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| May 1 or May 30, 1898? |
(Click image to enlarge)
Cathy Spude, author of "That Fiend In Hell," has created a page on her website to counter the information I am posting on this blog. On her page she notes that I have this photograph in my book, Alias Soapy Smith, misidentifying the man mounted on horseback as being Soapy Smith, and that Soapy is in the crowd, just to the right of the horse.
I have a high dpi copy of this photograph and can safely rule out that the man in the crowd is Soapy Smith. She gives the opinion that Soapy "is not in the parade at all. He is merely a face in the crowd of on-lookers." Of course Soapy, as the captain of the Skaguay Military Company (plainly seen carrying signs identifying themselves), would naturally lead his company in any and all the parades in Skagway, Alaska.
Cathy is correct that my book misidentifies the man on horseback as being Soapy. However, this mistake was caught, addressed, and fully explored on my Soapy Smith's soap box blog over 2-1/2 years ago (see complete story here). In short, the man is sitting on Soapy's horse, and it was first assumed that the man must be Soapy.
Cathy is correct that my book misidentifies the man on horseback as being Soapy. However, this mistake was caught, addressed, and fully explored on my Soapy Smith's soap box blog over 2-1/2 years ago (see complete story here). In short, the man is sitting on Soapy's horse, and it was first assumed that the man must be Soapy.
The implication that the above photograph was not taken on May 1, 1898, but rather May 30, 1898, is an ongoing debate. Skagway is known to have had two parades in 1898. Could there have been three? I will explore this possibility in a future posting.
