Artifact #63 - "This far on my journey to the North."

Letter to Mary from Jeff R. Smith II
Artifact #63
February 15, 1897
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)

rtifact #63

Soapy Smith's letter to wife Mary, dated February 15, 1897 reads, in a large pen hand,

Feb 15th 1897

Dear Wife
This far on my journey to the North
God bless you

Jeff
Owl Saloon
Spokan

      A quick note from husband to wife, written on Russ House stationary (San Francisco). It is not known where Soapy obtained the stationary. It is possible he had it on him, or obtained it in Spokane. It is even possible that having stationary from other locations, was used by confidence men as a misdirection of the cons place of residence. It was also common for saloons to carry stationary for it's patrons, and I will guess that they collected stationary wherever they could get some, not necessarily linked to their saloon, let alone their city. Though a seemingly short letter, it is known that Soapy was continually going back to St. Louis to be with he wife and children.

The Russ House
San Francisco
courtesy of San Francisco Library

(Click image to enlarge)

      On July 15, 1897, the S.S. Excelsior docked in San Francisco with more than a ton of gold. Word of the treasure ship brought huge crowds, and word steadily spread across the country. But on the evening of July 16 when Seattle learned that the far richer S.S. Portland was bound for its port, the city was electrified. The great gold rush Soapy had been waiting for was on. Soapy predicted the rush, in an earlier letter to his wife, Mary. Soapy was moving about the country, but it is believed that Soapy was in Spokane at the time (280 miles from Seattle). It is very possible that he made his way to Seattle to witness the arrival of the Portland. By August 20, 1897 Soapy was docking in Skagway, Alaska aboard the Utopia.

Owl Club, Jan 15, 2015, Nov 7, 2016, 

The Russ House: p. 425.

"Jeff Smith, usually called 'Soapy,' made the statement publicly yesterday that he 'will cast as many fraudulent votes as I want to.' Said he, 'and there is no — — law can prevent me.'"

—Rocky Mountain News
–Alias Soapy Smith, p. 264.

FEBRUARY 27

1801: The city of Washington, D.C., is placed under congressional jurisdiction.

1827: New Orleans holds its first Mardi Gras celebration.

1867: Dr. William G. Bonwill invents the dental mallet.

1875: Stone Calf's Cheyenne Indians surrender and return two females, Catherine and Sophie Germaine, they had kidnapped from a wagon train in Kansas in 1874.

1879: John Martin is shot and killed by gambler David Stubblefield at the Palace Theater. Stubblefield is sentenced to serve ten-years in prison. He is pardoned on July 2, 1880, and dies three days later. The Palace was described as “a death-trap to young men, a foul den of vice and corruption.” In 1887, the Palace owner, Ed Chase partnered with bad man Soapy Smith in opening the Tivoli Club, a saloon and gaming house.

1883: Oscar Hammerstein patents the first cigar-rolling machine.

1885: Bad man Soapy Smith signs the hotel register at the Charpiot in Denver, Colorado. He lists his residence as Longmont, Colorado.

1887: Wichita County Seat War turns violent as seven armed men from the neighboring town of Leoti ride into Coronado attacking citizens and shooting two before armed citizens are able to fight back, killing three of the attackers and wounding a few. No one is ever convicted for the murders. Records indicate John O. “Texas Jack” Vermillion was in Coronado at the time. Vermillion is famous as one of Wyatt Earp’s vendetta riders, and as a member of the Soapy Smith gang.

1892: Alaskan Indian Chief Kowee of the Auk Tlingits tribe dies. He is most famous for leading Joe Juneau and Dick Harris to large gold deposits in July 1880 that started a gold rush that year, on land that would later become Juneau, Alaska. Indians were not allowed to make mining claims so they did not profit from the rush.

1896: The Charlotte Observer publishes a photograph of an X-ray made by Dr. H. Smith. The X-ray shows a hand and all its bones.

1896: A mob breaks into the Wichita Falls, Texas jail and lynches Foster Crawford and Elmer “Slaughter Kid” Lewis for the murder of banker, Frank Dorsey during a robbery of the City National Bank two days previous. A clerk was also wounded by the two outlaws before fleeing with about $2,000. A company of Texas Rangers, led by Captain W. McDonald, pursued and captured the outlaws, placing them in the jail where the mob overran the jailer.

