Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-30
RISE AND FALL OF TABOR
How Colondo's Thirty-Day Senator Found
and Lost a Fortune,
ONE OF THs ROMANCES OF THE WEST
4 Dnshing, Mctcoric Career rs VIM
ing millionaire Comes TO mn End
THE woman Who succeeds
to Ills Properties.

| No 1907. Mrs. Laura D. Smith vs.. Peter
I McCourt aud L. Il. EdbrooM Petition for
| plaintiff is granted
| The entering of this order in the records
of the district court OF Arauahoe county a
few days ago, writes the Denver corrospOnd-
| cnt Of the New York Herald was an Incl
! dent passed uunotged by the casual fire.
quenter of this hall of Justice, but to those
who have kept track OF the fortunes and
msiortuncs of the early pioneer II meant
the last and most painful act Of a drama
which wiped out OF existence the last dollar
Of the once magnificent fortune Of former
Senator II. \. w. Tabor and the first ap-
! pcIrauce in business circles Of woman
whose wealth was made by a lucky turn of
| fortune.
The petition Of Mrs. Smith was one pray
ing for an order from the court giving her
possession of the Tabor block seven story
hUowustonc structure covering a block of
ground on the corner of Sixteenth and Lari-
mer streets, and the Tabor Grand Opera
| house, the handsumest thcater in the west,
under a foreclosure aggregating 100000.
on the day this property passed from his
| hands MIR. Tabor allowed to remove
from the box office OF the playhouse one
large iron safe and a beautiful lifoSizc oil
painting of Rtcheieu and Julie, representing
them in the scene where the great chancellor
VI rIdHtc NtNts lit hlllB hIONuOI. WHICH
was presented him by the citizens OF Den
yer on the opening OF the house by Emma
Abbott, September 3, 1851. These two arti-
cleS are all that he retained out Of property
and cash which fifteen years ago amounted
10 more than $6.OOO.OO0.
HOW HE CONQUERED FORTUNE.
VIII young man of 25 years Tabor was
fighting grasshoppers and starvation on
small claim in eastern Kansas. BCCom-
ing disgustel with that kind of life. and
| learning from returning trappers of the
rich gold discoveries made along Cherry
creek in 1858, he packed his wife and few
belongings into a prairie schooner and in
| 1861, started for the new El Dorado. For
many years he followed with Indifferent
success the hclSle goddess through the cx-
citing days of Golden, Central City, Black
Hawk, Breckenridge and Buckskn Joe.
This discouraging and monotonous exist
ence was followed until 1877, when he again
found himself stranded in ORC city
placer camp, near the head of California
gulch. Rumors OF the rich carbonate dis
coveries on Fryer, Iron and Carbonate hills
were beginning to be heard. So he sold his
last yoke of oxen, and with the proceeds
opened little store on the site where Lead
Vile now stands
This was early in the spring of 1878. and
in April of that year August Richie and
George f. Hook, two shoemakers who had
been prospecting for long time with poor
results, applied to Tabor for grub stake" |
agreeing to divide, share and share alike, |
in anything they might find. Tabor supplied |
them with the necessary articles, and the |
CObblers went directly to the top OF Fryer |
hill and began digging. Every one laughed |
at them for wasting their time and stake |
in so unpromlsing a place. They persisted |
in their work, having to make frequent |
acquisitions upon the store for supplies. |
which were always granted.
About May l, after reaching depth OF |
twenty-siX feet, they encountered a vein of |
rich carbonate ore, and in that hour the |
famous Little Plttsburg mine became real |
ity. The first wagon load Of ore taken out |
sold for S215, and the yield during the last |
half of the following July was at the rate OF |
$4,000 a week.
ENORMOUS PROFITS.
When the ore body had been thoroughly de-
Veloped its richness was a revelation to every |
one In September Tabor and Richie bought |
Hooks interest for S9S.OOO. The mine paid
100000 a month in dividends for many
months. and then Tabor sold his half interest
to Senator J. b. Chaffee and d. IL. Moffatt
for 81 600 600.
He Immediately entered into partnership
with Marshall Field of Chicago. and bought
up the Chrysolite- and adjoining claims The
last five dividends paid out of this property
amounted to $lOOO0OO and its production
during the eleven months prior to April L.
1850, at which time he sold his interest for
$1,000 900, was $3,l00, O0O
In the meantime he had become interested
In the famous Robert L. Lee mine, which
has produced more rich ore than any mine
on the continent outside of the Comstock of
Nevada. Tho average daily output of the
Lee during its best days was $4,000, or the !
startling total of S5,475OOO a year On the
18th day OF January, 1880, this mine gave its |
owners in the twenty-four hours sI2SOOO, a |
sum never equaled by any mine in the world
Much OF this ore ran high as II 900 ounces
IN silver to the ton. and as the white metal |
was then worth in the nelghborhood of SI25
an ounce the prpitg
be imagined
Besides these fortunes, which came in
rapid succession. Tabor made from 50 OOO,-
600 to SO, 900 900 out of the Morning star
Matchless, and other LeGdgille mines, and
at one time II was said his daily income
was greater than that of any other man
between New York City and Nevada.
In 1850 the city of Denver was a prosper
Gus town Of $4,000 inhabitants. Tabor's con
hdence in its future induced him to come
here in that year and begin the erection
Of La Neta place, a terrace, "out on the
prairie" as tho town folks declared, which
cost him in the EeighbOrhOod Of 81 ,OO0. 900,
and at that time was the handsCmest resi-
dence west of Chicago, This he Immediately
followed with the Tabor block and the
Tabor Grand Opera house, at a cost of
nearly S2.O0O,OOo.
TURN OF THE TIDE.
Fortune came quickly as did his hnan-
cial troubles and five years ago he was
cblHptlltu 10 seek assistance from a New
York insurance company. They advanced
him 100000. The panic of 1898 increased
his distress, and a second mortgage for
1915 600 in favor of Mrs Smith was placed
on his property, and in the end she came
into possession by settling the first and fore
closing her own.
Mrs. Smith not many years ago was Mrs
Laura SwicShemer. She and her husband
David lived at Rico, mining camp in the
southern part of the state and like Tabor,
he was a prO9pector, and was working a
claim he had named the Enterprise For
two years he had worked his way into the
side OF the mountain, hoping with every
blast to open up the vein.
Each day brought only disappointment
and a steady decrease OF supplies and funds.
until at last not a cent nor u loaf Of bread
remained in the cabin. with heavy hearts
The couple nailed up the entrance to the
Enterprise and began preparations to tramp
out Of the camp IN search Of other work
The old Concord coach which came In
from Durango that night brought Mrs
Swickholmer a letter. On opening II she
was almost paralyzed to find a notice from