Soapy Smith's Soap Box blog

The history blog of the Soapy Smith Preservation Trust and Friends of Bad Man Soapy Smith. This blog is an extension of Jeff Smith's book, Alias Soapy Smith, the Life and Death of a Scoundrel. Feel free to ask questions or leave comments. To do so click the "comments" link below each article.

Soapy Smith Discussion Board

Site includes section on U. S. S. Wake Commander Columbus Darwin Smith, whom was captured in 1941 just hours after the Japanese December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Columbus escaped his captors in 1944 and traveled some 700 miles to safety.

(Soapy's son) Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa created a nice website on famous American artist Grant Wood and his 1933-34 Stone City Art Colony, Iowa. This is where Soapy's son Jefferson R. Smith lll, and his 2nd wife artist Florence Sprague., met. This site has a biography on Jefferson. Jeff Smith (Soapy's great-grandson) was key in helping this site with information.

Luther Martin Smith

(Soapy's uncle) This site covers the history of Luther's position as Emory University President, 1867-71.

Randolph "Little Randy" Smith

(Great-grandson) This site is devoted to Randy's love of Harley Motorcycles and his custom parts work.

Randolph "Little Randy" Smith

(Great-grandson) This site is devoted to Randy's company that he founded, Custom Cycle Engineering.

Florence (Smith) Sprague

Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa created a nice website on famous American artist Grant Wood and his 1933-34 Stone City Art Colony, Iowa. This is where Soapy's son Jefferson R. Smith lll, and his 2nd wife Florence Sprague, a well known artist, met. This site has a biography on Florence. Jeff Smith (Soapy's great-grandson) was key in helping this site with information.

Soapy's Virtual Gravesite

Leave a thoughtful message, and even a flower or cigar, at the Soapy Smith virtual gravesite (Find A Grave). You can also vote on how popular Soapy is, and we ask that you please do so. The Smith family asks you to take a little time and leave your thoughts, whether pro Soapy, or not. 

Blacksheep Ancestors

The Blonger Brothers

Sam and Lou Blonger were the rivals and successors of "Soapy's" empire in Denver. This is a wonderful "tell all" website that is beautifully detailed and a well written history of one of the longest underworld reigns in criminal history. Operated by Scott and Craig Johnson, the g-g-great grand nephews. A must see.

Clews

Clews: The Historic True Crime Blog. Clews is a weblog devoted to the discovery and dissemination of the fascinating stories to be found where murder, history, and journalism overlap. It is written by Laura James, former news reporter turned trial lawyer and devotee of forgotten true crime stories and the fascinating people who wrote them.

The Days of '98 Show (With Soapy Smith)

Strangly it is our favorite! Advertised as "the longest running show in the North!" Starting in 1925. Owner Jim Richards is a good friend of the Smith family and was instrumental in starting the very first Soapy Smith Wake. If you go to Skagway you CANNOT miss this show.

The Encyclopedia of Scams

Find your favorite scams, swindles and bar bets at the Encyclopedia of Scams. written by Nicholas J. Johnson, “Australia's honest con man.” The Encyclopedia teaches readers the  difference between the pigeon drop and a cackle bladder and much more.

The Faro King

This is a great source for faro and other old west gambling supplies. Featuring quality reproduction old west playing card decks, clay composition chips and faro dealing boxes. Check them out whether you play at home or plan to set up a stake at an up coming annual match or civil war/old west reenactment.

The Frontier Gambler

Gambling Collectibles.com

This fun site contains crooked gambling equipment, especially dice, used by hustlers and scoundrels to fleece the unwary. Steve, owner of the firm says, "The number of ways dice were rigged is quite interesting." We agree.

Whit Haydn

Award winning, master sleight-of hand magician. Vice President of the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California. Co-founder of the School For Scoundrels. Producer of the annual Soapy Smith Wake held at the Magic Castle. If you want to see how bunco men worked their games then Mr. Haydn is a must see. He can be found performing at the Magic Castle. Please check their site for dates. Whit Haydn is a huge fan of Soapy's and a good friend of the Smith family and this website. He holds a place of honor here.

Knights of the Green Cloth

19th century reenactment organization preserving the legend and spirit of the professional frontier gambler, their name was taken from the book of the same title. Very nice and informative site, that includes links to information on several old west saloon gambling games that are no longer played, but were once very popular; including faro, brag, monte, chuck-a-luck and hazard.

The Magic Castle

This is magic central in southern California. A very plush, members and their guests only club where magicians get together and perform. They host the annual "Soapy" Smith wake in Hollywood, California.

Pharobank

A website owned by friend Phil Gessert. Phil manufacturers and sells reproduction and original faro (pharo) equipment. He also hires out for those needing a casino affair. The site is an interesting look into the history and the characters involved with the old west game. There are some great photographs of various events Phil has worked at, including the July 8, 2006 Soapy Smith night at the Magic Castle.

The School for Scoundrels

THE store and school for the entertaining con man. They have fantastic products and DVD's on the shell game, three-card Monte, Billiard know-how and a host of other games played by the hustler. There is a great history section on the bunco men of the past. The school is taught at the world famous Magic Castle.

The School for Scoundrels Forum

Now here is a fantastic forum with numerous threads relating to gambling and the bunco man. It is the brain-child of Whit Haydn of the School for Scoundrels. Perhaps the most educational forum on bunco activities in the world! Visitors can view threads on topics of old west con man history, pool hustling, laws, and Soapy Smith. Visitors with an interest can join the section entitled SOAPY'S GANG that contains four topic threads. A must see!

