
As the Klondike gold rush peaked in spring 1898, adventurers and gamblers rubbed shoulders with town-builders and gold-panners in Skagway, Alaska. The flow of riches lured confidence men, too--among them Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith (1860-98), who with an entourage of...

As the Klondike gold rush peaked in spring 1898, adventurers and gamblers rubbed shoulders with town-builders and gold-panners in Skagway, Alaska. The flow of riches lured confidence men, too--among them Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith (1860-98), who with an entourage of...