Frank Herbert Whiting and the White Pass and Yukon Railway

The Whiting graves
Fairmont Cemetery, Denver, Colo.

Over on The Skagway Historical Society there is a tribute to White Pass & Yukon Railway Superintendent Frank H. Whiting. Don't confuse him with Dr. Fenton B. Whiting. One was Dr. Whiting and the other, engineer and foreman. Today's Whiting was from Denver which means that it seems likely that he would have heard of “Soapy” Smith, but if not, he would when he arrived in Skagway. Following is the contents of the post with "new" information on Whiting. 

Born in 1857 in Mt. Pleasant Iowa, Frank Herbert Whiting came to Skagway on Friday, May 27, 1898 as Superintendent of the new White Pass & Yukon Railway. He is a background character in the Soapy shooting, having been busy on another dock unloading rails and sleepers with Mr. Graves at the time. After the shooting the Citizen's Committee appointed the "Committee of Safety" to determine what the fate would be of the many Soapy conspirators, alleged friends and miscellaneous suspicious characters. The "Committee of Safety" consisted of eleven men. Four of these men managed transportation companies, two owned hotels, one blacksmith, two lawmen and of course the two White Pass managers, Graves and Frank Whiting. These eleven men selected the prisoners and forced them to sign over their money and agree to be handed over to the legal authorities.

Some of these men that were accused of vague crimes said that the "Committee" used their temporary and arbitrary power to get rid of business competitors in the witch hunt. Certainly in the volatile atmosphere, few Skagway residents questioned the doings of the most powerful men in Skagway. A total of fifteen men and one woman were deported but no doubt others left rather than be subjected to the "Committee" or possibly lynching.

Jeff Smith points out that when these deportees arrived in Seattle on the Steamship Tartar there is no evidence that any were ever taken into custody.

But back to Frank Whiting. He and his wife Martha and their 6 kids left Skagway in 1903. They probably returned to Denver, where they had lived before. Frank died on this day, January 3, 1936 in Seattle on a visit to his son. He was buried in Denver in the Fairmont Cemetery. One other note was that he was the great grandson of Timothy Whiting who fought in the Revolutionary War, and so was a compatriot SAR.

NPS website; Archives Canada; Alias Soapy Smith by Jeff Smith; Findagrave.com; familysearch.

According to Samuel Graves in his book, On The White Pass Payroll, he and Whiting were on the adjoining wharf when the shootout on Juneau Wharf took place and witnessed the gunfight that killed Soapy and Frank Reid.

Frank Herbert Whiting: page 517, 539, 548, 571.

January 15

1891: Bascomb Smith fined $110 in Denver for being intoxicated, disturbing the peace, and carrying concealed weapons.

Jeff Smith

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Soapy Smith plaque: Memorial or souvenir?

Soapy Smith plaque?

Back about 2004 when I made my first introduction to eBay I found the plaque above at auction. It was in pretty back condition with chips and missing pieces, including letters and one of the shells. The composition appears to be some sort of plaster. The seller wanted a ridiculous starting bid of $600 but could not give any information about it, or even where he got it. Needless to say I did not bid and the item did not sell. I copied the photograph and never saw the item for sale again. On my digital copy I did my best to "repair" the damages so that we can see what it possibly looked like in good form.

I am in hopes that someone out there has some information about this item. Is it a one-of-a-kind item, was it part of a Soapy memorial, or was it produced as a souvenir item, perhaps in Colorado or Alaska?

Jeff Smith

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Top and bottom: Dice swindle game.

Possibly a Top and Bottom game

One piece of gambling equipment Soapy and the Soap Gang utilized but rarely mentioned is dice. The most common swindle game using dice is top and bottom. My book has only three pages mentioning the game and only one with an explanation. The following is from Alias Soapy Smith.

... the News reported that about thirty bunco men were headed for Boulder and the fireman’s tournament: “There are pickpockets and soap men and shell men, eight die men, top and bottom men, flim-flamers and the smiler with the shells, and all the rest of the boys.” Associating “the boys” with the robberies was an easy link for readers. Did the robbery of Lewis raise the profile of Soapy and the bunco brotherhood? The answer seems clear. Why else would “the brotherhood’s” travel to Boulder be newsworthy?

The “eight die men” mentioned in the story ran a game called “Top and Bottom.” It was a short con with gaffed, or altered, dice in which the victim bets that the top and bottom faces of three tossed dice either will or will not add up to twenty-one. It is based on the principal that players cannot see around corners. If they could see more than three sides of the cubes at once, they would notice not only that the tops do not come close to adding up to seven on opposite sides but also that some numbers are missing entirely while other numbers appear twice. The operator of “Top and Bottom” is a skilled sleight-of-hand artist who can switch sets of dice at any given moment.

Recently I read the book, Fools of Fortune or Gambling and Gamblers published in 1890 by John Philip Quinn which contains a great description of top and bottom.

