Monument to Two-Gun Man

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 170, 8 October 1927, Page 27 (Supplement)

Monument to Two-Gun Man

(Continued from Page 26.) Rapping sharply for attention, he addressed the gathering. "Gentlemen,” he said, “this meeting; is adjourned.” It was. If anybody loitered or grumbled he was jabbed in the ribs with a revolver in the hands of a gunman and driven out. Reid submitted rather than precipitate a general fight. On July 4 Reid tried another meeting late at night. It was broken up in the same way. Then he resorted to strategy. Stretching out a mile and a-quarter into the harbour in front of Skagway were four causeways leading to the steamship docks which formed a T at the end. Reid planned a third meeting, to be held on one of these docks, which cot.ld be reached only by the causeway. It was set for the evening of July 8. He himself would guard the 18ft. approach, and if Smith attempted to force an entry, death would be the consequence.

On the appointed day, three men stood guard at the dock approach, admitting known citizens until about 7 p.m. Then Reid, armed with two 415calibre Colt’s revolvers, took his post and sent the other guards away against their protests. He expected a finish fight. Fifteen feet in front of the dock approach he stretched a surveyor’s chain. It was the deadline. HELD IN CONTEMPT During; the day, Smith ignored the three subordinate guards. He held them in contempt. But when his informers reported that Reid had taken his position he went quickly into action. Gulping down six or eight drinks and arming himself with a cavalry carbine, he started for the dock, followed closely by his gang os some 200 armed men and followed at a greater distance by almost the entire population. Stephens saw him going, and trailed along to watch the fight. On to his death went Soapy Smith, to his det.th and Reid’s. When he was 60ft. from the dead-line, Reid shouted a challenge, warning him of what would happen if he crossed the chain. Soapy ignored the challenge. He was two paces from the line when Rein shouted a second warning. It was heard 100yds. away, but Smith faltered not a fraction of a second. Two paces,, one pace—just as Smith’s right foot crossed the chain, two shots were heard almost simultaneously. Two bullets from Reid’s revolvers struck him in the chest. He lurched backward at the impact and then recovered. Sinking slowly forward on his knees, he brought the carbine up under his right armpit. He took no aim. His black flinty eyes were fastened on Reid. His light knee touched the ground. As Ids left knee came down he fired. The bullet caught Reid low in the abdomen. A soft-nosed bullet, it spread an inch and a-half and tcre an ugly wound. Both men fell. THE HONOUR OF SKAGWAY

“He gave his life for the honour of Skagway,” says the legend engra.ved upon Reid’s tomb. Scarcely 20ft. separates his grave from that of Soapy Smith. Wrapt in a Mackinaw blanket, Smith was buried in a rough spruce box. A wooden slab wai! set up to mark his restingplace in. the cemetery of murdered men, of murderers and men who died on Heartbreak Trail. The shots which ended the life of Soapy Smith did more than rid :he country of its worst bad man. They also sounded the death-knell of lawlessness in general. Members of his band were speedily rounded up. Forty or 50 were sent to Federal penitentiaries for long terms and the others were banished from Alaska. The desperate days were over. The great skull grinning from the limestone cliff is their monument.