by Francisco A. Rios
Horace Tabor’s Loneliness
Whatever promise the mines in Mexico may hold out to Horace, he pays a terrible price in loneliness, and probably guilt, at being away from his family for months at a time, especially when there is a serious illness at home. The modern device of the telegraph allows for rapid communication, but sometimes it makes his absence from Lizzie all the worse, as he writes on Dec. 4, 1893 from an unstated location.
by Francisco A. Rios
LETTERS FROM CHIHUAHUA
(Editor’s note: Dr. Rios, a retired professor from the University of Colorado at Denver, spent 805 volunteer hours over a span of one year and seven months cataloging hundreds of letters from the Tabor Collection at the Colorado Historical Society (CHS) onto a computer database. We are reproducing some of these letters as a series with the generous permission of the CHS.)
The letterhead of the Santa Eduwiges mining company, near Jesús María in the state of Chihuahua, lists Horace Tabor as president during 1893-94. Don Juan Hart is one of the directors. Jesús María no longer appears on maps, but Horace mentions Guerrero, a town about 75 miles west of Chihuahua, the state capital. Horace writes to Lizzie on Sept 15 1893 with good news about the mine.
Part 4 – The Divorce and Death of Augusta Tabor
by Francisco A. Rios
Since conjecture leads to supposition, we can suppose that the “old critter” in last month’s letter was Augusta Tabor. At the end of this month’s installment we shall read of her death in California. Meanwhile, it is enlightening to read a letter from Horace’s sister in Kansas and note the opinion that she has of Augusta and the justification that she offers to Horace for leaving Augusta. E.J. Moys wrote with family news from Lawrence, Kansas on April 25 1881:
Part 3 – The Arduous Life of a Senator
by Francisco A. Rios
Using letterhead stationery of the United States Senate for the envelope and his letter, Horace Tabor wrote to Lizzie McCourt at Oshkosh, Wisconsin on Feb 20 1883 as follows:
by Francisco A. Rios
(Editor’s note: Dr. Rios, a retired professor from the University of Colorado at Denver, spent 805 volunteer hours over a span of one year and seven months cataloging hundreds of letters from the Tabor Collection at the Colorado Historical Society (CHS) onto a computer database. We are reproducing some of these letters as a series with the generous permission of the CHS.)
In the Tabor correspondence, no one uses the name Baby Doe. Her family calls her Lizzie, and Horace, after opening his letters with “My Darling Wife,” calls her Babe. In the Tabor collection at the Historical Society, she appears, for brevity’s sake, as EBT, for Elizabeth Bonduel Tabor, which will come in handy for her later, as she plays off this name to create aliases for herself. This series will refer to her as EBT or Mrs. Tabor and reserve the name Baby Doe for her early years in Leadville.
by Francisco A. Rios
(Editor’s note: Dr. Rios, a retired professor from the University of Colorado at Denver, spent 805 volunteer hours over a span of one year and seven months cataloging hundreds of letters from the Tabor Collection at the Colorado Historical Society (CHS) onto a computer database. Over the next several months we will be reproducing some of these letters as a series with the generous permission of the CHS.)
Why would you, the readers of Colorado Central, want a reintroduction to the Tabors? Can’t many of you recite the Tabor tale of rags-to-riches-to rags by memory, citing chapter and verse? Haven’t scores of you been up to Fryer Hill and seen Horace’s Matchless Mine and Baby Doe’s cabin? Is there more to say about the Tabors?