Something had to be done about Soapy Smith. He and his gang of bullies, con artists and thieves were choking the liberty and hope of Skagway, Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. The good citizens formed a vigilante group, the “Committee of 101”, but Soapy could not be cowered.

A particularly dastardly act, even by Soapy’s standards, set the Committee of 101 into action and a meeting was called for the evening of July 8, 1898 on Skagway’s Juneau Wharf. Determined to thwart the committee, Smith boldly marched down the wharf with his Winchester 92 tipped over his shoulder. He was stopped by a man named Frank Reid. Reid, a veteran of the Wild West, carried his reliable old Smith and Wesson .38 revolver and when Soapy swung his rifle, Reid didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. The gun misfired.

A brutal toe-to-toe gunfight ensued and both men received fatal wounds. Some accounts say the fatal wound to Soapy was actually shot by a man named Murphy after the initial gunfire. Soapy’s last words were “My God, don’t shoot!”

In the Skagway Cemetery is an impressive stone monument over Frank Reid’s grave. A hand painted board marks Soapy’s final resting spot.