The Life of American Con Man Soapy Smith

The Life of American Con Man Soapy Smith

Larry Holzwarth - December 22, 2019

The Life of American Con Man Soapy Smith
Map of 1889 Denver, still experiencing rapid growth. Library of Congress

11. Smith’s biggest competition in Denver came from the Blonger Brothers

Several smaller gangs operated in Denver, outside of the area dominated by Soapy Smith. The Blonger brothers, Lou and Sam, absorbed many of them into their own criminal activities, eventually growing into an organization which was larger than Smith’s. They operated several saloons along the same lines as those owned by Soapy, and storefronts which served as the doorways into other illicit activities. They included opium dens, gambling halls, houses of prostitution, and mining and stock frauds. They eventually set up a long con in Denver, with a storefront operation based on horse racing.

They created a betting parlor with betting windows, boards displaying odds on races, and ticker tape machines to deliver results. A similar operation was based on stock prices at the exchanges in New York and Chicago, as well as Cincinnati, St. Louis, and San Francisco. It was all fraudulent, they manipulated the prices of the listed stocks on a delay, and pocketed thousands of dollars from their customers. By then, Soapy Smith had left Denver for good. Lou Blonger continued to corrupt Denver politics and run confidence schemes in the city until 1922, when he was finally convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

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