The Sidney herald., 1956-10-11
lie
Light ToucG
By ~Na.y G.~4flA4
Ou,~aA, CA<aA

On u recent trip we cut &
wide swath through Colorado anc
New Mexico. We left Dumas early
one Sunday morning armed with
tomato juice, Ritz crackers, olives
and a dozen tiny ham sandwiches.
we drove through Ration Pass
(where Dell looked longingly al
the chair lift, went through
Trinidad to Monument Lake
(where Sam looked longingly at
the fishermen), and then across
Cucharas Pass elevation 9,994).
On all the mountain passes that we
crossed, this one-in my estimation
lis the prettiest. It's unpaved
and boasts some frightening hair
pin bends, but it's somehow more
intimate and woodsy than the
! higher passes to the West. There is
a carpet of yellow, red, and blue
flowers beneath the trees and we
had to stop every so often SO the
children could pick some and
chase a few chipmonks. 1t looked
like rain in the mountains that
day and now and then it would
sprinkle a little, so each time we
stopped I would wiring my hands
and peer anxiously at the sky. !
missed a lot of scenery this way,
but l got on the move again.
Believe me, Cucharas Pass is no
place to be during a rain storm.
On paved road again, we went
west to Alamosa, Colorado, past
Mt. Blanca $4,000 ft.) There
was actually no reason for us to
stay in Alamosa since it was only
three-thirty, but Sam saw a tour
ist court with an artesian well
and we were all sick of riding-so
we stopped for the night. The
motel was called Morton's Court
and it was clean, comfortable, and
inexpensive. The lake formed by
the arteSian well was crammed
with enormous carp-some of
them 35 years old we were told
and Sam and Edwin promptly fed
them all our Ritz crackers. We ate
at the Campus Cafe down town
and enjoyed an excellent meal.
Six or sever thousand people live
in AlamoSa and it seems a pleas
ant little town. Everybody had on
coats or sweaters and the temper
ature fell to AS degrees that night
The next day we drove through
San Luis Valley, past several Ivy
League mountains mt. Princeton,
Mt. Yale, and the Lke), and into
.eadville. Here l dragged every
body out to the Tabor Matchless
Nine and through Baby Doe"
rabor's forlorn cabin.
We found the Tabor story a fas-
,inating one: H.A.W. Tabor owned
share of many silver mines, but
lie controlled the Matchless Mine
near Leadville in its entirety. In
1885 he divorced his wife, Au-
yusta (and if you had seen her
picture you would understand
and married the beauti-
'ul and young-Baby Doe. To-
they ran through every
'ent the silver mine produced
approximately $4,000 a month, or
bout $1,000, 900 in all. AS a mat
er of fact Tabor referred to it af-
ectionately as his pin money"
nine. The Tabors had Peacock
Gaming their front lawn; she had
matching carriage for her ev-
ry outfit. Well, it was great
port while it lasted, but in 1893 .
he country went on the gold I
tandard, the Matchless folded,
md Tabor was a pauper. !
His dying words to Baby Doe
we're hold onto the Matchless', I
o for thirty-five years the poor
woman fought to save the mine.
or the last twenty years she i
lved in a board shack near the s
ntrance to the mine; crone-like I
nd ancient (she was now 80), /
er feet wrapped in burlap dur /
ng the bitter cold Colorado win
ars, the belle of the eighties would S
yalk into Leadville once a week S
Or her groceries (on credit). She t
yas last seen alive there on Feb '
uary 20, 1885 and was discovered {
-ozen to death in her cabin on r
larch 7 of the same year. il
We bought Edwin a pistol in I
eadville and drove on to Denver +
cross the Continental Divide at c
ovelace Pass (11,992 ft.). Near p
uena Vista and Sam PANIED for c
Did under the tutelage of a
enial con" man (as Henry =
rmed him: it cost them a dollar l
piece for three infinitesmal gold P
lavings). u
In Denver we stayed at the :,
Manor Motel on West 7,
olfax and let Edwin feed quar- u
rs to the television set while we =,
covered and dressed. We spent g.
ost of the evening with former :
ampa friends, catching up on
e news and admiring their new A
,mp 1n Denver fhp newer