[1][2] However, the Smith family was met with financial ruin at the close of the American Civil War and in 1876, they moved to Round Rock, Texas, to start anew.

[1] Smith moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where he formed a close-knit, disciplined gang of shills and thieves to work for him.

Newspapers in Denver reported that he controlled the city's criminals and underworld gambling, and accused corrupt politicians and the police chief of accepting bribes.

[citation needed] In 1892, with Denver in the midst of anti-gambling and saloon reforms, Smith sold the Tivoli and moved to Creede, Colorado, a mining boomtown that sprang up on the site of a major silver strike.

Using Denver-based prostitutes to get close to property owners and convince them to sign over leases, he acquired numerous lots along Creede's main street and rented them to his associates.

[citation needed] With brother-in-law and gang member William Sidney "Cap" Light as a deputy sheriff, Smith began his second empire, opening a gambling hall and saloon called the Orleans Club.

[18] Smith provided an order of sorts, protecting his friends and associates from the town's council and expelling violent troublemakers.

Smith grew rich in the process but was also known to give money away freely, using it to build churches, help the poor, and to bury unfortunate prostitutes.

[20] Smith's power had grown to the point that he admitted to the press he was a con man and saw nothing wrong with it, telling a reporter, "I consider bunco steering more honorable than the life led by the average politician.

Smith and several of his men climbed the City Hall's central tower with rifles and dynamite to fend off any attackers.

[22] However, Governor Waite eventually decided to withdraw the militia and the battle was instead fought in the courts, in which Soapy Smith was an important witness.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Governor Waite had authority to replace the commissioners, but was to be reprimanded for bringing in the militia, in what became known as the "City Hall War.

Smith exploited the situation, using his new title of deputy sheriff to make fake arrests in his own gambling houses by apprehending patrons who had lost large sums in rigged poker games.

Before leaving, Smith tried to convince the Mexican President Porfirio Díaz that his country needed the services of a foreign legion made up of American toughs.

[26] His first attempt at occupying Skagway ended in failure when miners' committees encouraged him to leave the area after operating his three-card monte and pea-and-shell games on the White Pass Trail for less than a month.

Not only did the telegraph office obtain fees for "sending" messages, but also cash-laden victims soon found themselves losing even more money in poker games with newfound "friends.

Smith's men played a variety of roles, such as newspaper reporter or clergyman, with the intention of befriending a new arrival and determining the best way to rid him of his money.

If the man was likely to make trouble or could not be recruited into the gang, Smith would then appear in person and offer to pay his way back to civilization.

[35] Most of the petty gamblers and con men did indeed leave Skagway at this time, and Smith resorted to other means to appear respectable to the community.

On July 7, 1898, John Douglas Stewart, a returning Klondike miner, came to Skagway with a sack of gold valued at $2,700 (equivalent to $98,900 in 2023).

With a Winchester rifle draped over his shoulder, Smith began an argument with Frank H. Reid, one of four guards blocking his way to the wharf.

"[38] A letter from Sam Steele, the legendary head of the Canadian Mounties at the time, indicates that another guard, Jesse Murphy, may have fired the fatal shot.