1909: Jim “Killin’ Jim” Miller shoots and kills Gus Bobbitt in Ada, Texas. Miller was arrested on March 31, 1909 near Fort Worth. The murder led to a lynch-mob hanging of Miller on April 19, 1909.

1930: Famed female gambler Alice “Poker Alice” Ivers dies.

Matchbook cover and history for "Denver's Oldest Bar"

"Denver's Oldest Bar"
matchbook cover
outside cover - A

(Click image to enlarge)

new addition to my collection

      A matchbook cover from "Denver’s Oldest Bar" is a new acquisition to my private Soapy Smith collection. Though it is a "modern" item from the 1960s-70s, it has a direct link to Soapy Smith. "Denver’s Oldest Bar" was once controlled by Soapy, under the name, "Tivoli Club," a saloon and gaming house.
      Though Soapy operated the well-known Tivoli Club in that location for some seven years (1887-1895), the modern day owners of "Denver’s Oldest Bar" were apparently unaware of that history. Below is a photograph of the inside cover of the matchbook, complete with the history Joe Sheftel "uncovered" sometime after 1946.

"Denver's Oldest Bar"
matchbook cover
inside cover

(Click image to enlarge)

Text of the history printed in the matchbook:

THE HISTORY OF DENVER’S OLDEST BAR

      The first record of Denver’s Oldest Bar, 17th and Market, is dated 1869, when a man named Brundage was developing several corrals and very soon, a livery stable, trade room and saloon. In 1875 The Denver Corrals burned to the ground, but next day it was “business as usual” in a large tent which was soon replaced with a new building housing a barroom with a new attraction – to “Honky-Tonk” girls.

      In 1880 the present building was erected and from then ‘till prohibition came to Colorado, Denver’s Oldest operated under several names and owners, but was always a center for gay-blades, miners and frontiersmen – all hungry for whiskey and Honky-Tonk girl entertainment.

      In 1946 Joe Sheftel acquired the location and after considerable research to determine the above facts and rightfully named his new venture “Denver’s Oldest Bar.” Upon discharge from the Army, Joe’s son Lyle joined him, and the two determined to bring back the gay atmosphere of yesterday along with modern Honky-Tonk – “Top Exotic Dancers.” Denver’s Oldest welcomes you to top entertainment in the surroundings of Denver’s early days.

      I admit that I do not know the history of the lot previous to it's purchase by William Deutsch and the construction of the Deutsch block. The matchbook history states that the building was erected in 1880, but according to my research the empty lot was purchased in 1886 and that the building was erected around August 12, 1886 by William Deutsch, alias "Henry Dutch." It is believed that Soapy Smith sought some customization in the construction of the rooms he wanted to lease. The extra features included lower and upper backdoor access to be used for escapes.

The Tivoli Club
Sanborn map 1890
Escape routes

(Click image to enlarge)

      The term “gay-blades” refers to the old usage of the term (A dashing or lively man) and not the modern slang, a homosexual reference.
      The Tivoli Club, known as "the slaughter pen," was a combination saloon (downstairs) and gambling house (upstairs), located on the south-east corner of Seventeenth and Market, at 1337 and 1339 Seventeenth Street, under co-partnership between Soapy and Denver's gambling czar "Big Ed" Chase. It opened soon after February 12, 1888 when permission was granted by the city council to open and operate a saloon there.

The Tivoli Club
(far left)
circa 1890
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)

      The Tivoli occupied two stories, each with brick-walled quarters measuring 24 by 50 feet. “Open day and night” and serving “wines, liquors, and cigars,” advertising itself as the “headquarters for gentlemen, offering first class goods and First class attention.”
      As with most of Denver’s saloons, gambling was located upstairs. It kept illegitimate activities from the prying eyes of the law man on the street, but it was also a matter of practicality. Being upstairs gave gamblers and swindlers time to clear out in the event of unwanted intrusions, such as a police raid. The 1890 Sanborn Fire insurance map of the street corner where the Tivoli resided gives a clue to why Jeff and Ed chose this location. It was one of the few buildings with numerous exits. leading to other stores on Market Street and an alleyway.

