The razing of Soapy Smith's Tivoli Club, Denver,Colorado

Soapy's Tivoli Club
17th and Market Streets
circa 1890
Jeff Smith collection

hanks to Edward S. Valdez 

we have photographs of the Deutsch Building (held the Tivoli Club) being torn down. Edward forgets the date but we know, from the 1973 release of Scarecrow, that it was razed some time after 1973.

Circa 1973
Courtesy Denver Public Library digital collection

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Close up of the sign above the door
Film Scarecrow

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Inside the Tivoli Club
Al Pacino and Gene Hackman
Scene from the 1973 film Scarecrow

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Advertisement for Scarecrow

      Scarecrow, a 1973 film starring Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, and Dorothy Tristan, was filmed inside the bar. Hackman plays Max, an ex-con drifter with a penchant for brawling. Max is amused by "Lion," played by Al Pacino, a homeless ex-sailor, and they partner up as they head east together.

      Although a photograph from 1963 indicates that the bar was known as Denver's Oldest Bar, a sign on the photograph above indicates it was also known as the Ginn Mill.

The Razing.

      Edward S Valdez was smart enough to take the following three photographs showing the demise of the Deutsch Building.

Deutsch building ready for demolition
Courtesy of Edward S Valdez

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A closer view
Courtesy of Edward S Valdez

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The End
Courtesy of Edward S Valdez

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The Tivoli Club (not in order of importance. Be sure to scroll and note additional pages).

The Tivoli Club: pages 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.

“I’ve quit the store and other jobs for a much better thing,” he confided, after the affectionate welcome. “I’ve learned a racket that’s new in this part of the world, one of the slickest and surest money-makers; I have become a cheap John, a dealer in odds and ends of merchandise, and I go from town to town selling my stuff on the streets. I mount a box; take up a banjo, which I twang to the accompaniment of a few plantation songs like the Little Old Log Cabin or Old Black Joe; this never fails to draw a crowd and the rest is easy for then they are primed to buy my stock of socks, hanker chiefs, suspenders, razor belts before the rush of customers and it is a bad day if I don’t net $20 or $25. In a few towns the merchants were so sore at losing trade that they had regulations passed to drive me out.”

— Soapy Smith

OCTOBER 30

1735: John Adams, the future second president of the U.S., is born in Braintree, Massachusetts. His son, John Quincy Adams, will become the sixth president.

1831: Escaped black slave Nathaniel "Nat" Turner is apprehended in Southampton County, Virginia, several weeks after leading the bloodiest slave uprising (August 21, 1831) in American history, resulting in 60 white deaths and at least 200 black deaths. Turner is convicted, sentenced to death, and hanged on November 11, 1831.

1857: Soldiers from Fort McIntosh, Texas pursue and attack a band of Comanche Indians who had been raiding Laredo, Texas.

1864: Last Chance Gulch, in Montana Territory, is renamed Helena. Helena becomes a gold rush, the second biggest placer gold deposit in Montana, producing about $19 million in gold in just four years. In 1875, the city becomes the capital of Montana Territory, and in 1894, the capital of the new state of Montana.

1866: The James-Younger Gang robs the Alexander and Company Bank in Lexington, Missouri of $2,000.

1868: Construction begins on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad in Topeka, Kansas.

1875: The Reverend O. P. Mains persuades bad man Clay Allison to beat a confession out of Cruz Vega, in a New Mexico Territory jail. Vega is suspected of assisting in the murder of Reverend F. J. Tolby. Vega implicated Manuel Cardenas as the murderer, and then vigilantes hung Vega from a pole. Vega was suffering so Allison shot the man dead. The body was taken down and dragged through the streets, and then left in the desert without a burial. On November 10th vigilantes stormed a jail and shot Cardenas to death.

1875: The constitution of Missouri is ratified by popular vote.

1882: George Ruby, a black Reconstruction politician, dies of malaria in New Orleans, Louisiana. Born and educated in the North, Ruby served with the Freedmen's Bureau, and was elected to the Texas State Senate in 1869. At the end of Reconstruction, he retired and moved to Louisiana.

1893: The U.S. Senate gives final approval to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890. This act destroyed the silver boom towns, such as Creede, Colorado, where Soapy Smith ruled as underworld boss. It is also partly at fault for the Panic of 1893.

1894: The time clock is patented by Daniel Cooper of Rochester, New York.