This game of dice-if it may properly be called a game-is a swindling device, pure and simple. It is, in effect, nothing but a scheme of fraud, for the successful operation of which are required two sharpers, who act as confederates, a dice box, three ordinary dice, a "ringer" and a "sucker." The place commonly selected for working it is a saloon, and the method in which it is operated is as follows:

The victim having been selected and located in a saloon, the first sharper scrapes an acquaintance with him and induces him to throw dice for the drinks or cigars. While the dice are being handled, the gambler calls the attention of the dupe to the fact that the number of spots on the faces of the three dice added to the number on the three reverse sides is always equal to twenty-one. This fact necessarily follows from the construction of all fair dice; on the reverse face from the ace is a 6; opposite to 3 is 4; and directly opposite to 5 is 2. There are, however, many persons, who not having had their attention directed to this circumstance, are ignorant of the fact. The "sucker" usually satisfies himself of the correctness of the statement made by his newly formed acquaintance through throwing the dice several times in succession, until he becomes convinced that the sum of the six numbers is always equal to twenty-one. At this point sharper number two makes his appearance. He strolls up to the pair and offers to join in throwing dice for refreshments. The first swindler proposes that they guess as to the number of spots on the upper and under sides of the three dice. To this sharper number two assents, and guesses, say, 25. As a matter of course, the greenhorn guesses 21 and wins. The second confederate thereupon remarks that he is a "pretty good guesser." To this the first swindler replies that "the gentlemen can tell the number every time." The confederate demurs to this statement, saying that it is impossible. He offers to bet the price of a box of cigars that the dupe cannot do it. His accomplice retorts that he would be willing to bet $I,000-that he can, and offers to lend the dupe money to add to whatever sum the latter may wish to bet for the purpose of laying a stake against his confederate. The bet having been made, the attention of the victim is momentarily diverted and the "ringer"-either a loaded dice or one prepared after the manner described in the paragraph upon the game of "crap"-is substituted for one of the fair dice. The throw is cast, and when the spots are added together their sum is inevitably found to be either greater or less than 21. Sharper number two thereupon demands and takes the stakes.

Ordinarily the dupe is too bewildered at the moment to understand the precise nature of the game which has been played upon him until after the two confederates have left the house. Should he, however, remonstrate and undertake to raise a disturbance, it is usually found an easy matter to quiet him by summoning the town marshal or some other police officer. In fact, I have known an officer actually summoned, who insisted upon the dupe keeping quiet, for which service he received a bonus from the pair of swindlers.

The last paragraph mentioning the summoning of the marshal or police is interesting. Before joining the Soap Gang "Big Ed" Burns ran a top and bottom gang in the Tucson area. It was there that Morgan Earp, serving as his brother Virgil's deputy, was accused in the Tucson Citizen (August 28, 1881) of being in league with the bunco gang. Casey Tefertiller in his book Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend, gives the defense that the accusation could not be true because Morgan later arrested Burns. Students of bunco gang history know that arrests by policemen receiving graft payments is part of the routine, and often are orchestrated in order to be taken to a "safe" police headquarters where personal protection and possibly a quick release can be had. Much the same way when the Earp brothers were "arrested" in Colorado on trumped-up charges by friends in order to keep them from being extradited back to Arizona on charges of murder. 

Top and bottom: page 78, 99, 262.

January 13

1929: Wyatt Earp dies. Soap Gang member Wilson Mizner is chosen as a pallbearer.

Jeff Smith

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Soapy Smith and the Better Business Bureau.

Of all the places to read about Soapy Smith...the Better Business Bureau? Our friends at the Days of 98 Show with Soapy Smith in Skagway, Alaska and on Facebook, alerted me to an article by Holly Doering of the BBB entitled, Top Scams of 1912: Nothing New in 100 Years. I thought Holly did a nice job on the story and wanted to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it.

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Recently the BBB issued a press release containing the Top Ten Scams of the past year. As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the BBB, let’s look back in time to early 20th Century scams.

Reading the comic novels of P.G. Wodehouse, first published in 1902, you encounter a recurring character named “Soapy.” He’s an American con man who tricks gullible British peers into dubious U.S. investments. Or, as Wikipedia puts it, “who is an expert in selling fake oil stocks to those even less mentally gifted than himself.”

I always wondered if this character were based on a real life scammer. Maybe: according to List Verse, Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith was an Old West bunko man—and gangster—who operated out 0f Denver and Skagway, Alaska around the turn of the century.

SOP: Stacking up ordinary soap bars, Smith would draw a crowd, then pull out his wallet. Ostentatiously, he’d wrap paper money—sometimes $100 bills—around a few. He covered them with plain paper. Then he mixed up the cash-wrapped soap with the regular and sold to the crowd for a dollar a bar. Soon, Soapy’s plant in the crowd would buy one, tear it open, and wave around his “winnings.”

I hope the soap was fantastic, because in today’s money $1.00 is an approximate value of more than $25. The scam: Through masterful sleight-of-hand, the money-wrapped bars were hidden and replaced with cashless packages.

But it gets worse: Midway through the sale, Smith would announce that the $100 bill remained in the pile and would auction off the remaining soap bars to the highest bidders. Con artists today still lure the unsuspecting with promises that are too good to be true. Here are some additional flim-flams (scams) prevalent around 1912.

Landmarks For Sale
For most of his life, con man George Parker sold New York’s public landmarks to unwary tourists. (And he wasn’t the only one.) According to List Verse, Parker’s favorite object for sale was the Brooklyn Bridge, “which he sold twice a week for years. He convinced his marks that they could make a fortune by controlling access to the roadway. More than once police had to remove naive buyers from the bridge as they tried to erect toll barriers.” Grant’s Tomb, the Statue of Liberty, and Madison Square Gardens were also “sold” repeatedly by Parker. He was sentanced to life in Sing Sing in 1928.

