How Leadville, Colorado's Story Reflects the Vainglorious Wins and Tragic Losses of Western Mining, Part 2

 By Donna Wichelman

The story of Western Mining in Colorado has all the makings of an epic movie, with its vainglorious wins and tragic losses. In the end, Georgetown's decline in 1878 would prove to demonstrate the vulnerability of the mining industry in the years to come in Part 2 of Leadville's rise to Silver Queen.

Overnight, the Victorian-era community of Leadville, Colorado, rose to become the world's mining mecca. It all began in 1878, when a “black sand” that miners had previously overlooked was discovered to contain high-grade, silver-rich cerussite ore, also known as lead carbonate. It had as much as 77% lead and sufficient silver to be easily extracted during smelting. Everyone knew they had hit something big. They never expected that down the road, the industry would suffer great loss.

People flocked to Leadville from every direction of the globe, building roads and railways over high-elevation mountain passes. They came in every mode of transportation available in the late 1800s—wagons, stages, buggies, carts, horses, wheelbarrows, burro trains, and railroads. Some even braved the sometimes-brutal weather, walking up steep mountain trails, all to make their fortune from gold, silver, and lead carbonate that the Rocky Mountains yielded at 10,152 feet above sea level.

"Burro pack train, on the way to Leadville, Col." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850 - 1930. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/0c740060-c536-012f-9033-58d385a7bc34

The population of Leadville grew from just a few hundred to ten thousand in a few months. At its zenith, Leadville’s population was officially counted at 14,820 in 1880, though contemporary figures suggest as much as 30,000 if one considers uncounted miners, transient laborers, and nearby settlements.

Leadville’s prosperity soared, as miners made $11 million in silver the first year and $14 million in 1880. The boom was on as Leadville became one of the richest mining districts in the world.

Very quickly, men like Horace Austin Warner Tabor (H. A. W. Tabor) rushed to establish their place among the wealthy. Most of his money came from his Matchless Mine, acclaimed to be one of the richest mines in Colorado, making him Leadville’s Silver King. Tabor incorporated his Mosquito Pass Wagon Road Company on October 8, 1878, “to promote” Colorado’s industrial interests. He also became infamous for his relationship with “Baby Doe” Tabor.

Born Elizabeth Bonduel McCourt on November 10, 1854 to a middle-class family in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Baby Doe was twenty-four years Tabor’s junior. Though this raised eyebrows, the greater scandal revolved around their love affair while he was still married to his first wife, Augusta Tabor. Unfortunately, the public disgrace destroyed his reputation and prestige, but this didn’t deter Tabor from divorcing Augusta in 1881 and marrying Baby Doe in a “lavish ceremony” in Washington D.C., among the rich and powerful in 1883.

Tabor Opera House, Leadville, CO: Donna's Gallery, June 2025

Baby Doe has been considered a romantic heroine and a tragic figure, for while she led a life of great extravagance with her husband during the silver boom, when the value of silver crashed in 1893, the Tabors lost most of their fortune. At Tabor’s death in 1899, he pleaded with Baby Doe to hold onto the Matchless Mine, believing it would regain its value. It never did. Baby Doe lived in a small cabin near the Matchless Mine until 1935, enduring poverty, isolation, and harsh weather. She died of exposure at the age of 80. People have said of her that she had an “unwavering devotion” to a lost fortune. She’s buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Leadville. (See November 4th, 2025 blog.)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baby_Doe_Tabor.jpg

Ironically, Augusta Tabor, who became a powerful figure for her courage, endurance, and business acumen, died a millionaire. The original Tabor Home was built in 1877 at 512 Harrison Avenue but moved to 116 East 5th Street in Leadville. The house, which looks eerily similar to the exterior of W. A. Hamill’s in Georgetown, Colorado, is now a museum and features original Victorian furnishings. https://leadville.com/explore-the-original-tabor-home/

Compared to the tragic end for Baby Doe, Margaret Tobin Brown (a.k.a. Molly Brown) grew up in Hannibal, Missouri in an Irish immigrant family of humble means. She moved to Leadville at 18, during the mining boom, hoping to make something of herself. She married mining engineer James Joseph Brown in 1886. Not long afterward, he discovered a lucrative gold vein at the Little Jonny Mine, and the Browns went from being a couple of modest means to achieving tremendous wealth.