Denver's Oldest Bar (Tivoli Club) book matches

Add caption

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 sure thing
Matches from bar that housed Soapy's Tivoli Club.  

     A new acquisition to my Soapy collection. I do not have the history of the bar known as Denver's Oldest Bar located at the southeast corner of 17th and Market Streets. One photograph indicates it was once called the Ginn Mill. A photograph taken in November 1966 identifies it as Denver's Oldest Bar as does the match book below. The inside structure and layout is pretty much the same as it was in the 1890s so I will guess that it may have been a saloon/bar for it's entire history, thus the name Denver's Oldest Bar applies.

"6 beautiful girls"

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It does not appear that many knew the bar was once home to Soapy Smith's saloon and gaming house. I find it ironic that inside the mach book there is a "gambling" game of sorts, called Lucky Match. The directions to the game are as follows.

Hold book of matches with back cover facing you. Take out one stick for yourself and let the other player or players take one. Match your hand against theirs.

The words A sure thing make the purchase a worthy one for me. (see photo below).

The Lucky Match game

 

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Denver's Oldest Bar

 

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The Tivoli Club (not in order of importance. Be sure to scroll and note additional pages).

"It may be desirable to live to a green old age; but when you have attained it, please keep away from the bunco men."

— Puck, The Mason County Journal, November 29, 1889

OCTOBER 29

1652: The Massachusetts Bay Colony proclaims itself to be an independent commonwealth.

1682: William Penn lands at what is now Chester, Pennsylvania. He is proclaimed the founder of Pennsylvania.

1854: A petition for a reservation in Polk County for the Alabama Indians is approved by tribal leaders and the Texas legislature. Later the Coushatta tribes were added the name became the Alabama-Coushatta reservation.

1858: Charles Blake and Andre Williams of Iowa open the first grocery store in what will become Denver, Colorado.

1863: The International Committee of the Red Cross is founded.

1897: The Al Jennings outlaw gang robs a general store of $15, some used clothing, a bottle of whiskey and some bananas. A posse followed the gang but lost them.

1901: Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of President William McKinley, is electrocuted.

1909: Sara Jane “Jennie” Rogers, famed Denver, Colorado brothel madame, dies at Mercy Hospital.

Faked Jeff Smith's Parlor match safe

Jeff Smith's Parlor match safe?

 

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abricated, fraudulent, fictitious.
The faked Soapy Smith match safe.

    On October 16, 2016 an eBay auction ended with a winning bid of $392.67 for a match safe that supposedly came from Jeff Smith's Parlor, Skagway, Alaska. The match safe itself is antique, but it is not from Jeff Smith's Parlor. At one time I was a collector and seller of match safes. I learned what I could from books but I never considered myself an expert on them.

    This safe naturally caught my eye as it appeared to be related to Soapy Smith. There are some major flaws which exposes the fact that this was fabricated by someone that is not familiar with Soapy and Jeff Smith's Parlor.

1. Jeff's Place Saloon: That was not the name of the saloon. The term name "Jeff's place" was used in the 1935 biography, The Reign of Soapy Smith. It was used in conversations by people who knew Soapy, such as "you will find Pete down at Jeff's place."
2. Tobacco spirits cards: The term spirits was rarely used for the advertising of alcohol in the 19th century. The ads for Jeff Smith's Parlor specifically states "no cards - no gambling."
3. The saloon pictured on the back of the match safe is not Jeff Smith's Parlor.

Wait, that's not Jeff Smith's Parlor?

 

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This cranky and crooked eBay seller made sure I could not contact him, blocking my address from eBay contact. If you read his description below you can see that he has no intentions of returning anyone's money easily, especially if you find out that the item is a fake.

We don't want to misrepresent anything and if we accidently [sic] do, please return the item for a refund. Do not ask to return something if you simply have second thoughts, buyer's remorse, you tried to sell for a profit but couldn’t, your spouse is busting your chops about how much you spent, you find one for less, it doesn't fit your décor, or you just wanted to see what it looked like close up. Ask questions before you bid. But again, If we have accidently [sic] stated something wrong, please inform us of what we said that was incorrect and if so, we will be more than happy to refund your money. Extrapolations, assumptions on your end, conjecture, simply don't count. We want to know what we stated was incorrect and that is the only reason for a return. If you can't handle that, please refrain from bidding. Remember, this is an auction and not Nordstrom's or Macy's. We are fair and we expect you to be.

