Con Man's Curse
A new twist on who killed Soapy Smith.
By: Catherine H. Spude 05/01/2007
Standing over six feet tall, the broad shouldered Josias M. “Si” Tanner stepped up to Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith on the night of July 8, 1898, to ask him and his companions to turn around and leave the Juneau Company Wharf in Skagway, Alaska. Flanked by Frank Reid and Jesse Murphy, Si had volunteered to guard the approach to the wharf, where a group of more than a hundred outraged citizens met to deal with the con man’s latest crime, the theft of gold miner J.D. Stewart’s poke. Si later told his family that when one of Soapy’s henchman stuck the barrel of the gun under his nose, he thought it looked as big as a stove pipe. Calmly doing his job, Si simply stared the man down.
Trouble had been brewing for days. Tanner, Reid, Murphy and five others had gathered in front of the Manila Saloon at the corner of Sixth and State on the Fourth of July, watching Soapy lead the parade on his big, white horse. Si, lounging in a chair he’d borrowed from Ed McDonald, the owner of the Manila, had pretended a nonchalance he didn’t feel, letting his ’92 Winchester rest against his thigh, ready to whip into action the moment it was needed.
Since then, Soapy had denied having anything to do with the theft of that gold poke in his Oyster Parlor Saloon. Soapy had been trying to run this town for months, and U.S. Deputy Marshal Sylvester S. Taylor only cooperated with the man, without doing his job by keeping him under control. The citizens of Skagway had had enough. Travelers were starting to avoid their town because of Soapy and his gang, going through sister city Dyea and using the Chilkoot Trail to reach the Klondike gold fields instead of Skagway and the White Pass.
Soapy earned his sobriquet in the early 1890s on the streets of Leadville, Colorado, where he’d wrap a bar of soap with a $5 bill, then cover it with plain, white paper. As one of his confederates paid a buck at a chance to guess which wrapped bar contained the $5 bill, Soapy charmed the crowd with promises of riches. Sure enough, his assistant always picked up the sought-after bar of soap. Smith brought his bag of tricks and a league of con men with him when he came to Skagway with the Klondike gold rush in the winter of 1897-98.
As the good men of Skagway met in the warehouse on his brother-in-law Emery Valentine’s wharf on July 8, 1898, Si stared down the man who had occasioned the meeting. With a dozen henchmen at his back and holding a Winchester rifle, Soapy didn’t seem a bit concerned about being confronted by three apparently unarmed vigilantes. The con man ordered Frank, the man who confronted him directly, aside. Frank drew a pistol from his pocket. Shots rang out. Soapy’s gang vanished off the wharf. Si rolled Soapy’s prone body over to find a gaping hole in his side and sightless eyes staring up at him.
He turned to Frank.
“I’m hurt bad, Cap,” Frank told him, clutching a stream of blood to his belly. It took Frank Reid 10 days to die.
Si, a natural leader, calm and collected in chaotic situations, took over. After sending for Dr. Fenton B. Whiting to attend to the fallen Frank, he gathered up 30 men and began to scour the town for Soapy’s confederates. They rousted out the saloons, gambling dens and brothels, where they found 26 of Soapy’s gang members. Si brought out one gangster hiding under his bed despite the protests of a sobbing wife and two little girls. Soapy’s mistress tried unsuccessfully to flee on a southbound steamer. Si sent W.J. Rogers into the Board of Trade Restaurant to roust out one of the worst of the gang, “Old Man Tripp,” an arch criminal from the days when Soapy had bilked the miners in Leadville. Tripp chewed on a tough steak and demanded he be allowed to finish it, sure he’d be strung up on a gallows, not to breathe another day.
Comments (1)
I am the author of ALIAS SOAPY SMITH: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A SCOUNDREL, The Biography of Jefferson Randolph Smith II, as well as one of his great grandchildren. I have researched Soapy's life and death for 25 years and wish to make a few corrections to Cathy Spude's story.
1.) The theft of John Douglas Stewart's gold poke took place in the alley beside Jeff Smith's Parlor not inside it.
2.) Soapy earned his sobriquet in 1885 in Denver, Colorado when the arresting police officer forgot his first name and wrote "Soapy" in its place.
3.) Frank Reid died 12 days later on July 20, 1898.
4.) Members of Soapy's gang did included Van B. Triplett, an elderly three-card monte operator.
5.) The bartender was Nate Pollack.
6.) No other records, associates, friends, or enemies, other than one man's opinion described Foster as a "dangerous drug addict."
7.) Dr. Whiting is the man who captured Foster during his escape attempt. Cathy Spude claims the Skaguay News of July 15, 1898 states Tanner captured Foster but she is mistaken. Tanner clearly enters the picture AFTER Foster was recaptured.
8.) Ten men were deported to Sitka within 24 hours and five more were sent a few days later.
9.) The pistol Soapy is photographed with is definitely a double action revolver very similar to the Colt model 1892 Army DA. Only one pistol is mentioned in Soapy's estate and the pistol in his photograph is obviously it. The pistol Cathy had in the article is a Colt single action revolver and is most likely not Soapy's.
Jeff Smith
www.soapysmith.net
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