Jefferson Soapy" Smith was a slippery conman who soaked visitors stepping off trains in Denver in the late 19th Century.
They nicknamed him "Soapy" for his signature scam - the "prize soap racket."
Standing before crowds, Smith wrapped bars of soap with paper money, mixed them in stacks of plain bars and sold them.
His shills in the crowd pretended to discover loot - fueling sales.
Through sleight-of-hand, Smith "sold" prize bars to his shills, leaving everyone else with plain soap - to wash their empty hands.
Denver was a wide-open railroad and Smith's base was the Tivoli Club, a saloon and casino at 17th and Market streets, from where he directed variety of scams - from a fake stock exchange to rigged lotteries.
It was a family affair for the Smiths. His brother, Bascomb, operated a cigar store as a front for crooked poker games.
Smith was shot to death in 1898 after setting up scams in Alaska during the Gold Rush.
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