Photo Display of Molly Brown at the Healy House, Leadville, CO: Donna's Gallery

From the beginning, Molly was heavily involved in charitable work in Leadville. So, it was only natural for her to help establish a soup kitchen for the miners’ families when the Panic of 1893 hit the nation and the value of silver fell to an all-time low. Molly continued her charity work after the Browns moved to Denver in 1894. There, she became a reform advocate and supported various causes, such as women’s suffrage, labor rights, and education. She ran for the U.S. Senate in 1909, long before women won the right to vote in 1920.

Molly rose to fame when she survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912, and true to form, she helped calm passengers and encouraged the crew to return for survivors. Afterward, she organized a fundraiser for the survivors.

Molly was also awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government for her humanitarian efforts during World War I. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Margaret_Brown,_3qtr_view,_with_chair.jpg

Molly Brown's life, like Augusta Tabor's, demonstrates a very different outcome from Baby Doe Tabor. Though the Browns had much wealth and endured the same economic conditions in 1893, both understood the principle one can find in Proverbs:

Know the state of your flocks,

and put your heart into caring for your herds,24

for riches don’t last forever,

and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.25

After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears

and the mountain grasses are gathered in,26

your sheep will provide wool for clothing,

and your goats will provide the price of a field.

~ Proverbs 27:23 - 26 (NLT)24

Though H. A. W. Tabor and Baby Doe lived a life of luxury, enjoying their riches while they lasted, they squandered their money, haughty in their wealth and status. In the end, it was their undoing. When silver was devalued during the Panic of 1893, they lost everything. But devoted to a pipe dream, Tabor begged Baby Doe to sit on the mountain and guard their mine, and she lived a life of hermitage and died alone.

Molly Brown came from poverty. But when the Browns made it rich in the mining industry, she used her wealth and status to benefit others throughout the rest of her life. Instead of guarding a mine, she opened a soup kitchen for the miners to help the families survive the crisis and went on to do many good works to benefit many. She died a woman of honorable and moral character. 

Do not let kindness and truth leave you;

Bind them around your neck,

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

So you will find favor and good repute

In the sight of God and man.

~Proverbs 3:3 - 4 (NASB 1995)

Donna is an Angel-award-winning author of Historical fiction for A Song of Deliverance. Book Two in the Silver Singing Mine series, Rhythms of the Heart, was released in November 2025. Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before becoming a full-time writer. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. 

Donna and her husband of forty-one years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.

Why A Mountain Town Became Known as One of the Most Renowned Fire Fighting Companies in Nineteenth-Century Colorado

By Donna Wichelman

When one asks people what comes to mind when they think about Colorado, they often mention four things--mountains, snow, thunderstorms, and blue skies. Associated with those qualities, they might include hiking, skiing, fishing, hunting, and Big Horn Sheep. All these elements make Colorado an attractive state in which to live or visit, because the outdoor activities are phenomenal, except when the thunderheads build overhead.

Less often do people who are not Colorado natives mention that we live in a climate that is also semi-arid and subject to high winds due to how the mountains funnel air, accelerating downdrafts on the eastern slopes, called Chinooks. These two climatic conditions have made us vulnerable, even before the advent of climate change, to thunderstrikes, wildfires, and heavy flooding, especially in the forested Colorado mountains. We have an average of twenty-two inches of rain compared to the country's average of thirty-eight inches.

Lightning Over the Rocky Mountains ID 42260194 © Taiga | Dreamstime.com

As the gold and silver mining industry grew in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and mining camps sprang up across the Rocky Mountains, such as  Georgetown, Central City, Leadville, Silverton, Victor, and others, one thing became clear. Colorado's susceptibility to wildfires needed to be addressed. Mining towns began establishing volunteer fire departments to combat the threat.

Even before Georgetown, Colorado was approved as an official town by legislative authority on February 28, 1868, the need for a fire department and the proper equipment was obvious. A raging forest fire tore down the Leavenworth Fork of Clear Creek, leaving the mountainside blackened. The threat was real. 

The fire threat is why, in the second book of my Singing Silver Mine Series Rhythms Of The Heart, when protagonist Cassie Munro asks her mother why more people don't plant foliage around their homes, Laurel responds that it's too hot and dry. "Our streets are so tightly packed with housing and businesses that a single spark might produce a tremendous fire. It could completely wipe out the entire town,” her father says.

