anyone can come up with George Oliver "Shorty" Galbraith. Thank you.

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Coming back real soon!

I was able to borrow an old computer from a good friend of mine, Phil Gessert. Unfortunatly it is only 112 mb, meaning it is pretty slow and unable to handle much. I am grateful that I am able to receive emails.

I took my computer into my regular repair shop, Human Computer in Riverside, Ca., and he informed me that my harddrive is good but that other componants broke down. The good news is that I will soon be back up and running! In the mean time I have been reading my own book. I had it published in October 2009 and still have not read it all the way through...

There is so much I am looking forward to sharing with you!

Until then...

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My computer is down...

Hello fans of Soapy Smith and history.

My computer bit the dust. I am on disability so getting a new one may take some time. Hopefully someone out there has one sitting in a garage that they are not using and can donate to the cause for expanding knowledge and history. Unfortunatly, until then this blog will remain silent in regards to new posts.

Now is a good time to investigate the archives and check out what you missed. I hope to be up and running once again real soon.





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"Doc" Baggs, Denver, part V

(Click image to enlarge)
The Denver office of Charles "Doc" Baggs
showing the infamous fake safe

Confidence man Charles L. "Doc" Baggs is known for certain to have operated in Denver, Colorado between 1880-84. We know from newspaper accounts that he operated in the same location of Seventeenth and Larimer Streets that Soapy Smith later would control.

To “Doc” Baggs all phases of life were pretense, sham and deception. He was an adept student of human nature, and made the most of the fact that a man’s first impression is a lasting one.

With this point in view, shortly after the building of the first union station in Denver, “Doc” Baggs operated a bunco shop on lower Seventeenth, near the old United States mint. He occupied the upper floor of a two-story block, the stairway to his “offices” leading from the Seventeenth street sidewalk. Here, in rooms at the head of the stairway, he installed the most sumptuous headquarters he had yet had in Denver.

To all appearances it was a suite of offices similar to those occupied in other parts of the city by prosperous brokers and real estate men. But “Doc” Baggs’ place was a pretense and sham, built up for the sole purpose of creating that first, lasting impression on the visitor. ~Denver Times

One of the all-time great stories coming from Baggs’ time in The "Queen City of the Plains" revolves around an early arrest for bunco-steering, the common term for swindling a victim with a confidence scam.

... But there came a time when “Doc” Baggs mixed with the law. Michael Spangler, who was sheriff at the time, stepped in over the lax authority of the chief of police and announced that Baggs and his band of confidence men must go. A complaint issued from the district attorney’s office charged Baggs with being a bunco-steerer and he actually spent a part of one day in jail before he secured bail.

That trial is still fresh in the memory of those county officials who still are Denver residents. Baggs much to the surprise of every body, especially to his friends, elected to act as his own attorney. Judge Victor A. Elliott presided at the trial. The courtroom was at Fifteenth and Lawrence streets over the post office. Baggs, dapper and smooth, objected to the wording of the complaint. It charged him, he said, with being a “bunco-steerer.” No such term appeared in the statutes defining criminal acts, he averred, and a man could not be found guilty on a charge not prohibited by the statutes. He also produced a big dictionary to prove that it did not contain the term “bunco-steerer.”

The court accepted his views and quashed the information.

... Sheriff Spangler adopted a strategic move to rid the town of Him. Mr. Spangler selected Emil Auspitz, a widely known German, a deputy in the sheriff’s office at the time, and instructed him to follow Baggs during his waking hours and to orally warn every individual whom Baggs approached of the latter’s identity. It kept him busy, but the deputy for days on carried out the instructions.

"Do you know the man you are talking to? Auspitz would inquire of a stranger. "If not, let me inform you that he is ‘Doc’ Baggs, the most notorious confidence man in town."

Baggs at first took the matter as a huge joke. The warning "cooked his business," to be sure, but it afforded him opportunity for much amusement. His assortment of disguises exactly fitted the occasion. It was Baggs’ delight to come down town of a morning made up in such a costume that the deputy would fail to recognize him. At times the surveillance would be off for hours. Then Baggs, surfeited with the sport he was having, would make himself known and the good-natured deputy, faithful in the performance of his duty, would continue to sound his warning to all strangers seen talking to Baggs.

To vary the sport Baggs, when lost from his "shadow," would induce a friend to give the deputy a false tip as to Baggs’ identity and many a citizen was thus overhauled by Auspitz, much to the merriment of Baggs. The jolly confidence man even went around the streets inquiring about his "shadow," as he termed Auspitz.

As the days lapsed into weeks the situation became less amusing to Baggs. He could do no "business" because of Auspitz’s warnings, his men were arrested on vagrancy charges, and he finally decided to move on. Gathering his confidantes about him one evening he boarded a southbound Rio Grande train and quit the city, as it proved, for good.

“I well remember that occasion,” commented Mart Watrous. “I was a city detective at the time and, as it happened, boarded the same train, taking a prisoner to a Southern city. Later, in the chair car, I recognized the faces of several of Baggs’ men, but did not see Baggs. I wasn’t looking for him, remember. As the train was nearing Pueblo, a sedate-looking passenger, passing down the aisle of the car, stopped a moment in front of my seat, just long enough to attract my attention. He raised the point of a false, white beard he was wearing slightly, but far enough for me to recognize him. It was ‘Doc’ Baggs in one of his ministerial disguises. He rejoined his men without saying a word. There was no criminal charge against him. It was just a little piece of bravado on his part.

Sources:

Rocky Mountain News, 07/08/1884
Denver Times, 08/08/1915

To be continued...









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