      The diagram map of the saloon shows a back door and stairway to various escape routes through several other buildings that exited around the corner onto Market Street. Jeff and Ed likely had close business friendships with their neighbors to insure access to their back-doors.

"Denver's Oldest Bar"
matchbook cover
outside cover - B

(Click image to enlarge)

      The Tivoli Club had two faro tables and two roulette tables. Seven dealers worked the faro tables while four men looked after the roulette wheels. One of Soapy's business notebooks includes the word “wheel,” a common name for roulette, but it could equally mean a policy wheel or any number of fortune wheel devices. The 1891 bill of sale lists “wheels” as well as safes, tables, chairs, and gas fixtures. Also listed were several private card rooms for “friendly” games of poker. A steam boiler in the corner kept the place warm. On the second floor off both sides off a hallway were rooms that may have been part of the Tivoli Club operation as well. 

      According to legend, few of the Tivoli Club’s games were dealt fairly for out-of-towners, and on advice of attorney, Soapy placed a notice at the stairway that led to the gambling. “Caveat Emptor,” it read, the famous Latin caution, “Let the Buyer Beware.” Of course, few comprehended Latin, and if they did, none seemed to heed the warning. Legend also has it that as part of a defense in court, Soapy argued that the Tivoli Club was an educational institution for the treatment and cure of gambling addiction, something on the order of the Keeley Institute for alcohol abuse. The Rocky Mountain News even quoted Soapy's claim. “A man will be lured into a gambling hell and fascinated … until he is forever lost.” Then Soapy sprang the contrast: “After a man once comes to my place he is cured of gambling absolutely. He doesn’t want any more of it.” It is hard to say if Soapy believed his claim, but perhaps he believed he could make people believe it. He is known to have used the argument again on an anti-gambling Skaguay newspaper editor, saying that when gambling addicts came up against him, he paralyzed them. “I take everything they’ve got” and they “never gamble again…. I tell you, I’m a reformer.”

Denver’s Oldest Bar
"Ginn Mill Bar?"
circa 1970s

(Click image to enlarge)

      William Deutsch was not new to the saloon business. In 1881 and 1882, he had managed Ed Chase’s Palace Theatre’s saloon and gaming annex, the Tivoli Beer Hall. For ejecting a John Burns from the Theatre in March 1881, Deutsch was arrested for assault and battery. In 1883 he was listed as the proprietor. In 1887-1888 he was listed in the city directory as proprietor of the Alhambra Beer Hall at 1321 Seventeenth Street and as its manager in 1889.

Tivoli Club

December 9, 2008
June 4, 2009
July 23, 2009
August 11, 2009
April 11, 2010 
February 28, 2011
November 18, 2011
January 14, 2014
December 26, 2014
October 29, 2016
October 30, 2916

The Tivoli Club: pp. 79-81, 89, 120, 124-29, 131-32, 138-39, 171-72, 176, 182-83, 185, 188, 190, 197, 247-48, 256-57, 260-64, 272-78, 283-84, 286-87, 324, 336, 338, 352, 358, 389, 420.

"A bunch of con men opposed to Smith were trying to horn in and get the pull with the big bugs. Stopping to exchange a few words with a vigilance committee, contrary to his usual custom of ‘firing first and talking afterwards,’ caused his death."

—Henry “Yank Fewclothes” Edwards, Alias Soapy Smith, p. 589.

FEBRUARY 7

1795: The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified.

1818: Academician begins publication in New York City.

1855: Famed detective Charles Siringo is born.

1861: The Choctaw Indian Nation allies itself with the Confederacy during the Civil War.

1865: Virginia City is named territorial capital in Montana.

1877: The Guernsey Cattle Club is organized in New York City.

1882: The last bareknuckle fight for the heavyweight boxing championship takes place in Mississippi City, between John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain.

1893: Elisha Gray patents the telautograph, a device that automatically signs autographs to documents.

