A Conman’s End Game

Soapy Smith cashes in his chips.

July 8, 1898, Jefferson Randolph Smith II–better known as conman Soapy Smith–is shot to death on a wharf in Skagway, Alaska. Soapy’s great grandson Jeff Smith believes that a guard named Jess Murphy finished the unarmed outlaw off after a confrontation and gunfight with vigilantes. Soapy’s last words: “My God, don’t shoot!”