Considered one of the most notorious outlaws of his time, many people have never heard of “Soapy” Smith. Plus, he has a great Colorado history connection. Let’s go exploring!
Jefferson R. Smith was born in Georgia in 1860, nephew of a prominent politician, and by the time he was killed in 1898 was well known for his dishonest ways throughout mining camps in Colorado and Alaska. He was called “Soapy” from one of his frequent scams and the name stuck with him the rest of his life.
His nickname came to him while he lived in Denver in the early 1880’s. It was a shell game of sorts, something he had mastered years before. He would wrap a one-hundred-dollar bill around a small bar of soap while people watched, place it in a bag with other like bars of wrapped soap and then sell chances to pick out the bar of soap with the $100 wrapped around it. By slight-of -hand, the $100 bill never made it into the bag. As he improved his games, he took more chances at getting caught.
He left Denver for Creede, Colorado – a booming mining town in southern Colorado at the time. While in Creede he did raise $600 for the first church in Creede. But more in keeping with his lifestyle, he created and hid a “Mummy Man” made of cement and plaster of Paris. A prospector accidentally-on-purposed discovered the mummy and word of the find traveled around the world. Soapy began selling shares in his mummy, which continued until the day he died. It is now in the Ye Old Curiosity Shop in Seattle, WA and goes by the name of Sylvester.
Soapy moved back to Denver where he was well known and mixed with all the politicians. He was involved in almost every shooting or fight that happened in the lower part of Denver during the 1880’s and 1890’s. Many of the crimes he committed he managed to get discharged. In 1894, he was paid a check for $29.00 but by the time he cashed the check it had been forged to $1029.00. He soon left Colorado as the risk of truly getting caught was getting riskier.
By 1897 he reappears in Skagway, Alaska, just in time for the Klondike gold rush. He fit right in, opened a saloon in Skagway and began setting up gambling schemes and taking advantage of the unsuspecting miners coming in from around the globe. It didn’t take long for his reputation as an outlaw to catch up with him. His strong-arm tactics alienated him from the community and they soon set up a vigilante committee to figure out how to get rid of him.
His demise came one day when the vigilante committee was scheduled to meet and Soapy got word of the meeting. He was confronted by Frank Reid at the wharf when both men shot at each other, July 8, 1898. Soapy was killed instantly with a bullet through the heart. Frank died 10 days later and was considered a town hero.
Information about Soapy Smith does show up from time to time. Come out to the Denver Postcard & Paper Show, January 16-17, 2026 where this type of information can be found. There will be dealers bringing their postcards, photographs, travel brochures, maps, posters, artwork and many other small collectibles. This year the show is at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Golden. Always looking for new dealers! www.denverpostcardshow.com Carol Mobley 720-308-1516
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