I am hoping that the buyer contacts me.

SOURCE: eBay

"And when I die don't bury me deep; leave one hand free to fleece the sheep."

— (Opening text from the 1941 film Honky Tonk)

OCTOBER 28

1636: Harvard College is founded in Massachusetts. The original name was Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was the first school of higher education in the new world.

1776: The Battle of White Plains takes place during the American Revolutionary War.

1793: Eli Whitney applies for the patent for his cotton gin.

1835: Texan militia and Mexican soldiers skirmished near San Antonio at the battle of Concepción in Texas, the opening engagement in the siege of Bexar. Some 90 Texans under command of James Bowie and James W. Fannin Jr., defeat a force of 275 Mexican soldiers and two cannon. Causalities on the Mexican side include fourteen killed and thirty-nine wounded. The Texans have one killed and one wounded.

1869: William F. Cody, chief scout for the 5th Cavalry returns to Fort McPherson, Nebraska to winter. In the past year he participated in seven expeditions and nine battles against Indians tribes.

1869: Comanche and Kiowa Indians attack the 4th and 9th Cavalry expedition, camped near the Fresh Water Fork of the Brazos River, Texas. Captain John Bacon and a detachment pursue the Indians for 30 miles and counter attack them. Eight Indians are killed, several more wounded. An Indian girl is taken prisoner.

1878: With less travel on the Sante Fe Trail due to the arrival of the railroad in 1870, the garrison at Fort Larned, Kansas is transferred to Fort Dodge.

1880: Tombstone City, Arizona Territory, Marshal Fred White is shot and killed by William “Curly Bill” Brocius. The gun discharged when Brocius was handing over his pistol to White, when Deputy Sheriff Wyatt Earp grabbed Brocius from behind. The death is ruled an accident.

1880: The 10th Cavalry is attacked while scouting near Ojo Caliente, Texas. Two soldiers are killed.

1886: The Statue of Liberty is dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland. The statue, originally known as "Liberty Enlightening the World," is a gift from France.

1894: Denver, Colorado prostitute Marie Contassot, age 23, is the second of three serial-murders the newspapers called “the triplet murders.” The killer struck first on September 3 and for the last time on November 13, and then disappeared from history, perhaps frightened by a $1000 reward and a slew of private detectives joining the city police search net.

1901: Famed trick shot, Annie Oakley, is seriously injured in a train wreck while traveling with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show near Lexington, Kentucky.

1904: The St. Louis, Missouri police department becomes the first to use fingerprinting.

Soapy Smith's gamblers travel kit?

"J. R. SMITH
1892
ORLEANS CLUB"
(Courtesy of Cam Cogsdill)

 

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oapy Smith's gamblers kit?
From the Orleans Club, 1892?

Cam Cogsdill sent me some nice photographs of a gamblers travel kit he believes belonged to Soapy Smith. His email is as follows.

Jeff

      I own a gamblers set that used to belong to Soapy. I have enclosed pictures for your review as I thought you may be interested:
      The box is marked on the top:

J.R. Smith
1892
ORLEANS CLUB

      Set Includes:

• 79 Ivory ioker chips

• Card cheater sleeve clip

• Engraved Elgin gold pocket watch

• Dice

• Case key

• The two revolvers are as follows: Boston Bulldog 1887 – 1899 Defender, 2 1/4″ octagon or round barrel, half-fluted cylinder, mostly with bird’s head grips, 1875 – 1888

Regards,
Cam Cogsdill

Top level/shelf portion
Ivory chips, watch card hold-out, dice, key
(Courtesy of Cam Cogsdill)

 

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      I don't know Cam, but I thought his item was intriguing enough to share. I gave him a call and we had a very pleasant conversation. He purchased the item from a family in Virginia, whom he says did not mention "Soapy," that they apparently did not know the name. Cam did a little research and found me. I did express my concerns about the authenticity, as fakery in the old west collecting field has always been a huge problem.
      Personally, I always question the authenticity of items like this. It could possibly be real, but I can't say for certain. I do not believe that Soapy would have had this box manufactured for himself, especially considering he was only in Creede, Colorado for around four months. He operated the Tivoli Club in Denver for nearly nine years and thus far nothing like this, engraved with his name and that of his saloon, has surfaced within the family collections, that I know of. However, it is possible that a friend or someone very appreciative of Soapy, could have had this gambler's box personalized as a "thank you" gift.
     He states that he is not interested in selling this item, however, I will be happy to pass along any messages and contact information from those who wish to talk to him.

