Mock Auctions: How Cheap Watches are “Worked Off” on Countrymen.

MOCK AUCTIONS
San Francisco Chronicle
June 22, 1879

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ock auction houses were a very successful addition to "Soapy" Smith's swindle businesses in Denver, Colorado. 

 

The mock auction is a swindle in which a victim bids on and purchases what he is made to believe is a high quality gold watch, but in fact, he is paying good money for a very low quality one. Past research and articles I have published on Soapy's mock auction houses were based on period newspaper articles, which gave some great information, while leaving open-ended questions, as to the details of where and how the watches were obtained. Based on letters in the family collection, I believed that Soapy purchased the cheap watches. One letter in family hands comes from C. C. Lamos, a retail and supply company from Chicago, dated December 4, 1883.

Friend Jeff

      Am dam [sic] sorry the watches did not pan out all ok.… You must always send them back at my expense as I hate like the duce [sic] to have any of the old boys kick on me. I had rather pay the difference myself. 6 oz white watches nice ones 4.25 each, is the best anyone can do. They are nice ones. Just got in a fine lot today. The Silver watches I have just [illegible] up to the Waltham agency here and will see what they say. He sends this reply and you can’t get any made I don’t think this season as they are very busy at the factory for holidays.
     [John] Waller is still in Oregon doing well as usual he is making big money this year. Wishing you the best of good luck.

I am yours only
Lamos [1]

The fact that the letter is an apology for poor quality watches had me wondering how Soapy kept a constant supply of watches coming in as any break in the supply would shut down the auction house until more watches were received.
     I came across a good answer from a newspaper article published in the San Francisco Chronicle, June 22, 1879.

MOCK AUCTIONS.
How Cheap Watches are “Worked Off” on Countrymen.

      The CHRONICLE has repeatedly shown up in its columns the snares and nefarious methods adopted by bunko and cheater “steerers” to entrap country visitors and rob them of their hard-earned money. There is yet another class of swindlers, whose victims are numbered by the legion, who nightly ply their thieving art, and from the peculiar manner with which their operations are conducted they are seldom or never caught and consequently but little publicity is ever given to their transactions. The swindlers referred to are certain Cheap John establishments on Kearny street and their game is so ingeniously played that frequently city people and bucolic visitors whose wisdom teeth have been cut by experience with bunko and cheater men, readily fall into the trap and are swindled. For the benefit of those who do not know the game alluded to or the history of it.

 

$75 WATCH AND HEIRLOOM

From the time the Cheap John gets it until it is disposed of to some victim looking for a bargain, the following will be of interest. The proprietors of these Cheap John stores will, during the day, when they are short of material, visit the various pawn-broker establishments in the city and buy up the unredeemed cheap silver and white metal case watches at an average price of $2.70 apiece. The watches, with a sufficient number of steel chains, are then taken to a gold plater, who soon after turns them out with bright gold cases. The plating is done with 18-carat gold, and a white metal or brass case watch is sold as an 18-carat gold watch. If it is a silver case watch it is sold with the guarantee that it is on a “coin basis.” In the employ of these Cheap John stores are some six or eight cappers. During the night they are given a watch to “work off,” and if successful they receive for their services a dollar a piece. The chronometer, the brand of which is generally Swiss, is “worked off” as follows: Capper No. 1, having received the watch before the evening’s business has opened, waits until the store is filled by a crowd of the curious when he approaches the auctioneer and intimates to him that he would like to sell his watch, which is either an “heirloom” or one that cost him $75. The auctioneer takes the watch and tells the “owner” he will charge him one dollar for selling it. The watch is offered for sale and Capper No. 2 bids $5 for it, which is quickly followed by bids from the other cappers until it is run up to say $10, and at that price it is knocked down to the bidder.

