They Feared an Ill Omen: Soapy Smith, the steamer Utopia and superstition. Seattle Post Intelligencer, August 14, 1897.

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hey Feared an Ill Omen

Seattle Post Intelligencer, August 14, 1897.

ADDENDUM: New information has been posted on December 28, 2019, stating that the latest known date and time for Soapy's first arrival in Skagway is August 20, 1897, at 5 p.m.

    

    The following newspaper clipping describes the delay of the Klondike bound Utopia steamship, based on the superstition of "Friday the 13th." Although every day wasted could mean the loss of a gold bearing claim, these gold stampeders thought it best to wait until 12:30 a.m., Saturday the 14th to allow their captain to begin the journey north.

     This clipping is also very important to the saga of "Soapy" Smith as he is listed as a passenger on the Utopia, his first trip to the brand new camp of Skaguay, Alaska. The Utopia's captain, John O'brien, plays a key part in Soapy's Alaskan adventures. Following is the article in full.

THEY FEARED AN ILL OMEN
_____________________

Utopia’s Passengers Objected to Sailing 
Friday, the 13th Day of the 
Month – Was it Superstition?

     “Friday, August 13.”

     This was the date on which the steamer Utopia was to have sailed for Alaska. She waited till 12:30 this morning, Saturday, August 14.

     Who says there are not lots of superstitious people in the world? When the gold hunters who purchased berths on the Utopia began to reckon on the day of the week (Friday) upon which they were to sail, they hesitated about starting. When they remembered, upon reflection, that it was also the 13th day of the month, they positively refused to budge.

     Thus it was that the Utopia waited all day Friday, and in the first hours of the next succeeding day cast off her lines and pointed her nose to the north.

     The passengers came to Capt. O’Brien yesterday morning and pointed out the unlucky number of the day in the month, and the further fact that from the time since when “the memory of man runneth not to the contrary,” Friday has been held to be a most unfavorable day upon which to undertake a journey.

     It was whispered about the wharves yesterday the Capt. O’Brien himself saw the ill omen hovering in front of him and had cast about for a good excuse to wait until a more favorable day and hour.

     The Utopia’s gallant skipper was questioned as to his alleged hesitancy about sailing on the 13th day of the month and the sixth day of the week.

     “There is nothing in it,” he said emphatically. “We were not quite ready to sail this morning – the engineer will be ready tonight. Yet, it is true that some of the passengers kicked on sailing on Friday, the 13th, and rather than have any dispute about the matter, and in order to give everyone a fair treatment, it was decided to sail at 12:30 tomorrow morning. Besides, there were good reasons why we did not sail today. In the first place, we could not load the horses until flood tide. Then, again, the ebb tide will bring us on our way and will give us an advantage of four hours.”

     Some of the Utopia’s passengers were seen last night. They admitted that they had felt a little nervous over the prospect of having to sail on Friday, the 13th day of the month, and expressed relief that they would not embark till the 14th.

     The Utopia will make the run to Dyea in about five days.

     The Utopia received another visit from inspector Bryant last night. He went through the vessel, and, learning that she was carrying 60 horses, he issued orders forbidding her to proceed to see with more than sixty-five passengers.

     At the office of the company last night a reporter of the Post-Intelligencer was told that the instructions from Capt. Bryant would be obeyed. How many tickets had been originally sold could not be learned, but it is presumed that her list did not contain more than the authorized number of passengers. The following list was earmarked for publication:

Thomas A. Morrin.

A. Berger.

James Stronach, Jr.

George Winter.

A. A. Chittick.

Isaac Thompson.

L. H. Horn.

S. E. Boston.

M. S. Goodnight.

John Deland.

B. H. West.

Crys Snyder.

E. H. Wood.

F. A. Burns.

J. H. Crocker.

F. E. Sprague.

Fred H. Lysons.

L. S. Humes.

W. J. Ford.

E. M. Emria.

B. Voorhees.

Alex Thompson.

G. W. Bayne.

W. W. Getchel.

Flora Wright.

E. J. Heacock.

Arthur Bermer.

H. Higgins.

H. S. Stevens.

Anton Polaora.

H. C. Ingles.

Ben Olsen.

A. Wold.

(second column)

Matt Strall.

P. D. Terry.

George Foster.

J. R. Smith.

Joseph Leo.

J. L. Dillion.

George Smith.

George Welsh.

W. P. Gossner.

A. B. Vogie.

P. C. Chittick.

J. W. Boston.

G. McKae.

G. J. Kohl.

Peter Pomroy.

G. Curtis.

John Clifford.

M. A. Perry.

J. F. Ford.

R. A. Case.

Fred Talbot.

R. M. Merrit.

L. H. Warson.

A. G. Gregory.

J. G. Fritz.

Mary Wright.

J. M. Laughlin.

C. C. Savlage.

C. B. Nash.

George D. Kittinger.

Henry Fredericks.

L. W. Tozier.

     The passengers boarded the steamer at 10 o’clock last night. At that hour all the freight was a board and everything was in shipshape for the voyage. The passengers were happy at the prospect for their speedy departure for the Gold fields. In the men’s cabin a good-looking fellow, with a mellow-toned fiddle, kept the crowd of light-hearted gold hunters entertained with old-fashioned tunes for an hour or more. The scene was full of picturesque incidents -enough to fill several volumes of the modern novel. Truly, it was a scene to remind one of the days of ‘49. Most of the men were attired and rough clothes and flannel shirts, and many wore belts stuck full of cartridges with brand-new revolvers in bright, new leather cases. Some had a bowie knife to keep the weapon company.

