Horace Austin Warner Tabor
Encyclopedia
Horace Austin Warner Tabor (November 26, 1830 – April 10, 1899), also known as The Bonanza King of Leadville, was an American prospector, businessman, and politician. His life is the subject of Douglas Moore's opera, The Ballad of Baby Doe
.
Tabor was born in Holland, Vermont
to Cornelius Dunham Tabor and Sarah Ferrin. He was one of five children, one girl and four boys.
and Massachusetts
. In 1855, he departed for the Kansas Territory
with the New England Emigrant Aid Company to populate that territory with anti-slavery settlers. There he farmed land along Deep Creek in Riley County
, near Manhattan, Kansas
(known today as Tabor Valley). In January 1856, Tabor was elected to the Free-State Topeka Legislature
, but that body was soon dispersed by President Franklin Pierce
in favor of the pro-slavery legislature that had been elected under the influence of "Border Ruffians" from Missouri
.
In 1857 Tabor returned briefly to Maine to marry Augusta Pierce, daughter of his former employer William B. Pierce, then returned with her to Riley County. In 1859, as rumors of gold began to spread, the couple moved west with the "Fifty-Niner
s" to Denver (still in Kansas Territory at the time). The Tabors arrived in Buckskin Joe, Colorado
in 1861 to run a store. In a few months they relocated to the Oro City
area where Horace sought gold until 1877, when they settled in Leadville, Colorado
. There he continued prospecting while also engaging in business and politics. The couple ran Leadville's general store and postal system and, following his election on January 26, 1878, Tabor served as mayor of Leadville for one year. It was Tabor who first hired lawman Mart Duggan
, who is credited with finally bringing Leadville's violent crime rate under control.
." Tabor had provisioned the men for free, under a "grubstake
" arrangement, and used his partial ownership of Little Pittsburg to invest in other holdings. He eventually sold his interest for one million dollars, and bought sole ownership of the profitable "Matchless Mine" for $117,000. The Matchless Mine can still be seen and visited. With his new wealth, Tabor established newspapers, a bank, the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, and the Tabor Grand Opera House and the Tabor Block in Denver.
Also in 1878, Tabor was elected Lieutenant Governor of Colorado and served in that post until January 1884. He served as U.S. Senator from January 27, 1883 until March 3, 1883, following the resignation of Henry M. Teller. On March 1, 1883, Tabor finally legalized his relationship with Elizabeth "Baby Doe" McCourt
in a public (and, to some, scandalous) wedding ceremony at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.
after securing a divorce from Augusta. This marriage produced two daughters, Elizabeth Bonduel Lily and Rosemary Silver Dollar Echo; in his marriage to Augusta, Tabor had fathered a son, Maxey.
, the Politician and speechifier famous in the latter part of the 19th century, visited the Tabors shortly after their second daughter was born on January 5, 1890.
Hearing the baby gurgle, Bryan exclaimed: "Why Senator, that baby's laughter has the ring of a silver dollar!" The Tabors hadn't decided on a name yet for the girl, and this was the inspiration for what her name finally came to be: "Rosemary Silver Dollar Echo Honeymoon Tabor."
After working as a newspaper reporter in Denver, Silver Dollar was ready to write her novel "Star of Blood." Moving to Chicago, and living on the super-cheap, she set to work. Karsner says: "The best that can be said of Silver's book is that it was printed - not published." It was wildly unpopular.
Silver Dollar worked her minor celebrity for all it was worth, but after a string of burlesque and minor acting jobs, she came to a bad end. The one-time "Girl of the Nile," says Karsner, liked heavy drinking and "Happy Dust." Going by the name of Ruth Norman among many other aliases, after the men who supported her, she died at the age of 35, in 1925, by spilling a large kettle of boiling water on herself while she was extremely intoxicated.
devastated Tabor's fortune and his far-flung holdings were sold off. Still a respected public figure, he was made postmaster of Denver from January 4, 1898 until his death the following year.
When he became terminally ill with appendicitis
in 1899, Tabor's final request of Baby Doe was that she maintain the Matchless claim. Legend reports that she did but lost control of the mine. Baby Doe lived in the tool shed of the matchless mine for thirty years and later died in that shed.
When Horace Tabor died in 1899, flags were flown at half staff and 10,000 people were reported to have attended his funeral. His body was interred at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Denver and later reinterred at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Jefferson County, Colorado
, where it now rests beside that of Baby Doe. In his remembrance, there is a Tabor Lake at the base of Tabor Peak approximately 12 miles southwest of Leadville, just south of Independence Pass
.