1899: Outlaw Harry Tracy is arrested for robbery. He is the partner of David Merrill, captured the previous day (February 6, 1899). Merrill is sentenced to fifteen years and Tracy for twenty, in the Salem, Oregon prison. The two men will escape prison on June 9, 1902, when a rifle is smuggled in to them. The two men have a falling out and Tracy shoots and kills Merrill. Tracy remains at large until August 6, 1902 when a posse surprises him on a ranch near Creston, Washington. Tracy is hiding in a wheat field with two bullet wounds in his left leg. He cannot stop the bleeding and cannot escape so he shoots himself in the head.

New Soapy Smith quote

(Click image to enlarge)

new quote attributed to bad man "Soapy" Smith

Discovered in an edition of the Alaska Mining Record, April 5, 1899.

______________________

The sensational press of the east are now engaging in some real pipe dreams of their own, and allow a column or two of Canadian and American fights on the Atlin and Porcupine border to creep into their paper. One good has resulted from this, and that is, as Soapy Smith said, “I owe my success in life to the free advertising I have received in newspapers by the number of lies they have written about me.” So it is with Alaska. The tales of wild reckless life told in papers, has been the cause of many wealthy young fellows, coming to Alaska, to become a Wild Bill, but thank God these terrible fellows have been separated from their money by a bloody game of craps, and are now on the hog train going east, or among the strikers on the Skaguay railroad.

______________________

TRIVIA: While publishing this post I was reminded of a post I made back on October 3, 2010.

Comparison graphs I made in 2010

(Click image to enlarge)

      Back in those days I was debating a lot with Wyatt Earp and Tombstone fans so this was is not only interesting, I admit that I was motivated to create it as a point to make with the Earp historians and fans. 

      I knew that Wyatt Earp was not well-known until the 1929 biography. I guessed correctly that between 1860-1929 that Soapy Smith was more well-known across the US than Wyatt Earp was. On a Tombstone history forum, one of my friends posted a Google newspaper archive bar graph for "Wyatt Earp" between the years 1880-1970. It gave me the idea of making a bar graph for Soapy in the same time period. I was not surprised to see that my theory was right.

      The top two graphs cover larger and smaller city newspapers across the United States that were available online. Today, ten years later, there is a lot more newspapers available online and it might be interesting to see how different the graphs would look.

"An enterprising showman in Denver is advertising a wax impression of the face of Soapy Smith, the late, who was killed in the boots he wore at Skaguay, Alaska. Great paper signs on the windows of the place where the exhibition is given announce in flaring headlines “Jefferson Randolph Smith, the hero of many encounters.” The show is being given on the ground which Smith himself traversed almost daily previous to getting into his fatal trouble."

— Denver Evening Post,
Alias Soapy Smith, p. 557.

JANUARY 16

1847: John C. Fremont, the famed "Pathfinder" of Western exploration, is appointed governor of California.

1866: Everett Barney patents the metal screw, clamp roller skate.

1869: Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory is established with Carrizo as the county seat.

1878: Four civilians are killed in Indian raids in Limpia Canyon and Mason County, Texas.

1878: The silver dollar begins production as legal tender.

1883: The U.S. Civil Service Commission is established as the Pendleton Act goes into effect.

1890: Bad man Harris Austin is hung in Fort Smith, Arkansas for the shooting murder of Thomas Elliott in the Chickasaw Nation (present day Oklahoma) May 25, 1883. Austin remained on the run until he was captured by Deputy Marshal Carr in April 1889.

1890: John Billee and Thomas Willis hang for 1888 murder and robbery of W. P. Williams, whom they buried in a ravine in the Kiamichi Mountains, Oklahoma Territory.

1896: The first five-player college basketball game is played in Iowa City, Iowa.

Ella Wilson: murdered prostitute of Skagway, Alaska

Grave marker of Ella Wilson
Gold Rush Cemetery
Skagway, Alaska

(Click image to enlarge)

lla Wilson: murdering prostitute of Skagway, Alaska

(From Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel)

Late on Saturday, May 28, 1898, Ella D. Wilson, a prostitute, was murdered in her Holly Street cabin. The shocking details were published up and down the west coast.