     One of the members of the company operating the Utopia said last night that the steamer had accommodations for 158 passengers, and was amply able to carry that number. He said, however, that the law was being observed.

     Among the Klondikers taken out last night by the Utopia was a party composed of A. L. Peacor, of Snohomish, and L. S. Humes and Fred H. Lysons, of this city [see: Victoria Daily Colonist, Sept. 23, 1897, Mr. Lysons only lasted one month in Alaska before calling it quits]. They will be joined at Skaguay by Frank McCurdy, of Port Townsend, who took up five horses on the barge Ajax last Sunday for the party. Mr. Humes goes in the employ of the Alaska Steamship Company, with istructions to push through to Dawson City in haste. Mr. Lysons, who is in charge of the party, may not go further than Dyea, but expects to get the other members of the party, with their supplies, through without much loss of time. Mr. Lysons and Mr. Humes also represent a syndicate of newspapers as correspondents.

July 22, 2017: Film footage of the Utopia, 1925.
July 19. 2017: Newly discovered photos of the Utopia.
May 13, 2017: When did Soapy first arrive in Skagway?

Utopia: pp. 412-17, 435, 447.
John O'Brien: pp. 413-16, 435, 586.

"You never knew anyone to have such power. He never lets one of his followers go hungry if he has a dollar in his pocket, and they know it."

—Colorado state representative Lafe Pence, 1894.
—Alias Soapy Smith, p. 312.

NOVEMBER 6

1858: a Constitution for Jefferson Territory is adopted, which eventually becomes the state of Colorado.

1860: Abraham Lincoln is elected as the sixteenth president of the United States.

1861: Jefferson Davis is elected as the president of the Confederate States of America.

1861: James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, is born.

1868: The Red Cloud War officially ends.

1869: The first official intercollegiate football game is played in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

1869: Jack Carr, dissatisfied with his dinner at Daniel Steele's hotel in Evans, Colorado Territory, is given a refund and ordered to leave. He returns shortly after, and shoots Daniel Steele to death. A trial is quickly arranged and Carr is promptly executed by hanging.

1874: A cavalry detachment attacks Gray Beard's Cheyenne Indian camp near McClellan's Creek in Texas, rescuing 6-year-old Julia and 4-year-old Adelaide Germaine. The girls had been kidnapped from a wagon train in Kansas the previous spring. 4 Indians and 2 soldiers are killed.

1876: English businessman, John Tunstall, arrives in Lincoln County. New Mexico Territory. He is one of the main combatants of the Lincoln County War.

1877: Bat Masterson is elected sheriff of Ford County, Kansas. Later Masterson would become a good friend of Soapy Smith and members of the Soap Gang.

1885: Bad man Soapy Smith is fined $5 for disturbing the peace in Denver, Colorado.

1890: Fort Bridger, Wyoming is officially abandoned as the last soldiers leave.

1891: Comanche, the only horse of Custer's 7th Cavalry to survive the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn, dies at Fort Riley, Kansas. The horse is still on display at the University of Kansas.

1891: Constable Jacob “Jake” Teeter is shot and killed in Truckee, California. He was drinking in Hurd’s Saloon when Deputy Sheriff James Reed walked in with a few friends. A heated argument started and Reed disarmed Teeter, who left the saloon and came back with another revolver and fired at Reed, but missed. Reed returned fire and didn’t miss. Teeter died the next morning with four bullets lodged inside his corpse.

1896: Bounty hunter and cattle rustler, Bill Dunn is shot dead by Deputy Sheriff Frank Canton in Pawnee, Oklahoma Territory. People in the area accused the Dunn brothers of being involved in rustling and robbery. Sheriff Frank Canton, who had previously arrested Bill Dunn for rustling, began investigating the claims. Bill Dunn rode into Pawnee intent on killing Canton. As Canton walked out of a restaurant, Dunn fired two shots at him, missing his target. Canton drew and fired two shots, killing Dunn. The shooting is ruled self-defense. Bill Dunn is best known for killing (along with his brothers) outlaws Charley Pierce and George “Bittercreek” Newcomb, members of the Doolin Gang, on May 2, 1895.

1908: Wild Bunch outlaws Robert Leroy “Butch Cassidy” Parker, Harry “Sundance Kid” Longbaugh arrive in San Vicente, Bolivia after robbing the Aramayo Mine payroll two days previous. After being wounded during a gun battle with four local lawmen, of which Parker shot and killed one, Parker commits a murder-suicide when he shoots and kills Longbaugh and then himself. The outlaws, unknown to the locals, are buried in an unmarked grave.

1910: Roy “Arkansas Tom” Daughterty, member of the Doolin-Dalton gang is paroled and released from prison in Lansing, Michigan.

The Illustrated American, April 9, 1892: Pictures From Creede.

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ictures from Creede

The Illustrated American, April 9, 1892

The following is an article on the startup of the silver boom-town of Creede, Colorado, written just weeks after the main rush began (February-March, 1892). "Soapy" Smith, Bob Ford and Bat Masterson are there, though Soapy is not mentioned by name, it is assumed that he is intentionally not mentioned by Soapy's friend Masterson in his statement, "There are more bunco men in camp here than I ever saw in one place before. None of them want trouble. They simply want to get what money is in sight and then light out.”

     For some time past the same excitement that was raining and Leadville fifteen years ago has been ruling Creede, Colorado.

     One curious thing about Creede is, that nobody knows exactly in what county it is. The new Silver camp stands at the junction of Hinsdale, Saguache, and Rio Grande counties, and miners who have taken up claims there have filed their deeds with the county clerk of each county so that they may be certain of clear title.

