Colorado. Colorado’s 19th Century Silver Boom
It’s likely that few people outside Colorado have heard of the Matchless Mine. For several years in the late 1800s, the Matchless was among the world’s most productive silver mines. In the winter of 1881, silver mined there was valued at US$25,000/month (equivalent to US$6.5 million/month today). Named for a popular brand of chewing gum, the Matchless is 2.5 kilometers north of Leadville, Colorado and 136 kilometers southwest of Denver.
Leadville was already operating as a mining settlement before the Matchless became famous. The site was first occupied during a gold rush in 1860. Originally, known as “Slabtown,” the tent city continued to grow and by the late 1800s, Leadville was the second most populous city (15,000) in Colorado after Denver (35,000). Since that time the city’s population has declined to 2,600. At 3,084 meters, Leadville holds the distinction of being the highest incorporated city in the U.S. Locals joke that if Denver is the “mile high city,” Leadville is the “two-mile-high city.”
Built on Fryer Hill, the Matchless began producing silver in 1878 and over the next 20 years it was responsible for more silver than all of Colorado’s other mines combined. Its owner/operator was Horace Tabor who invested in other Leadville businesses including the Tabor Opera House. Tabor was a successful businessman and politician who served as Colorado’s Lieutenant Governor and later, as a U.S. Senator. In 1883, Horace married his second wife, an attractive divorcee named Elizabeth “Baby Doe.” Unfortunately for the Tabors, silver production at the Matchless began to decline as the high-grade ore was exhausted. In an effort to sustain their extravagant lifestyle, Horace began taking loans using his properties as collateral and by 1899 the Tabors were bankrupt. The next year Horace died. Over the subsequent 36 years, Baby Doe attempted to revive silver production within the mine. Nearly penniless, she moved into the superintendent’s cabin where she lived as a recluse. In March 1935, Baby Doe’s lifeless body was discovered in the cabin. With the mine’s ore mostly exhausted, the Shorego Mining Company donated the Matchless to the Leadville City Assembly in 1988. Today, the mineshaft and superintendent’s cabin where Baby Doe lived is a museum operated by the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum.
My wife and I and our two longtime friends had breakfast at “Mineral 1886,” a wonderful restaurant inside Leadville’s historic Delaware Hotel. Build in 1883 at a cost of US$80,000, the hotel is on the corner of E. 7th Street and Harrison Avenue. After our meal we took a short uphill hike to the mine. Near the parking lot is a small kiosk where visitors can purchase books and maps or arrange for a tour. Baby Doe’s cabin in adorned with furniture, cooking implements, and other period-specific items. Adjacent to the cabin is an A-frame tower built over Mineshaft No. 6. An ore bucket below the wooden frame was raised and lowered with a motor positioned in an adjacent building. There is also a “man basket,” once used to transport miners up and down. In addition to the bucket motor, the adjoining building contains interpretive displays, a diorama of the mine, and implements such as tools used by blacksmiths.
Returning to town, we relaxed on benches outside the train station as we waited for our afternoon ride on Leadville Railroad. Nearby, steam engine C&S No. 641 sits proudly on a short section of track. No. 641 was built in July 1906 by the American Locomotive Company. The tourist railroad is the last remaining section of the Denver South Park and Pacific Railroad (DSP&PRR). Completed in 1884 using narrow gauge track, the DSP&PRR’s 243-kilometer track once extended to Denver. The narrow-gauge rails were later converted to the wider standard gauge (1435mm). For many years the track near Leadville lay abandoned. In 1987, a local couple approached the Burlington Northern Railroad Company about purchasing the Highline section that extends northeast of Leadville to the Climax Mine. The deal involved two diesel electric locomotives, eight flat cars, four box cars, and five cabooses. Also included were a roundhouse located in Leadville, and 22.5 kilometers of track. Leadville Railroad reopened as a tourist attraction in September 1988.
At our departure time we boarded the train and found seats in an open-air flatcar with benches facing to the left and right. Visitors can pay a little more to ride in one of the plush enclosed cars. The train moves backwards for its 2.5-hour journey to Climax. After five minutes we passed the roundhouse and rail yard. Hugging a mountain ridge, we entered San Isabel National Forest, crossing through conifers and aspen and high alpine meadows with lush grass and wildflowers. The train grained more than 300 meters as we climbed northbound. From the left (downhill) side we were treated to views of Mt. Ebert (4410m), Mt. Massive (4398m), Fremont Pass, and the Arkansas River Valley. At various times our “conductor” shared stories via a loudspeaker about points of interest and the Highline’s history. He pointed out the location of the Climax Mine through and opening in the trees. The Climax produced a material called molybdenum that is used to strengthen steel. The mineral was first extracted there in 1915 and within a few years the Climax was the largest molybdenum mine in the world. At Climax, our train had reached the highest point in North America served by a standard gauge railroad. After stopping briefly, the train reversed direction for the return to Leadville. A few kilometers down the mountain, we stopped for 20 minutes at the French Gulch water tank, located at 3304 meters. The stop provided time for visitors to climb into the diesel-electric engine and talk with the engineer.