THE “OWNER”

Then speaks up, and says he will not allow the watch to go for such a low figure. He is informed by the auctioneer that he can make one bid for the watch, which he does, $16, and at that figure it is sold to him. The auctioneer claims his dollar for selling it, and, of course, as the “owner” has not that amount, the watch is then auctioned off again. It is now, the victim takes his first bite. The watch is started at $2, and the countryman maybe bids $5. The cappers crowd around him and explain its mechanism, the solidness of the case and the clearness of the crystal, etc. Greeny is caught; and the bids are run up on him until he bids $35 or $40, when it is knocked down to him at that price. He is then taken to the back of the store and charged one dollar for buying the watch, and if he asks for a guarantee, he is given the following: “Received of John Doe, $40, for a watch. —.” The countryman no sooner reaches the sidewalk with his presumed prize when he is roosted by another capper, who tells him that if the watch is gold he will give him $50 for it. They go to a jewelry store near-by where the watch is tested with water contained in a gold bottle. The jeweler demands one dollar before he will give the result of the test, and the money is handed over, and the victim is told that the watch is not gold, and he is advised to take it back to the auction-house and have it sold. He does so and the auctioneer again puts it up for sale and knocks it down to one of the cappers, who bids $2.50 for it. The seller retains one dollar as his commission, and hands over the balance, $1.50 to the countryman, who is

OUT JUST $38.50

On his bargain. It frequently happens that among the watches purchased by the Cheap John there is a small one. A satin-lined case is made for it, and it is then given to one of the cappers, who presents it at the mock-auction counter with the story that it was a wedding-present to his wife and that he is compelled by reduced circumstances to thus part with it. It is at once offered for sale, and “worked off” on some victim whose sympathies are interested by the tale of domestic affliction which caused the sacrifice of the marital memento, and who imagines that he is purchasing a first-class watch at a price far below its actual value.

     I found the details of how the mock auction houses operate to be of great interest, as Soapy's mock auctions in Denver likely utilized many of the same methods. Some of the information is new to me, such as

• the purchase of "cheap silver and white metal case watches" from local pawn brokers, cheaply gold-plated, and then auctioned as being high quality gold watches.
• The detail of the set-up and how the cappers lure-in the victims to bid.
• The elaborate play of the capper offering to purchase the victim's new watch at a nice profit, with the condition of visiting a local jeweler for an appraisal, only to find out that the watch is not worth the price the victim paid for it.
• Most notable for me is how the victim is lured back to the auction house, allows the watch to be auctioned off again, resulting in the loss of the bulk of the amount originally paid as well as the loss of the watch itself, thus allowing the swindlers to auction off the same watch to another victim.  
  

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NOTES:
[1] Letter from C. C. Lamos to Jeff R. Smith, December 4, 1883. 

 

 

 

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

Mock Auctions

April 12, 2020

March 30, 2021 

April 2, 2021

 

Mock Auctions: pages 15, 30, 43, 45, 47-48, 51, 58, 75-76, 88, 90, 92, 120, 129-32, 138, 159, 162.63, 180, 188, 190-91, 202-05.

"A sucker has no business with money in the first place."

—"Canada Bill" Jones

Possible "Victim" Cover-up in Denver Discovered

CAME NEAR LOSING HIS MONEY
San Francisco Chronicle
May 6, 1893

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San Francisco Man Taken in by Denver Card Sharks

 "First time I ever got caught" (Soapy Smith)

 

This post was originally supposed to be about a new "victim" (Charles Anderson) swindled by the soap gang that I recently uncovered during a search through newspaper archives, but in looking through my files I found something very interesting. A Denver newspaper appears to have another version of the same incident, on the same day, but with a different individual, and with Soapy Smith being the victim.

     I found an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, May 6, 1893. See the photo at the top of this post, and the text below.

CAME NEAR LOSING HIS MONEY.
A San Francisco Man Taken in by Denver Card Sharks.

      DENVER, May 5.—Charles Anderson and wife arrived on a morning train from San Francisco, en route for Boston. While waiting for their train the couple took a stroll to see the city. By a clever piece of work Anderson was induced to bet on a hand of cards. He ran as high as $475 and gave his check for it. Of course he lost. He sought the patrolman on the beat and was directed to police headquarters. Detective Peterson was sent to demand restoration of the check on pain of instant arrest. The check was returned and the couple continued on their way across the continent. Soapy Smith’s gang are supposed to be the rascals who inveigled Anderson into the game.

Obviously, Mr. Anderson was pretty lucky in getting his check returned. In this article it would appear that Soapy and the gang simply lost out in collecting their booty.

