Leadville and Baby Doe Tabor

We first heard of the silver mining town, Leadville Colorado , several years back. Since then, we've visited several times, always eager to find a new adventure and experience again previous ones.
The town has changed little over time, the streets and buildings open for the most part to tourist. Some of our favorite places I have listed below.

Tabor Opera House: Built in 1878 by Horace Tabor, one of Leadville's leading and richest citizens. Today, the opera house is in much the same condition as in its early days. Be sure to take the tour. At the time of my visit the red curtains used at the peak of the opera house's popularity was still hanging. Also, check out the story "Baby Doe Tabor" a second wife of Horace Tabor, below. Their relationship was quite scandalous for the day.
Healy House; Built around 1878 by August Meyer, one of several money men who organized the Arkansas Valley Smelting Company. The house is furnished beautifully with period furniture. The fee to view the house is modest, and worth every cent. Carbonate and Fryer Hill; Location of some of the richest mines, such as the Robert E. Lee, Little Pitsburg and Matchless, plus dozens of others. NOTE: The Matchless mine was owned by the Tabors. Baby Doe Tabor lived in a tiny cabin here it until her death. Tour the site if you get a change, we did and loved it. We believe you will too.

Leadville Colorado also boast a general store, with original counters and bins. The store is possibly the most authenic of its kind, we have ever seen.
Still interested want to know how to get there? Read on. The town of Leadville Colorado is located on Hwy 24, approximately 30 miles south of Vail.

Mosquito Pass, Four Wheel Drive Only!
There is a four wheel drive only road leading out of Leadville, Colorado it goes over Mosquito Pass, 13,185 feet above sea level. It is the highest open mountain pass in the United States. The road is steep and rough with a few pullouts for meeting other vehicles. If you attempt this climb take notice it's a long way down if you slide off the narrow road. It would be a Good idea to get a Jeep Trail map of the area.

Baby Doe and Horace Tabor

Elizabeth Nellis McCourt, is born in 1855 to Irish, Catholic parents, and residents of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. At the age of twenty-two, she marries Harvey Doe, a local boy eager to explore the west for gold. Lizzie, or Baby as she was known to her family, has a hankering for the stage and adventure. The gold towns may supply both for Baby Doe, so she is eager to join her husband.
The newlyweds arrive in Black Hawk, Colorado by July, 1877. For a time, they try mining, but within two years, they are broke, and Baby is ready to file for divorce. By March 1880, with divorce papers in hand, she sets out for greener pastures, and the silver town of Leadville.

Exactly when, and where, Baby Doe meets Horace Tabor is unclear, but within a very short time of her arrival in Leadville, the two began an affair soon known throughout the state. Especially scandalous, considering Mr. Tabor is a married man, father of one son, and somewhere around twenty-five years Baby's senior. Horace Tabor has acquired a fortune from the silver mines in Leadville, and rumored to be one of the richest men in Colorado. His wealth is estimated, by his own account, to be at least three million dollars, and probably considerably more. One of his especially profitable mines is the Matchless.
With Mrs. Augusta Tabor living in Denver and Baby Doe tucked away in Leadville's Clarendon Hotel, Horace begins to lavish gifts on the latter. Within a very short time, their secret dalliances are no secret to any one including Mrs. Tabor.
In July 1880, Tabor moves out of his wife's home. Over the following months he tries, to no avail, in convincing Augusta to agree to a divorce, but she refuses. Desperate, Tabor orders his right hand man, Bill Bush, to secure him a quiet divorce in Durango. Bush does so, but the action is not legal. Unaware, or in outright defiance of the law, Horace secretly marries his "Darling Baby" on Sept. 30, 1882. His pursuit to gain a divorce soon continues with vigor.
Citizens watch the Tabor divorce action, and scandal with mark enthusiasm. Before long, Tabor is being excluded from social gatherings, and any hope of Tabor achieving a political cabinet position turns to dust.

On March 1, 1883, Elizabeth McCourt Doe becomes, legally this time, the second Mrs. Horace Tabor. Their glamorous wedding takes place in the Willard Hotel, in Washington, D.C. Even President Arthur attends, along with numerous senators and congressmen. Conspicuously absent, are these gentlemen's wife's. The bride's $7,000 wedding gown is now in the state museum.The couple have two daughters, Lille and Silver Dollar, lavishing them with items such as a $15,000 christening outfit.
Up to and including the Silver Panic of 1893, the Tabors live in opulence. By 1895, their fortune is lost and the couple are bankrupt. Horace became an ordinary laborer, and Baby Doe does hard manual labor. When Horace receives an appointment as postmaster to Denver, their lot improves and the pair, with their two daughters, move into rooms at the Windsor, where they live until Tabor dies in 1899. It's rumored on his death bed, Tabor's last words to Baby being "Hang on the Matchless. It will make millions again".

From this date and, until her death, Baby spends every waking moment trying to resecrete the Matchless. With laughter from those around her, she moves the family back to Leadville, going so far as to working the mine, herself. Eldest daughter, Lillie hates the whole idea and dislikes Leadville immensely. When, she possibly could, Lillie gains her uncle Peter McCourt's support and moves to Wisconsin. Baby Doe seldom hears from her daughter again. It's said, Lille and her children never own up to the Tabor name again.
Silver Dollar has a, much harder fate. Although, she loves the mine and her mother, scandal comes early on. Soon rumors of her relationship with local men spread throughout Leadville. She flees to Denver and later Chicago, promising her mother to enter the convent if things don't work out. On one September day in 1925, to Baby Doe's horror, she hears of Silver Dollar's death in Chicago's cheapest district. According to the newspaper, Silver Dollar has been intentionally scalded to death. Her murderer is never brought to justice.

Baby Doe spends the remainder of her life living in a tiny cabin, near the Matchless mine. Over the years, she allows few to visit, living hand to mouth on the generosity of a few friends. February 20, 1935, is the last day, anyone sees Baby alive. On that morning, she shovels deep snow, and walks the mile, or so into Leadville.

Her clothing is reportedly torn and ragged, the gunny sack on her feet soaking wet. Zaitz's delivery trucks drives her as far back to the mine as the truck could get, letting Baby out at the Little Stray Horse Gulch. She turns to wave goodbye to the delivery boy.
Over the next two weeks, no one sees Baby, but some witness smoke rising from the smoke stack on her home during this period. A blizzard blow in, blocking out any sightings for three additional days. On the storms clearing, a friend notice no smoke and becomes worried. When she and another friend are finally able to break a path through the snow, they find the cabin silent. They break a window and make entry, discovering Mrs. Tabor's frozen body on the floor.

Today, Baby and Horace rest in Denver's Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Leadville Colorado. There they rest side-by-side, together for eternity, just as each would have wanted.

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