Page "Skagway, Alaska" Paragraph 10

Between 1897-1898, Skagway was a lawless town, described by one member of the North-West Mounted Police as " little better than a hell on earth.

" Fights, prostitutes and liquor were ever-present on Skagway's streets.

The most colorful resident of this period was bad man Jefferson Randolph " Soapy " Smith.

He was a sophisticated swindler who liked to think of himself as a kind and generous benefactor to the needy.

He had gracious manners and he gave money to widows and stopped lynchings, while at the same time operating a ring of thieves who swindled prospectors with cards, dice, and the shell game.

His telegraph office charged five dollars to send a message anywhere in the world.

Prospectors sent news to their folks back home without realizing there was no telegraph service to or from Skagway until 1901.

Smith also controlled a comprehensive spy network, a private militia called the Skaguay Military Company, the newspaper, the Deputy U. S. Marshall and an array of thieves and con-men who roamed about the town.

Smith was shot and killed by Frank Reid and Jesse Murphy on July 8, 1898, in the famed Shootout on Juneau Wharf.

Smith managed to return fire — some accounts claim the two men fired their weapons simultaneously — and Frank Reid died from his wounds twelve days later.

Jesse Murphy was actually the one who killed Smith.

Every summer daily productions of the Days of 98 Show portray Smith's criminal antics and death in Skagway.