Rags, Riches and Scandal - The Tabor Triangle and Baby Doe- Page 2

Tabor Triangle - Page 2

Horace and Augusta House in 1955.

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The Horace and Augusta Tabor Home today is open as a museum in Leadville. Kathy Weiser, August, 2003.

However, Augusta was sure that his good nature, was not only the source of other folks' high regard for them, but also the means by which they would eventually become impoverished. Hers was the firm hand on the Tabor rudder. Though Horace always had, a tendency to give things away, Augusta saved and by the late 1870s, just before Tabor "struck it rich," they had amassed a comfortable net worth of about $40,000--a not inconsiderable sum in those days. In November 1868, they settled down again in Oro City, located in the California Gulch and re-opened their store, where he was the postmaster.

In July 1877, Horace and Augusta built a house and moved to Leadville, where they ran a grocery and supply store. Horace, elected as Leadville's first mayor, also served as postmaster. In the spring of 1878 while Tabor was working in the store, two German prospectors asked if he would grubstake a claim. It was not the first time that Tabor had grubstaked miners and he provided them with $17.00 in provisions that first day, and additional supplies on two more occasions for a total of $54.00. For the provisions, the miners promised Tabor a one-third interest in any ore produced by their finds. The German prospectors located a claim on Fryer Hill, which they named the Little Pittsburgh and began to dig a shaft.

On April 15, 1878, Tabor's generosity hit pay dirt when the two miners - August Rische and George Hook, announced to Tabor that they had found silver in the Little Pittsburgh Mine. By July, nearly a hundred tons of ore had been taken from the mine and each of the three partners had an income of fifty thousand dollars a month. In the fall, Hook sold out to Tabor and Rische for $98,000 and later Rische sold his interest to Jerome Chaffee and David Moffat for over a quarter of a million dollars.

The Little Pittsburg Mine in 1882.

Tabor held on to his share and consolidated his claim with others partners on Fryer Hill. Horace was quickly becoming the acknowledged leader of the silver mining community around Leadville. The consolidated group shared four million dollars before Horace sold his interest for one million. Horace went on to own partial stakes in several other successful mines, including the Chrysolite which he bought with Marshall Fields of Chicago, the mine yielding 3 million dollars before Tabor sold his interest for 1 ½ million. In 1879, he purchased the Matchless Mine for $117,000, the first he owned entirely by himself. For quite some time, there truly was no mine that was its "match" as it produced up to $2,000 per day in high quality silver ore.

Continuing in his generous spirit, Tabor provided Leadville with two newspapers, a bank and a handsome opera house within the next two years. However, Augusta was not happy with "striking it rich," and any differences between the two were exacerbated by the outrageous wealth Horace's mines deposited in their lives. Though Augusta was no stranger to comfort, she could not deal with such immense, unlimited resources. Her admonitions to save and spend carefully now seemed silly to Horace, who could not spend his money as fast as he accumulated it. After all the years of hardscrabble and toil, Horace, who was almost 50 years old, wanted to live it up. However, Augusta took no pleasure in their sudden riches, refusing to change the way she dressed or her personal behavior.

When Horace built a palatial mansion in Denver, she refused to live upstairs in the master bedroom, instead preferring the servants quarters next to the kitchen. She also kept a cow tethered to the front door, which she insisted on milking herself. Horace, who by then had been made the Lieutenant Governor of the state, was embarrassed. He wanted to live in a style befitting his station, but Augusta only scoffed at such statements.

With all the tension at home, Tabor's eyes began to stray. His newfound wealth and power brought him much attention, and he loved to spend money on beautiful women and lavish them with gifts. In a chance meeting at the old "Saddle Rock Cafe" in 1880, the "Silver King", for which he was by then known, met the beautiful Elizabeth McCourt "Baby" Doe, and both of their lives would change forever.

The Tabor Mansion in Denver, courtesy Denver Public Library.

Continued Next Page

Augusta Tabor, 1870

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