4 minute read
The name Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith is well known amongst magicians, Old West historians and cheating aficionados.
Soapy evolved
from being a street swindler to a full-time racketeer with dozens of bad men
and ladies of negotiable affection on his payroll.
But it all
started with a simple little scam that not only gave Jefferson Randolph Smith
his nickname, it seeded the future of a criminal enterprise that ended,
inevitably in disaster.
Soapy Who?
Before I
describe the scam, a few words on who Soapy Smith was.
Between 1879
and 1898, Soapy owned several crooked gambling joints and ran a campaign of