Georgetown's fire department took the threat seriously. In the years following incorporation, Georgetown established guidelines for safe housing construction and funding for fire equipment. The first piece of equipment was a fire engine with 300 feet of hose and fifty fire buckets. The engine featured a "7 1/4 inch cylinder, operating with fourteen men on the brake. It was guaranteed to throw a stream of water 130 feet," according to The Rise of the Silver Queen author Christine Bradley. The town also tapped into the water supply from two creeks.

Fire Engine Pumper, Silver Plume Old School Museum: Donna's Gallery 2019

Fire Bucket, Old School Museum, Silver Plume: Donna's Gallery 2019

However, after the fire started at the town's most elegant hotel, the Barton House, caught fire in 1871, sending embers catching fire on neighboring properties, the townspeople demanded more and better equipment. A second big fire in January 1873 convinced the folks that they needed to create a formal fire department, and thus the Georgetown Water Company was formed.

By 1874, they had developed an extensive fire protection system. They dammed a reservoir they could tap into on the South Branch of Clear Creek, located above Georgetown. Waterlines ran throughout the town with seven fireplugs located at strategic places. Several companies of firefighters were formed, each with specialty firefighting equipment and firefighting skills.

Old Missouri Engine House, Georgetown, CO: Donna's Gallery 2018

Alpine Hose Company No. 2, Georgetown, Colorado, Compliments 
of graphix

ID 284014742 | Georgetown Colorado © Arinahabich08 | Dreamstime.com

In 1875, Georgetown added Alpine Hose Company No. 2 and "Old Missouri" Engine House, both houses located in the commercial district. Star Hook and Ladder stayed in Hope Hose Company, now the Town Hall at the east end of Sixth Street. 

Firehouse with a hand pump. Georgetown, Colorado

Hope Hose Company 1875

New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed September 1, 2025. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/010062b0-73bc-0139-6248-0242ac110003

Each year, they added waterlines and fire hydrants. By 1877, the Clear Creek Water Company laid 2,500 feet of main pipes and installed four new hydrants for a total of 8,900 feet of mains and sixteen hydrants.

Like fraternities, the firefighters enjoyed the camaraderie, improving their skills and boasting about their specialties. Every Fourth of July and on other occasions, they hosted competitions between themselves and other Clear Creek County communities to determine who had the fastest Hook and Ladder runners, the strongest, most durable pumpers, and the bravest souls to scale the heights of buildings.

Since the nineteenth century, when Georgetown strategically put into place policies to keep the town and community safe, Georgetown has never experienced a devastating fire. We can be grateful to the town's forefathers for the wisdom that has allowed citizens and tourists alike today to enjoy one of the most well-preserved Victorian communities intact in Colorado.  

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, released in December 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.

How One Rocky Mountain Mineral Hot Springs Has Become a Historic Icon

By Donna Wichelman

The human race has most likely enjoyed the benefits of mineral hot springs since the beginning of time. According to an article written by Mayumi Maruyama for CNN on June 8, 2023, the world’s oldest hot springs hotel opened its doors in 705 A.D. in the mountains of Japan’s Yamanashi prefecture, and you can still stay at the Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan today.

But why are these hot springs so popular around the world?

Tabacon Resort, Costa Rica: ID 246245502 © Noamfein | Dreamstime.com

Not only do mineral hot springs give warmth and relaxation to a weary body, reducing stress, but they also are reputed to provide all manner of other health benefits. Hot Springs enhance blood circulation due to the calcium and sodium bicarbonate in the water, and the elevated sulfur levels have antifungal and antibacterial properties, just to name a few.

It’s no wonder that Sigmund Dreher, the villain Georg Töpfer’s henchman in my historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, relished the mineral baths at Hot Soda Springs in Idaho Springs, Colorado. Though the hot springs were minuscule compared to the lavish Roman-style bathhouses the German man of military might had been accustomed to in Baden-Baden and he despised their position sitting “in the middle of an open, dusty field along a pathetic creek,” the Ocean Bath House at least gave him some level of stress reduction in a pinch. It was also the spot Dreher chose to conduct a clandestine meeting with his lackey, Elias Jones, to scheme against the mining mogul Stefan Maier.

