Soapy Smith: The Old West's Most Infamous Con Artist
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- Опубліковано 28 лис 2023
- “It’s just as easy to make big money as little money. In my profession, a hundred dollars is just chicken feed. We think in thousands, not tens. Experience has taught me that it is as easy to separate a sucker - the right sucker - from five thousand dollars as from fifty. We always offered our services to well-to-do men, holding out the promise that their investments were certain to net them profit in three to four figures, at least - and that’s the real bait for the sucker - particularly if he’s the close-fisted kind that always wants something for nothing. Yes, there always was a lot of satisfaction as well as cash profit in trimming some old skin flint who would rob his grandmother if he had a chance.” - Doc Bags; a legendary con artist and frontier gambler who plied his trade throughout the West.
Although Doc is largely forgotten today, his lasting legacy was his most notorious apprentice, a young man from Georgia who’d come to be known as Soapy Smith. You see it's on the streets of Denver that Smith learned all Doc Bags had to teach. And when it came time for Doc to move on, young Soapy took his spot as the undisputed kingpin of the mile-high city. But he wasn’t a gunman, at least not really. Instead of colt revolvers, Soapy’s weapon of choice was a quick wit coupled with a silver tongue, a whole helluva lot of charisma, and the magical ability to make people see and believe things that did not exist; all of which would earn him the title of King of the Frontier Conmen. That said, Soapy certainly wasn’t afraid of resorting to violence if the situation called for it. With an army of thugs at his disposal, Smith would face down more than a few deadly killers. And like many other icons of the Old West, Soapy would ultimately go down in a blaze of gunfire.
They say fortune favors the bold and they don’t get much bolder than Soapy Smith, a charming rogue who spent his life operating in the shadows, leaving behind a legend as complex as the frontier he called home. #history #wildwest #western
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Soap! Soap with a prize inside!
It was much to my chagrin you used the words the war between the states , i beg to differ sir because it was the war of nothern aggression.
@@PaulShaw-ex7riAmen brother 🫡
how about that claude dallas episode josh?
@@bullhand_218 It's coming but it'll most likely be after the new year. It's going to be a long one. I'm about 9/10 done.
@@WildWestExtravaganza ten fo
Soapy Smith was portrayed in the HBO hit series Deadwood, “soap with a prize inside.”
Saw his gravestone in Skagway, Alaska. Really insightful documentary, thanks for sharing. 🤠
Yep, my pleasure
The show Deadwood used Soapy Smith based on a diary written in 1876 stating that the writer, Wild Bill Hickok and Soapy, shared a stagecoach. Problem is, in 1876 Soapy was only 16 years old and still living with family in Round Rock, Texas. He was not known as "Soapy" until 1885.
Soapy did go to Deadwood, but in 1896-97. There is a photograph of Soapy with Bullock and Starr.
The grave marker you saw in Skagway is an exact copy of the original, which I possess.
A@@JeffSoapySmith😂
I sure do enjoy Your style of narration Josh. Best Wishes to You and Your Family.
Thanks, you too!
I've always wondered what that scene in Deadwood was all about! 😂
Now you know!
Soapy is my great great grandfather. My Uncle Jeff, that is Arizona, wrote the book you spoke of.
U da man Josh! Thx vm for the great episode.
You da man
Great one Josh. I have never heard of soapy smith. What a Character
That he was
We out here boys. Thanks Josh. Hell yes!
Heck yeah
Thank you for another great episode.
I'm just glad you enjoyed it
@@WildWestExtravaganza thanks ,I always do
Keep up the good work .. and your jokes whether there funny or not .. always make me laugh.. I listen to about 4 different podcasts dealing w the old west .. YOURS ARE THE MOST ENTERTAINING BY FAR !!!
Wow thanks
Absolutely yours are the only ones I personally listen to, and I tend to fall entirely into things I find interesting or exciting so let that tell you how much the engaging story and jokes along with actually add
@@kennydoggins1712 I really appreciate you saying that, thanks again!