SMOTHERED TO DEATH.

Mysterious Murder of a Mulatto Woman in Skagway.

Skagway, May 29, via Port Townsend. June 3.—A mysterious murder occurred here last night. Ella D. Wilson, a mulatto woman, was smothered to death in her house on one of the busiest streets of the town by some unknown person. The murder was not disclosed until this afternoon. The woman was found lying in her bed. Around her neck a pillow-case had been drawn tightly, with the ends thrust in her mouth for a gag. Her wrists and ankles were tied together with sheets. Over her head and face a pillow was pressed down, and death had evidently resulted from smothering. Robbery is supposed to have been the motive for the crime, as the woman’s trunk had been rifled. She was thought to have had about $2000…. There is no clue to the murderer. The murdered woman had lived in the principal towns on the Pacific coast.[1]

      Those who have read Alias Soapy Smith know about the controversial murder and robbery of the Skagway soiled dove, Ella Wilson and how Denver madam, Mattie Silks, blamed Soapy and U. S. Deputy Marshal Sylvester Taylor for the horrendous deed. My book goes into great detail about everything known about Wilson's death and Silk's later accusations. However, I have written very little on Ella Wilson here on this blog. The reason is that little new information has surfaced.
      Marlene McClusky of the Skagway Historical Society blog wrote the following on August 2, 2011.

The New York Times of March 22, 1898 reported that a black prostitute had shot and killed a laboring man at the entrance to her cabin in the saloon district in Skagway. According to the captains of the Alki and the Hueneme the murder started as a result of trouble which began early on Monday evening over the disappearance of the man's watch.[2]

Another Murder at Skaguay
New York Times
March 22, 1898

(Click image to enlarge)

Today's blog post centers on the newspaper clipping from the New York Times, March 22, 1898.

_______________

Another Murder at Skaguay.

SEATTLE, Washington. March 21.-Skaguay has had another murder, according to the officers of the steamers Alki and Hueneme, which have arrived here direct from the Lynn Canal. On last Monday night a laboring man was shot by a colored woman of the lower class in the entrance of her cabin, in the saloon district of Skaguay. He died shortly before the steamers sailed. The murder was the result of trouble which began early Monday evening over the disappearance of the man's watch.[3]

_______________

Marlene McClusky continues,

Apparently nothing was done to investigate this, but on May 28, 1898 - only two months later, Ella D. Wilson, a black prostitute or laundress, was strangled in her bed and her belongings stolen. Her house was on Holly Street, the same neighborhood. Perhaps the murder of Ella Wilson was simply retribution or frontier justice for the earlier murder. Although it was widely rumored that she had $3000, it is highly unlikely that a poor black prostitute could have amassed that much money. Even the high priced call girls made little money.[4]

On the Find-A-Grave page devoted to Ella, someone posted an unknown, un-sourced write-up.

ELLA WILSON

Born: 1880 Died: May 28, 1898

"She gave her honor for the life of Skagway."

As a resident of Skagway's Red Light district, Ella was not given a large funeral after an anonymous strangling. She undoubtedly had many friends, but her standing in the community was not high.

      Many of Skagway's ladies of the evening lived in the Red Light district cribs named for their nationalities and trade. Jap alley, Paradise alley, and French alley were enclaves of women in virtual slavery. The money only passed through their hands to the men who controlled their lives.

      Eventually prostitution was outlawed from the downtown district and cribs ceased to house the "soiled doves" of Skagway.[5]

The quote, "She gave her honor for the life of Skagway" is a play on the inscription on Frank Reid's grave marker, "He gave his life for the honor of Skagway."

      If you are familiar with Find-A-Grave, it would be nice to go over there and leave some virtual flowers: Ella Wilson at Find-A-Grave.

SOURCES:
[1]: Morning Oregonian, 06/04/1898, p.2.
[2]: Skagway Stories: Ella Wilson
[3]: New York Times, March 22, 1898.
[4]: Skagway Stories: Ella Wilson
[5]: Find-A-Grave: Ella Wilson.










Ella Wilson: August 6, 2011

Ella Wilson: pages 507-12.