While it would be hard for someone to pull off this particular scam today, tourists often become victims. Know before you go.

Fake Mediums
During the Spiritualist Movement of the 19th Century, many people, primarily women, managed to convince others that they could talk with ghosts through a system of rapping sounds. One trio, the Fox sisters, earned an international reputation as ghost-talkers, bilking the gullible out of their money for almost 40 years. According to www.cracked.com, the siblings defrauded their customers by cracking their toes.

Unfortunately there are a million ways for the unscrupulous to take advantage of the grieving. A more recent scam is for a con artist to contact a recent widow or widower with a fictitious debt owed by their spouse.

Money-Printing Boxes
Not interested in purchasing the Eiffel Tower? Not to worry. Count Victor Lustig would show you a money box instead. The contraption “printed” a $100 dollar bill, but alas, it took more than six hours to produce each one.

“If only I could make it work faster,” Lustig would lament. Thinking they were clever, the marks would purchase the box for a large sum, only to realize twelve hours later that, now, after producing two more $100s, the box was only good for blank paper. Bait-and-switch schemes of one variety or another continue to this day.

Three-Card Monte
Three-Card Monte has parted many a mark from his money. It’s basically a shell game using cards. The victim thinks he can find a specific face-down card; the dealer knows he can’t. The dealer may use confederates in the crowd to accomplish this, but sleight-of-hand is always employed. (A person’s first clue that this isn’t a good deal would be the schill “looking out” for the police. This is the equivalent of today’s “lottery winner” being told not to tell anyone—a big red flag.)

She’s Wealthy: But After You Meet Her, You’re Not
Online dating scheme? “Big Bertha” Heyman didn’t need a computer. She could con money out of men face-to-face by pretending to be a wealthy woman who was unable to access her fortune. According to Wikipedia, Big Bertha was one of the most successful women con artists in America. She stayed at the best hotels and employed both a maid and a manservant. Even after she was sent to prison, she still managed to trick men out of their money, including her own attorney!

The “Pump and Dump” Stock Scheme
This fraud was probably invented in the early 1900s by Joseph “Yellow Kid” Weil and is still with us today. How it works: The scammer buys stock in a small company with small profits or creates a non-existent shell company that has no profits. Using sales staff who follow a phone script and may not even know they’re perpetrating a scam, large numbers of people are convinced to buy.

When the flurry of buying activity inflates stock prices, the scammer sells all his stock. Since the company isn’t profitable, the stock quickly plummets.

It gets worse: When victims complain, the scammer assures them that it was just bad luck–they lost their money fairly, the stock exchange is risky, etc. Sometimes they even manage to separate victims from more money at this time. Victims of such a scheme should contact the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Bottom Line
Outwardly, many things have changed since the beginnings of the BBB in 1912. But the tendency of some humans to prey on the greedy, the vulnerable, and the naive will never change. So please, investigate before you invest. Start with Trust by using your Better Business Bureau as a resource. It’s why we were created.

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Source: BBB; Consumer News and Opinion Blog

* Thank you Holly!

Jeff Smith

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A sucker born every minute!

There's a sucker born every minute...

...and two to take 'em!

                                                                  

                                                                 P. T. Barnum

Don't believe Barnum? Take a look at the following link!

JANUARY 10

1893: Soap Gang member, John L. "Reverend" Bowers assaults Denver Deputy Hanson.

Jeff Smith

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Tivola: Swindle game with an elegant name.

Fig. 1:  "The table"

In my book, Alias Soapy Smith, I published a letter to Soapy Smith from George Mason of the Denver office of George Mason and Company. The firm sold gambling gear and furniture to sporting houses like Soapy's Tivoli Club. The response letter was penned to Soapy in Spokane, Washington, August 10, 1896 indicates that Jeff was running games of chance in Spokane. Below is the complete text of that letter.

From the Bob and Jonathan Shikes collection
Reproduced from Denver's Larimer Street
by Thomas J. Noel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GEO. MASON and CO.
Playing Cards and Ivory Goods,
1413 Eighteenth Street.

Denver, Colo. Aug. 10, 1896
Friend Jeff:

Yours at hand and will say am glad to hear from you and you are still on earth. We have a new small Tivola. We made a few weeks ago a New Orleans Belt with 50 spaces [—] there is [sic] 2 prizes and 3 blanks. It is a good deal larger, that is, the basket, than the old style and makes a better showing. We made it for one of you x lieutenants Power and the gang and think they are doing well with it, as they were running at Fisks Gardens and done well. Since then I see in paper they were arrested at Colo Spring and fined 50.00 and a few hours to get out of town. Since then I have heard nothing from them or seen them. There is nothing going on here at all and it seems worse than ever. We will soon make some drop cases, that is as soon as we can get at them [i.e., get to making them]. Ed Chase sent over a note for that machin[e] saying it belonged to him and he paid what charges was on it. The machine we put the celluloid on and fixed up. But your jewelry spindle is still here. Jeff wishing you success we remain yours

Resp.
GEO. MASON and CO.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Larimer Street, Denver
From the R. Ronzio collection, reproduced
from Silver Images of Coloradoby Richard A. Ronzio

Jeff was known to purchase gaming equipment from this company, which was located literally next door to Soapy's Midway saloon and just around the corner from his Tivoli Club previous to Soapy's escape from the Denver courts in 1895. Gambling reforms had hit Denver hard since 1892 and the George Mason Company moved to another location just around the corner at 1413 Eighteenth Street where the above letter was written.