@@WildWestExtravaganzaI used to just listen at night, but I'm waiting for surgery. I spend lots of time in bed with you lately,. 😊
@@bethkaseroff-kr7ykoh no! Good luck with the surgery
I thank you very much for keeping the history of Soapy Smith alive. Overall I enjoyed the program, but if I may correct a few mistakes. I suggest reading the book, Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel. It is, bar none, the most accurate and sourced biography of Jefferson Randolph Smith II, alias “Soapy” Smith.
1) min 0:53: Charles L. “Doc” Baggs was not Soapy’s mentor. By the time Baggs and Smith met, Smith had learned the business, the two men being rival bosses of the two bunko gangs in Denver.
2) min 3:03: There is no evidence that “Jeff’s mother ran a boarding house.” This story came from one author in Round Rock but without any source. There are several family journals being kept during this time and none mention any such business.
3) min 3:16: Both Soapy and his cousin Edwin B. Smith did witness the shooting of Sam Bass. Both wrote about the event in their journals.
4) min 4:14: Soapy was never a cowboy. That story came from a romanticized poem from 1892.
5) min 4:21: There are only stories of when Soapy learned the shell & pea game, but as he stayed in Texas, making his first known move to Ft. Worth, Texas as a con man in 1878, it is likely there, or before-hand, that he learned the shell & pea game.
There are more mistakes but I can't post them all as they limit the number of words. By-the-way, I am a great-grandson of Soapy's.
Good info, thank you! I'll def pick up a copy of the Life and Death of a Scoundrel. Any copies available for less than $65?
It appears my comment was deleted because of a link. You can still get my book at $26 from my publisher. I will find another way to contact you. @@WildWestExtravaganza
Merry Christmas Josh and family. Big fan of the tv show Deadwood. Sooo happy to finally catch up with Soapy Smith. Thanks a whole bunch and you, and yours, have a great Christmas.
Same to you!
Who doesn't own a petrified giant? Another great video Josh!
Good point
Soapy's petrified man wasn't a "giant." In fact, it was a real corpse. It can still be seen at the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop in Seattle, Washington. In my book, Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel I have a lot of details on the petrified man, even who I believe the identity of the corpse is.
Love the channel Josh. Your narration and sense of humour really brings these stories to life
Many thanks
Going to have to wait to listen to when I get to work at 4am.
Hope you like it
Sounds like the story line for the old John Wayne Movie "North to Alaska" was referring from the pages of History's past !
Hope you had a Great Thanksgiving Josh and you and yours are doing good. Just started but you Always give a Fantastic Show Brotha 🤜🤛
I did, hope you did as well
I loved this episode on Soapy Smith.Here's a suggestion for a future episode,Seth Kinman.Mountain man,early pioneer to Humboldt County,California.,supplier of Elk meat to the local Fort Humboldt,and reportedly engaged in the slave trade of Native youths.His ranch on Table Bluff overlooked Humboldt bay,and the Pacific Ocean.His biggest claim to fame was making several chairs from Elk antlers,and going to Washington D.C. to present them to several U.S. presidents.A real character of the Old West.
I was fortunate as a young man to live 9 1/2 years in the gold country of Northwest Trinity County,now part of the Trinity Alps Widerness area.Besides gold prospecting,I became proficient at packing horses and mules into the mines.I only left in the early 1980's with the violence due to more,and more illegal marjijuana grows.
Some things just keep repeating.
Great suggestion! He's on the list
I know why you're having success... You have earned it. Looking forward to the Wild West Extravaganza in 2024.
I dunno about that but I thank you
Good on reed. Gave his life to save his town skagway. A real old american hero. Think about how powerful soapy was in that town and he walked up to an average guy expecting him to fold and cower and he shot three times to soapy’s one. Didnt give him the chance to survive. Gave his life to keep his community safe when all the cops and politicians were bought n paid for.