     Before writing up this post I performed some research through my files, for additional information. Ironically, on the very same day that the San Francisco Chronicle story was published (May 6, 1893), another different version was reported in the Rocky Mountain News. One in which the victims name was completely different, and one in which Soapy was the "victim," being "buncoed" out of ten dollars, by a Swede named Nels Larson, not Charles Anderson.

     Below is the article and text for the Rocky Mountain News version.

SOAPY SMITH BUNCOED.
Rocky Mountain News
May 6, 1893

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SOAPY SMITH BUNCOED.

An Innocent Swede Does Up the Wiley Thimble Rigger.

 

     Soapy Smith was buncoed out of ten great big silver dollars yesterday morning by a country Swede named Nels Larson. Larson and his wife on their way from the coast to Boston stopped over a few hours and Larson, who had heard of the growler [faro] attempted to buck it in the Tivoli Club. He was steered against a game of faro and lost $40 in cash and $270 besides, for which he presented a draft on Boston for $470. Soapy Smith was out at the time and one of his men cashed the check and gave Larson only $200 in change. The Swede went to his wife, and when she heard of his loss she made him telegraph to have payment on the draft stopped. Jeff Smith heard of this and he had a lively chase to catch Larson to get his money back. Larson and his wife had, meantime, applied to the police for aid. Just before the train pulled out all interested parties came together, and Smith was compelled to accept $190 back for the check for which he had given $200.

     "First time I ever got caught," said Jeff to Detectives Cook and Peterson, who accompanied Larson.

     The crime was most likely real, but the facts appear to have been altered to protect Soapy and the Denver police. Could it be as simple as a mistake in reporting the name by the San Francisco Chronicle? The published story in Denver was written up so as to make fun of Soapy and his loss, but was the loss real? Could someone friendly to Soapy and the gang (Denver police?), have told the Rocky Mountain News, a false account of the incident, including falsifying the victim's name, in order to protect Soapy and the police (Detectives Cook and Peterson?) from being reported as allies and victors in the swindle? To keep the newspaper from finding out that the victim was not so fortunate as the story stated?
     In addition, though it may be a simple coincidence, I found the name "Charles Anderson" in one of Soapy's notebooks (artifact #69) that I posted on September 23, 2020.

Soapy Smith's notebook
Page 1 side-view
Artifact #69
Jeff Smith Collection

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The notebook notation reads,

 

"Frank H. Anderson
818 Market St.
San Francisco, Cal

Charles Anderson
834 Folsom

Ella Gusset
same address"

Note "same address" at bottom, meaning that they live at the same address as Frank H. Anderson in San Francisco, just as victim "Charles Anderson" did in the newspaper account. Could the "wife" have been Ella Gusset? Why did Soapy have these names in his notebook? Could he have been gathering information in case Anderson's bank chose to reject cashing of his check? Fighting a bank in such a case was common, sometimes Soapy won, sometimes he didn't. In one incident it is reported that "witnesses" were used to testify that the victim was actually "a known gambler," and one who has "previously reneged on paying his gambling debts."

     Interesting how two newspaper articles from 1893 can open up a potential case of corruption.

 

 

 

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

"I don't know what a scoundrel is like, but I know what a respectable man is like, and it's enough to make one's flesh creep."

—Joseph De Maistre

BUNKO MEN AND THEIR TRICKS. San Francisco Chronicle, April 10, 1898

Shell and Pea Game on the Trail
"Sketched from life by M. W. Newberry"
San Francisco Chronicle
April 10, 1898

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UNKO MEN AND THEIR TRICKS

 

     A wonderfully detailed description of the modus operandi of Soapy Smith's three shell and pea manipulators along the Chilkoot and White Pass trails.

 

Witnessed and reported by Joseph D. Barry, and published in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 10, 1898. Besides this article, Barry played an important role in Skagway history, as an official witness and jury member in the May 31, 1898, inquest into the death and robbery of prostitute Ella D. Wilson. Below is the transcribed text of the article, complete with my additional comments.  

 

BUNKO MEN AND THEIR TRICKS.

Many Are at Work on the Trails.

Weary Plodders Often Taken In.

Klondike Pilgrims and their Wealth Separated.