 

Top level close-up
Ivory chips, watch card hold-out, dice, key
(Courtesy of Cam Cogsdill)

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_________________________

Bottom level/shelf portion
Two pistols
(Courtesy of Cam Cogsdill)

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_________________________

The insides
(Courtesy of Cam Cogsdill)

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_________________________

"When Soapy was a small child his father would go into Newnan every Saturday and get drunk, and would take Soapy to drive him home. It would make Soapy so mad he would dump his father (who had passed out) in the back of the wagon and whip the mules to go lickedy-split over the rutted road so his father’s head would whack with every bump…."

—Ellen P. Rafeedie

SEPTEMBER 12

1609: English explorer Henry Hudson sails down what is now known as the Hudson River.

1814: The Battle of North Point is fought in Maryland (War of 1812).

1864: A government supply train of 205 wagons departs Fort Scott, Kansas for Fort Gibson in Indian Territory.

1866: "The Black Crook," known to be the first American burlesque show, opens in New York City.

1873: The first typewriter is sold to the public.

1874: The Battle of Buffalo Waller takes place in Hemphill County, Texas. While delivering dispatches, Billy Dixon, Amos Chapman, and four others, are attacked by nearly 100 Kiowa and Comanche Indians. The men take refuge in a hollow in the ground created by rolling buffalo. They are trapped for three days later suffering one casualty before the military rescues them.

1878: Patent litigation involving the Bell Telephone Company against Western Union Telegraph Company and Elisha Gray begins.

1882: The Tombstone, Arizona Epitaph reports that Johnny Ringo is drunk in Galeyville.

The Layman-Odem Revolver from Soapy Smith's, Jeff Smith's Parlor

The Layman-Odem revolver and letter
photo by George Layman

 

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he Layman-Odem revolver

      Named after owners George Layman and Albert Odem, this artifact was introduced to me by owner George Layman via Larry Zeug, an old friend.



      The revolver is a nickled Harrington and Richardson Young America Bulldog. A more complete history of this model can be found at the NRA Museum. Mr. Layman claims the letter and revolver are authentic. This post is not meant to be an authentication or a judgement call, but rather am merely reporting on an interesting story and claim. The letter that comes with the pistol reads as follows.  

This Young America revolver was given to my uncle in 1935 by Willie Neuille. Mr. Neuille got the revolver from a Mr. J. Tanner who owned a hardware store near Skagway and found the gun hanging on a nail behind the bar in the old Jeff Smith’s Parlor saloon around 1911. I owned it ever since my uncle gave it to me during the war.

Albert Odom

The Layman-Odem revolver and letter
photo by George Layman

 

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      The letter is fascinating in itself, including the mention of "J. Tanner," which is most likely vigilante Josias Martin Tanner, who witnessed Soapy Smith's murder on Juneau Wharf on July 8, 1898? The following day he is made a temporary deputy U.S. marshal by Judge Sehlbrede, until the U.S. Marshal agrees and officially swears him in. Tanner did indeed operate a hardware store in Skagway, where it has been reported numerous times that he sold old guns and artifacts that he claimed "once belonged to Soapy." The fact that this revolver came from Tanner may strengthen or weaken the authenticity of the claim that it was "found ... hanging on a nail behind the bar in the old Jeff Smith’s Parlor saloon."

      Another question arises with the 1911 date. After Soapy Smith's demise in July 1898, his partners in the saloon business, John and Frank Clancy, took over the saloon until 1899. Until 1900 it was the Sans Souci Restaurant and Oyster Parlor. In the Fall of 1900 the city of Skagway purchased the building to house the fire department's Hook and Ladder Company. The insides of the building were gutted, including the front bar. Martin Itjen purchased the building in 1935 and made it into a museum. "Around 1911," when the revolver was found, the city fire department had already owned the gutted building for a decade. If this story is authentic then there is some important information missing. 

"The class of people who want to get something for nothing are no match for those who give nothing for something."

— The Daily Standard, August 2, 1882

SEPTEMBER 11

1609: Explorer Henry Hudson sails into what would later be named New York harbor and discovers Manhattan Island and the Hudson River.

1776: A Peace Conference is held between British General Howe and three representatives of the Continental Congress, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge. The conference fails to reach an accord and the war for independence continues for seven more years.

