June 9-10, 2017 Premier Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/10/2017
According to the Colt factory letter, this revolver was shipped to E.C. Meacham in St. Louis on February 7th, 1890 in a shipment of 15 guns. It was shipped as a .44 caliber with 5-1/2" barrel, nickel finish and rubber stocks. This revolver is now finished in blue, has nearly full coverage scroll and punch dot Helfricht style engraving, large 1902 style trigger guard with large extended trigger, and a beautiful pair of Colt silver medallion thick ivory grips with an Indian brave carved on right panel. Backstrap is engraved "Soapy Smith Skagway 1897" (old spelling). The legend of Soapy Smith has grown over the last 100 plus years and has taken on mythical proportions. Jefferson Randalph "Soapy" Smith was born on November 2nd, 1860 and died in a gunfight in Alaska on July 8th, 1898. Referred to as the "Shootout on Juneau Wharf". His occupation was that of an early confidence man and his career began in Denver in 1879 where he ran several saloons, gambling halls, cigar stores and auction houses; all specializing in cheating their clientele. It was in Denver he entered into the arena of political fixing. He used these same methods when settling in Skagway. Referred to as "Skagway's Scourge of the Klondike" and "King Con"; Smith, like thousands of others, headed to Alaska for the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. He bought a tavern called "Jeff Smith Parlor" in 1898 to run his operations. When a vigilance committee threatened to expel Soapy and his gang, he formed his own law and order society. During the Spanish-American War in 1898 he started his own military company where he gained recognition from President William McKinley, which he used to strengthen his control of the town. It was nearly impossible for any miner traveling to the gold fields to travel through Skagway without a run-in from Soapy. His great-grandson has an interesting website dedicated to Soapy and all things related, such as stories, weapons that have surfaced, etc. We had several interesting exchanges regarding this revolver in which he stated that when Soapy was killed on July 8th, 1898; he was so well-known that everyone wanted a souvenir that belonged to him. This revolver with the beautiful presentation on the back, dated 1897, was probably one such revolver. It was made up and sold to a wealthy miner as a souvenir. The engraving is the quality of Colt with beautiful finish, sharp edges, fire blue on trigger. Carved ivory grips are exquisite. Action is perfect and has a mint bore. It is interesting that before it was engraved and blued, they added the large RAC style trigger guard and trigger "Alaskan" look; unfortunately, Soapy had been buried for three years before Colt ever produced the large trigger guard and trigger. Since the finish and engraving continues from gun onto trigger guard, it must be assumed that it was engraved with the large trigger guard and trigger assembly after Soapy was dead. This exquisite revolver would have thrilled Soapy to no end, as even in death, unscrupulous people were using Soapy's name to continue the con. That said, the revolver is a beautiful thing in its own right, retaining approximately 95% of the blue finish, thinning in some areas. Bottom of the barrel is stamped .44. Trigger guard shows no sign of any military inspection stamp. Left side of the barrel is factory stamped "COLT FRONTIER SIX SHOOTER". In 1955, the movie "Far Country" starring Jimmy Stewart and Walter Brennan paid a sort of homage to Soapy in the character of Judge Gannon; who, like Soapy, controlled everything coming or going out of Skagway during the Gold Rush. One can only imagine the poor gold minor striking it rich, wandering into a Skagway gun shop and purchasing Soapy's fancy Colt, for an obviously far greater price than a like engraved factory Colt without the Soapy history. In addition to this exquisite revolver comes an extremely high quality single pouch basket weave holster with tooled border of the same period with no marker's cartouche. And to get the real feel and history of Soapy Smith we include three books: "That Fiend In Hell" Catherine Spud, "King Con" by Jane Haigh, and "Soapy Smith: Skagway's Scourge of the Klondike" by Stan Sauerwein. For other interesting tidbits, you might want to visit Soapy's great-grandson's website about Soapy: www.soapysmith.net.