Bath House at Idaho Springs: New York Library Digital Collections, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication ("CCO 1.0 Dedication")

Historically, the Ute and Arapahoe held the Hot Soda Springs as a magical and sacred land for worship and healing before the white man ever came on the scene. The Soda Creek divided the line between the two nations.

Depiction of the Ute and Arapahoe at Hot Soda Springs: Every Day Migration to the Healing Waters

Then, in 1859 George A. Jackson headed into the Rocky Mountains through Mt. Vernon Canyon, hoping to find placer gold along the Vasquez Fork (today known as Clear Creek). As he explored the canyon and walked through snow drifts, he noticed steam rising from Soda Creek. Cautious of the local Indians, he crept up to find a thick vapor rising, which turned out to be what he referred to as the Big Geyser, and the place became known as Idaho Springs. Several years later, the geyser quit spewing water and steam and became pools of hot springs that bubbled up from the ground.

Following the discovery of the hot springs, miners used the baths for washing since it was a source of hot water. Two of those miners bought the land, but frustrated with their lot, they sold it to Dr. E.M. Cummings in 1863. Being a clever businessman, Dr. Cummings built a log and wood-frame house and charged the public for “health baths.”

Bath House at Idaho Springs: New York Library Digital Collections, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication (CCO Dedication")

In 1866, Harrison Montague bought the property, tore down the cabin, and built two large bathhouses, a stone bath house he called the “Ocean Bath House” and the “Mammoth.” A few years later, he built the center section still used today and called the area surrounding the hot springs the “Saratoga of the Rocky Mountains,” a hot springs resort in upstate New York known for its beautiful gardens and elegant Grand Hotel.

 Bath House at Idaho Springs: New York Library Digital Collections, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication ("CCO 1.0 Dedication")

Underground Caves: Picture C/O Indian Hot Springs Resort

Gazebo Built in 1869, Hot Soda Springs Resort: Donna's Gallery, June 2019

Records from those early years show that five thousand people visited annually, crediting the strong healing powers of the baths. A local doctor in the community once complained to the town newspaper in 1879 that he was losing business to the hot springs since “Mr. Montague kept his baths open all winter.” 

The story is evidence of how well-visited the hot springs were then for their health benefits. Today, we know the hot springs are rich with minerals, including calcium, fluoride, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, silica, sodium, sulfate, and zinc, another reason the pools are so popular today.

Many historical figures have visited the Indian Hot Springs Resort. In A Song of Deliverance, Dreher mentions the infamous Jesse James. But many others have stopped by to soak in the hot springs, including Billy the Kid, Walt Whitman, Baby Doe Tabor, the Vanderbilts, and the Roosevelts. More contemporary folks include Clint Eastwood and John Denver.

John Denver: ID 79448564 | John Denver © Rene Van Den Berg | Dreamstime.com

The Indian Hot Springs Resort has become a historic icon for the community of Idaho Springs. In 2014, the Lee family took over the resort, promising the previous owners that they would not let the historical significance of the hot springs die. 

The Lees continue to improve the facilities with updated pools, spa, and accommodations but maintain the historic nature of the property and buildings. The historic Gazebo where Signmund Dreher and Elias Jones met in A Song of Deliverance still exists, and the center section of the Ocean Bath House has been lovingly maintained. 

You can learn more about this beautiful Indian Hot Springs Resort in the Colorado Rockies by going to their website at https://indianhotsprings.com.

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, released on December 3, 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.

Why Formerly Enslaved African American Clara Brown is an Example for Our Time

 

By Donna Wichelman

As an author of historical romance, occasionally I'm inspired by a real-life historical figure and create a character with similar traits. Formerly enslaved, African American Clara Brown's true life story compelled me to bring to life the fictional character, Cecelia Richards, in my Gilded Age romance coming out in December.

Clara Brown rode into Colorado in the mid-nineteenth century and stole the hearts of many who called her “Aunt Clara” for her generosity and philanthropy. Though technically not a Georgetown resident, Clara first settled in Denver, then moved to the mining town of Central City twenty miles northeast of Georgetown. In time, she invested in real estate and mining properties in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties.

