The infamous Soapy Smith was a 19th century American confidence man and gambler par excellence. He is known as the "king of the frontier confidence men." As a crime lord Soapy organized a large and powerful gang of talented grifters and rogues in order to assume control of the criminal underworlds in Denver and Creede, Colorado between the years 1884-1895, and in Skagway, Alaska during the Klondike gold rush of 1896-1898. In the latter he was known in the newspapers around the nation as the "uncrowned king of Skagway." Soapy Smith was the last of his kind. An old west crime figure who refused to give up the old ways for a constantly changing modernizing nation. He was shot dead in a horrific gunfight while facing angry vigilantes on July 8, 1898. Four days prior to his death, he had stood, as the "man of the hour," on a stage with the Alaskan territorial Governor, John Brady, at Skagway's first Independence Day celebration. He led the July 4 parade as grand marshal. Four days later he died labeled a criminal outlaw.
This is the story of a very complex criminal. Although a bad man, he too was a self-styled patriot, and a charitable man, strikingly generous to those in need. He was known to his peers and enemies for his bravery and loyalty to his gang, friends and family. His motto was "Get it while the get'ins good." In the days of the old west, no one proved themself more slippery.
