Colorado’s legendary 19th century “Silver King” Horace Austin Tabor made a fortune mining silver in Leadville, Colorado. Then he lost it all with his mistress-turned-wife, Baby Doe, at his side.
Articles, books, and even an opera — “The Ballad of Baby Doe” — explore the Tabors’ rise and fall. Few accounts, though, mention a little-known chapter in their lives. In a final attempt to recoup his losses, Horace moved his wife and two young daughters to western Boulder County, where he hoped to rebuild his wealth, this time with gold.
Originally a stone cutter from Vermont, Horace and his first wife, Augusta, headed west during Colorado’s gold rush in 1859. After Horace struck it rich, he divorced Augusta. Then, in 1883, he married the much-younger Lizzie Bonduel “Baby Doe” McCourt in an extravagant Washington, D.C., wedding while serving a 30-day interim term as a U.S. senator…