The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-02-10
9uaersoR ynteIIfgeuskr.
NO $1,000 SHIRTS NOW.
The Romantic Career of Tabor, now
Swinging a Pick at Cripple Creek.
Chicago TimeS-Hcrald.

farmer, stone mason, small grocery
keeper, great mine owner, a multi
millionaire and proprietor OF great
blocks of buildings in Denver, the
possessor and builder Of one of the
finest opera houses In the world,
Lieutenant Governor of Colorado,
United States Senator, and now a poor
man once more, delving in the dirt for
another fortune among the golden hills
of Cripple Creek-this, in paragraph,
is the history of man who has re-
ceived more hattery and more criticism,
more favors and faunts of fortune
than fall to the lot of most men. The
other day brief telegram from Denver
was published to the effect that the
last piece of property owned by Ex-
Senator had been sold under the ham
merto satisfy mortgage for $500, 600,
thus closing one of the pages in a
strange, eventful history.
November 26, 1880, this man OF
varied fortune was born, and on the
Goth of November, 1896, he found
himself, at the age Of 66, as bereft of
earthly possessions as upon the day Of
his berth, Notwithstanding the fact
that less than ten years ago his for
tune was rated at over $6,O00,0OO.
When Tabor was rich and prosperous
he was fond of recalling the days of
poverty and labor through which he
had passed, and the following facts
are a condensation of his history as
he related it to me, seated in his
private Office in the Tabor Grand
Opera House before adversely had
overtakeu him:
In 1859 Tabor came to Denver,
leaving farm in Kansas and a seat
in the Kansas Legislature. He stayed
in Denver through the winter, and
early in the spring of 1850, with two
friends, drove yoke of oxen attached
to a rickety old wagon out of the city
en- route to California Gulch, the
present site of Leadville. Rumors of
the finding of gold in the gulch had
reached Denver, and thus early in his
career Tabor began his search for the
yellow metal. The oxen were ex-
perienccd travellers, having trudged
all the way across the plains from the
Missouri River to the foot of the front
range of the Rocky Mountains the
season before, butit must be confess
ed that there was great lack OF style
about the turnout.
1t is a curious coincidence that in
making this journey more than thirty
six years ago Tabor must have passed
directly over the rich gold fields of
Cripple Creek, ignorant of their pres
ence, where to-day he is beginning
life over again in search Of gold. The
difficulties of that journey we're many
often the grade was SO steep that the
wagon had to be held back from a
tumbliDg descent by fastening big
pine log behind it to serve as brake ;
often after a days toilsome march
camp was made in sight Of the smoke
from the fires of the previous night.
Filled with experience Of this kind
it took just six weeks to make the
journey from Denver TO California
Gulch, the party arriving at their des-
tination in April. The snow was from
three to five feet deep, and there
wasn't more than fifty men in the
camp. 1t did not take very long,
however, to change these conditions,
and by the middle of July there were
10000 men at work prospecting and
washing gold. In recalling those early
days in the gulch, Mr.. Tabor said:
''The everyday life Of a miner is
not very interesting. He digs in the
gravel, he throws into the sluice, he
forks out the boulders, he cleans up
to see how much gold he has secured
day after day, week after week, month
after month. There ism tany romance
in any kind of hard work. The
romance is always in results. The
preliminaries are always prosaic. 1t
is sufficient for me to say, therefore,
that | worked hard, and at the end of
the season found that [ had cleared
s., 900. That isn't much money now
adays, and very often since then [
have cleared ten times that amount in
less than half the time, but never
have I felt so happy as over that little
pile of dust dug out of the gravel Of
California Gulch in the summer of
1860. The next summer | worked my
claim, and in two seasons made Sl5,-
OOO."
After this Tabor moved to Buck
skin Joe, a booming mining camp
then, a wilderness now, where he
opened a store Of general merchandise
and was made postmaster. There he
stayed for several years. Then, when
the Printer Boy mine was discovered
at California Gulch, he moved his
store over to the old camp, and was
made postmaster there. Then for
nearly twenty years Tabor logged
along, meeting with moderate pros
perity. Thousands of times, as he
says, he walked over Fryer Hill, and
never thought it worth while 'to stick
a pick into it, when within twenty
seven feet of the surface lay the crest
of silver deposit worth millions of
dollars. Every season he "grub-staked"
men to prospect for him and them
selves, and every season was ''out"
Just that much, for they never found
anything. For the benefit of those
unfamiliar with mining terms it may
be said that to "grub-stake" a pros
pector is to furnish him with food free
of cost for share in any mines that
he may discover. But on the 10Th of
April, 1873, Tabor GRUB staked"
Rische and Hook. They began to dig
on Fryer Hill, and all the old miners
laughed at them. They dug away,
and at the depth of twenty feet
struck silver ore that ran 200 ounces
to the ton. They called their mine
the Little Pittsburg. This was the
foundation of Tabor's fortune. In
less than month after the discovery
he paid Hook $50, 900 for his share Of
the mine, and in three months more
he paid Rische $262, 900 for his third,
thus becoming sole owner Of the Little
Pittsburg, one Of the greatest mines
ever discovered at Leadyille, from