The Old Pea and Shell Game Finds Many Victims Among
the Climbers of the Chilcoot Pass.

SKAGWAY, March 27, 1898.—Since the grass has begun to grow short for them in town, some of the confidence workers who still remain have taken to the trails, where they continue to set snares for the dollars of unwary Klondikers. On the Skagway trail the sure-thing gambler seldom goes higher than the foot of White pass summit. Half a dozen or so of his tribe usually travel together, sharing at the close of the day the profits of the tricks they have turned.

One of the party is chosen as active operator. His necessary qualifications are a capacity to judge human character and a tongue that is gifted with glibness. The successful confidence game operator is best described by the expressive term “spellbinder.” His confederates, the steerers carefully disassociate themselves from him whenever a possible victim is in sight.

The better to disguise his wolfish character the steerer frequently dons the sheep’s clothing of a packer. It is no uncommon incident on the trail to see two or more notorious bunko-steerers faring along, one after the other, apparently heavily burdened with packs, which if investigated would prove to be nothing more substantial than straw or chips in canvas sacks.

The "sheep's clothing of a packer" description perfectly fits the methods of soap gang member Van B. "Old Man" Triplett. According to his newspaper obituary, he was born about 1841 in Virginia and was the originator of the gold brick scam. A con man of forty years, he joined Soapy's entourage in 1894, going to Skagway where he impersonated a stampeder complete with pack (said to be filled with feathers), working three-card monte at the Skaguay entrance to the White Pass trail. It was Triplett who operated the three-card monte game against John Stewart, stealing his gold, which directly resulted in Soapy Smith's death at the hands of the vigilantes.

A little ahead of them always is the operator, equipped with a small, portable table, three shells and the elusive pea. When the first one reaches the manipulator of the ancient but to the “sucker” ever new game he stops, watches and listens, and finally lays down his pack, as if to rest, Steerer No. 2 follows his example, as do the other in turn. By the time the prospective victim arrives he finds a spurious Klondiker just winning a bet from the shell game player, amid the half envious congratulations of his confederates.

“Well, well, this is my unlucky day,” says the man with the table, “but I’ll give some other gentleman a chance to win on the little pea.” Back and forth and round about go the shells again, a glimpse of the pea being given the watchers at seductively frequent intervals. Another steerer guesses its location and wins a greenback or two.

“You fellows are hitting me too hard,” dubiously comments the operator. “I must size up my roll before I take any more bets.” He opens a well-lined pocketbook, and while his attention is taken up with its contents one of the steerers slyly raises the shell under which the pea is hidden. That catches the outsider, unless he be invulnerable against the temptations of bunko. Laying his finger on the shell indicated to him he offers to bet $10, $20, $50 or a higher sum that it covers the pea. His bet is taken, the shell is lifted and the pea proves to be somewhere else. Usually the victim makes a second and perhaps a third bet in the hope of retrieving his loss, always with the same result. A witness to one of these episodes tells of having seen a prospector who had lost $90 sit upon his pack and burst into tears. He said that his last dollar had gone on the game. Still higher up the trail that same day a man who runs a tent restaurant bet and lost $20, but the shell-game player was glad to disgorge it when the victim’s wife, a 200-pound lady of German nativity, seized him by the coat collar and screamed lustily for help.

It is also related that a man in clerical garb, said to be a missionary, dropped $100 in a single bet. He immediately picked up his daintily bound pack and resumed his journey. Without uttering a word of regret or complaint.

Yesterday a woman who said she was going to the Klondike in the interest of the Smithsonian Institution complained to Captain L. A. Matile that confidence workers were so annoying on the trail that she feared to continue her journey. She is traveling alone and had called at the Regular Army encampment on her way out of town. Captain Matile, who commands the troops here, sent an escort of two soldiers with her as far as the northwest mounted police post at Summit lake.

After working one point on the trail thoroughly the confidence workers scatter, to reappear at another point under like circumstances some time later in the day. On the Skagway trail the shell game is not in operation regularly. The men engaged at it are supposed to be a detachment of “Soapy” Smith’s gamblers. Those who operate in Dyea, Sheep Camp and along to the base of Chilcoot are under the leadership of “Tom” Cady, a notorious Colorado mining camp confidence man.