     The County Clerk of the Rio Grande has, although his pay depends upon the fees he receives from men who file their claims at his office, put up a notice on his office door at Del Norte, to say that Creede is not in Rio Grande County.

     This is, indeed, honesty.

     Eastern county clerks, borrow a hint from your Western brother.

     Creede is not much more than six months old, so it is impossible to say whether it will “pan out” like Leadville, or whether it will follow in the wake of Silver Cliff, and be a dreary desert of ten-foot holes.

     The camp is named from W. C. Creede, who forty-nine years ago was born at Fort Wayne, Ind. At 19 he became a scout in the Regular Army of the United States, and for seven years served in the Indian country. In 1869 he started prospecting, and since then has become acquainted with almost every spot of fascinating Colorado. Like many another prospector, he has tramped over the mountains month after month, blasted away in the bowels of the earth, hoping to strike it rich, and with every disappointment seen wealth in the dim distance urging him on to try again. Twice, when alone in the mountains, that terrible mountain fever has had him in its grasp, but owing to the fact that he does not know what whiskey tastes like he has been able to pull through without the aid of doctors. Moreover, he knows nothing of gambling; and yet she is a general favorite among the rough miners and gamblers of the conglomerate settlement at Creede. Modest, pure-minded, courageous, generous to a fault, yet the possessor of untold millions, and the acknowledged leader of the settlement of cutthroats, gamblers, and the scruff of civilization generally, he is the type of man not often met, but distinctively a creation of the Great West. He lives with a nephew in a small cabin at Creede, and in this nephew alone the new silver king confides.

     Mr. Creede’s great find was made in May, 1890. How he may it is best described in his own words:

     “I climbed the mountains along the trail of the float all day. The sun was beating down on me and the glint of the float under my feet was blinding. Just when the western sky was tinged with that gorgeous red we see here sometimes, I lifted my head, and there was, projecting out in front of me, a huge bowlder[sic] of silicate, big as a house. Good God! I almost screamed with delight. I knew it was bound to come some day, but the idea of finding it in such shape was appalling to me. I stayed off a mine and called it the Mammoth. I slept sounder that night that I had for years before. In June I discovered the Ethel and the Holy Moses. I gave the latter that name because I like odd names.”

     After those many years of wandering over the grand though harsh-looking Rockies, his toil and perseverance are being rewarded by income of one thousand dollars a day.

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     Mr. Creede’s partner, Capt. L. E. Campbell, has had a career almost as remarkable. In 1861 he ran away from an Ohio college, joined the army, and did good service during the Civil War. At the close of the war he became a second lieutenant in the Indian surface. He married the daughter of Col. Fred. Dent, brother-in-law and confidential friend of Gen. Grant. As a girl she spent much of her time at the White House. She now displays the same charming grace in her husband’s rude cabin that she did at the White House. For years Captain Campbell has been supporting his family on the scanty pittance allowed an army officer. Henceforth he will enjoy an income almost fabulous.

     The general foundation of Creede is termed a bird’s-eye porphyry. The veins are found lying between the walls of porphyry and trachyte. Had it not been for the interest that D. H. Moffat took in the camp it would never have been made public. Moffat is the president of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, and thought it cheaper to have his ores transported by rail than to go to the expense of having the ores hauled by wagon to Wagon Wheel Gap or Del Norte. All the ore is dumped into the cars of the D. and R. G. Without even being sorted.

     Last winter was an extremely mild one in Colorado. Southern Colorado, especially, was very fortunate in this respect. Owing to this stage of the weather, those interested in claims about Creede tried to get the new camp notoriety, and money was not spared in advertising. Eastern papers were requested to send men and write up the camp. In this the management of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad joined heartily, and as a result there are over ten thousand people in Creede to-day. The camp is situated in a gulch, surrounded on all sides by mountains.

     Creede is a typical Western mining town. It’s seething, diversified population has come from everywhere. Never since the days of early Leadville is anything of the like been seen. The scum of Western life is there, along with much of its sturdiest element. Faro-dealers, Arm in arm with the Denver speculators, may be seen in the streets at any hour. The tenderfoot lately from the East is an easy prey to the gamblers and sports. Assassins and honest men hobnob like old acquaintances. Desperados from Kansas, confidence man, horse-thieves, a Harvard graduate of law, and an escaped convict from Texas, may be seen sitting together on a footing of democratic equality at the faro tables. Everyone is engaged in a wild scramble for money. The shining metal has attracted all – gaming men, lawyers, miners, desperados, and tenderfeet. “Timber Line Sall” – is there, and the one-eyed Mexican who has capered about every dance-hall in the mining camps of Colorado for the last fifteen years. And there is that tall, fair-haired Englishmen who for sixteen years has sunk every cent he has ever made into Mother Earth and has never struck it yet. Still, he is full of hope and, after all these years of grub staking, believes a fortune is at his hand and that in the near future he will be able to return to the Mother Country a rich man.

Soapy Smith's Orleans Club
saloon can be seen in
the photo on the lower right.

(click image to enlarge)

   A man who has been bit mining fever never loses hope.