"'Thieves fall out and we may find out some time what became of Jeff’s property. There are men in Skaguay now who claim to have killed my brother. I have been told that Reid did not kill him, but that another man in the crowd fired a bullet into his back while he was struggling with Reid.'

'There are very few honest people up in that country,' Said Bascomb last night. 'I was told that my brother had $80 in cash in his clothes when he died, also that he owned several lots in Skaguay, a half-interest in Clancy’s saloon which was taking in probably $200 a day and an interest in the White Pass Trail.

The widow never got anything out of the estate. The money was gone and there was no trace of the lots, as they had never been recorded. Even a letter of thanks from the secretary of war could not be found and nearly everything in Jeff’s room had been stolen.'"

— Bascomb Smith, Alias Soapy Smith, p. 555.

JANUARY 14

1639: Connecticut's first constitution, the "Fundamental Orders," is adopted.

1784: The U.S. ratifies a peace treaty with England ending the Revolutionary War.

1873: John Hyatt's 1869 invention of ‘Celluloid’ is registered as a trademark.

1864: Vigilantes lynch five outlaw members of the “Innocents” in Virginia City, Montana Territory. One of those hung was Jack Gallagher, whose last words were “I hope forked lightening will strike every strangling…of you.”

1872: Russian Grand Duke Alexis celebrates his 21st birthday and the killing of his first buffalo in Nebraska. The duke missed with his first six shots before Buffalo Bill hands him his .50 caliber rifle. The Duke gets within 10 feet of his prey and shoots, killing the buffalo.

1878: Slabtown changes its name to Leadville, Colorado Territory.

1878: Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates the telephone for Britain's Queen Victoria.

1878: Bat Masterson is sworn in as Ford County Sheriff. He becomes a long-time friend of bad man Soapy Smith in Denver, Colorado.

1881: Gambler Johnny O'Rourke, alias “Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce,” shoots and kills a mining engineer following an argument in Charleston, Arizona Territory. He rides to Tombstone where he is protected from a lynch mob by Virgil Earp, Marshal Ben Sippy, and Sheriff John Behan.

1882: The Myopia Hunt Club, in Winchester, Massachusetts is the first country club in the U.S.

1886: Indians appear on doorsteps of many homes in Wichita, Kansas begging to be let in from the cold.

1887: Bad men James Lamb and Albert O'Dell are hung in Fort Smith, Arkansas for the 1886 murder of a farmer who had hired them to do some work.

1891: General Nelson Miles reports that the Sioux Indians are returning to their Dakota reservations.

The Clancy's of Seattle saloon-political power fame

FOOL AND HIS MONEY
Seattle Daily Times
January 1, 1896

(Click image to enlarge)

he Clancy brothers of Seattle

      In Skagway, Alaska (1897-98) the Clancy brothers, Frank and John, aligned with Soapy Smith in running the cities saloon and gambling underworld, to keep the city, state, and federal government from shutting them down.

      Before, during, and after the Klondike gold rush, the Clancy's ran a saloon empire in Seattle, Washington where they had political clout, getting away with swindling and robbing victims. This post is not an attempt to cover their entire history in Seattle, but rather I will be telling that story over a long period, this being just one incident.
      This one incident shows how the Clancy's were able to use the police and the newspapers to push their guilt back to the victim. Surely, as in other like cases, there are conveniently missing facts to this story, published in the Seattle Daily Times, January 1, 1896, page 5.

_________

FOOL AND HIS MONEY.

_________

Port Blakeley Man Gets Drunk and Loses All His Savings.

_________

Thomas Hansen arrived from port Blakeley yesterday on the steamer Renton on his way to Vancouver, B. C. He had $65 on his person, but rather than pay out any portion of it for a bed he slept for a few hours in a chair in Clancy’s saloon, and when he awoke discovered that he and his money had parted. To multiply his misfortunes Hansen drank too much down-town whisky, and when he showed up at police headquarters at 9:30 this morning he could not give an intelligent account of his night’s wanderings, nor of the manner in which he parted company with his cash. As he staggered up the steps at the station in a tone subdued by an uncontrollable thick tongue, he stammered:

“Like lots of other fellows-hic-I came to town, lost my stack.”

