How the Secret Soap Gang Came to Run Denver

Denver has had its share of secret societies over the years trying to avoid police investigation, but none was more colorful than a gang of criminals known as “The Soap Gang.” It was led by a handsome, black-bearded scoundrel named Jefferson Randolph Smith. Or “Soapy Smith” as he came to be known.

Soapy arrived in Denver in 1886 and started a love affair with the city that lasted 11 years. He was probably the most skilled and accomplished sleight of hand artist and swindler in the West. His earliest game was to set up a table at the corner of Larimer and 17th streets and gather a crowd with a spiel that included phrases like “Step up and clean up,” and “Wash your sins away.”

Soapy Smith

On the table would be 100 cakes of white soap. “Now watch closely,” he would advise as he took a $100 bill from his pocket, wrapped it around the soap, and covered it with blue tissue paper. In this manner, he would wrap all the bars of soap, some with fifties, some twenties and others with one dollar. For five dollars, he told his audience, they could pick any bar they liked.

Well, of course, the crowd was skeptical, but then someone would come forward, plunk down five dollars, pick a bar of soap, and yelling and waving a $100 bill, go dancing through the crowd and disappear. Everyone else lined up to buy their soap before the big bills were gone.

Of course, no one else won, but no one went away empty handed. They all had a five-cent cake of soap. If someone complained and Soapy was hauled to court, he demonstrated his salesmanship to the judge, only instead of “palming” the $100 bill, he would leave a corner of the bill exposed.  The judge would look through the wrapped bars, pick the right one, pocket the money, and dismiss the case.

To operate a con game of this nature, Soapy needed confederates: bunco steers to bring in the marks; cappers, stooges, and shills to get the suckers buying, and strong-arm men in case someone caused trouble. So Soapy formed a secret gang. The Soap Gang was the greatest collection of billwrappers, con artists and thugs in the West. There was Fatty “Shoot-Your-Eyes-Out” Gray, a mean 300-pound bodyguard. “Troublesome Tom” Cady, who carried a sword cane. “Ice Box” Murphy, who got his name when he accidentally blew up what he thought was a safe only to be showered with cold cuts. The “Reverend” Bowers was a pious-looking man who mastered every “secret” handshake of every fraternal organization and would lead his new “friends” directly to Soapy for a plucking.

Soapy’s gang became so powerful that no criminal could pull a job in Denver without his permission, and through bribes and extortion, he controlled the police and politicians. He based his operations out of the Tivoli Saloon and Gambling Hall on the corner of 17th and Market. Once when he was hauled into court for operating a crooked game, he spoke in his own defense. “At the Tivoli, I am running an educational institution that provides a cure for gambling. The man who steps into my place has, of course, no chance of winning a cent, because in my games the player cannot win. When he leaves, he is disappointed, naturally, but he has had an experience of the greatest value.” Case dismissed.

Governor Waite

One of the reasons Soapy was so popular was that he never cheated a local. All of his gang members were only allowed to prey on tourists and visitors, and they kept violent criminals and other outlaw competition out of Denver. In his own way, he was somewhat a defender of women’s rights — defending their right to be prostitutes and dance hall girls and protecting them from the police and bullies. If a destitute woman passed away, Soapy would pay for her funeral.

But then David H. Waite was elected Governor of Colorado on a reform bill. In a rash move, and knowing the level of corruption that existed, he fired everyone at Denver City Hall and ordered them to leave the building, then located at 14th and Larimer. Insisting the governor had no authority to do that, the politicians refused. Governor Waite called on the state militia. City officials called on Soapy.

Within hours, Soapy armed dozens of thugs and placed them in strategic windows, while he took a position in the tower of City Hall with dynamite bombs he intended to throw on any attackers.

On March 15, 1894, 300 state troops gathered before the building and trained cannon and Gatling guns on it. The Denver Post reported that Soapy in the tower shouted down to the troops, “I’m closer to heaven than you are, but if you come any closer, you will get there first.”

General Brooks, commanding the militia sent a hurried message to Governor Waite. “If a single shot is fired, they will kill me instantly and they will kill you in fifteen minutes. But if you say fire, we’ll fire.”

Horrified citizens stormed the Capitol and Governor Waite backed down. “Colonel” Smith, as he now called himself, was the king of the underworld and ruler of Denver.

Then, in 1897, gold was discovered in Alaska and Soapy left for new diggings, telling the Rocky Mountain News, “Oh, I’ll be back. I like Denver too well to stay away for good.” Soapy quickly took over the gold mining boom town of Skagway. When a group of vigilantes called the “Committee of 101” was formed to wipe out his illegal control, Soapy wasn’t bothered. He formed the “Committee of 303.” Their purpose? To wipe out illegal vigilantes. But on July 8, 1898, his luck ran out.  Soapy and the leader of the vigilantes, Frank Reid, met at Skagway’s rat-infested wharf and after a brief scuffle, both fired guns. Soapy was killed instantly, Reid was mortally wounded.

There’s not much to remember Soapy Smith in Denver today. Back in the 1970s, “Soapy Smith’s Eagle Bar” was one of the most popular places at Larimer Square, not far from Soapy’s own Tivoli Club. But today, Soapy’s secret gang that once ruled Denver, remains for the most part, secret.