The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-05-30
VERY QUEER HISTORY.

thhn IN tho career OF ex-senator II. A.
w. Tabor OF Colorado, "A farmer,
stoncmason, small grocery keeper,
great mino owner. a multi millionaire
and proprietor OF great blocks OF buiid-
ings In Denver, the possessor and builder
of one OF the finest opera houses In tho
| world, lieutenant governor OF Colorado.
United states senator. and now poor
man once more. dclving IN the dirt for an
| other fortune among the golden hills Of
Cripple Croek--this, In q paragraph, 10
| tho history Of man who has received
| morn flattcry aud moro criticism. more
iayors and flaunts OF fortune than fall to
| the lot OF most mon. The other day
| brief telegram from Denver was pub y
| lished to the effect that the last piece Of
property owned by ex-senator Tabor had
been sold under tho hammer to satisfy
mortgage FOR 100000. thus closing one Of
the pages OF strange, cventtul history.
November 10. 1880. this man OF varied
fortunes was born. and chi tho 26th Of
November, 1895. no found himself, at tho
ago Of &c, ms bcrett OF earthly poss.eslons
as ulon the dny OF his birth Notwith-
slnndng the fact that loss than ton years
ago his fortune was rated al over Sb,OOo.-
600 when Tabor Was rich and prosperous
he WAS fond OF recalling the days OF pow
city and labor through which he had
phssed aud the following facts are con-
densation of his history as he related II
to me In HIS private office In the Tabor
grand opera house before adversely had
oVertakon HIM.
In 1859 Tabor camo 10 Denver, leaving
q farm IN Sansaa and seat ~ tho MN
sns legislature He stayed In Denver
through the wiuter. and early In the spriug
OF 1850. with two friends. drove yoke OF
oxen out OF the city en- route To Chl-
fornla Gulch, the present site OF lIeel-
willie. Rumors OF the finding OF soiu IN
tho gulch had reached Denver, ana thus
early In his career Tabor began his search
Tor tho yellow metal Tho oxen were cx-
.porlcnurd travellers, having trudEcd all tho
way across the plnlns from the M'saouri
river to the foot OF the front range ot ina
Rocky mountains tho scason before. but
II mus, bo confessed that there was
great lack VI style about thu turnout.
II is y curious coinoiAcncc that IA maxi
ing this tourney more phRn thirty ak wears
ago Tabor must have passed directly over
the rich gold fiolda of Cripple Crock, ".
noren, OF tl,cir presence, where To-Day ne
Is beginning ifa over again In search OF
gold. Tho difficulties OF that Journey were
many. ot.on the grade was so steep that
tho wagon had TO he held back from,
sJmhllnr descent by fastening a big pine
los behind Il To serve as brake often at
tor n days toilsomo march camp was ,nada
In sight OF the pnlojSp from tho fires OF tho
previous night
FILLED with experience Of this kind It
took Just six VOLTS to mnkc the Journey
from Denver to California Gu'oh. the party
arriving at thoir destination IN April. Tho
snow was from three 10 five feet deep and
there were not moro than fifty negl In the
camp It did not take worry long. however.
lts
die Of July thorc were 10000 men at work
prospecting and washing gold, In recall
Ing tteac early days In the gulch, Mr..
Tabor said
Tho everyday lfc OF miner is not very
interesting, HG digs In the suice, he forks
out tho hOuldrra he cleans up TO see how
mutsl gold he haa secured, day after day,
week after week month after month
There Isn't any romance IN any kind of
hard work, The romance is always in re-
suite Tho preliminaries are alwnyh pro-
sale, u is sufficient Tor me to say. thcrr-
fore. that worked hard. and nj the end
Of tho season found that | had cleared
s5ol0. That isn't much money nowadays.
and very often since then have cleared
ten timos that amount IN less than half
the iiino, but nrver have felt 30 happy
ms over that little pile OF dust dug out OF
the grave, of California Gulch In the sum-
mer Of 1860, The next summer worked
my clnim and in the two seasons made
5000"
After this Tabor moved 10 pucksldn Joe,
q booming mining camp town then n will
dernoAs nov. whore he opened a store OF
general merchandise and waa made post-
master. Thcro ho stayed for several years.
Then. WHOM the Printer Boy mine was dis
covered at California Gulch he moved HIS
HtoTr over 20 tho old camp mud was made
there, Then for nearly twenty
years Tabor logged along, meeting with
L..
aS he says, he walked over Fryer iIili aud
never thought II worth while Ito stick a
pick into H." when within twenty seven
feet Of HE surface lay the crest or a silver
deposit worth millions Of dollars, Every
season hu grub staked' men 10 prospect
Tor bin and Themselves and every suaaon
was out" just that mich for they never
found anything. For the benefit OF hose
unfamiliar with mining terms IL may DO
said that 10 :" grub-atake" prospeGtor is
10 furnish him with food free of rost for
a aharo In any mines that he may discover.
pui on the 18th Of April, 1873 Tabor grub
iiMhsl" iiische ind HooIg They began to
'lg On Fryer I'M and all the old minors
laughed at them. They dug away. and at
He depth Of twenty-Gcyen feet struck sill
ycr ere that ran 200 ounces TO tho ton.
They called their mine the Little Pitts
burgh This WINS the Foundation OF Tabor'a
great fortune. In less than month after
he discovery no paid Hook $40, 600 far his
share Of the mine, and IN three months
more ne paid Bische $500. 300 for his third,
hus becoming Roio owner OF the Little
ono OF the greatest mines ever
discovered at LoadYils from which he re-
'elYed more than sl.000.000,
Tabor was now bonanza king: no was
more than that, he wna a public spirited,
open handed citizen. He built fine opera
1ouec for Leadyille at n cost OF over ;500O0.
rhon he built the Tabor block In Denver
a l.a1 el,t- t..y .fA H..
Ifch over tho entrance the two words. &
Dies Faustes." for those were. Indeed, 3
happy days. The block was worth nearly
iaif "A million dollars, Then he erected In
Denver the Tabor Grand opera house. ssc. 4
md In ita beauty to the Grand opera house H
Il Paris and costing 100000. I
For ten years everything went vol With 4
Tabor He wns rated as worth $4,000 900. Il
lie became ambitious for political honors. i
lie poured out money Ike water 10 accom- 4
'llsh his ends. Ho was always betrayed by N
hose who pretended to be his friends. HSf44