Fig. 2:  "The cloth"

The "Tivola" game described to Soapy by Mason was almost a total mystery to me at the time of publishing my book. What little I could find was published in the footnotes for the letter, as follows.

Notes: Tivola: probably tavola, the Italian word for “table, plank, board.” New Orleans Belt … 3 blanks…: an imprint on the table for some sort of gambling game containing a belt of 50+ spaces, presumably for bets. the basket: may refer to a “bird-cage” dice rolling basket device such as used in “chuck-a-luck.”

Recently I came across a detailed description and drawings of the game. I found it under 3 names, Tivoli and Tivolia as named by author, John Philip Quinn and then Tivola as named by George Mason. I have every reason to believe that all 3 names are referring to the same device. John Quinn is the author of Fools of Fortune or Gambling and Gamblers (1890) which I just finished reading. Below is the text from Quinn's book, complete with spelling errors. I believe it to be the definitive answer I was looking for.

Tivoli or Tivolia, the game

This game is at once one of the most seductive and the most deceptive in the outfit of the peripatetic gambler. In some minor respects it resembles the children's game of the same name, inasmuch as both are played upon a board containing a number of pins and having numbered compartments at the lower end. At this point, however, the resemblance ceases.

The gambling device known by this name is shown in the accompanying illustrations, figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 represents the table and figure 2 the cloth which always hangs behind it, and forms an indispensable feature of the game. In explaining the diagrams, the construction of the table will be first described. It is made of wood usually about 3-1/2 to 4 feet in length and 2 feet broad, and when in use the upper end rests upon a wooden framework, giving the board an inclination of some 30 degrees.

Running lengthwise through the centre [sic] of the table is a wooden partition, dividing it into two equal parts, At the lower end of each division are ten compartments, open at the top, each set being numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0. At the upper end of each division is a gate, lettered on the diagram c.c. Between the gates and the numbered compartments are placed metal pins or pegs, arranged substantially as shown by the dots on the diagram. Directly below the lower row of pins and extending over the upper ends of the compartments is a board, which runs entirely across the table, but only one-half of which is shown in the illustration.

Before describing the mode of play, an explanation of the cloth (as shown in fig. I) is necessary. This cloth is generally three feet in length by two in breadth, and is divided into 100 squares, arranged and divided as shown in the cut. The figures―$I.00, $5. 00, etc.―in the squares indicate the prizes which may be won by the players. The abbreviation "bl'k." stands for "blank," and indicates the losing numbers, on which no prize is paid. The letters "rep." are an abbreviation for "represent," and show that the player who happens to make the number in that square must, if he does not wish to lose his stake, double it and play again.

Those who wish to play, pay the proprietor a certain sum for the privilege of dropping two marbles down the board, one rolling through each of the gates C.C. The little spheres (d.d.) roll down the inclined plane, their course being deflected from point to point, by the metal pins until they finally come to rest in the compartments at the lower end, one on each side of the centre [sic] board. The operator then looks to see the numbers into which they have fallen. If the left hand marble has rolled into "0," the number of the right hand one only is taken. If the latter rolls into “0,” and the left hand one, into some compartment bearing a significant number, the entire amount is read as IO, 20, 30, 40, etc. If both numbers roll into the numbered compartments, both figures are read, as e. g. 56, 79, 84, etc.

The number made by the player having been thus learned, the cloth is inspected with a view to ascertaining the result of his play. If the number which he has made calls for a prize, the same is handed to him. If he has "drawn a blank," he has to content himself with his loss. If his number corresponds to a square containing the abbreviation "rep.," he may either lose the sum paid or double his stake and try again.

To show how utterly impossible it is for a chance player to win, it is only necessary to explain the very simple secret mechanism which enables the operator to send the marble into a losing compartment at his own will. If the reader will look at the diagram, 1, he will see a slender line running from the right hand set of numbered compartments along the entire length of the board, on its right hand side, and terminating near the gate (c.), its course being indicated by the line (b.b.). This line represents a stiff wire lever, placed below the board and entirely under the control of the manipulator. By working this lever he can raise a row of ten triangular metal points, marked a,a,a, all of which are covered by the board at the lower end of the table, and which are so arranged that one shall stand in front of each alternate compartment. When the marble strikes one of these points, as a matter of course, it inevitably glances off into one of the adjacent divisions. The peculiar beauty of the contrivance, as viewed from a gambler's standpoint, is the fact that the compartments in front of which the points are placed are inscribed with the winning numbers. The divisions into which the marbles are forced to roll invariably correspond to those numbers on the cloth which contain those words (so ominous to the greenhorn) "blank" or "represent."

In this, as in all similar games, the assistance of "cappers" is indispensable. The dupes who stake their money in good faith are never permitted to win, but unless somebody occasionally draws a prize, interest is certain to be supplanted by a sense of discouragement. It follows that confederates must be at hand. One of these will approach the table and after being recognized by the operator will buy a chance. At once the metal points are so placed that he has an even chance of winning and he perseveres until he draws a handsome prize. Ordinarily, however, the "capper" resorts to stratagem. Approaching a countryman, he offers to "divide risks" with him; i. e., to advance half the money and share equally in the gains or losses. As long as the "capper" and the "sucker" play together, they invariably lose. Should the dupe become disgusted with his "run of hard luck," the "capper" continues to play alone. The operator works the lever and his confederate soon wins a prize; the greenhorn (who always stands near, to await the issue) at once feels encouraged, and it usually requires little persuasion on the "capper's" part to induce him to make another venture.