     Living in Creede is, of course, very expensive. There are probably nearly one hundred hotels there; but it does not take much to make a Creede hotel. A plain board shanty, sixteen feet square, with a blanket for door, is dignified with the name “Palace Hotel.” Until a short time ago the hotels were similar to this one, although many of them were made larger. In all, the sleeping-room held from twenty to sixty cots, the use of which was granted the tenderfoot at one dollar and a half each a night, with blankets furnished, or, without blankets, at only fifty cents. The Pullman Company has also entered the hotel business, leaving on the side track from three to ten sleepers, in which the anxious speculator could find a bed on payment of one dollar, provided he could catch the conductor in time to pay in his money and secure his ticket. Everyone sleeps with his clothes, satchels, hat, and shoes under the quilts. The revolver is generally kept ready for action. Sometimes a drunken miner enters the room, and insists on sharing the bed. In that case, one is compelled to look wise and say nothing. A meal at Creede costs one dollar. Beer costs fifteen cents a glass, or eighty and forty cents a bottle. Whiskey that will not kill cannot be got for less than twenty-five cents a drink, and the bartender is careful that your libation is not too large at that. Horses or burros to ride over the mountains are hired at fifty and twenty-five cents an hour. The streets are so terribly sloppy that one dares not walk around much, and a ride to any part of the city will cost you fifty cents. Labor is high. Any man who can drive a nail can command four dollars a day, and in some extreme cases they are paid one dollar an hour. Boss carpenters get eight dollars a day, and are talking of raising the scale of wages. Laundry costs three times as much as it does in Denver, and no Chinamen are allowed in the camp. Rents, too, are enormous. A man who went to Creede to rent a cabin declined because the rental was three hundred and fifty dollars per month. What makes the building of cabins somewhat dangerous is the fact that Willow Creek is above the camp. The water ripples down through the main alleys, and it is difficult for one to keep out the wet. Within less than a year 600 burros had been lost in floods, to say nothing of the many cabins. There is great fear already expressed of the usual June flood when the snow melts, and arrangements are being perfected to erect a dike.

     An electric-light plant is now in operation, a street-car line is being agitated, and a circus is en route from New Mexico. Notices are posted everywhere that lots are on the school section and held subject to the law of the State, but every man is a law, and drives his stakes in face of menace. The only title is that of occupation.

     Curiously enough, there has been as much excitement about the town lots in Creede as there has been about the mines, and fortunes are made daily by the transferring of real estate. At a recent sale of lots a blacksmith from Denver named Daniel O’Brien got a lot on which a certain Dr. Milton had improvements. When O’Brien went around to settle, Milton followed, telling him he should never occupy a lot. O’Brien replied that he would have a shop on it before night. Milton said he would do it at the muzzle of a shot-gun. Sheriff Gardner, of Hinsdale, stepped between them as the men began firing, and got hurt in the arm. One lot was put up, the minimum price being fifty dollars. Someone shouted, “a woman occupies it.” Then the crowd cried, “give it to her!” One man offered fifty dollars. The crowd groaned and hissed, and the gallant man bid one dollar more, announcing that it was for the woman, and it was knocked down to her amid a storm of cheers.

     A few minutes later a woman got out on Squatters’ Committee stand and made her own showing. Mrs. Barry was her name. She said she had been begging for two days, and was living on the lot. The woman wore an astrakhan fur jacket, and her fingers resembled a jeweler’s show-case. First she was cheered by a clique, and then a roar went up to give her the lot. She got it. It was certainly surprising to know that there were so many “lady squatters” in Creede. No one was aware that there were half so many in town.

     The highest price obtained was for a corner, which sold for two thousand seven hundred dollars.

     In all, two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars was realized. An attempt was made to rob the State officials of the money, but a mob of one thousand men, armed to the teeth, immediately surrounded the governor’s train and guarded it over night.

     On a lot close to a saloon kept by Israel and Groff you can read the following, stuck up on a board:

     Notice.

     The land either belongs to R. H. Sayre, who has located it with Valentine scrip, or to the State of Colorado. In either case you are trespassing, and cannot possibly gain anything by squatting upon it. The matter will probably be settled in thirty days, at which time you can purchase lots and get a title. For particulars call on

J. W. SMITH.

     

     Thus far, fairly good order has been preserved in Creede. Beyond the frequent killing of a stake jumper, and innumerable saloon brawls, the deeds of lawlessness have been comparatively few. It is highly improbable that this quiet state of things shall long continue. Bob Ford, the murderer of Jesse James, is at Creede. He professes to have gone there to make money; but in a recent interview he was careful to let it be known that he is still able to take care of himself in any quarrel. Bat Masterson, a noted frontier marshal, is the manager of the gambling house. He is one of the nerviest men in the West, and it will go hard with any gambler who raises a row in his establishment. Masterson has already killed twenty men. Others equally well known are in the town, and the future peace and order of the place does not look assuring.

     In a recent interview Masterson said: “we would be powerless should there be an outbreak. These mugs are on their good behavior because they are afraid of one another. There will be a break pretty soon. Why, you don’t know who you are talking to hear half the time. There are more bunco men in camp here than I ever saw in one place before. None of them want trouble. They simply want to get what money is in sight and then light out.”

     Creede’s first baby was born on February 17th. J. S. McDonald, a Scotchman, was its father. The miners went wild with enthusiasm over the advent of the little one. The child was a girl. Presents were showered upon the parents and offspring; but the great problem was a suitable name for Creede’s first-born.

     The father exhausted the entire gamut of the McDonald patronyms, but none of them suited the camp. As the prodigy was a girl, the mother considered it her exclusive privilege to choose the name. Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, and all the grand old names were suggested to no avail, and then Mrs. McDonald in desperation ran over all the fanciful names the novelists are so fond of, such as Maud, Lillie, Clarisse, Pearl, etc. But too none of these with the miners agree. A council was held, and after a long debate, in which every man of the seventy-five present had a voice, the name of Creede Amethyst McDonald was chosen and duly conferred.

     Who can tell but that Miss Creede Amethyst McDonald will be the great American heiress of A. D. 1910, and become an English duchess.