While it is true that the con men operating in Dyea and the Chilcoot (spelled Chilkoot) trail were under the leadership of Tom Cady, it is believed that Cady reported to Soapy Smith. Thomas P. "Sure-Shot" or "Troublesome Tom" Cady was a member of the soap gang in Colorado, operating the shell game for Soapy. Cady, known for his nasty temper and habit of carrying a 12-inch dirk, followed Soapy from Denver to Creede, Colorado, in 1892 and back to Denver, where he became a prime suspect with Soapy in the 1892 shooting death of gambler Clifton "Cliff" Sparks. He accompanied Soapy to Mexico in 1894 and likely followed Soapy to Alaska, becoming Soapy's manager of operations in Dyea.

Other devices for catching “suckers” besides the pea and shells are heard of occasionally. The salted-mine man is one of the most recent additions to those who seek to get something for nothing. J. T. Jones, president of the Guarantee Title and Abstract Company of Juneau, yesterday saved a Dyea merchant from falling into the clutches of one of this variety. The merchant told Jones that he had a chance to buy a placer mine for the very low price of $500. It was a new strike, only five miles outside of Dyea, and the locator, being out of funds, was willing to sacrifice his claim. Jones was then shown specimens of gold from the placer, it being in shot and smaller particles.

In the afternoon the miner accompanied Jones and the merchant to his claim, where he panned samples of the dirt. The specimens obtained looked genuine, but feeling dubious, nevertheless, the Juneau man to-day had them tested. They proved to be a composition of copper, zinc, bismuth and tin.

As a United States Deputy Marshal Cudihee is now the sole guardian of the peace for Skagway and Dyea, it is almost impossible to keep sure-thing gamblers and others of their ilk off the trails.

Amazingly, I do not have much on U.S. Deputy Marshal John Cudihee other than he was in Soapy's May 1, 1898, parade in Skagway.

 

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

 

Shell and pea game: pages 8, 10, 15, 27, 51, 53-55, 58, 64, 72, 78-80, 92, 99, 110, 112, 115, 141, 205, 210, 229-31, 248, 250, 256, 308, 351, 362, 368, 465-67, 471-72, 475-77, 482, 492, 498, 505, 535, 548, 594.

Joseph D. Barry: page 506.

Ella D. Wilson: pages 506-512.

Van B. "Old Man" Triplett: pages 90-92, 471, 475, 526, 554, 564-67, 575-79, 595.

Thomas P. "Troublesome Tom" Cady: pages 79, 210-11, 229, 250-51, 253-57, 260, 264, 362, 450.

 Clifton Sparks: pages 79, 250-59, 263, 268, 289, 291-92, 502, 507, 529.

 U.S. Deputy Marshal John Cudihee: page 500.

"With spots quadrangular of diamond form, Ensanguined hearts, clubs typical of strife, And spades, the emblems of untimely graves."

—William Cowper

Soapy Smith's son, James Luther Smith (James Joseph Smith)

James Luther Smith (James Joseph Smith)
Cabinet card of James
"J. Collier, 1643 Larimer Street Denver Colo,"
Evidence that James was born in Denver.
Courtesy of Sarah Moriarty

(Click image to enlarge)

 

 

 

OAPY SMITH'S LOST SON

James Luther Smith or James Joseph Smith
11/27/1893 – 02/24/1969

OK, James wasn't actually "lost," but rather his where-abouts became unknown, probably after Soapy’s widow, James’ mother, Mary passed away in 1947. A name change may have played a part in it. My side of the family didn't know where he went, and James’ family didn't know where the siblings went. 1998 witnessed the 100th anniversary of Soapy's death in Skagway, Alaska. This event brought the family back together again, and by complete coincidence! Members of my side of the Smith family arrived in Skagway, including yours truly, without knowing that one of James’ grandchildren (Jim Caraway) was also attending! Thanks to Jim Caraway, Mike Moriarty, his daughter Tia and Gay Mathis, James’ story continues to develop nicely. Upon meeting James’ grandson, Jim Caraway in Skagway, one of the first issues he brought up was James’ name.