C Stephen H. Hart Research Center at History Colorado, Scan #10027902lara Brown, (aka “Aunt Clara”) invested in mining property in Georgetown in the 1860s and 1870s.
Used by Permission of the Stephen H. Hart Research Center at History Colorado, Scan #10027902

Born into slavery in 1800, Clara spent her early years in Virginia and was sold several times to the highest bidder. A Virginian tobacco farmer, Ambrose Smith, bought her, and she continued to work for him after he moved to Kentucky. At age eighteen, she married Richard, and they had four children. But when Smith died, her husband and four children were tragically sold off to different people across the country. Devastated, Clara vowed she would find them someday despite the odds of getting her freedom.

Clara’s last owner, hat maker George Brown sympathized with Clara's plight. In 1856, after working for him as a domestic for twenty years, he died and stipulated in his will that she must be freed and given money to begin a new life. Touched by his generosity, Clara began a search for her family. However, three years later, heartbroken and running out of cash, she gave up.

Clara convinced a group of gold prospectors, going west on a wagon train, to take her along as their cook. After a long arduous journey, she came to Colorado in 1859 and lived in Denver, working as a baker. She also helped two Methodist missionaries set up a non-denominational Sunday School. With the goal of finding her family ever-present, she followed the stream of people, heading to the mountains to make their fortunes in gold and silver. She didn’t care about the money, only the ability to reunite with her family.

Tailings from a Silver Mine Near Georgetown, Colorado: Donna's Gallery 2019

She settled in Central City where she set up a laundry, offered her services as a cook and midwife, and began saving money. By the time the Civil War ended and other blacks had been given their freedom, her income had grown enough so that she could support herself, give to local charities, take in sick and injured miners, as well as invest in mining properties and real estate. She also set up a nondenominational Sunday School and gave money and time to four churches, including St. James Methodist Church, where Clara was known to hold services in her home before the church was built and host missionary circuit riders.

Central City, Colorado Street Scene: ID 253110770 © Littleny | Dreamstime.com

Governor Pitkin sent Clara to Kansas in 1879 as an official representative to invite black Exodusters (former enslaved homesteaders) to move to Colorado. With a mining strike at hand and jobs needing to be filled, they had plenty of work. Clara donated her own money to help relocate them.

Clara finally heard credible news in 1882 that her daughter Eliza lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa. By then, her funds had been spent down or extorted by unethical men in real estate, and friends had to help her get to Iowa. Once there, she discovered that Eliza had been living there for some time, and mother and daughter finally reunited after more than half a century. Newspapers all over the country carried the story.

Clara brought her daughter back to Colorado where they lived until Clara’s death in 1885. To honor this extraordinary woman, the Central City Opera House debuted an opera in 2003 called Gabrielle’s Daughter. Her story of courage and passion continues to be played out on the stage today.

Central City, Colorado Opera House: ID 56740743 © Marek Uliasz | Dreamstime.com

None of us would want to live Clara Brown’s real-life story. As a Caucasian woman, I can’t begin to understand the dynamics of all that she experienced. Yet, something about her story inspires us, moves us to admire her, and makes us hope. Christian author Jerry Sittser calls this the “redemptive spirit” of her story.

Many people extoll Clara for having been the first successful African American business woman in Colorado. Others pay tribute to her angel-like qualities—her good works, caring for the sick, the poor, and the underserved. Most praise her for coming out of slavery to establish a life full of “passion and purpose” (see Clara Brown: Angel of the Rockies, August 26, 2016, Colorado Virtual Library). All of this is true.

Yet Clara Brown’s story is much more than what people say of her. It calls us to view our lives in the light of hers and discover what enabled her to move from enslavement to being truly free—not only free from slavery but free from the bonds of the petty and the shallow.

Imbued with faith in God and strength of character, she didn’t allow her circumstances to diminish her. She could have become bitter, blaming the world—even God—for allowing her husband and children to be cruelly removed from her. Indeed, she had every reason to hate her enslavers. Instead, she gained wisdom and strength and overcame her circumstances, transforming her into a woman of grace, humility, and generosity—loving people, giving of her time, and persevering in the face of a hopeless cause to find her children.

Clara Brown transcended the ways of her day and made a difference in the communities where she lived. Perhaps we’d never want to live her life, but I believe most of us—maybe even secretly deep down—want to emulate her spirit in a way that brings profound meaning to our own lives. Her example provides a roadmap for us to follow in our current-day trifling and chaotic world.

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, will be released by Scrivenings Press in December 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.