Soapy Smith : Skagway's Scourge of the Klondike

by Sauerwein, Stan

• ISBN13: 9781554390113
• ISBN10: 1554390117
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-25
• Publisher: Heritage Group Dist

Summary

In 1897, the Klondike Gold Rush brought thousands of hopeful prospectors to the North. With them came many scoundrels and swindlers who were willing to do whatever it took to separate unsuspecting targets from their hard-earned cash. No swindler was more successful at his craft than Jefferson Randolph Soapy Smith, who ruled Skagway, Alaska, with a quick hand and a scheming mind. This book explores his most outrageous escapades.

Table of Contents

Prologue	11	(2)
From Saddle to Scam	13	(10)
Soap and Suckers	23	(12)
Marks, Mayhem, and Sure-Thing Men	35	(12)
Moving On --- To Silver	47	(14)
Gold! An Irresistible Opportunity	61	(9)
Skagway --- Perfect For Soapy	70	(11)
The Skinners and the Skinned	81	(13)
Telegraph to Nowhere	94	(10)
Soapy Milks the Military	104	(12)
One ``Poke'' Too Many	116	(16)
Epilogue	132	(2)
Further Reading	134	(4)
Amazing Author Question and Answer	138

Excerpts

The whisky burned his throat as he swallowed, then it rode back up again on a choking belch. I’m boss of this merry-go-round,” he mumbled. Lifting his Winchester rifle from the bar, he pointed it toward the men sitting around a card table tucked at the end of his gambling parlor. I run this merry-go-round, right?”Right as rain, boss,” Old Man Triplett quietly affirmed, stroking his white beard. Skagway’s your town.”Then why don’t those sons-of-bitches go home?”They’re fired up.” Reverend Bowers was sitting at a table with his feet propped on a chair, facing the open front door. He spoke in the direction of a mob of miners milling in the black mud on Broadway Avenue outside Jeff Smith’s Parlor. Give up the poke. That’d be my advice. There’ll be a flood of gold comin’ down the Trail this time next month anyway.”Sons-of-bitches!” Soapy Smith roared at the miners. Take yourselves to bed!”Why won’t you just give Stewart his god-damned poke and be shuck of all this?”On principle!” Soapy slammed the rifle back to the bar. Four days ago the governor was shaking my hand!” He rubbed his forehead to ease the alcohol-induced throb. My hand.” His voice trailed to a whisper.Give it to ’em boss.”Soapy lurched toward Bowers and pounded the bar. Any man who makes a move to return that gold will get his ears chopped. You hear me?”The men in the bar stiffened. Soapy never drank. Not like this. There was no telling what the usually affable con man might do under the influence of so much strong drink. Thankfully, Slim Jim Foster, a curly-haired youth, burst into the saloon and saved them from finding out.Saportas gimme this,” Slim Jim said, breathless. He’d just run up from the docks. Jim slid the folded scrap of paper on the bar toward Soapy and backed away.Soapy read the note and then, with an odd chuckle considering the tense circumstances, slowly folded it up again. I’ll drive the bastards into the bay!” Soapy checked his revolver for bullets. It’s that overfed Frank Reid who’s behind all this. Time he got a taste of my temper.” Soapy stuffed a handgun into a holster at his hip, reached for his Winchester, and stomped to the door.The men in the bar waited until he’d disappeared.We best skeedaddle,” Triplett said. He gulped his drink and stood up. I’m thinking the Trail is the safest place about now.”Jim nodded. Think they’ll hang us?” The young man was terrified.Ah hell, we should’a been hanged a long time ago.”