SOURCE: The Illustrated American, April 9, 1892, Pictures From Creede (page 343), authors collection.

"Soapy Smith is a name familiar to nearly every man in Colorado. He is probably the last of his race—a relic of by-gone days, when desperate men armed with a brace of huge pistols, were allowed to trample on the laws of county and state."

—Denver Times, 10/12/1895
—Alias Soapy Smith, p. 394.

NOVEMBER 5

1844: A grizzly bear undergoes a successful cataract operation at the Zoological Garden in California.

1861: Central City is chosen as the capital of Colorado Territory.

1870: Twenty hours after being robbed in Verdi, Nevada, the Central Pacific's No. 1 is robbed a second time about 385 miles from Verdi. A total of approximately $4,000 in gold and silver is taken.

1871: The Wickenburg Massacre. Indians attack the Wickenburg-La Paz stagecoach in Arizona Territory, bound for Los Angeles, California. Six passengers are killed, two survive. Passenger Kruger keeps the Indians at bay with a gun until the attackers give up the attack. Kruger and a badly wounded Mollie Shepherd are rescued, but Mollie succumbs to her wounds and dies a few days later.

1872: Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the presidential election.

1874: While scouting Lieutenant William Thompson and nine Indian scouts attack a Comanche Indian camp near Laguna Tahoka, Texas. Two Indians are killed, and 26 horses and mules captured.

1877: Confidence man Canada Bill Jones is erroneously reported dead in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

1877: Ed Masterson is shot and wounded in the Lone Star dance hall in Dodge City, Kansas, after trying to disarm Bob Shaw, who was threatening to kill Texas “Moore” Dick, accusing the latter of stealing $40. Masterson struck Shaw on the head with the butt of his revolver, but Shaw turned and fired a bullet into Masterson’s right breast. As Masterson fell, he fired his revolver twice, wounding Shaw enough to stop his aggressions.

1878: Virgil Earp is elected Constable of Prescott, Arizona Territory.

1892: Bascomb Smith, brother of con man “Soapy” Smith, assaults a man over a political remark at Denver’s city hall, and then helps others throw the man down a flight of stairs.

1895: George B. Selden receives the first U.S. patent for an automobile. He sells the rights for $200,000 four years later.

1896: Soapy Smith’s brother, Bascomb, is in court for stealing a woman’s expensive diamond-encrusted jewelry.

1901: Wild Bunch outlaw Ben “The Tall Texan” Kirkpatrick is arrested in St. Louis, Missouri. On the 4th Kirkpatrick had passed off some of the currency from a robbery. The bank teller noticed the consecutive serial numbers and alerted authorities and Kirkpatrick was arrested the following day (Nov. 5). Both he and his female companion, Laura Bullion, had stolen banknotes. Interesting to note that none of the Wild Bunch Gang were ever caught while in pursuit, but rather the law “followed the money” spent by the gang.

Artifact #51: Envelope to Capt Jeff Smith - "Deceased."

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apt. Jeff Smith - DECEASED

     An iconic Soapy Smith artifact symbolizing the end of his life and the end of Skagway's (spelled Skaguay) reign of the bunco lawlessness.
     The front side of the envelope, minus the letter and knowledge of the sender, was sent to "Capt. Jeff Smith" in June 1898 (postmark) at Skaguay, Alaska Ter. (territory). Alaska was actually not a territory, but the district of Alaska. Note that there is a stamp missing, which contained the missing date in June as well as the city of origin, however, a postmark on the rear indicates that the orgin country was Mexico. My father, John Randolph Smith (Randy) admitted that when he was a young boy he collected stamps and did remove some of the stamps from the envelops in the family collection in Mary's possession (Soapy's wife). Note that the postmaster in Skagway wrote "Deceased" at the top. At the bottom the sender wrote what appears to be "E.U.S.A."  I believe I am incorrect about the "E" as it makes no sense.
     The rear side of the envelope contains the very important postmarks indicating dates and locations. The letter was sent from Mexico on late June, arriving at another post office in Mexico on July 1, 1898, which means it was likely sent by someone who knew Soapy personally, perhaps a good friend. Soapy and several of the members of the Soap Gang were traveling back and forth between Mexico and the U.S. in 1895 but it is not known if any of Soapy's men were down there in 1898. The letter arrive in Seattle where it was postmarked at 7:30 a.m. on July 9, 1898, just ten hours after Soapy's violent death in the shootout on Juneau Wharf. The letter arrived and was postmarked in Skagway, Alaska six days later on July 15, 1898.

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"There is not a man on the Denver police force who did not breath a sigh of relief when he read that “Soapy” was dead. It was bound to come, and all realized that, but the question bothering the police officials was how long “Soapy” was to go about killing other men."

—Rocky Mountain News
Alias Soapy Smith, p. 584.

OCTOBER 9

1642: The first commencement at Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts is held.

1779: John Paul Jones, commander of the American warship Bon Homme, is quoted as saying "I have not yet begun to fight!"

1780: John Andre, a British spy, is captured with papers revealing that Benedict Arnold is planning on surrendering West Point, New York, to the British.

1806: The Corps of Discovery, the Lewis and Clark expedition, arrives back to St. Louis, Missouri, ending the trip to the Pacific Northwest.

1838: Victoria Chaflin Woodhull is born. As an adult she will be the first female candidate for the U.S. Presidency.

1845: The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York is formed by Alexander Joy Cartwright. It is the first baseball team in America.

1846: Astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovers the planet Neptune.

1862: Little Crow Indians attack Colonel Sibley's advance party at Wood Lake, Minnesota.

