[3] In 1880, Smith moved to Colorado and spent three years working as a miner and as a cowboy on big ranges.
He became connected with a smelter in 1884 and spent the next six years working his way up from roustabout to assayer to traveling ore buyer.
In 1890, he began buying and selling ores for himself on the west coast of Mexico, first at Mazatlán and later in other places.
[6] In the 1906 United States House of Representatives election, he was the Republican candidate in Nevada's at-large congressional district.
[3] An active opponent of Prohibition, his election campaign was largely in defiance of the Anti-Saloon League, and while in the Assembly he sponsored a bill to empower the Attorney General of New York to arrange with Federal authorities for non-enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment.
[10] In 1928, he unsuccessfully ran for the Assembly as a Republican in the New York County 22nd District, losing to Democratic incumbent Joseph A.
[12] In the 1932 United States House of Representatives election, he ran again in the 21st congressional district as a Republican, losing to Gavagan.