The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-24
MRS. AUGUSTA TABOR
WORKED AND HELPED HER Hus-
RAND BECOME A BONANZA KING,
only to he Divorced by Hin-Hoped
81. Nould Live to save Him from
Ruin-He Is Near 1t, She Is Dead.

Boston Globe.
When Mrs Augusta L. Tabor died in
california the other day, frivolous fate
nut an end to pathetic life all too soon.
once upon time, when Senator Horace
A. w. Tabor rolling in his millions, put
away by divorce this devoted companion
of his early struggles, she made
nrophecy She said then, while her
Mace was being taken by another wom-
an. that the time would come when III.
A w. Tabor, his own millions having
fled. would come to her begging assist
ance. And she said she would give it to
him. The time for such a word had al
most come. Senator Tabor is in the last
throes Of financial ruin. and Mrs. Au-
gusta l.. Tabor died worth nearly $2,00O,-
600 and expectant to the last. The
pathos of such a life-there is no need
to go to the story tellers for it.
1t was in Augusta, Me-, that these two
met She was the daughter of stone
contractor, Franklin N. Pierce. He was
a stonecutter seeking work. This was
in 1858. Two years from that time Hor-
ace Tabor asked the girl Augusta to be
his wife. She consented, and the young
man went West to find home for her.
He located on farm of 160 acres in
Riley county. Kansas. and in a year
went back for his bride. They were
married in Augusta in January, 1857, in
the room where they first met.
On the 25th of February they started
for their new home in the untried West.
St Louis was the terminus of the rail-
road From there they went to Kansas
NV GUe-dava IA
of the Kaw they purchased a yoke of
oxen, wagon, a few farming tools, and
with their trunks struck out for the
dreary plains, where the winds blew raw
and the Indians united with the rattle
snakes in contesting in vain the en-
croachments of the newcomers.
I'VE arrived at out destination" said
Mrs Tabor not long ago. ION the 10Th of
April at IL a.. m. / shall never forget
that morning. To add to the desolation
of the place the wind took a new turn.
The cabin STOOD solitary upon an open
prairie. 1t was built of black walnut
logs, 12x16 feet Not a building, stone
or a stick was in sight We had brought
two men with us, and how we could have
lived in that place is a question have
asked myself many times. The only
furniture was a No. stove, a dilapi-
dated trunk, and rough bedstead made
of poles, on which was an old tick filled
with prairie grass.
ana IHlS TO De IdC6O Dy a young DT1Qe
not out of her teens. I sat down upon
the old trunk and cried"
GETTING TO WORK.
But she took heart, and soon was at
work papering the walls with old copies
of the New York Tribune, taking pains
to place them so that she could read
them at her leisure, for she was to have
somewhat more leisure than newspapers.
Ia Of
tactive as possible, she took cheer and
went to work. She even helped her hus-
band in the fields, along with the neigh
bors, who came from long distances to
exchange labor, so that all the farms in
the vicinity might be planted in seed
without the aid of day labor, which was
scarce. No rain fell that summer. so
that one seasons work was wasted The
young farmer went to Fort Riley and
worked at his trade while the girl wife
stayed in her lonely cabin with her baby
and her chickens. in constant dread of
snakes and Indians, and of the dreadful
silence of the plains, which was at times
worse than anything else. The next
year they raised good crop, but there
was no market for it. But they man
aged to get along frugally until the
spring of 1859, when Tabor got the gold
fever, having heard of the news from
Pixies Peak from a member of Green
RusselpS party, who was returning home
with his pockets full of gold dust. He
offered to send his wife and baby home,
but she, plucky then as to the end, de-
clined to desert him. In April they
started with an OK team and a wagon
full of supplies, intenofng then to re-
main but few months, long enough to
get gold sufficient to pay for their little
farm. They did not dream of the luck
that was in store for them in California
Gulch
What I endured on this Journey"
Mrs. Tabor was wont to say reminiS-
Gently, "only the women who crossed the
plains in $50 can realize. There was no
station until we arrived whiting eighty
miles of Denver, no road. and a good
part of the way no fuel. We were obliged
to gather buffalo chips, often hav-
ing to travel miles to get enough to cook
meal with. This weary work fell to
the women always, for the men had all
they could do taking care of the teams
and making and breaking camp. The
Indians followed us all the time. and,
though apparently friendly, were per-
sistently begging and stealing. Every
Sunday we rested, if rest it could be
called. The men went hunting, while /
stayed to guard the camp, wash the
soiled linen and cook for the following
week. Quite frequently the Indians
gathered about the camp, so that could
do nothing all day. They wallowed in
ply was obtained, SO that the water was
generally very filthy. My babe was
teething and suffering from fever and
ague. so that he required attention day
and night. was weak and feeble, hav-
Ing suffered much from fever and ague
In Kansas. and my weight was only
ninety pounds
They reached Denver in June, and
stayed in the little frontier town a
month to rest. They then went up Clear
creek to where the town of Golden was
being established. There the poor sick
wife and babe We're left alone in the lit
tie tent while the men with few days
provisions and picks and shovels started
up the canon for Gregory's diggings.
WEEKS OF SUFFERING
1t was not a glorious Fourth Of July
for her that day in the lonely spot where
no sound came save the rush of the swift
torrent in the creek and the lonesome
lowing of the cattle. For three long
weeks she was there alone with her
baby. Then the men came back and
packed up things to move on-ever NOV
ing on. as the fortune hunters were in
those days Up the narrow trail they