A real alaskan hero he was.
good shit josh ill watch it when i head out in the morning
Yes sir
I’m really enjoying your UA-cam channel, thank you so much. ❤
Thanks!
Really enjoyed this. Thanks from South Africa.
Thank you!
really enjoyin your work and delivery , cheers big ears from down under
Much appreciated!
King of the frontier conmen
Oh yes been looking forward to this one
Let's go
Dagnabbit Josh! You cover every idear I can think of for a suggestion. Kit Carson was one tough ass guide, but I have no doubt WWE has covered him! Either way thanks for this one Soapy was quite entertaining. Much Like you kind sir!
Thank you for listening!
Best. History. Channel. Ever.
Haha thanks
Another great episode Josh been looking forward to this one. If you are interested in ever doing another video on another conman I read a few months back about Clark Stanley a quack doctor who was known for selling his "Snake Oil" as he called it.
I'll check it out! Thanks
If you don't believe in lizard people, we can't be friends 😂 I never got along with nobody named Josh anyway. 🤪
Love the channel
Ha!
His grand daughter is a friend of the family she's awsome !! 😊
Very cool!
read story about some of the crow indians who were having trouble with some cattle rustlers in the pryor mountain area in the late 1800s ,and hired a man called soapy smith to get rid of him ,witch he did and then he also quickly left the area. Seems he was also using the area for a hideout at the time.
Haven't heard that one
In the 90s some entrepreneur opened Soapy's old saloon on 14th and Market. I had many an adventure in that locale in the 1990's. Denver loves our old timey gangster past. The wood work in that old haunt is amazing. I wish we had camera phones back then.
Very cool
That thing about the easily conned, speaks also of folks, who for lack of excitement in life, will let such things act as a placeholder. Some people (like anyone who ever voted for anything ever) just need to THINK that everything can be made better with a kind word or the stroke of a pen... All the while harboring some degree of knowing they lack the ambition of those who tell those tales and charge admission.
You say all those big words thinking you actually know something huh? Spoken like someone who will work a dead end job for the rest of their existence.
He probably did his pa proud, becoming a con-man which in large part, is everything the average lawyer is 😂😂😂
Lawyers are just the mercenaries in that group. You hire them to con the government. I am seriously conflicted about them. They can be a bain or a blessing
@@kennydoggins1712 I've yet to meet a decent one. Even those in said profession that supposedly are the "champions of the downtrodden" as it were, for whom things like civil rights violations and such should scream $$$$ to them and they be "too busy to care"
@@Goji-eletienne mercenaries like I said. You have to pay them and usually more than they're worth to fight for you
Legal thieves
@@scatdog1 That which legal is not necessarily lawful... If anything lawful is ever illegal, tyranny is in the wings.
It always cracks me up when Seth Bullock runs the dude off outside the hardware store in the show Deadwood. I doubt Soapy ever crossed Bullocks path, but it would've been interesting to see how it would have played out. The real Seth Bullock would've probably just taken the bribe with a smile on his face.
He would absolutely have and then probably robbed him a different day that was going a little slower
Thanks for the content
My pleasure!
Another great episode
thanks for the video :)
Awesome story
I had a Buddy that got took in a game of 3 card Monty. He told Me “when I got there, another Guy was winning”
Good Stuff!!
Gracias
Enjoyed this. Couldn't help but notice the bar rag in the photo. Whoda thunkit that con men had a small army of thugs working for them? Wonder what their cut was? Yes people are still gullible lol. Paying 100's for tennis shoes or 10,000's for electric cars!
I dunno but i think it was the other way, they gave him a cut
Greetings from Apacheria in the Arizona Territories ahe'hye'e
28:18 - LMAO... I thought this was AMERICA!- reminds me of stan marsh's dad from South Park.
Soapy... Only on a Saturday night.
