Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith - Soapy gained initial infamy in Denver Colorado, where he made a small fortune selling soap. This was no ordinary soap sale though, Soapy would wrap a $100 dollar bill inside a bar of soap, mix it in a tub with other bars, then take bids on randomly picked soap bars. Oddly enough, the $100 dollar soap bar was hardly ever picked. Gathering his earnings, Soapy left town (as suggested by law enforcement) and sailed north to mine the miners.

   He entered the port of Skagway in the busy summer of 1897, and by autumn, he had built a saloon/casino called Jeff's Place. Surrounding himself with his gang of helpers, (he called them his "lambs"), Soapy ran a tight casino, so tight that few gamblers walked out with more money than they brought. The few who did often met some of Soapy's helpers in Skagway's back alleys—who helped themselves to the winnings. Part of Soapy's earnings were used to build Skagway's first telegraph station. Overseeing the operation himself, Soapy opened the telegraph office less than a week after construction began. Little did the many telegraph customers know that the telegraph wires extended only a few hundred feet into Skagway's harbor. They did get replies though, which invariably asked the men to "send money" back home—which, of course, the telegraph office was happy to help with.

   After a committee of Skagway residents organized a group to run Soapy and his band of lambs out of town, Soapy retaliated and took over. He paid or coerced three hundred residents to form a committee for "permanent law and order", and believe it or not, Soapy was named the chairman. He also commandeered the next Fourth of July Parade, courtesy of his lambs and the committee. Soapy rode at the head of the parade as Grand Marshall, followed by a brass band and other civic groups. Many of the charities in Skagway had Soapy to thank as their benefactor—especially the ones benefiting the widows of men who met their demise at the hands of Soapy's gang.

   Three days after the parade, on July 7th of 1898, A miner staggered into Skagway with nearly $3000 in gold. He stored it in a hotel safe, but was convinced by some of Soapy's Lambs to move it to Soapy's place. The gold disappeared during a staged brawl, and the miner was thrown in the street. Yelling to anyone who would listen, the miner stirred up the already simmering group of vigilantes called the "Committee of 101".

   The committee issued an ultimatum to Soapy and his gang to return the gold or else by the next afternoon. Soapy claimed to have won the gold in a fair casino game, and refused to return it. The committee organized a meeting at the docks the next night, July 8th, to decide what to do next. Soapy caught wind of the meeting and decided to crash the party with a group of armed men.

   Yelling at townsfolk on the way to the docks, Soapy carried two revolvers and a double-barreled rifle. At the entrance to the wharf, Soapy and his men ran into four guards. Soapy rushed right past the first few unarmed men, but was stopped by the a civil engineer named Frank Reid. Reid had a pistol in his pocket and told Soapy to stop. Soapy held a personal grudge against Reid, and did not hesitate to strike out with his rifle butt. Reid blocked the swing and fired, missing Soapy. After a short struggle, both men fired at the same time and fell to the ground. Soapy lay dead, Reid dying—wounded in the groin. Soapy's Lambs dispersed, moving on to other, easier grounds.

   Twelve days later Reid died, and was buried in Skagway's cemetery. His headstone reads "He gave his life for the Honor of Skagway." (Not far away is the headstone of an infamous prostitute that reads "She gave her Honor for the life of Skagway.")