Tivola: page 419.
George Mason and Co.: pages 123, 419-20, 451.

Jeff Smith

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Hollywood is missing some good Alaska stories.

Clark Gable as Soapy, and Frank Morgan as
reformed judge who once belonged to Soapy's gang
in the 1941 MGM film Honky Tonk.

An article in the Anchorage Daily News caught my eye today. The title, Hollywood is missing some good Alaska stories, would include the story of Soapy Smith and it surely did. The newspaper staff looked over a list of Alaska-based films and TV shows helped along by state subsidies and combined their efforts into another list of "films about Alaska that Hollywood ought to make." Scott Christiansen decided to write about the possibility of Soapy Smith as an idea for a film. Here is what he had to say.

Paint Skagway red

It's difficult to suss out truth from legend when it comes to Jefferson "Soapy" Randolph Smith, the famous con man and gang leader who arrived in Skagway in 1896 to seek-or fleece from his dupes-a small fortune during the Klondike gold rush. Smith's is a short, but complex Alaska story. He was shot dead July 8, 1898, just four days after being grand marshal in Skagway's Independence Day parade. It's a perfect tale for a dark spaghetti western treatment, but only for producers who can stomach adding more dark deeds to an already bizarre true story.

This gangster was beloved by some and hated by others, specifically a group of vigilantes who papered Skagway with handbills headlined "Warning!" and advising "All Confidence, Bunco and Sure-thing Men" to leave town-immediately. Some believe the vigilante troupe were promised, or at least expected, job security from the just-incorporated White Pass and Yukon Route railroad.

Skagway was full of desperate people in 1898, many were sick and tired of traveling and prospecting, and hoped for steady income in a safer town. A $10 million construction project was coming their way. That's the sort of thing that to this day makes some Alaskans spittin' mad at anyone who might get in the way. Smith and his gang were in the way, but Smith decided they would stay. Tensions boiled until he was shot dead in a town with no law.

But who pulled the trigger on the killing shot? Frank Reid? That's the man the newspapers gave credit to, but Reid also died in the shootout. (Elevating Soapy from con man to killer on his final day.)

A man named Jessee Murphy was also on Skagway's Third Wharf that day. He was one of the vigilantes who, along with Reid and two others, guarded the door at a meeting Smith's gang was to be kept out of. One history maintained by Jeff Smith, a Californian who claims to be Soapy's great-grandson, suggests Murphy may have killed the gang boss.

More importantly for our movie's purpose is this: There's nothing quite like a three-way shootout in the final act. If there are too many questions for a Hollywood writer to sort out, they could take their traditional way out and make a fiction of the whole thing. Leave Smith, Murphy and Reid's names out of it, and throw in some disloyal thugs and back stabbing swindlers. The film gets extra points if there's a vengeance subplot and if the script includes an ambitiously evil railroad boss with mutton chops and a craggy face. Leave no one innocent. Paint the wharf red with blood.

GENRE: Spaghetti Western

I am thrilled that people are seeing the exciting adventures of Soapy Smith as movie material but I honestly admit I was a little annoyed at what Scott had written. I can't blame the man for not knowing about my book, or the true history of Soapy. Hell, he even mentioned Jesse Murphy and ME! With on-line newspaper articles you have to act and write fast while people are still reading today's news. Tomorrow it will be old news. With that in mind here is what I wrote in response.

S.C., the person who wrote the idea about making a film based on Soapy Smith, While I thank you for including Soapy's story for film there are a few things I'd like to add.

1) I am indeed a great-grandson of Soapy Smith, there's no questioning the genealogy. One of Soapy's 3 children was Jefferson Randolph Smith III (Soapy was actually the "II"). Jeff Smith III had a son, named John Randolph Smith, who fathered me.

2) You wrote, "It's difficult to suss out truth from legend when it comes to Jefferson 'Soapy' Randolph Smith..." Please read my book, Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel, published by Klondike Research (http://www.klondikeresearch.com) in Juneau. It is 628 pages of well sourced and fully footnoted information and the life and death of "Alaska's outlaw," that I spent 25-years researching. You also mentioned that producers will need to add more dark deeds. In reading my book you will find more than enough for one film.

3) You wrote, "But who pulled the trigger on the killing shot? Frank Reid? That's the man the newspapers gave credit to, but Reid also died in the shootout. (Elevating Soapy from con man to killer on his final day.)" Actually, Soapy's history contains more than this one shooting. His Colorado and stateside history is massive.

4) Thank you very much for mentioning Jesse Murphy, although you wrote that I merely "suggest" Murphy killed Soapy. My book, through contemporary letters and witnesses pretty much proves that Jesse Murphy not only shot Soapy, but that it was technically murder. This is not fantasy thinking on my part. My book has enough documented evidence to change minds at the Skagway Historical Society and the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.

5) Shame on you for proposing that Hollywood make Soapy Smith's great story into fiction! Truth is stranger than fiction, it is said, and Soapy's story is dead-on proof. You wrote, "The film gets extra points if there's a vengeance subplot and if the script includes an ambitiously evil railroad boss with mutton chops and a craggy face. Leave no one innocent. Paint the wharf red with blood." You really need to read my book. Soapy's partners in Skagway, John and Frank Clancy, fit the bill perfectly as the "vengeance subplot." The railroad backed the vigilantes and considering Jesse Murphy worked for the railroad, I think it safe to say they had a hand in Soapy's death.

