The Matchless Mine is located in
Lake County, Colorado
''Lake County'' is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,436. The county seat and the only municipality in the county is Leadville. The highest natural point in Colorado and the entire Rock ...
. It made
Horace Tabor
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
's fortune. His wife,
Baby Doe Tabor
Elizabeth McCourt Tabor (September 1854 – March 7, 1935), better known as Baby Doe, was the second wife of Colorado pioneer businessman Horace Tabor. Her rags-to-riches and back to rags again story made her a well-known figure in her own day, ...
, died in the superintendent's cabin. The mine is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
[ It is part of the ]National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Mining Hall of Fame is a museum located in Leadville, Colorado, United States, dedicated to commemorating the work of miners and people who work with natural resources. The museum also participates in efforts to inform the public ab ...
.
According to legend, Horace Tabor
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
’s dying instructions to his wife were: “Hold onto the Matchless mine, it will make millions.” After some years in Denver, Baby Doe moved into a cabin next to the mine. She lost the mine in 1927, when it was sold to satisfy a debt, but the new owners allowed Baby Doe to stay in the cabin.
In the winter of 1935, after a snowstorm, some neighbors noticed that no smoke was coming out of the chimney at the Matchless mine cabin. Investigating, they found Baby Doe, her body frozen on the floor.[''Time'']
"Women: the end of Baby Doe,"
18 March 1935.
See also
*
References
{{Coord, 39, 15, 22, N, 106, 16, 16, W, scale:10000_source:GNIS, display=title
Buildings and structures in Lake County, Colorado
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado
Mines in Colorado
National Register of Historic Places in Lake County, Colorado