Sergeant Sullivan, after being closeted for half an hour with the victim of two deep slumber, sent him out to sleep off his drunk and placed Detective Charles Phillips on the trail of the robbers. No idea of them could be secured, and the police are inclined to the opinion that it all occurred in a box, and that a female robber did the work.

The Clancy's: April 16, 2011, December 27, 2010, June 24, 2010, April 14, 2010, August 20, 2009, July 4, 2009, June 7, 2009, October 5, 2008, January 3, 2020.

Clancy and Company: pages 481, 523, 595.
Frank Clancy: pages 455, 461, 471, 516, 521, 552-53.
John Clancy: pages 455, 461, 471, 481-82, 543-46, 552-55, 558, 585, 595.

"'The boys who had the money won it in a fair game and they should keep it.' He also said he, 'had a hundred men who would stand behind him and see that they were protected.' The judge finally told him he [Smith] could not afford to stand up for a gang of thieves; but he [Smith] almost screamed—'Well, Judge, declare me in with the thieves. I’ll stay with them,' and with that he passionately beat the table with his fist and left the room."

— Daily Alaskan
Alias Soapy Smith, p. 529.

JANUARY 13

1794: President Washington approves a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union.

1846: President James Polk dispatches General Zachary Taylor and 4,000 troops to the Texas Border as war with Mexico looms.

1854: Anthony Faas of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, patents the accordion.

1864: George Lane, a member of Henry Plummer's gang of “Innocents” is hung for participation in a stagecoach robbery and other crimes in Montana Territory.

1872: Kit Carson reports that buffalo in Colorado Territory are present “as far as the eye can see.”

1872: The buffalo hunting expedition for Russia’s Grand Duke Alexis is joined by guide, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and “Texas Jack” Omohundro in North Platte, Nebraska.

1873: Denver, Colorado lawman John Holland and Sam Howe begin their careers as Denver, Colorado police officers. Holland would be credited for creating the alias of “Soapy” for bad man Jefferson R. Smith, when he arrested Smith, and forgetting his first name, wrote “Soapy” in the police log book. Howe would be the longest career lawman in Denver history. Both men’s names would grace the pages of Soapy Smith’s notebooks.

1884: The Black Canyon stage is robbed near Gillette, Arizona Territory.

1904: Edward O’Kelley, the murderer of Robert Ford (the man who killed outlaw Jesse James) is killed by an Oklahoma City policeman.

1929: Famed lawman and gambler, Wyatt Earp dies. He is best remembered for the gunfight near the OK Corral on October 26, 1881 in Tombstone, Arizona. Soap Gang member Wilson Mizner is a pallbearer.

Artifact #62: The Ingersol Club Membership Card

Ingersol Club
membership card
Artifact #62
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)

he Ingersol Club
Fraternity, saloon, or gaming house?

      Artifact #62 in the Soapy Smith collection is another mystery item. Is it a fraternity for members to meet? Is it a saloon? Is it a gambling house, or perhaps a mixture of all three.

      The membership card is not filled in so there was little to write about the card itself. Below is the text for those that are having trouble reading it.

This is to Certify That

Mr. _____________________

Is a Member of Ingersol Club,

Incorporated under the Laws of the State of Colorado.

Pres._________________________

Sec. _________________________

      I decided to research the Ingersol Club, in order to have something to write about. I ran into research problems right away. My initial findings were regards to the name Ingersoll (spelled with two "l's"), which only sparked my curiosity as to why it was named Ingersol (spelled with on "l"). I have yet to discover the reason. I did find families named Ingersol, but not in Colorado.
      For the spelling Ingersoll, the closets I came to any reasonable connection, actually had direct ties to Soapy. A deputy sheriff known only as Ingersoll, helped Soapy's younger brother, Bascomb, beat a John Cooney in late July 1893.[1] Deputy Sheriff Ingersoll also accompanied Soapy to the residence of Stella Sheedy on Larimer street, to have the woman re-arrested, after inadvertently aiding her release.[2]
      On November 3, 1895 Soap Gang member, Henry "Yank V. Fewclothes" Edwards wrote to Soapy on stationary from the Ingersol Club [3]. A post on that letter can be seen here. In July 1896, Soapy's wife, Mary penned a two-page letter to her husband on Denver Ingersoll Club stationary.[4] Note that the spelling is with two "l's." Mary's letter is artifact #13.