The Ballad of Baby Doe
The Ballad of Baby Doe is an opera by the American composer Douglas Moore that uses an English-language libretto by John Latouche. It is Moore's most famous opera and one of the few American operas to be in the standard repertory...
.
Biography
- Section source: Legends.
Tabor was born in Holland, Vermont
Holland, Vermont
Holland is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 588 at the 2000 census.-Town:* Selectman - Brett Farrow, Ron Patenaude* Town Clerk - Diane Judd* Treasurer - Diane Judd* Delinquent Tax Collector - Diane Judd...
to Cornelius Dunham Tabor and Sarah Ferrin. He was one of five children, one girl and four boys.
Stonemason and storekeeper
After training as a stonemason, Tabor left home at age 19 to work the quarries of MaineMaine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
and Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. In 1855, he departed for the Kansas Territory
Kansas Territory
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....
with the New England Emigrant Aid Company to populate that territory with anti-slavery settlers. There he farmed land along Deep Creek in Riley County
Riley County, Kansas
Riley County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 71,115 for the 2010 census. The largest city and county seat is Manhattan. The county is part of the Manhattan, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area.Riley County is home to two of Kansas' largest...
, near Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
(known today as Tabor Valley). In January 1856, Tabor was elected to the Free-State Topeka Legislature
Topeka Constitution
The Topeka Constitutional Convention was held in October 1855 in the town of Topeka, Kansas Territory. The convention was held in the town's Constitution Hall...
, but that body was soon dispersed by President Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...
in favor of the pro-slavery legislature that had been elected under the influence of "Border Ruffians" from Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
.
In 1857 Tabor returned briefly to Maine to marry Augusta Pierce, daughter of his former employer William B. Pierce, then returned with her to Riley County. In 1859, as rumors of gold began to spread, the couple moved west with the "Fifty-Niner
Fifty-Niner
The Fifty-Niners were the gold seekers who streamed into the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory in 1859...
s" to Denver (still in Kansas Territory at the time). The Tabors arrived in Buckskin Joe, Colorado
Buckskin Joe, Colorado
Buckskin Joe, also called Laurette or Lauret, is a deserted ghost town in Colorado, United States. It was an early mining town, and county seat of Park County, Colorado.-History:...
in 1861 to run a store. In a few months they relocated to the Oro City
Oro City, Colorado
Oro City, now a ghost town, was an early gold placer mining town in the Mosquito Range of Lake County, Colorado, United States. Oro is the Spanish word for gold.-History:...
area where Horace sought gold until 1877, when they settled in Leadville, Colorado
Leadville, Colorado
Leadville is a Statutory City that is the county seat of, and the only municipality in, Lake County, Colorado, United States. Situated at an elevation of , Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States...
. There he continued prospecting while also engaging in business and politics. The couple ran Leadville's general store and postal system and, following his election on January 26, 1878, Tabor served as mayor of Leadville for one year. It was Tabor who first hired lawman Mart Duggan
Mart Duggan
Mart Duggan was a gunfighter of the American Old West who, although mostly unknown today, was at the time one of the more feared men in the west. He is listed by author Robert K. DeArment, in his book "Deadly Dozen", as one of the most underrated gunmen of the Old West.-Early life:Duggan was born...
, who is credited with finally bringing Leadville's violent crime rate under control.
Silver king
On May 3, 1878, the "Little Pittsburg" mine claimed by August Rische and George Hook revealed massive silver lodes, kicking off the "Colorado Silver BoomColorado Silver Boom
The Colorado Silver Boom was a dramatic expansionist period of silver mining activity in the U.S. state of Colorado in the late 19th century. The boom started in 1879 with the discovery of silver at Leadville...
." Tabor had provisioned the men for free, under a "grubstake
Grubstake
Grubstake, known also as Apache Gold, is an american western movie directed by Larry Buchanan.-Cast:*Stephen Wyman*Jack Klugman*Neile Adams*Lynn Shubert*Kort Falkenberg...
" arrangement, and used his partial ownership of Little Pittsburg to invest in other holdings. He eventually sold his interest for one million dollars, and bought sole ownership of the profitable "Matchless Mine" for $117,000. The Matchless Mine can still be seen and visited. With his new wealth, Tabor established newspapers, a bank, the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, and the Tabor Grand Opera House and the Tabor Block in Denver.
