Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith was the slickest article that ever hit the West. He set up his tripod and suitcase on a Denver street corner in the 1880s and started his spiel. The "suckers" flocked around and got thoroughly taken. Everyone listened to Soapy and he began laying down his own brand of law, soon commanding a band of criminal characters whom he protected through his influence with politicians and policewomen on his payroll. He became America's first racketeer, eventually leading the Skagway underworld until a bullet ended his career.