Ingersoll stationary
Artifact #13
See post about this letter
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)

Ingersoll envelope
Artifact #13
See post about this letter
Jeff Smith collection

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      In March 1893 Soapy presided over the upstairs gambling rooms at the Ingersoll Club, located at 1653 Larimer near Seventeenth Street.[5] This gives rise to the possibility that the Ingersol (Ingersoll) Club was a "respectable" front for a saloon and gambling house, created to protect the business from the anti-gambling reforms that shook Denver in 1892, which were directly responsible for Soapy and some of the biggest gambling proprietors in Denver to set up business in Creede, Colorado during it's silver rush. Perhaps, upon their return, they took measures to hide the gambling from the do-gooders of the city. One theory is that the regular gamblers were given free memberships in the "club," and that this may have curbed police and their informants from checking out the upstairs gambling. 

Location of the Ingersol Club
1653 Larimer Street
Sanborn map
Two story "S" (store)

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Ingersol Club
(shaded yellow)
Larimer Street
Other points of interest
Denver Public Library Digital Collection

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      The above photograph shows some Soapy related points of interests. From left to right, we have The Arcade and The Exchange, two of Denver's most infamous saloon and gambling dens. Numerous shootings took place in these buildings. Soapy was involved in several of them, including the murder of gambler Cliff Sparks. The Ingersol Club, and two buildings away is the First National Bank on Larimer and Seventeenth Streets. This was Soapy's bank. It is also the same bank that members of Butch Cassidy's "Hole-In-The-Wall" gang robbed in 1889. Across the street from the bank is the Chever Block, where Soapy had an office. At the next block is the Windsor Hotel, home to some of the Soap Gang.    

Ingersol Club
(shaded yellow)
Close-up
Denver Public Library Digital Collection

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Sources:

[1] Rocky Mountain News, 07/28/1893, p. 3.

[2] Rocky Mountain News, 11/11/1893, p. 3.

[3] "Correspondence of a Crook." Alaska-Yukon Magazine (January 1908), Jones, Robert, p. 380

[4] Ltr fr Mary E. Smith to Jefferson R. Smith II, July (day unknown), 1896, item 13, author’s col.

[5] Rocky Mountain News, 03/21/1893, p. 4.

Artifact #13: June 14, 2010
Henry Edwards letter: May 29, 2011 

Ingersol Club: pages 271, 417.

"All this about “Soapy” Smith being alive, as wired to the newspapers from San Diego, and that he is in San Diego, is moonshine, said Arch Bodine, who has a restaurant at 1327 Fifteenth Street. Bodine was in Skagway last October [sic] when “Soapy” was killed, and did not leave for several months afterwards. I was near him when he was shot, and I helped to put him in the wagon. After he was carried from the wharf to the morgue, he lay there for two days under a sheet, and hundreds of people saw him. There are lots of men in the west who look like “Soapy,” but just paste it in your hat that Smith is as dead as a doornail. They didn’t take any chances on his coming back to life in Skagway."

— Arch Bodine, Alias Soapy Smith, p. 587.

JANUARY 11

1770: The first shipment of rhubarb is sent to the U.S. from London England.

1805: The Michigan Territory is created.

1815: U.S. General Andrew Jackson achieves victory at the Battle of New Orleans. The War of 1812 officially ended on December 24, 1814, with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, however, the news of the signing did not reach British troops in time to prevent their attack on New Orleans.

1861: Alabama secedes from the Union.

1876: Wells Fargo offers an $800 reward for the arrest of George Little, alias “Dick Fellows,” and “Richard Perkins.” 1878: In New York, Alexander Campbell starts implementing his idea of delivering milk in glass bottles.

1893: Soap Gang member John “Rev.” Bowers is fined $10 for his assault on Deputy Sheriff Hanson in Denver, Colorado.