Also in 1878, Tabor was elected Lieutenant Governor of Colorado and served in that post until January 1884. He served as U.S. Senator from January 27, 1883 until March 3, 1883, following the resignation of Henry M. Teller. On March 1, 1883, Tabor finally legalized his relationship with Elizabeth "Baby Doe" McCourt
Baby Doe Tabor
Elizabeth McCourt Tabor , better known as Baby Doe, was the second wife of pioneer Colorado businessman Horace Tabor. Horace Tabor's divorce and subsequent marriage to the young and beautiful Baby Doe caused a major scandal in 1880s Colorado...
in a public (and, to some, scandalous) wedding ceremony at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
after securing a divorce from Augusta. This marriage produced two daughters, Elizabeth Bonduel Lily and Rosemary Silver Dollar Echo; in his marriage to Augusta, Tabor had fathered a son, Maxey.
Silver Dollar Tabor
In "Silver Dollar, the Story of the Tabors," David Karsner reports that William Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
, the Politician and speechifier famous in the latter part of the 19th century, visited the Tabors shortly after their second daughter was born on January 5, 1890.
Hearing the baby gurgle, Bryan exclaimed: "Why Senator, that baby's laughter has the ring of a silver dollar!" The Tabors hadn't decided on a name yet for the girl, and this was the inspiration for what her name finally came to be: "Rosemary Silver Dollar Echo Honeymoon Tabor."
After working as a newspaper reporter in Denver, Silver Dollar was ready to write her novel "Star of Blood." Moving to Chicago, and living on the super-cheap, she set to work. Karsner says: "The best that can be said of Silver's book is that it was printed - not published." It was wildly unpopular.
Silver Dollar worked her minor celebrity for all it was worth, but after a string of burlesque and minor acting jobs, she came to a bad end. The one-time "Girl of the Nile," says Karsner, liked heavy drinking and "Happy Dust." Going by the name of Ruth Norman among many other aliases, after the men who supported her, she died at the age of 35, in 1925, by spilling a large kettle of boiling water on herself while she was extremely intoxicated.
Decline, death and burial
Tabor ran for Colorado governor in 1884, 1886, and 1888, without success. Then, in 1893, the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase ActSherman Silver Purchase Act
The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was enacted on July 14, 1890 as a United States federal law. It was named after its author, Senator John Sherman, an Ohio Republican, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee...
devastated Tabor's fortune and his far-flung holdings were sold off. Still a respected public figure, he was made postmaster of Denver from January 4, 1898 until his death the following year.
When he became terminally ill with appendicitis
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...
in 1899, Tabor's final request of Baby Doe was that she maintain the Matchless claim. Legend reports that she did but lost control of the mine. Baby Doe lived in the tool shed of the matchless mine for thirty years and later died in that shed.
When Horace Tabor died in 1899, flags were flown at half staff and 10,000 people were reported to have attended his funeral. His body was interred at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Denver and later reinterred at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Jefferson County, Colorado
Jefferson County, Colorado
Jefferson County , whose slogan is the "Gateway to the Rocky Mountains", is the fourth most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Located along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Jefferson County is adjacent to the west side of the state capital, Denver....
, where it now rests beside that of Baby Doe. In his remembrance, there is a Tabor Lake at the base of Tabor Peak approximately 12 miles southwest of Leadville, just south of Independence Pass
Independence Pass (Colorado)
Independence Pass, elevation , is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States.The pass crosses the ridge of the Sawatch Range between Aspen and Leadville, on the border between Pitkin and Lake counties, and is within the White River National Forest...
.
Further reading
- Judy Nolte Temple, "Baby Doe Tabor: The Madwoman in the Cabin." Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press,2007.
- David KarsnerDavid KarsnerDavid Fulton "Dave" Karsner was an American journalist, writer, and socialist political activist. Karsner is best remembered as a key member of the editorial staff of the New York Call and as an early biographer of Socialist Party of America leader Eugene V. Debs.-Early years:David Karsner was...
, "Silver Dollar: The Story of the Tabors." New York: Covici-Friede, Inc., 1932.
Links
- The Political Graveyard's entry, protected by a Creative Commons LicenseCreative Commons LicenseCreative Commons licenses are several copyright licenses that allow the distribution of copyrighted works. The licenses differ by several combinations that condition the terms of distribution. They were initially released on December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons, a U.S...
- Contemporary biography
- Tabor's wives:
- Matchless mine website