January5
Soapy Smith Jr. Jr. Jr.
The great (great?) grandson of the famous Old West con man Soapy Smith has a great blog over at Soapy Smith’s Soap Box.
Jeff’s blog is packed full of great historical anecdotes such as this greats story about Charles Baggs and the fake safe:
…always had his false safe, an enormous affair made of wood with a silver knob, beautifully painted and labeled ‘Hull’s Patent.’ It looked exactly like a heavy iron safe. One day Doc’s office in Deadwood caught fire, and he surprised everybody by running down stairs with the massive safe on his back. … The thing cost him as much as $100. Of course he wanted to save it. He had it made of wood so he could fold it up and carry it around easily from place to place. You know every time the bunco man catches a big ‘sucker’ he moves his office. When the ‘sucker’ next comes around he don’t find anything but an empty room. Besides, Doc used to keep his money and valuables in that same old wooden chest. No burglars would venture to tackle its massive sides, and it was as secure as it would have been in any vault in the country.
~St. Louis Globe-Democrat. March 8, 1882.
Thank you very much for the plug! Much appreciated.
Jeff Smith
No problem Jeff