Wichita Faro

This is the most authentically detailed and entertaining version of the gambling game of faro in the world. This award winning site takes place in a virtual saloon setting complete with crowd and gambling noises. Even saloon music is supplied by a piano. Faro was Soapy Smith's favorite gambling game. He once slashed a faro layout with his knife at the Arcade gaming clubs in Denver, Colorado.

Colorado Historical Society

Home to the Colorado Historical Society.

Colorado's Historic Newspaper Collection

Colorado newspaper collection from 1859 to 1923. A joint endeavor of the Colorado State Library, the Colorado Historical Society and the Collaborative Digitization Program.

Ellen's Place - Colorado Lore, Legend and Fact

A host to many other sites relating to Colorado history.

Photos West - Denver Public Library

“The Western History / Genealogy Department houses a major collection of photography documenting the development of the American West. The gallery exhibits will introduce you to topics chosen from the collection.” This is a huge site of many thousands of digitized photographs from the Denver Public Libraries collection, covering the entire American west but centering around Denver and Colorado history. 

Rocky Mountain Profiles

Wonderful site and photographs of Colorado's historical town's, camps and ghost towns, including Creede and Leadville where Soapy was. In the section on Creede there are photos of the Creede Hotel where it is reported that Soapy stayed. It seems reasonable as it is very close to the spot where his saloon, the Orleans Club stood. However, the building cannot be spotted in photographs of the area pre-1893.

Alaska's Gold

A large, very fascinating, and educational site on Alaska's role in the Klondike gold rush, from the Alaska state library.

Arctic Website

Photos and stories on "Soapy" wakes up at Skagway, Alaska.

Klondike Art

A site showcasing extraordinary feats of artistic dexterity "A tribute to the gold nuggets that create our great Yukon Territory in the hope that we continue to shine to represent it." Their motto is "Preserving Yukon History Today for Tomorrow."

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

The Federal Park Service site for the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. This site covers both Seattle and Skagway's involvement in the gold rush. Very educational, with interesting history pages. It has a great the story of uncovering the history of Skagway. Be sure to take the Skagway tour.

Music of the Alaska-Klondike Gold Rush

Jean A. Murray produced a wonderful book and separate CD/tape of the above title. A collection of 24 very authentic late 1890s Klondike gold rush songs. The songs come from Jean's book that contains the music and lyrics for 94 popular songs. The CD was recorded in 1998 using vocals and chorus, along with piano, harmonica, fiddle, guitar and a mandolin. 

The Skagway News and Depot

A fantastic newspaper owned and operated by friend of the Smith family, Jeff Brady. Jeff is very knowledgeable on the history of Skagway. His depot is filled with books relating to Alaska and Skagway. There are several books on "Soapy" that you can purchase in the store and on-line. In the Summer Jeff prints up a supplemental edition, calling it The Skaguay News, which is filled with great history of the town.

Old US (sanborn) Maps.com

Sanborn fire insurance maps are detailed city plans, usually at scales of 50 or 100 feet to an inch. They show individual building "footprints," complete with construction details, such as building material (brick, adobe, frame, etc.), height (of larger buildings), number of stories, location of doors, windows, chimneys and elevators, use of structure (dwelling, outhouse, hotel, church, etc.), street address, and occasionally the ethnicity of the occupants. Other features shown include lot lines, street widths, water pipes, hydrants and cisterns, and fire-fighting facilities.

Newnan - Coweta Historical Society

Dedicated to the preservation and conservation of the cultural, historical and architectural heritage of Coweta County. This is the birth place of Soapy Smith.

Old West History.net

A vast cornucopia of historical information regarding the old west. There is a large amount devoted to the city of Tombstone, Arizona of the 19th century. A must see.

Dave Bourne's Saloon Piano

Dave Bourne, a musician and reenactor, plays the best 19th century piano that I have ever heard! I have SALOON PIANO, CD volumes 1, 2 and 3. For old west piano there is no where else to go, but to Dave Bourne. You can find these CD's and his others on his website. He also performs live at the annual "Soapy" Smith wake held each July 8, at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California.

Texas-Jack Vermillion

Bob Wood developed this site to honor John Wilson "Texas Jack" Vermillion, a noted gunman who joined the Soapy Smith gang around 1888. At that time he was known as "Shoot-Your-Eye-Out-Jack" Vermillion.

White Horse Movie Ranch

A fun corporation owned, fledging old west town where several cowboy reenactment organizations meet, camp out, shoot, and socialize. There are several annual events including one of the July 8 Soapy Smith Wakes.

Wild West History Association

The Wild West History Association. The proud parents are the National Association for Outlaw and Lawmen History (NOLA), formed in 1974, and the Western Outlaw-Lawman History Association (WOLA), founded in 1990. These two history groups, with a worldwide membership, have joined in the formation of the Wild West History Association (WWHA). This merger creates the primary Wild West history organization in the world whose aim is to discover, share, and promote the true stories of outlaws and lawmen in the frontier west.

Coopertoons

Cartoons, Caricatures, and Other Illustrated Humor. Chip Cooper makes caricatures of his favorite social and political profiles. In 2008 he chose Soapy Smith as a model.