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AFTER SOAPY'S DEMISE
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| First Bank of Skaguay, 1898 |
The most famous of Soapy
Smith's saloons is Jeff Smith's Parlor in Skagway, Alaska. It is also the only saloon of his still in existence. In the fall of 1897 the
building was home to the First Bank Of Skaguay. By the spring of 1898 the bank had moved its offices to another location,
and Soapy Smith obtained the building with Partner John Clancy. City records are not clear as to who actually owned the saloon,
but the reality is that Soapy controlled the place. Changes made to the building included moving the front entrance from the
middle of the front facade to the far right in order to accommodate the bar. Two widows were moved from each side of the entrance
to the left side. A large sign was hung just below the cornice that read, JEFF SMITH'S PARLOR. There can be little doubt
that Soapy ran the place his way.
| First Bank of Skaguay, 1898 |
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| Close-up of the photograph below |
After Soapy was killed at the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, his partner, John Clancy, took over the business. In quick
order, his brother, Frank, opened up The Mirror Saloon. It was renamed Clancy's Cafe and advertised it as a "gentleman's
resort." In 1899, under new management, it became The Sans Souci (bastard French for "Without a care"). In
its advertisements, this restaurant included an oyster bar. It appears the restaurant did not survive very long into the new
century. Photographs indicate that the building itself changed very little during this period.
The northwest corner of Holly and Broadway in 1898, after Soapy
was killed.
| Post Soapy, July - Aug., 1898 |
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| The Parlor as Clancy's Cafe |
The
photograph above shows the Hotel Mondamen where Soapy lived and where John Stewart roomed the day he was robbed. A few doors
down is Clancy's Cafe, formerly Jeff's Smith's Parlor. Streaming across Holly down the street is a banner reading
Clancy's Cafe.
| pre-1916 |
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| Woman directly in front of Parlor |
In December of 1900 the city's Fire and
Water Committee obtained use of the building rent free for its Hook and Ladder Company. In January of 1901 the city was given
a bill of $69 for altering the building to fit the needs of the Volunteer Fire Department, becoming a Hook & Ladder and
Hose Shed. At the time of this pre-1916 photograph on the right, Soapy's old
saloon (directly behind the woman) is owned by the city fire department. It was used as a garage and went through some changes
in order to accommodate the city's needs. The front door was moved from the right side to the left, and the large windows
were downsized. The building on the left of the Parlor became the property of Hose Company #1 and was used for storage of
the Skagway city fire department's hoses. A large two-door opening was built into the front in order to wheel the hoses
in and out, and a large tower was constructed on top from which to hang hoses to dry. The wheels of a hose wagon can be seen
parked inside the building. The building on the far left became the Skagway Undertaking Parlor, owned and operated by Martin
Itjen.
The Parlor building was moved in 1916 from its location on the
north side to the south side of Holly (renamed Sixth Street) to make room for the new bank parking. In 1935 Martin Itjen obtained
at least five buildings along Sixth Street, including the Hose Company building and the Parlor building.
| Inside Soapy's museum |
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| Martin Itjen mans the bar |
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| 1914 Sanborn map |
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| The Parlor with add-on buildings |
The corner of 6th and Broadway. The black
arrow points to the Hose and Ladder truck and hose sleds building that was once Jeff Smith's Parlor. Numerous additions
have been added on.
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| 1930s-1940s |
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| The saloon when Martin Itjen owned it. |
The photograph at the left shows the Parlor and the Hose Company building after Martin Itjen has
remodeled the front to very closely resemble the look of the original building when it was Jeff Smith's Parlor. Perhaps
the only main differences are the missing top cornice and the shorter windows. Martin is said to have obtained Soapy's
original bar and reinstalled it in the Parlor. In later years additions were known be attached to the Parlor when it was a
museum.
In later years additions were attached to the Parlor to increase the size of the museum. The Jeff Smith's
Parlor museum was one of the main destinations in Itjen's Skagway Street Car Tour, until his death in 1942.
| 1920s |
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| Soapy Smith Museum postcard |
Martin Itjen gave out complimentary souvenir postcards in the 1920s inked with his own identifying brand (see above). After World War II Jack
Grelsbach re-opened the museum until his health failed in 1950. In 1945 George Rapuzzi (born in Skagway, 1899) took over paying
taxes on the building and kept the museum closed after 1950 for lack of time and funds to repair the building.
| 1963 |
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| Geprge Rapuzzi moves Parlor to Second Ave. |
In 1963, George Rapuzzi
moved the Parlor from Sixth Street to the south side of Second Avenue, just west of Broadway (Block 37, Lot 2). A few years
later George re-opened the museum to the public for a number of years and suddenly closed it in the early 1970s. Author Jeff
Smith and his family met George in 1977, after the Parlor had closed to the public. George gave the Smith family a grand private
tour.
In the 1930s Martin Itjen built an automaton effigy of Soapy and placed it on display inside the Parlor. Martins
mechanical abilities and spare Ford auto parts created a moving Soapy that greeted visitors to the saloon museum.
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| The Soapy Smith Automation Man |
Of the Soapy mechanical manikin, Jeff Smith recalls,
I was eighteen at the time. When entering through the front door, we were greeted by an
effigy of Soapy standing at the bar. By means of hidden mechanical chains and pulleys hooked between the door and Soapy, he
turned his head towards visitors, his eyes lit up, and his left hand, holding a beer glass, rose in a welcoming toast. George
poured root beer into glass mugs, and we all toasted Soapy. For the fourth of July parade in Skagway, George started
up one of Martin Itjen's old tour buses and we all rode inside for the parade.
| 1960s |
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| Rapuzzi pours one for Automation Soapy |
George Rapuzzi died in 1986, and the Parlor was handed down to his niece. On May 11, 2007 the
Parlor was sold to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Great work and expense was put into researching every
inch of the Parlor, dating and restoring the damage. Only the outer building shell dated from the 1897-98 period, whereas
all of the inside dated from the late 1930-1950 period. This fact, along with the entire Itjen collection of gold rush artifacts
convinced the Gold Rush National Historical Park to make a public exhibit representing the Soapy Smith museum period. It would
have been nice to see the Parlor restored into a replica of the original saloon, but to do so would have meant destroying
the portions built between 1935-1942 and the Park Service rules forbid doing so.
At the time of purchase in 2007
the building was leaning as the foundation of wood was rotting away. Emergency steps were taken to shore up the building to
save it from collapse. The fact that it might not have survived another Alaskan winter makes us grateful that it was saved
in time. Once again visitors are able to enter the Soapy Smith's saloon via a ranger guided tour. It isn't difficult
to imagine what it was like to enter the world owned by the “king of the frontier con men."
| 1998 (centennial of Soapy's demise) |
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| Jeff & Ashley Smith in from of the Parlor |
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| 2016 |
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| Jeff. Smith's Parlor restored |
There are actually two more Jeff Smith's Parlor buildings! One is located
at the "Auria" Gold Village in Tankavaara, Sodankylä, Finland. In building Gold Village, the creators decided
to reproduce at least one historic building from each of the major gold rushes in history. Jeff Smith's Parlor was chosen
to represent the American side of the Klondike gold rush.
The second reproduction
of Jeff Smith's Parlor was built, with my assistance, at the Whitehorse Ranch in Landers, California.
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WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?
read
Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel
No images
or text may be used without prior written consent.
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