Three hours later, after calming down a bit, I posted the following underneath my original comments.

Scott, I apologize if I came off a little strong in my original post. When it comes to Soapy I tend to get a tad bit excited (who can blame me?). Thank you very much for including me in the article. Your work is appreciated.

JANUARY 5

1895: Bascomb Smith, younger brother to Soapy, is arrested in Denver, Colorado for malicious mischief. He smashed furniture in a house (bordello) on Market Street during a quarrel and slashed the arm of Georgie Roe, a resident prostitute, with his knife.

Jeff Smith

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The Corona prize racket game.

In my book on page 101 I published a letter from confidence man F. H. Anderson to Soapy Smith on November 21, 1885. In the letter, Anderson  is attempting to sell Soapy on the idea of a new prize game, an "improvement on the Corona." The following comes from my book.

In the same month, an old friend wrote Jeff of his hope that Jeff would not only encourage him to come to Denver but also want to buy in with him as a partner.

Friend Jeff R. Smith

Thinking you would like to hear from an old friend I thought I would drop you a line informing you of my whereabouts.

I left New Orleans last March for California, where I remained long enough to work all the fairs, but I only got in 3 weeks graft at Santa Rosa, Petaluma, and Oakland, [—] Sacramento, Stockton, San Jose, and Salinas were queer. 5 weeks throwed away. Taylor was there but did not make any money. Tim Parker was there also, so was “Jew Ned,” Sam Nathan and Big Burns, nobody made anything [—] absolutely nothing went in Stockton, and Sacramento. They even arrested them for playing poker at Sacramento. You never saw the like. The gang all disgusted. Tim Parker brought a young wife out from Boston … and settled down in S. F. how is that for high?

I have a new fake, … a great improvement on the Corona. …[O]ne man can run it and the numbers can all be shown up, nothing to hide, when the Boosters win they can call out the number and show it to the suckers and the number that wins this time may lose the next and visa versa. Do you think I could get to open it up in Chase’s this winter? It took better in Santa Rosa, Petaluma & Oakland … than any other game in Sherman Tex. I … took off more stuff [in] one night than all the rest of the games in the house at the J. T. Saloon in Sherman and the beauty of it is that nobody can get on to the fake, nobody has yet either in California or here. Write soon and tell me just what you think can be done or any other place in Colorado that I might go and work for a month or so. I got a partner now because it is too hard work for one man…, but if I can go to work in Colorado, I might buy him out and let you buy in. It will cost you $150.00 for half interest, which you can make in a week if there is anything at all doing, and I would rather have you for a partner than the one I got now because he is more of a gambler than a sure thing man and pays too much attention to gambling to suit me. Answer at your earliest convenience & oblige.

Your friend,
F. H. Anderson
Texarkana, Ark.

The book goes into who the gangsters mentioned in the letter are, but after as much research as I could muster, I could not explain the Corona by publication time.

Recently I had the pleasure of reading Fools of Fortune or Gambling and Gamblers, by John Philip Quinn, 1890, which not only explained the game in detail, but also had a drawing (see top illustration). The explanation from the book follows.

This game is of recent date as compared with the needle wheel and squeeze spindle, of which it is, in effect, but a modification. I first saw it in the autumn of 1884, while I was traveling with "Mexican Cortenas' Wild West Show."

To operate the machine two men are necessary, in addition to a number of "cappers." The apparatus consists of a circular piece of wood, usually some 2-1/2 feet in diameter, at the outer rim of which are painted numbers from 1 to 60. Inside this is placed a round plate of heavy glass, on which is painted either an arrow or a small pointer. This inner plate revolves upon a central pivot. Prizes of money or jewelry are placed upon the numbers. Those who wish to win any of them buy tickets, on each of which is inscribed a number, the purchaser selecting his ticket at random, from a large number which are placed in a box. At the right of the ostensible proprietor sits his confederate, who poses as "book-keeper." In order that no "sucker" may, by any chance, win a prize of any value, a lever, similar to that used in the squeeze spindle is sunk into the table and concealed by the cloth cover. The "book-keeper," by pressing on the end of the wire rod, which is directly underneath his book, can apply friction to the pivot and cause the wheel to stop at any number which he may choose. It is hardly necessary to say that the box from which the purchaser takes his ticket contains none bearing the number which would call for a valuable prize. In order, however, to keep up the interest of the dupes and stimulate their spirit of gaming, the "book-keeper” occasionally brings the glass to a stand still at a point where the arrow indicates a money prize. Instantly a "capper" steps forward from among the crowd, presents a ticket and claims the prize. The ticket is carelessly thrown on one side and the money handed over to the confederate, who takes his departure. The unsuspecting fools who are not in the secret pursue the play with fresh zest, each one fancying that he has some chance of winning a large stake “next time," but unfortunately for the victim the moment for his winning never comes.

In case any of the players should become suspicious, and demand a sight of the tickets remaining in the box, in order to satisfy himself that the numbers corresponding to the money prizes are actually there, the proprietor cheerfully assents, readily producing the box, into which he has surreptitiously transferred the necessary cards from his pocket.

The Corona: page 101.

Jeff Smith

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Soapy Smith in San Francisco 1883-84.

