The Coolidge examiner., 1934-03-02


OF white stone which marks The
place where Henry Weston Saith
("Preacher smith they called hIn).
the Methodist circuit rider. was
killed BY party OF Sioux warriors
in 1876 because be placed his duty.
as he saw Il. above personal safety.
a native Of Connecticut, Preach
er Smith" served In the Union army
during the Civil wnr. then went
West. and arrived In Cheyenne.
Wyo.. at the height OF the Black
mis- gold rush. lie held the nrst
church services ever held ia the
Hills and became an outstanding
Squire In lts early history rs the
sky Pilot of Deadwood." career
cut short by hls death at the hands
of the Indians while on his way
20 preach Ia Crook City. ten miles
away. Another memorial 20 him
stands over bis grave in Deadwood.
a llfc.slEe statue Of him carved from
the red stone Characteristic Of that
region.
Up 10 Alaska among the rocky
cliffs overlooking Skagway IS
unique memorial 20 another Smith.
II is a rocky profile OF heroic size.
naturally shaped and painted white
10 resemble a skull and bearing
the words ~Soapy smiths Skull"
Thus does Skagway memoriaiize
Jefferson Randolph Smith. lts mayor
and boss Ia the roaring days OF the
Klondike gold rush. and one Of the
most plcturesquely vlllainous ng
urcs 10 frontier history. A native
OF Georgia. Smith was a gambler ia
various Colorado mining towns. a
"con man" of the first water (hls
nickname of ~Soapy" coming from
one % his schemes OF fleecing the
suckers" with cakes of soap
wrapped In SO billsl. and later the
king ot the Denver underworld.
When be- went 20 Alaska he be-
came the biz man Of Skagway. but
his hlgh-handed methods soon got
him into trouble. There was talk
Of yigilante methods 10 rid the town
Of him. but Frank Reid. an en-
gIncer. saved them the trouble.
~Soapy" tried 10 blun Reid. but
Reid couldn't be bluned. A bullet
from his gun put an end to this
most famous bad man OF the last
frontier.
Another Smith, but very different
from S0apy's kind. lost his life In
the wild days OF the old frontier. He
vas Thomas J. Smith, known as
Green River Tom" Smith, a quiet.
mlld-spokep young man, but one OF
the brayest who ever upheld the law
In the West. lie first made n rep.
utation for himself as marshal OF
the town OF Kit Carson, Colo. when
II was 'end OF steel on the Kan
sas Pacific. Then he was called
10 the roaring cattle town OF Abb.
lene, Kan. which he -tamed"-not
with six-shooters but with his fists.
In eleven months Smith set a rec
ord In making It aw-abidIng place
which not even his successor, the
famous Wild Bill Hickok, could
match. But he met his death at
last-murdered by two ranchmen
whom he tried to arrest peaceably.
and failed only because a cowardly
deputy sheriff ran out" on him.
One other Smith is deserving OF
mention before this article is con-
cluded. He was John T. Smith. IA.
nous In the early days OF Missouri
as q duelist and land speculator, but
the thing which most distinguished
him was the way In which he lent
distinction to that name. He real
lied that there are many John It.
Smiths. SO in order 10 make his dif.
ferent from the rest, he began sign.
ing himself John Smith T. and John
Smith 7. be was known to the day
OF his death.
AS TO other Smiths who lent dis
tinction to the name-well, there
are several hundred of them listed
In the encyclopedias Of biography
TO which the reader OF this article
is respectfully referred.
BY western Newspaper Union.