1869: The 8th Cavalry kill 18 Indians in a battle at Red Creek, Arizona Territory.

1872: From Fort McPherson, Nebraska, William F. Cody leads General Phil Sheridan and his party to Fort Hayes, Kansas.

1875: Outlaw, Billy the Kid is arrested for the first known time in Silver City, Arizona for stealing clothes. After two days, Billy took advantage of his small frame to squeeze his way up a chimney and escape.

1877: Nez Perce Indians raid an army depot at the Cow Island Landing, Montana Territory, killing one soldier and two civilians.

1881: Dave Rudabaugh escapes from the Las Vegas, New Mexico Territory jail and heads for Mexico.

1898: Jesse Edwards James, son of the deceased late outlaw Jesse James, is accused of leading a train robbery near Leeds, Missouri. He was tried and acquitted of charges February 28, 1899.

Artifact #50: Offer to buy Soapy Smith's property in 1896.

Add caption

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rtifact #50
An offer to buy the Smith home in Denver.

    


     It's been five years (September 4, 2012) since I posted the last letter artifact (#49) from my private collection. "Life" got in the way of posting the remaining 1/3 of these rare, previously unpublished heirloom and historical relics, but now I am free to begin again, starting with number 50 of approximately 160 ephemera total documents.
     Following is the contents of the letter.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Seattle, Wash., June 23rd, 1896

Mr. Jeff R. Smith,

       Spokane Falls, Wash.

Dear Sir:

     Being here on my way to Alaska on an excursion, I heard you were in Spokane, and would like to know the lowest cash price you will take for your residence, No. 1421 So. 15th St., Denver, Colo. I can get $6500. cash, and think you had better sell at that figure. If not, state your lowest cash price.

     Answer care George Fisher, 17th and Wazee Sts., Denver, Colo.

          Respectfully,

          (signed) A. R. Hamner

___________________________________________________________________________________

 
     I had no luck finding anything on "A. R. Hammner (or Hammer)." There was nothing in my files, in Google, or in Denver newspapers. 

     According to the 1897 directory (p. 1000) Soapy still listed his residence as 1421 S. 15th Street in Denver, Colorado, though he had not physically lived there since late 1895. It is certain he believed he would be able to return to Denver one day. I do not have a record of when he and/or Mary sold the property.

     George Fisher owned the saloon complex at 1535 to 1539 17th Street at the corner of Wazee Street in Denver, being at that location since 1879. Fisher was a friend of Soapy's, several letters from him exist in the Jeff Smith collection. Soapy opened a cigar store (front for big mitt [rigged poker games] swindles in a back room) at 1531 17th Street, just one or two doors from Fisher's saloon. It is likely that Fisher's saloon was used in lubricating intended victims of the Soap Gang.

Following are the last three links to the artifacts postings. If you wish to see the remaining 46 letters and documents then you will need to scroll back previous to April 2, 2012.
September 4, 2012: Artifact #49
May 4. 2012: Artifact #48
April 2, 2012: Artifact #47
June 11, 2010: Artifact #12 (George Fisher letter)

George B. Fisher: pages 122, 285, 421.

"he was one of the most kind-hearted men that ever lived. I will venture that there is scarcely a big city in the country where you couldn’t find some man that could tell you of a good act that Jeff Smith had done him."

—R. M. Eddy
Alias Soapy Smith, p. 590.

SEPTEMBER 22

1789: U.S. Congress authorizes the office of Postmaster General.

1862: U.S. President Lincoln issues the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It states that all slaves held within rebel states would be free as of January 1, 1863.

1886: Famed lawman Bat Masterson has an altercation with a man named Bagsby inside The Exchange saloon in Denver, Colorado. Masterson strikes Bagsby, who draws a pistol and shoots Masterson in the leg. Neither men wish to make a complaint and no one is arrested. Masterson is a friend of bad man “Soapy” Smith’s.

1891: Sak, Fox, and Potawatomi lands are open for settlement in Oklahoma Territory.

1898: Gold discovered in Nome, on Anvil Creek near Cape Nome. The claim was filed by the "Three Lucky Swedes": Jafet Lindeberg, Erik Lindblom and John Brynteson. News of the discovery reached the outside world later that winter. The discovering occurs seventy-six days after the shooting of Alaska bad man Soapy Smith. Had he survived, it is likely Soapy would have made Nome another empire, perhaps meeting up with Wyatt Earp once again (they met in Tombstone).

The fame of Soapy Smith continues into the mid-20th century

Dr. W. C. Carr as "Soapy Smith"
25th Anniversary parade
Landing of the Portland in Seattle
Seattle Daily Times
July 18, 1922

(Click image to enlarge)

oapy Smith's fame
continued to grow and prosper in the decades after his death.

The following newspaper article clippings are just a quick glimpse of his fame in the 60 years since 1898. His fame reached the summit in the mid-1960s and seemed to disappear. It started a comeback in the late 1970s and zenithed in 2009 with the publication of Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel. With Skagway, being one of the top Alaskan destinations and the public reopening of Soapy's saloon Jeff Smith's Parlor, there seems to be a constant interest in his story. Now, if a descent motion picture is produced is will ensure another 60 years of infamy.   

