On this day, July 8, in 1898, the king of the frontier con was shot by vigilantes in Alaska.
Soapy Smith’s gang of infamous swindlers moved west from Texas, to Colorado to Alaska, running their rackets on unsuspecting victims. The crew operated shell games, three-card monte — any game they could rig.
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Soapy earned his nickname through his “Prize Package Soap Sell.” He would set up a display on a busy street corner, hide a $100 bill inside a bar of soap, mix it in a pile of soap bars and sell the cakes for $1. After a while, Smith would announce that the prize was still unsold and then auction the remaining bars.
Soapy’s con came to a violent end in Skagway, Alaska, after his men swindled a sack of gold from a Klondike miner in a game of three-card monte. Soapy was killed in a gunfight with the townsfolk.
Now, every year on this day, wakes are held in Soapy’s honor. His grave and saloon are tourist attractions.
— Scott McCabe
