"That Fiend in Hell": Soapy Smith in Legend
"One would be hard-pressed to find a book on Alaskan outlaw Soapy Smith as well researched as Catherine Holder Spude's"That Fiend in Hell."...  Spude reveals Smith was not a lovable rogue, but also not the king of Skagway's underworld as legend defines him." --  True West Magazine."Spude has done some pretty significant research into Soapy's Alaskan years, comparing legal documents, newspaper write-ups and first-person accounts with later myths. Hers is not an enviable job. Most of us would rather believe the legend than the truth." --The Denver Post.Listed as Best of the West in 2012 byTrue Westmagazine under the category of "Books, Outlaws & Lawmen": "The Smith legend is in for a debunking in this interesting reassessment of the life of the purported 'uncrowned king of Skagway'."Spude's THAT FIEND IN HELL is a Finalist for the Western Writers of America's coveted Spur Award for Best Nonfiction Biography in 2013. westernwriters.org/spur-awards/"Well written and thoroughly researched ... Catherine Holder Spude's careful investigation of all the extant primary source material on Smith's days in Skagway reveals significant discrepancies between the facts and publications about him. ... Print the legend!" -- Roger D. McGrath,Western Historical Quarterly.“Catherine Holder Spude’s solidly researched book is original, engaging, and clearly written. She offers an interesting deconstruction not only of the Soapy Smith ‘legend’ but also of frontier community building.”—Paul Andrew Hutton, author ofPhil Sheridan and His Army and The Custer Reader