Researching The Baby Doe Tabor Legend / marvin brooks (ePub)

This book is an account of the author's research into the great Baby Doe Tabor legend. It contains 22 essays covering the lives and fates of the three major players in the legend. First there is Horace, the one time "Silver King," who was worth $10 million when he divorced his first wife, the faithful Augusta, and married the beautiful, vivacious, and much younger Baby Doe. Horace lost all his fortune after about 10 years of marriage to Baby Doe and for the last 18 months of his life was the postmaster of Denver at an annual salary of $3,700. He died unexpectedly of natural causes leaving Baby Doe and his two daughters penniless. Then there is Baby Doe herself, who in her maiden years was known as the "Belle of Oshkosh," and came out west with her first husband, Harvey Doe; divorced him when he did not meet her standards, then stole Horace away from Augusta, his wife of 24 years. Many people considered Baby Doe a "gold digger" and were surprised that she stayed with Horace after he went broke. The legend has it that Horace told Baby Doe on his death bed to "hang on to the Matchless Mine, it will make you millions when the price of silver comes back." Myth or not, Baby Doe did just that, living in a cabin beside the mine for most of the next 36 years. The cabin had no electricity, running water, bathroom, or kitchen. She was found dead in the cabin, frozen, after a severe blizzard. She was 81, and had $2.00. Finally there is Silver Dollar, the ill-fated daughter, born an heiress to a fortune, but died at age 36 in one of Chicago's worse slums, when she scalded herself while drunk. She was a chronic alcoholic, a drug addict, and a prostitute. The lives and fates of these three Tabors presents an ultimate riches to rags story that has intrigued those aware of the legend for over a hundred years. The author is an "avocational" researcher who has been interested in, and has studied the Baby Doe legend for about 20 years and this book represents his serious effort to understand the many myths and mysteries surrounding the Tabors. However, he has also interjected some humor in his essays as he sometimes pokes fun at the "popular" historians that have written books on Baby Doe; for their lack of verifiable history and their excessive use of pure fiction and romanticism. He also pokes fun at the Tabors from time to time because of their outrageous antics or illogical behavior, even though they have all been dead for 80 years or more. The author has expressed that he thoroughly enjoyed his efforts in preparing this book and encourages his readers to join him in further researching the legend. He concludes his book with a list of unanswered questions and unexplained mysteries still remaining to be solved that should provide a formidable challenge to any future researcher.