HIS NAME

Jefferson Randolph ("Soapy") Smith II and Mary Eva (Noonan) Smith had three children; Jefferson Randolph III, Mary Eva and James "Jimmie" Smith. The early family trees, mostly produced by my uncle Joseph Jefferson Smith, indicate that he was born James Luther Smith, however, Jim Caraway stated that his middle name was Joseph, which created a mystery in the family. When I got back home I did some research and although most of the family genealogists on my side of the family stated that the birth name was “James Luther Smith,” I could not find any solid provenance of “Luther” as the middle name. The earliest record is an 1893 baptism in St. Louis for “James L. Smith.” The next earliest record being the 1900 federal census, when James was 7 or 8 years old, only shows his name as “James Smith.” He is “missing” from the 1910 and 1920 census, and by the 1930 census’ he listed his name as “James J. Smith” (James Joseph Smith) He died in 1969 as “J. Joseph Smith.”

It is believed that at some point he changed his name, which is not uncommon in my family. When James Caraway got back home he also did some research, writing, “I believe that at some point my grandfather became a Christian Brother and, perhaps due to his strong Catholic faith, changed his name from James Luther to James Joseph. Thereafter, he was known as ‘JJ’ or ‘Joe,’ and never James.”

 

James Joseph Smith
May 20, 1918

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Mike Moriarty stated that it was while James Smith was attending St. Viator College, that "this was the point in James' life in which he changed his name to Joseph James Smith."

DATE OF BIRTH

Best as I can determine, James’ date of birth is November 27, 1892. Some early family trees show James being born in 1889, however, the census’ of 1900, 1930 and 1940 state he was born in 1893, however, James’ military enlistment record, that comes direct from the enlistee, shows he was born November 27, 1892.

The 1900 census for St. Louis shows that James was born in November of 1893. It is common for census records to be mistaken as they are copied by hand from the census takers original notes. For instance, the 1900 census shows that James’ father (“Soapy), was born in Kentucky, though records clearly show he was born in Coweta County, Georgia. The dates of the other children, Jefferson and Mary Eva are wrong as well. Was this the fault of the family or the census taker?

PLACE OF BIRTH

Another mystery is James’ birth place. In 1889 Soapy had some troublesome events occur. The Logan Park brawl, Soapy’s attack on Rocky Mountain News editor/manager John Arkins, and the shootout at Pocatello, Idaho, convinced Soapy to move his wife and son (Jefferson III) to St. Louis, Missouri for their safety. Mary is not known to have lived with Soapy in Denver ever again, but enough records, including his own word, show that James was born in Denver, Colorado at the end of 1892. A cabinet card of James that reads, "J. Collier, 1643 Larimer Street Denver Colo," is a pretty good piece of evidence that James was indeed born in Denver. So, the question remains, did Mary move back to Denver for a time?

 

James Joseph Smith
1942 Draft registration
National Archives and Records Admin.

(Click image to enlarge)

On the draft registration (WW II) card filled out and signed by James in 1942 he lists himself as,

• James Joseph Smith.
  
• Born November 27, 1889 in Denver, Colorado. 
• Married to Eulaila A. Breen. 
• Residing working as a teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
  

James Joseph Smith
with daughter, Mary Jean Smith
Courtesy of Mike Moriarty

(Click image to enlarge)

 

* Many many thanks to Jim Caraway for all his expertise on his grandfather James. To Mike and Tia Moriarty, and Sarah Moriarty for the use of their wonderful family photographs and their family history. And last, but never least, to good friend and top-notch researcher and genealogist, Gay Mathis for the wonderful and fact filled documents.

 

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

James Luther (Joseph) Smith

May 8, 2010

May 15, 2010 

Sep 19, 2010

 

James Luther (Joseph) Smith: pages 108, 418.

"Whether he likes it or not, a man’s character is stripped at the poker table; if the other players read him better than he does, he has only himself to blame. Unless he is both able and prepared to see himself as others do, flaws and all, he will be a loser in cards, as in life."

—Anthony Holden

The Schooner Janus: Soapy Smith Escape Ship.

A SCHOONER

 

OAPY SMITH'S ESCAPE SHIP. 

The Janus.

