‘Soapy’ Smith: Naughty American
APRIL 14, 2008
SAN DIEGO (TNA) – What kind of Naughty American gives away money to both build town churches and bury penniless prostitutes? The same kind that raises money for charity by swindling people at three-card monte and shell games.
And the Naughty American who best personifies that is Jefferson Randolph Smith II, also known as “Soapy” Smith. Smith took hustling to new heights when he ran rampant in the Old West in the late 1800s, fleecing foolhardy gamblers, tourists and fortune-hunters from Texas to Alaska.
Jefferson Randolph 'Soapy' Smith was a true Naughty American. He swindled gamblers and used his ill-gotten gains to raise money for charity.
Despite being born into a wealthy, well-educated family, Smith’s interests were less than noble. Rather than pursuing a career in law, as his lawyer father had, he chose to ride the rough-and-tumble path of a Texas cowboy to simply satisfy his wanderlust and thirst for adventure.
But driving longhorns was apparently too honest a living for him. According to “The Reign of Soapy Smith” (The Sun Dial Press, Inc.), Smith’s destiny was altered by a morning ride into San Antonio. While watching a traveling circus set up shop, Smith paid with rapt attention as a smooth-talking con man named “Clubfoot” Hall swindled mark after mark in a simple shell game.
Smith eventually tried his hand at the game, but never won. Of course, nobody ever won. But what Smith gained by losing was the inspiration to swindle, cheat and lie his way into a successful and wealthy life.
Smith quickly disposed of life on the range and began consorting with hoaxers on the big top circuit. He eventually landed in Leadville, Colo., where he learned a con game dubbed “The Prize Package Soap Sell Swindle,” the ruse that eventually led to Smith’s branding of “Soapy.”
His mentor, a man only known as Taylor, would sell cubes of soap, baiting the crowd with claims that several of the bars were wrapped in high-marked bills. When one of Taylor’s associates, pretending to be a paying customer, would cry out in ecstasy upon discovering a $100 bill in his purchase, sales would skyrocket. Nobody, however, ever received anything more than soap.
Taylor swayed Smith to ditch the circus and become one of his conspirators. When Taylor eventually quit the game, Soapy took over and moved the operation to Denver, where he figured he could make more money.
He figured right. Business boomed in Denver, partly due to the sweet-talking charm Smith used to win over authorities. The crooked entrepreneur’s shrewd tongue alone elicited a gentleman’s agreement with police that allowed him to freely swindle tourists and passersby as long as he left the townsfolk alone.
Smith’s crooked influence spread so deep that politicians even sought his help at election time. But Soapy was more of an entrepreneur than a civil servant. According to his biographers, Smith denied helping one party during a particular election, saying he “didn’t give a damn who won.”
It was in Denver that Smith used deft organizational skills to recruit a band of rogues who would help him operate saloons and gambling clubs. Each conspirator was tapped for their special skills, including “Judge” Van Horn, an ex-lawyer who helped Smith exploit loopholes in the law.
Even with a lucrative criminal enterprise and increasing political clout, Smith needed more. When miners struck silver in the town of Creede, Colo., Smith could practically hear the coins dropping. He and his crew quickly set out for the town that incidentally rhymed with “greed.”
Soapy immediately made his presence known. Soon after his arrival in Creede, he became a de-facto dictator, rigging an election to appoint the justice of the peace, coroner, and city council. All the while, he continued his money-making schemes and ruled the prosperous criminal underworld.
Smith devised a ruse in which he claimed to have found a “petrified man” while mining outside of Creede. Returning to his circus trail roots, Smith unveiled his “finding” – a monstrosity composed of cement and plaster of Paris by his henchmen – and charged a viewing fee. Soapy made money off his creation for five years – even leasing it to circuses and sideshows.
Though he basked in wealth and dishonesty – and loved it – Smith wasn’t driven by greed alone. He was known to be a kind-hearted philanthropist who detested cruelty. "When two losing customers filed an official complaint against him and his dirty games, Soapy earnestly argued that his house of con games was merely an educational institution providing therapy for gambling addicts."
In 1891, Smith gained the respect of citizens by aiding a helpless servant girl being harassed by the Glasson Detective Agency, which allegedly used harsh methods to try to force her to confess to a crime she didn’t commit. Upon learning this, Smith stormed into the agency’s headquarters and ransacked its stock of detective badges and files, which he later destroyed.
The public, which considered the detective agency corrupt, viewed Smith’s actions as a service to the city, and praised him. Glasson never recovered from the incident and closed shop.
Smith also once protected a corner preacher from thugs, raised funds for the construction of a church, sponsored church Christmas dinners, preached against conning, drinking and gambling in Bible classes, and provided money for needy families and deceased prostitutes whose estates couldn’t afford proper burials.
What truly made Soapy Smith a Naughty American wasn’t his sharp wit, but the brazen way with which he employed it. A sign above the staircase at one of his clubs in Denver read “Caveat Emptor,” (“Let the buyer beware”), and showed exactly what the proprietor was all about. Though a huckster, Smith was honest about being a conniving huckster.
Sometimes it seemed Smith was even fooling himself. According to “Reign,” he acted as his own counsel when two losing customers filed an official complaint against him and his dirty games. Soapy earnestly argued that his house of con games was merely an educational institution providing therapy for gambling addicts.
He explained: [A gambler] has, of course, no chance of winning a cent, because, in my games, the player cannot win. When he leaves, he has learned a valuable lesson, one which he will never forget.”
Following the speech, the commission made a unanimous vote to acquit Smith.
Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith II made his mark on the western frontier by robbing and cheating his way to wealth, fame and power. But, in the end, he paid a price for it. He was shot and killed in Alaska by a security guard in 1898 while trying to enter a meeting where vigilantes were planning to overthrow his operations.
Although Smith earned his nickname, ironically, by being dirty, he nonetheless earned it by doing what he did best – taking the gamblin’ man’s money in crooked fashion. For that, he’s also earned entry into the Naughty American Hall of Fame.
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