Panning for Gold. 1899 Engraving

GOLD was discovered in Leadville in April of 1860 and by mid-summer, 8,ooo would-be miners had descended. (During the previous two years, rich deposits had been discovered in Colorado at Central city, Georgetown, Fairplay, Breckenridge and near Pike's Peak.) Leadville was then called Oro City, Oro being the Spanish word for gold. Gold fever hung thick in this rarefied atmosphere at 10,152 feet above sea level and within five years over four million dollars of gold had been taken from a massive array of sluice boxes. By 1865, however, the supply of easily-available gold had dwindled and Oro City was left with about fifty persistent miners.

By the mid-1870's some die-hard prospectors discovered that local heavy black sand contained lead...and SILVER...and by the 1880's, 135 hard rock mines were in operation.

Interior of Baby Doe's cabin at the Matchless. ©May 2004.

SILVER was the fever of the moment and Leadville...along with its 106 saloons... was booming.

The area brought wealth...for a while...and fame to a few, notably the Tabors and the Browns.

In 1884 Maggie Tobin traveled from Hannibal, Missouri, to Leadville and two years later she married a mine superintendent, James J. Brown. In the 1890's the Little Jonny mine struck rich GOLD deposits and James' one-eighth share made him wealthy. The Browns moved to Denver and the unsophisticated "Molly Brown" strived incessantly to be accepted in Denver society. Fame came unexpectedly on her 1912 return trip from Europe on the Titanic, and due to her heroism and ample flair for publicity she soon became "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."

Horace Warner Tabor became another Leadville legend. Horace (H.A.W.) prospected for gold in Leadville's famed California Gulch during the 1860's and operated a general store into the 1870's. He grubstaked various prospectors for a share of their silver operations and struck it rich within two years. Along the way he purchased the Matchless (which produced large quantities of silver) and other mines, became a prominent Leadville businessman and silver baron, and created a scandal by divorcing his wife, Agusta, and marring Elizabeth Doe in 1883. "Baby Doe" later became famous and the focus of the opera, The Ballad of Baby Doe. Horace and Baby Doe moved to Denver, traveled extensively and spent lavishly.

The silver market collapsed in 1893 and Leadville along with it. The Tabors were caught off -guard when the United States replaced silver with the Gold Standard for currency, bankrupting them and many others. The mining of lead, zinc and some copper managed to keep Leadville alive, but Horace died in 1899.

Baby Doe soon moved back to Leadville where she holed up in the existing crude wooden buildings of the Matchless Mine. In reality, the Tabors had lost that mine and the owners graciously allow her to live there. She lived like a virtual hermit for 35 years, waiting for silver prices to rejuvenate the abandoned mines. It never happened...and Baby Doe was discovered frozen in her sparse, lonely cabin during the cold March winter in 1935.

Leadville emerged...AGAIN...in 1918, when the Climax mine opened as one of the world's best sources for molybdenum, an alloy used to harden steel and manufacturing chrome. It employed 3,000 at its peak and trains would haul 14,000,000 tons of ore, yearly, from the mine to be processed. The Climax mine closed in 1987 due to the discovery and use of other rich "Moly" deposits and the drastic lowering of the metals' price. Leadville AGAIN fell on tough times.

Present caretaker at the Matchless Mine. ©May 2004.

It remains today a fascinating, colorful town, with much to experience. You can tour historic buildings, including the Tabor Opera House, the Heritage Museum, extensive mine tailings and what remains of shacks and head frames from the glory days of mining. There is even an annual Pack Burro race in August. The mining town oozes with history, retaining its roots and a very strong local pride, and it continues to this day...the "Unsinkable Leadville," Colorado.