On the morning of July 8, 1898, the day “Soapy” was killed in the shootout on Juneau Company wharf, Soapy may have sensed the possible end of his reign in Skagway, Alaska, possibly preparing for an exit route, when he purchased the schooner Janus from Captain S. E. Bright. My first introduction to the boat was in the probate paperwork, on the sale of ship, on display at the Skagway Museum. After Soapy’s demise Bright claimed that Soapy had not paid him for the boat, although he had given Jeff a bill of sale. The Janus was returned to Bright on July 23, 1898.

     The Janus was a twenty-ton schooner, “is but little larger than a fishboat,” but large enough for Soapy and the Soap Gang to escape in. According to the dictionary a schooner is “a sailing ship with two or more masts, typically with the foremast smaller than the mainmast, and having gaff-rigged lower masts.”

     The first known newspaper account of the Janus came from my friend, Gay Mathis, published in the Oregonian, August 27, 1897.

 

Contents of article below

 

FITTING OUT A FISHBOAT.
The Little Schooner Janus to start for Alaska.

ASTORIA, Aug. 28. ― A party of 11 San Franciscans has purchased the little schooner Janus, and is fitting her out for a trip to Alaska. The adventurers expect to start within a few days. Some of the party will sale from here on the little vessel, but the majority will go on board of her at Port Townsend. The Janus will be taken as far as Dyea and there sold. E. C. Merwin will have charge. The Janus is but little larger than a fishboat, and the trip will be an extremely hazardous one.

The next newspaper account was reported in the Delta Atlas (Delta, Ohio) on September 24, 1897.

 

Seek Gold in Copper River
Delta Atlas
(Atlas Ohio)
September, 24, 1897
Contents of article below

Click to enlarge

 

Seek Gold in Copper River.

     One of the most interesting expeditions that have yet gone to the gold fields of Alaska or the Northwest territory left Port Townsend last week in a twenty ton schooner called the Janus, headed direct for the Copper River country. The party is in charge of a man named George I. Rinnacks, who has spent all of five years in the Copper River country and has brought out large sums of money at different times, aggregating fully $200,000. The other members of the expedition are mostly Californians. The party is incorporated as the “Oakland Mining and Trading Company” and starts out under a copartnership agreement that binds them to remain together for two years. Their schooner was purchased at a cost of $1,500, and they put on board $2,000 worth of provisions and supplies. In addition to this each man is supplied with two repeating rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition; also two revolvers.
     The schooner Janus is headed direct for Port Hidalgo lagoon, which is a new route for entering Alaska, the Janus party being the first to go in this way. A landing will be made at a point called Turnigar, at the head of the lagoon, a place where no boat has yet landed, and which in reality has no official name. In order to reach this lagoon it is necessary to sail through the narrow passage between Seal rocks and Cape Hinchumbrook-a dangerous undertaking, on account of the shoals and treacherous currents. This passage leads into Prince William sound, with open-sea sailing until Snug Corner cove is reached, when another narrow body of water must be sailed through, with Bligh’s Island on the left. Here the lagoon is entered and the journey to Turnigar is continued. This lagoon is a narrow neck of water, at places very shallow, which makes it difficult of navigation.
     The Janus party expects to reach Turnigar within thirty days. On the way north the schooner will call at Juneau and Sitka to take on board thirty dogs that will be used to transport the supplies overland from Turnigar to the Copper River, which will be reached at a point just above Beaver River. From this place the general direction of the river will be followed northward, and it will be crossed three times, the final destination of the expedition being Tonsina creek. Six members of the party will be left on Tonsina creek, where Rinnack’s partner, Michael O’Donnell, is now holding their claims and mining some work, and the others will be sent eastward to the tributary of the White River, where it is claimed that location can be made that will not only rival but surpass the famous Klondike. …

     Almost four weeks later the Janus was thought to have been sighted by the schooner Pilot, and appeared to be “wanting assistance.” The story was published in the Sacramento Daily Union, November 2, 1897.

 

Unlucky Voyage of a schooner
Sacramento Daily Union
November 2, 1897
Contents of article below

Click to enlarge

 

UNLUCKY VOYAGE OF A SCHOONER.

Caught in a Terrible Storm in Northern Waters.

The Little Craft Comes Near Going to the Bottom of the Sea.

