Jefferson randolph smith biography

Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II was an American con artist and gangster in the American frontier and the Klondike.
Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II (November 2, 1860 – July 8, 1898) was an American con artist and gangster in the American frontier and the Klondike.
Jefferson Randolph Smith was born in Georgia in 1860.

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b. Newnan (Noonan), Georgia, 1860

d. Skagway, Alaska, 1898

I have stumbled upon a few tough corners of the globe during my wanderings beyond the outposts of civilization, but I think the most outrageously lawless quarter I ever struck was Skagway. . . . It seemed as if the scum of the earth had hastened here to fleece and rob, or . . . to murder. . . . There was no law whatsoever; might was right, the dead shot only was immune to danger.

- English explorer Alexander Macdonald,
reflecting on his 1897 Skagway visit
in Pierre Berton's The Klondike Fever

The Gold Rush town of Skagway celebrated Independence Day of 1898 in grand style with 5,000 people waving flags and cheering along the parade route. Red, white, and blue bunting was draped over storefronts, and community leaders delivered speeches, drawing enthusiastic applause. Among the dignitaries was territorial Gov. John Brady, who described the festivities as "a great display of Americanism in a one-year-old town."

Yet in this baby boomtown, the American freedoms that were celebrated were r

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Con man “Soapy” Smith killed in Skagway, Alaska

A disgruntled city engineer in Skagway, Alaska, murders “Soapy” Smith, one of the most notorious con men in the history of the West.

Born in Georgia in 1860, Jefferson Randolph Smith went west while still a young man, finding work as a cowboy in Texas. Smith eventually tired of the hard work and low wages offered by the cowboy life, though, and discovered that he could make more money with less effort by convincing gullible westerners to part with their cash in clever confidence games.

One of Smith’s earliest swindles was the “prehistoric man” of Creede, Colorado. Smith somehow obtained a 10-foot statue of a primitive looking human that he secretly buried near the town of Creede. A short time later, he uncovered the statue with much fanfare and publicity and began charging exorbitant fees to see it. Wisely, he left town before the curious turned suspicious.

Smith earned his nickname “Soapy” with a more conventional confidence game. Traveling around the Southwest, Smith would briefly set up shop in the street selling bars of soa

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Soapy Smith

American con artist and gangster (1860–1898)

Soapy Smith
Smith at bar in Skagway, Alaska, 1898
Born	Jefferson Randolph Smith II November 2, 1860 Coweta County, Georgia, U.S.
Died	July 8, 1898(1898-07-08) (aged 37) Skagway, District of Alaska
Cause of death	Gunshot wounds
Occupation(s)	Con artist, gangster, gambler, saloon proprietor, political boss
Spouse	Mary Eva Noonan
Children	Jefferson Randolph Smith III, Mary Eva Smith, James Luther Smith
Parent(s)	Jefferson Randolph Smith I Emily Dawson Edmondson

Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II (November 2, 1860 – July 8, 1898) was an American con artist and gangster in the American frontier and the Klondike.

Smith operated confidence schemes across the Western United States, and had a large hand in organized criminal operations in both Colorado and the District of Alaska. Smith gained notoriety through his "prize soap racket," in which he would sell bars of soap with prize money hidden in some of the bars' packaging in order to increase sales. However, th