Soapy Smith
Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II (November 2nd, 1860 - July 8th, 1898) was an American con artist and gangster who ran several criminal organizations in Colorado and the District of Alaska.
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History edit
Randolph Smith was born in Coweta County, Georgia in 1860 and moved west to Round Rock, Texas 16 years later, where he got a job of being a cowboy. A year later, his mother died and he witnessed Sam Bass perish in 1878. Eventually, he grew tired of the job and figured he could make more money in confidence games. He then moved to Fort Worth and became a famous crime boss as he led a group of outlaws known as the Soap Gang, including Texas Jack Vermillion and "Big Ed" Burns.
He then moved to Creede, Colorado, where his first swindle was the "prehistoric man". He then earned a 10-foot statue and planned to have the entire public admire him with that statue before leaving the town.
He moved to the southwest and began selling soap bars wrapped in blue tissue paper and earned the nickname "Soapy". In 1897, he joined the Alaskan Gold Rush in Skagway, where he led a criminal organization so he can perfect his con games. When the citizens of Skagway were angered by his success, they created a vigilante "Committee of 101" to have law and order arrive in town, but Soapy Smith created a "Committee of 303" to oppose them.
On July 8th, 1898, Smith tried to crash a vigilante meeting to manipulate the citizens that he didn't pose any threat, but he failed to realize that they were already furious at his crimes. An engineer named Frank Reid confronted Smith and fatally shot him, but not before Smith shoots Reid.
Portrayal in media edit
- Klondike Fever (1980), played by Rod Steiger.