On this day: January 3, 1884, Soapy Smith was arrested a second time in 3 days for operating his prize package soap sell racket on the streets of San Francisco. The following comes from my book, Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel.

On December 26, 1883, he paid $4 for a vendor’s license in Phoenix, Arizona. Six days later, on New Year’s Day, he was arrested in San Francisco for operating the “soap racket.” The Daily Evening Bulletin gave a detailed description of his methods.

Jeff Smith’s “Soap Racket.”

A sharp young man, Jeff Smith by name, who has been working the “soap racket,” as it is called, to large crowds on the street corners in the business part of the city for several weeks, was obligated to suspend operations at the corner of California and Front streets this morning at the request of Detectives Ross, Whittaker and Colby. They compelled him to fold up his camp-stool, strap his valise and go with them to the city prison, where he was charged on the register with conducting a lottery game. He appeared a trifle disturbed at the interruption, for it is not probable that he will gull simple countrymen for some time to come. For some time past complaints have come to the police regarding certain swindling soap vendors, whose plan of operations have been … about the same as Moses’ plaint to the Vicar of Wakefield after his return from the fair. Smith it seems has been in the habit of setting up his stock by opening his valise containing small packages of soap wherever he thought he could attract a crowd. His soap sold for fifty cents a package or three for one dollar, but the attraction was that he rolled greenbacks, one dollar and five dollars, in the packages before the eyes of the crowd, but by skillful manipulation the purchasers never obtained a lucky package. About a month ago another vendor was arrested, but allowed to go on his promising to leave the city. Smith was arrested at the ocean beach on New Year’s day, but as he also promised to leave, was allowed to go.

That was just the day before, so this time Jeff was detained for seven days before release “by Police Judge Lawler, who held that the offense charged did not come under the provisions of the ordinance.” According to the newspaper, Jeff had been in San Francisco for several weeks, but seven days prior he was in Arizona. It is possible, then, that the soap peddler from a month previous had also been Jeff, that he had come from Iowa to San Francisco and on to Phoenix and returned.

The police court ordered Jeff to vacate San Francisco. He disobeyed and was again arrested on St. Valentine’s Day for once more engaging in the soap sell racket. He was not in jail very long, though, as evidence of violating any city ordinance was lacking. The San Francisco Call reported that once again “Judge Lawler sustained the motion to dismiss, on grounds that the facts did not bring the case within the law.” Possibly Jeff escaped prosecution through bribery, but more probable is that San Francisco in 1884 had few regulations that pertained to bunco men and their games.

San Francisco: pages 40-41, 60, 82, 85, 109-10, 118-19, 152, 242, 361, 409, 411-12, 418, 425, 428-29, 432-33, 450, 463-65, 472, 492, 504, 527, 545, 574, 587.

Jeff Smith

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Did Soapy Smith visit the mining camp of Randsburg, California

Testing the water hoses
Butte Avenue, Randsburg
courtesy of Rand Desert Museum

Did Soapy Smith visit and possibly operate in the gold mining camp of Randsburg, California? As of this writing I still do not know for certain. The only clue comes from a letter written to Soapy by Bat Masterson. Below is the contents of that letter as quoted from my book.

In early 1897 Jeff wrote to Masterson in Denver from Los Angeles. The content of Jeff’s letter is unknown, but Masterson’s reply survived.

Friend Jeff:

Your letter from Los Angeles received. Glad to hear from you.

I suppose you were in the new camp of Randsburg. I believe you are a little like myself—“let the new camps run for other people.” I do not intend to ever again go to a new camp: at least until it has demonstrated that there is something in it besides wind.

Everything is running open here, but the play is spotted. It has got to be a piking game all over town. A decent change … will attract a crowd of sufficient size to obstruct a view of the table.

“Plunk” has got the police department “buffaloed.” … The mayor will not permit his being railroaded in the police court, and the newspapers have tendered him all the space he wants in which to air his grievances. I enclose you the chief’s left lead and “Plunk’s right hand cross counter. “Plunk” invites more of the game and threatens to bawl the police department out in the papers. .... I hope the war goes on. I have promised to do the press work for “Plunk” and incidentally furnish a few facts.

I am against the department for the reason that it is in with the gambling trust headed by Ed Chase and they would get me killed if they could. You might furnish me a little ammunition for a future use if it should be needed. Your name will never appear directly or indirectly under any circumstances. … Hope you are well and prospering.

Yours W. B. Masterson.

Newspapers in Los Angeles where Soapy was staying, boasted of Randsburg.

“CALIFORNIAS NEW CAMP — Los Angeles Lays Claim to the Promising District – As mentioned before in these columns Randsburg on the edge of Death Valley in California 40 or 50 miles from Vanderbilt is making rapid strides to the front as a progressive and growing camp and it is stated that Los Angeles now has what it has long craved for, big gold camp, from which to derive revenue and trade, A California exchange in speaking of Randsburg says the stampede to the desert mining camp Randsburg in California continues. It is said there are fully 5000 people there now and by April there will be 7000 or 8000. Up to date some 4300 mining claims have been located. There are only four rough wooden buildings there now called hotels and about 700 tents. There are five restaurants and 24 saloons and dance halls. One keno and three faro games are running. Rough lumber sells in Randsburg for$35 to $40 a thousand, hay from $20 to $22 a ton, wood from $8 to $10 a cord, coal from Gallup N. M. at $15 per ton and water at $2 per barrel of 40 gallons for human drinking purposes or $1.50 per barrel for stock. Town lots are held from $50 to $1,000 the higher figure being asked for Casey’s lot near the new post office site. In three months Randsburg has changed from one of the most dreary remorseless desert wastes to as lively a mining town as there is in the world and has grown faster than ever Tombstone in 1879 or the Comstock in 1S69 for in those days there was no railroad communication to aid in the rapid growth of mining towns Whether Randsburg will ever grow to the importance of either Cripple Creek or Leadville depends upon the continued of the newly found success prospects there and the finding of water in sufficient quantity to operate the nines economically.”