Her Crew of Four Men Compelled to Subsist on Quarter Rations for Many Days, the Vessel Not Being Able to Get Into Port Until Her Provisions Were Nearly Exhausted.

PORT TOWNSEND, Nov. 1. — The schooner Pilot returned to-day from an unlucky voyage to the halibut district of southeastern Alaska, her crew of four men having been on short rations for two weeks, and subsisting on quarter rations for the past eight days.
     The Pilot left Port Townsend eight weeks ago, but met with contrary winds from that time till she arrived home to-day.
     Passing out through Dixon's Entrance three weeks ago, a terrible storm was encountered. For twenty-eight hours Captain Johnson stood in the storm with bare poles, and the little craft was tossed about like a chip. When the storm was first broken he sighted a little schooner heading northward with the American flag flying. She appeared to be wanting assistance, but gave no further indications as the Pilot hove nearer, and Captain Johnson again hove off. The schooner was finally lost sight of. At no time could her name be distinguished, but her description fits the schooner Janus, which left here September 5th with a party of twelve California men bound for Copper River.

     Eight days later a newspaper article in the San Francisco Call on November 10, 1897 clarifies that it was not the schooner Janus that Captain Johnson of the Pilot saw in distress and “wanting assistance.”

 

"All is well with the schooner"
San Francisco Call
November 10, 1897
Contents of article below

Click to enlarge

 

    PORT TOWNSEND, Nov. 9.- A letter has been received from one of the members of the schooner Janus’ crew bound for Copper River.
     The letter was dated October 10 and sent from Port Neville, off Vancouver Island, about forty miles from Alert Bay. At that time all was well with the schooner.
     This makes it improbable that it was the Janus in distress that was sighted in a storm in Dixon’s entrance by the schooner Pilot.

     The success of the expedition is unknown, as is the fate of the Janus, before and after the time Captain S. E. Bright took possession and sold it to Soapy Smith on July 8, 1898. The original probate document reads as follows.

 

Probate document
July 23, 1898
Contents of document below
Courtesy of Skagway Museum

 Click to enlarge

IN THE U.S. COMMISSIONER’S COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA

AT DYEA.

IN PROBATE.

IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE

OF

JEFFERSON R. SMITH, DECEASED. Affidavit of Capt. S. E. Bright.

S. E. Bright, being first duly sworn, says “I am the owner of the Schooner “JANUS” and other property, which I conveyed to Jefferson R. Smith on the 8th day of July, 1898; but the same was conveyed in trust only; and no consideration was passed from said Smith to me, although I gave said Smith a Bill of sale for the same.

The said property, although conveyed by me to said Smith was conveyed for the purpose of having said J. R. Smith to attend to and handle said property for me; and belongs entirely to me.

[signed]
S. E. Bright

Subscibed and sworn to before me this 23rd day of July, 1898.

[signed]
C. A. Sehlbrede U. S. Commissioner for Alaska.

     If only Soapy had not waited around in Skagway, escaping that same morning. A completely different story of Jefferson Randolph Smith II would be known.

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

Apr. 13, 2010
Apr. 13, 2010
Nov. 16, 2011

The Janus: pages 530, 545.

"There are few things that are so unpardonably neglected in our country as poker. The upper class knows very little about it. Now and then you find ambassadors who have sort of a general knowledge of the game, but the ignorance of the people is fearful. Why, I have known clergymen, good men, kind-hearted, liberal, sincere, and all that, who did not know the meaning of a 'flush.' It is enough to make one ashamed of the species."

—Mark Twain

New photograph of "Soapy" Smith?

'SOAPY' SMITH AND TWO COLLEAGUES
Object ID 2017.6.350
Courtesy of Salvation Army Museum of the West

(Click image to enlarge)

New photograph of "Soapy" Smith?
NOT EVEN CLOSE.

 

     A.B. and W., photograph, said to be of Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith, and two colleagues. Soapy is in the middle, marked with an "X." The photo was taken in Alaska, exact location unknown.

     Soapy grew his beard in 1889 after the shootout at the Pocatello, Idaho) train depot. He remained bearded for the remainder of his life. 

 

SOURCE:  

• Salvation Army Museum of the West. 
• Link to the photograph.
  

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

  

"Cards are war, in disguise of a sport."

—Charles Lamb