An instant of gunplay nudged the citizens’ attitude over the line from restraint to relief and then revenge. J.M. Tanner led the crowd into town, calling for a rendezvous in front of Fran k Reid’s house on State Street. Some of the men carried Reid home but, finding him to be m ore seriously wounded than they thought, they rushed him to the hospital. Soapy Smith’s body was turned over to Ed R. Peoples, the town undertaker. After being sworn in as’special marshal’ by Judge Sehlbrede — superseding Taylor’s authority — Tanner borrowed a Winchester rifle from Captain Billy Moore and gathered 60 men to comb the town for Soapy’ disciples. Men were posted at every wharf and every trail, while the White Pass Railway Company was notified to place men at the pass. A dragnet had effectively descended around Skagway.

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A total of 26 of Soapy’s gang were rounded up over the next few days. Some were thrown into the town jail until accommodations proved inadequate. The rest were placed under guard in a hall over Burkhard’s store while, outside, nooses were being adjusted by some of the more zealous sentinels of public virtue. In spite of the guards holding the mob at bay, one of Smith’s men, Slim Jim Foster, got nervous and, jumping out the back end of the building, made a break down French Alley. He was caught by a group keen to hang somebody, and thus found himself the unwitting first volunteer as they dragged him out front and threw a rope around his neck.

At that moment, a detachment of U.S. Army infantry, summoned from Dyea by Judge Sehlbrede, arrived just in time to save Slim Jim from a premature suspended sentence and establish a state of martial law. The troops paraded up Fifth Street, but that proved to be the only show of strength necessary. They left the next morning when Sehlbrede declared the situation under control.

Once things calmed down, the townsfolk had the satisfaction of seeing Soapy’s leading lights — including Reverend Bowers, Slim Jim Foster and Old Man Tripp — shipped out to Juneau top serve prison sentences that ranged from one to 10 years. The rest were put aboard the steamship Tartar, bound for Seattle and points south, and advised under pain of death never to show their faces in Skagway again.

Mortally wounded, Frank Reid cling painfully to life for 12 days, just long enough to see that his death had not been in vain — and also, perhaps, to overhear the first embellishments in the retelling that would emblazon his showdown with Soapy Smith in the annals of Alaskan legend. The two antagonists were buried not far from one another. A large monument was erected over Reid’s gravesite, inscribed with the legend: ‘He gave his life for the honor of Skagway.’ The grave of the ‘Uncrowned King of Skagway’ was marked by a rough board with the stark inscription: ‘Jefferson R. Smith, Age 38, Died July 8, 1898.’

How the mighty had fallen! Fallen, but not forgotten. Jeff Smith’s Parlor still stands on what is now Sixth Avenue, and on every July 8 since 1977, citizens of Skagway have gathered at the grave to drink champagne, provided by the present-day Smith clan, to the ghost of their most notorious celebrity.

This article was written by Jon Guttman and originally appeared in Wild West magazine. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Wild West magazine today!

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