1777: American forces under General George Washington, carrying the “stars and stripes” (American flag) into battle for the first time, are forced to retreat at the Battle of Brandywine Creek.

1786: The Convention of Annapolis opens with the aim of revising the articles of the Confederation.

1789: Alexander Hamilton is appointed by President George Washington as the first secretary of the treasury.

1814: The U.S. fleet defeats the British Navy in the Battle of Lake Champlain, Vermont during the War of 1812.

1842: 1,400 Mexican troops capture San Antonio, Texas. They retreat, with prisoners.

1857: Indians, incited by Mormon Elder John Lee, kill 120 Arkansas settlers bound for California, in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Utah Territory. The Mormons persuaded the emigrants that they could freely pass unharmed if they surrendered their arms. The Indians murdered all but 18 children. Twenty years later, on March 3, 1877, Lee would be executed for his part in the murders.

1875: The first comic strip to appear in a newspaper is "Professor Tidwissel's Burglar Alarm," featured in the New York Daily Graphic.

1877: The first comic-character timepiece is patented by the Waterbury watch Company.

1878: Outlaw Billy the Kid spends the night at John Chisum's camp, New Mexico Territory.

1883: The mail chute is patented by James Cutler. The device is first utilized in the Elwood Building in Rochester, New York.

1885: Apache Indian Chief Geronimo, and a small band of Indians, shoot a man cutting poles, murder another in ambush, and murder a teen herding cattle, kidnapping his 11-year-old brother.

1897: A ten-week coal workers strike in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio comes to an end. The workers win an eight-hour workday, semi-monthly pay, and company stores are shut down.

1904: The U.S. battleship Connecticut is launched in New York.

1910: The first commercially successful electric bus line opens in Hollywood, California.

"To my old friend Soapy Smith"

Close-up of the note
courtesy of Wayne Selmer

 

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o my old friend Soapy Smith"






Friend, Wayne Selmer sent me the following photograph regarding a note and some flowers placed on Soapy Smith's grave. The photo is part of a scrapbook in his possession which dates back to 1940. The note reads,

"To my old friend Soapy Smith

From Muligan Gulch Bill

Butte Mont [Montana]"

      Soapy indeed had a very loyal set of friends and admirers, at least one refusing to say anything bad about him in an interview 16 years after Soapy's demise (1914). Could this be an old friend, or one time partner, associate, gang member of Soapy's? It is not an impossibility. If "Bill" was between 20-30 years old in 1898, he would be between 62-72 in 1940.
      Over the decades after Soapy's death numerous people sent money for the upkeep of the grave. It is very possible that a "Muligan Gulch Bill" did send money to grave caretaker Martin Itjen to place flowers on the grave, and Itjen made the wooden "note" capitalizing on the kind act.
      Martin Itjen, the owner and operator of the Jeff Smith's Parlor Museum and primary caretaker of Soapy's grave, is known for such theatrics and the 1940 date aligns with the height of Itjen's business. Still, the sincere sending of flowers may very well be real.
     One question remains... Who is "Muligan Gulch Bill?"

The photograph
courtesy of Wayne Selmer

 

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"The most infamous of his unique schemes was the prize package soap sell in which he put large-denomination bills inside the wrappers of some cakes of soap and auctioned off the packages for $1 each, then for more as the number of cakes diminished. Only Jeff’s men, who seeded every crowd, ever won the larger bills. From this swindle came the sobriquet “Soapy” by which he came to be known throughout the American West."

—Alias Soapy Smith, Introduction.

OCTOBER 9

1833: The city of Chicago, Illinois is incorporated.

1859: The 6th Infantry leads two officers and 50 enlisted against 200 Mojave Indians near Fort Mojave, New Mexico Territory. Three soldiers are wounded and about 23 Indians killed, with many wounded and captured.

1861: The federal government levies its first income tax. The tax is 3% of all incomes over $800. The wartime measure is rescinded in 1872.

1863: Sioux Indians kill 59 Pawnee Indians in Massacre Canyon, Nebraska Territory.

1864: Union forces led by Admiral David Farragut, move into Mobile Bay, Alabama during the Civil War, 1884: The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor.

1889: “The most notoriously corrupt and decrepit municipal organization in the West is that in Denver.” (Rocky Mountain News, August 5, 1889). Bad man Soapy Smith controls the criminal underworld there.