– The Salt Lake Herald, January 21, 1897.

Randsburg 1896
Looking east to west
courtesy of Rand Desert Museum

Gold was discovered in Randsburg in April 1895.... "It was after the summer heat of 1896 had waned that the real boom occurred and Randsburg started to take on the look of a real town.  By September of 1896 the boom was so intense, that according to a visitor in the camp from Los Angeles,  there were stages arriving on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. A correspondent from Garlock Stated  that there were three stages a day from Mojave to the camps of Garlock and Randsburg."

"Water, lack of capital, and lawlessness were problems in the early days of the camp. In the early years of the camp, water was hauled from Garlock at a cost of $2.00 per barrel. This led to the early mills and many of the business houses being established in Garlock. However the gold and the work were in Randsburg so development of the town continued despite the shortage of water. There was, however, no shortage of liquid refreshment in the early camp. In 1896 approximately twenty-one different saloonkeepers were in business at one time or another. These thirst emporiums and gambling halls attracted a rowdy crowd. Amongst this crowd was a group called the “Dirty Dozen” who were involved in some lot “jumping” incidents and shooting scrapes.19 the first shooting in Randsburg that resulted in a murder was the shooting of Charley Richards who, in partnership with Ed Starkey, was a saloonkeeper. This shooting occurred in September of 1896. In the latter part of October of that year another shooting occurred as a result of a fight over a card game. The shooting, which occurred in the Thompson’s Saloon;, ended the life of an innocent bystander several blocks away when a bullet passed through the wall of the building and struck the man as he was walking up the street. A third and fourth shootings occurred within a day of each other in December. The third shooting occurred in the Elite Theater when Frank Stevens a member of the “Dirty Dozen” shot and killed J. F. Davis, a gambler, who became the first man buried in the local cemetery. The fourth shooting was the result of a tragic accident, which resulted in the death of A. J. Klein. Mr. Klein was sitting in front of the Capital Saloon when Constable Bohannon accidentally knocked his 44 Winchester off the back of the bar, causing it to discharge when it hit the floor, with the bullet passing through the wall and hitting the victim."

"These shootings led to newspaper headlines such as 'A man for supper' and 'Another man for dinner.'"

Randsburg today
Photo by gamersincepong

 

Sources:
The Rand Desert Museum

Randsburg: page 423.

Jeff Smith

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Soapy Smith says "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

May happiness, health, and wealth be our lot in the new year!

JANUARY 1

1884: Soapy is arrested in San Francisco for operating the prize package soap racket.

Jeff Smith

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Big mit: A Soapy Smith rigged poker game story from 1894.

"Big mit" in action

Big mit/big hand:  A crooked poker game set up by the Soap Gang. 

Looking through the thousands of xerox copies made from rolls of microfilmed newspapers I came across the following in the Denver Rocky Mountain News March 28, 1894.

LOOKING AFTER HIS PELT.

——————

L. A. Varner claims to have won $360 in a gambling house over the Niagara saloon at Seventeenth and Market streets, and when he asked the proprietor to cash his chips he refused. Jeff Smith says that Varner has cost $4,000 in the last week and he doesn't propose to leave any shorn lambs around unprotected during the cold spell.

——————

What does this exactly mean?

The facts:
Interesting that the newspaper calls the Tivoli saloon, the Niagara saloon. Was there a name change? Did Soapy sell the saloon part of his business (again) and/or put "new management" in control of it? Was the sale real or just on paper as in other "sales." The upstairs gambling house, unnamed, is under Soapy's proprietorship.

The $360 won by Varner is the equivalent of winning $11,051.66 today. Soapy states that Varner "cost $4,000 in the last week...," the equivalent of $122,796.23 today.

It's the last statement statement made by Soapy that has me stumped.

Jeff Smith says that Varner has cost $4,000 in the last week and he doesn't propose to leave any shorn lambs around unprotected during the cold spell.

PLEASE, any suggestions as to the meaning?

Sources:
Rocky Mountain News
Tom's Inflation Calculator

ADDITIONAL NEWS!

Keith Cobb, professional magician and big fan of Soapy Smith wrote me to let me know that plans are going forward with the first annual Soapy Smith wake in Chicago set for July 2012. This event will mark the third official Soapy Smith event set for July to coincide with the families annual wake. Keith is such a big fan of Soapy's that he traveled from Chicago to Hollywood just for the Soapy Smith Night event held annually at the Magic Castle. We here at the Soapy Smith Preservation Trust are very proud of Keith's accomplishments in his personal business ventures as well as his honoring Soapy in such a grand way. If you have not done so yet I think some encouragement and thanks are due him! — J.S.    

Big mit:  pages 87, 197, 248, 483, 505.

Jeff Smith

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Soapy Smith's eye exam

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