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Why do we romanticize historical outlaws and con artists? It is difficult to write about Wild West outlaws because the myths surrounding them bear little resemblance to the truth. Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith was one of those characters. Smith often donated money to good causes, but he earned that money by cheating and robbing people. When he relocated his criminal enterprise to Skagway, Alaska, during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897, the citizens soon grew weary of his cons and threats. The animosity led to a confrontation and a shootout, and soon, Jefferson Smith’s life ended, and the legend of Soapy Smith began.
Sources
Charles River Editors. Soapy Smith: The Life and Legacy of the Wild West’s Most Infamous Con Artist. 2019. Independently Published.
History.com Editors. “Conman ‘Soapy Smith’ Killed in Alaska.” November 16, 2009. History.
Sauerwein, Stan. Soapy Smith: Skagway’s Scourge of the Klondike. 2005. Alberta, Canada. Altitude Publishing Canada, Ltd.
Smith, Jeff, Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel, 2009, Juneau, Alaska. Klondike Research.
Spude, Katherine Holder. “The Fiend in Hell.” Soapy Smith in Legend. 2024. Norman, Oklahoma. The University of Oklahoma Press.
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Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.
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