With the history, of all the outlaws. I want to know, what their children became of?? What did they( the outlaws). Do for the holidays. And, other events threw the years?. Or where they just, bad people?
Where can I buy soap with a prize?
I fear no man. Mildly scared o' soap.
good story bro
Thank you
There’s a sucker born every minute, and 2 to take him
This was one of the most entertaining episodes yet. While he was a dick, I can respect the balls he had 😂
Thanks!
I have a question? If you have the choice between taking down a currupt sherriffs department, child trafficking ring, becoming a local celebrity, winning a North of 20 million dollar lawsuit and living out my days on a beautiful ranch in the Black Hills of South Dakota OR getting in a gunfight on the streets of Deadwood, SD using a 1851 Colt revolver "the same as wild bill" and win or lose, becoming the most infamous outlaw since Billy the kid, which would you choose? Believe it or not I have the choice. Wanna hear the story?
Have you done one on Belle Starr?
Not yet
I love your channel! You do a great job of keeping it simple, informational,and entertaining. Keep it up! 💯
Soppy was just pushing buttons left and right regarles of what!!
Yessir
Ha!
Old 🧼 soapy with a glass of milk 🥛...
So many ads. Ruined it.
Every 5 minutes! 😢
There are two ways to listen completely ad free
RSH (Rest In Hell) Soapy. 😂
Skagway. Thanks
Welcome
Is it really a con tho? To sell soap saying you might win a cash prize when there is no cash prize. I mean c’mon youtubers pull that shit all the time. Its your fault if you buy a 5$ bar of soap for 20$ expecting to win something. Right?
That's literally the definition of a con. I know what you mean though.
Google "Money Soap." They still swindle people using the same concept as Soapy's prize package soap racket, except that victims actually saw Soapy wrap money in some of the cakes of soap.
Why did you not mention this guy's father was a plantation owner?an attorney and plantation owner in the south after the civil war.smith comes from the south with one of the worst families from the south.his skill as a con man is very impressive.laudering before there was such a thing and the scams are innovative and he is a natural politician.he keeps the town happy by just scamming in coming minors and frontier men.he pays of the politicians.he is on another level when it comes to crime.he is more then a common scam artist.he has the balls to call his saloon "buyer beware" in latin.the barbers put a red x on travelers so soapy and his gang could scam them.the fake telegram is my favorite.i would love the job of writing down a fake telegram back.the telegrams probably when like this.get back to me as soon as possible so and so is dying and I need to be in constant communication with the mark.he even tried to sman the president of Mexico telling him he need a force of 250 tough guy Americans to help him with internal enemies.why is this guy is not taught in history books is a crime.this was mabey the first organized crime leader in American history.
Sounds just like are government today
I think he was a made-up figure. Because there's a story about him and catch a can
Claim to have been shot and killed there. Went to the grave. 😅😂❤
The earth is flat
👍✝️☝️👑🕊🙏🔥 You once Googled how to make a podcast. Google who is King of Kings, Lord of Lords!
I love your stories, but PLEASE DON'T USE THE LORD'S NAME IN VEIN.!!!!
I went on cruise one of our stops was Skagway. We have told about Soapy. I even went to his grave after dark. It was empty i think he's a Vampire. Don't say anything. If you ever get the chance to go to skagway. Do it the train ride through dead horse pass is awesome.
Soapy is still buried there.
There is still a long running play in Skagway. I saw it last summer when on a cruise. Located right on main street. Well worth seeing.
How the hell do I get discord to work? Not exactly savvy on things like that lol. I’m subscribed on Into History. As always a great episode, been a fan since the Bloody Beaver 🦫 days.
Do you remember what level you subscribed at?
@@WildWestExtravaganza I’m not sure the level but i think it’s 18 dollars a month
After logging in to Intohistory .com you should be able to scroll down where you'll see a discord connect button. If that's not working please email me and I'll try to walk you thru it