"Soapy Smith" the reindeer
Seattle Daily Times
November 16, 1930

(Click image to enlarge)

Bill Armstrong as "Soapy Smith"
Seattle Daily Times
February 24, 1918

(Click image to enlarge)

"Soapy" in the Potlatch parade
Seattle Daily Times
July 24, 1934

(Click image to enlarge)

"With the sports with whom he associated Smith was easily chief. He was clear-headed and willing to fight if necessary to maintain his supremacy. In a big mass-meeting held in Skaguay early this year he was chosen Captain of a military company to fight the Spaniards, and the company offered its services to President McKinley. If they had been accepted, not a man would have welched on going to the front. "

—R. M. Eddy
Alias Soapy Smith, p. 590.

SEPTEMBER 21

1784: The first daily newspaper in the U.S., the Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser is published in Philadelphia.

1873: George A. Custer's command arrives at Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory.

1876: Jim, Robert, and Cole Younger are arrested for the bank robbery at Northfield, Minnesota. Frank and Jesse James manage to escape capture.

1891: Deputy U.S. Marshal Joseph Wilson is shot dead by Sam Hickory, a liquor runner the deputy had just arrested at his home on Fourteen Mile Creek near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The body of the dead marshal was taken to a ravine about a mile away and left there. Three days later Wilson's body was recovered. His throat had been slit and there was a bullet wound in his knee. Hickory was arrested. Tried and found guilty of the murder.

1893: Frank Duryea took what is believed to be the first gasoline- powered automobile for a test drive.

1897: The New York Sun ran the famous, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" editorial, in response to a letter from 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon.

1904: Nez Perce Indian Chief Joseph dies on the Colville reservation in northern Washington at the age of 64. In 1877 he surrendered the surviving Nez Perce forces after the Battle of Bear’s Paw in northern Montana. It was there that he wrote "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

Another photo of the Soapy Smith gang?

A few of the Soapy Smith Gang
Waiting for a boat to arrive
authors collection

(Click image to enlarge)

ET ANOTHER MISIDENTIFIED PHOTOGRAPH 
of the Soap Gang.

The clothing suggests 1910-1930. Soapy Smith died in 1898. No provenance that these are/were members of the Soap Gang.

"He is the most gracious, kindhearted man I’ve met. To know him is to like him."

—William Saportas

SEPTEMBER 8

1565: A Spanish expedition establishes the first permanent European settlement in North America at present-day St. Augustine, Florida.

1664: The Dutch surrender New Amsterdam to the British, who then rename it New York.

1866: The first recorded birth of sextuplets is born to James and Jennie Bushnell of Chicago, Illinois.

1868: A battle between seven Sioux Indian warriors and members of the Gros Ventre, Ree, and Mandan Indian tribes occurs near Fort Berthold, Dakota Territory. The Sioux fire shots across a river and members of the Three Affiliated Tribes give chase. One Sioux Indian is caught, killed, and scalped.

1868: Indians kill 17 settlers in a raid near Cimarron Crossing, Kansas.

1879: Arista Webb settles an argument with Barney Martin by delivering a deadly blow to Martin's head with the butt of a Winchester rifle, in Dodge City, Kansas. Webb was immediately arrested, eventually facing convicted and execution.

1879: Female gambler Eleanore “Madame Mustache” Dumont commits suicide with a bottle of poison in Bodie, California.

1881: The Bisbee to Tombstone stage in Arizona Territory is robbed. Interviews of the passengers reveal that one of the masked robbers had said, "Have we got all the sugar?" This is said to have been a favorite phrase of Sheriff John Behan's deputy sheriff, Frank Stilwell. Boot marks at the scene match Stilwell's boots. Stilwell and Pete Spence are arrested in Bisbee and returned to stand trial in Tombstone.

1893: Gambler Luke Short dies of natural causes in Geuda Springs, Kansas.

1892: An early version of "The Pledge of Allegiance" appears in The Youth's Companion.

Another Soapy Smith Derringer?

SOAPY SMITH'S SOUTHERN DERINGER?
Photo courtesy of Amoskeag Auction Co.

(Click image to enlarge)

NOTHER SOAPY SMITH DERRINGER?

     Called the "Soapy Smith" Southerner Deringer, lot 197 was set to sell in the August 29, 2015 auction run by Amoskeag Auction Company of Manchester, New Hampshire, with a starting bid of $3,000 - $4,000. The pistol failed to meet the minimum required bid.
     These days all one has to do is Google "Soapy Smith" and a plethora of sites are available to all who take the time to read. Because of this fact, I had to chuckle when I saw the following statement in the auction description.

"Except for the killing of vigilante Frank Reid on the same day of his demise none of the documentation provided indicates any gunfights by 'Soapy' that would support the four notches in this pistol but considering his background anything is possible."

Had the auction house gone to the "Violent Clashes" page of our main website they would have seen a listing of the known gunfights Soapy had taken a part in. The "four notches in this pistol," reminds me that there is no evidence of anyone in the old west actually carving notches into the grips of their pistols, keeping tabs of the men they had killed. This was an invention of fiction writers. 

four notches
Photo courtesy of Amoskeag Auction Co.

(Click image to enlarge)

Provenance?

     A letter written by J. Cornell purports that he took this pistol off the body of "Soapy" Smith after the shooting, along with two $20.00 eagle coins. He passed it on to John Jack McPhee on April 8, 1930. In his letter to McPhee he explains how his cabin was flooded by overflow from a river and badly rusted the gun. A small binder with letters purportedly from Mr. Cornell and other owners is included. The binder also has some "Soapy" Smith background, a chronological list of all owners before Mr. Riggs and period photos of the Skagway area and Smith. This Southerner would pass through seven hands before being purchased by Mr. Riggs [Elliott Riggs Collection].
     I could not find a Cornell listed in the known Skagway population. This is not proof that he was not there, but rather that his name is know listed in my records or in the name files from the Skagway Museum.
     The story of a Derringer found in Soapy's pocket closely resembles the gun and story told by Reverend Sinclair that appears in Mission: Klondike, the story of Reverend John A. Sinclair's adventures in Alaska and the Klondike during the gold rush, written by the Reverend's son in 1978. The Sinclair Derringer, a Colt's Model 3, .41 rim-fire is said to have been the derringer carried by Soapy. Historical logic and gun history suggests that both rim-fire weapons were outdated "antiques" by 1898, that neither would have been logical choices for a man who had already survived numerous gunfights, to carry around for personal safety. All of the newspapers prior to Soapy's time in Alaska, spoke of "large frame" revolvers being carried and used by Soapy. No "small pistols" are ever mentioned.  

Description:

     Brown Manufacturing Company Southerner Deringer, serial #6812, 41 rim fire, 2 1/2" octagon barrel with a lightly oxidized and frosted bore. This very good condition brass frame Southerner is purported to belong to 19th century conman Jefferson Randolf [sic] "Soapy" Smith who met his demise in Alaska plying his trade. The barrel is a brown patina with scattered pitting. The frame has tarnished to a dark bronze color with scattered light handling marks and fine casting defects. The hammer and trigger have worn to brown with oxidation blemishes and pinprick pitting. The smooth rosewood grips rate very good with light handling marks and four "notches" cut into the right panel. The barrel and grips are numbered to the gun but the extractor is not. The loading notch no longer functions and the full cock notch, while operational, requires an unusually heavy pull to release. The barrel to frame fit is loose with varying degrees of slot damage present on the screws. Mr. Smith got his nickname from a favorite scam of his, where he would buy boxes of 5 cent bar soap, set up a small table and announce to all in earshot that they had the chance of winning $20.00, $50.00 or even more for a few dollars investment. As he spoke he would wrap several of the bars with twenty dollar or larger bills in front of his hapless victims add them to the pile of soap bars and start selling them for $5.00 or more each. He would remove these seeded bars from the pile with sleight of hand or mark them for his "shills" to buy. His "suckers" would eagerly buy or bid for them hoping for a quick profit especially, when the shills in the audience would proclaim how they "found" money in the bar they "bought". After selling the last bar he would quickly pack up and leave with only him and his gang having profited. "Soapy" was a true crime boss of his time and he and his gang caused so much trouble that members of the Skagway "Committee of 101" (vigilantes) took action. One report indicates he was killed on July 8, 1898 by members of the "Committee of 101" in the shootout in Skagway, where he used a Winchester rifle to kill vigilante Frank Reid before another Committee member gunned him down; but others claim it was at the hand of a U.S Marshall. Except for the killing of vigilante Frank Reid on the same day of his demise none of the documentation provided indicates any gunfights by "Soapy" that would support the four notches in this pistol but considering his background anything is possible.

The Guns of Soapy Smith: February 4, 2010


* Another source is the main Soapy Smith website which has a page on Soapy's Weapons.

"The author’s father and his siblings resided with Mary, known to them as “Mammy.” She often spoke of their grandfather’s behavior. Mammy loved her beer and whiskey mix, which she said was for her rheumatism. On Saturdays after a few of these concoctions, she would enlighten the author with fascinating stories of Soapy. Then for the gift of her stories, she “let him: clean her wooden floors. "

—Alias Soapy Smith, p. 7

SEPTEMBER 2

1775: The first American war vessel, Hannah is commissioned by General George Washington.

1789: The Treasury Department is established.

1862: Sioux Indian Chief Little Crow and his warriors attack an Army encampment in Minnesota. Gunfire is heard at the Lower Agency in Birch Coulie and troops stationed there race to the spot, but not before 24 soldiers are killed and 67 wounded.

1864: Union forces led by General William T. Sherman occupy Atlanta, Georgia during the Civil War.

1868: Indians attack a mail escort at Little Coon Creek, Kansas. Three Indians are killed, and three soldiers are wounded.

1868: Famed Texas and Dodge City, Kansas gambler Benjamin F. Thompson shoots and wounds his brother-in-law and spends two of a four-year sentence in the Texas State Penitentiary.

1868: William “Billy” Thompson and U.S. Army Sergeant William Burke go to a house of prostitution in Austin, Texas, where upon seeing three drunken soldiers sleeping outside, Thompson suggests that they strip the trio and hide their clothes. Burke refuses, and later that night he burst in on a sleeping Thompson and threatens to drive him outside naked. Thompson shoots Burke, who dies the following day. Thompson is able to flee the state and arrest.

1884: Fire destroys 22 buildings, including the Missoula National Bank in Missoula, Montana.

1885: Twenty-Eight Chinese coal miners and general laborers are killed in Rock Springs, Wyoming by other striking coal miners who were upset about the refusal of the Chinese to join the strike against the Union Pacific Coal Department. In 1887 the U.S. government paid $147,748.74 in restitution to China as a result of the clash.

1887: Andy “Andy Cooper” Blevins, a hired killer, leads some of his brothers and other cattlemen on a night ambush of the Tewksbury sheep camp in Pleasant Valley, Arizona Territory, shooting and killing John Tewksbury and Bill Jacobs. This occurs during a range war called the Graham-Tewksbury Feud.

1889: Soapy Smith writes a five-page letter to his wife Mary giving details of the shootout at the Pocatello train depot that occurred two days previous on August 30th.

1897: Previously known as Queens Magazine and Queen of Fashion, the first issue of McCall’s magazine is published.

1901: Vice President Theodore Roosevelt utters his famous "Speak softly and carry a big stick" phrase during a speech at the Minnesota State Fair.