Historic Homes of Denver: People Who Shaped Denver’s History - Augusta Tabor

Augusta Tabor was the 1st wife of Horace Tabor and part of one of the most infamous love triangles in Colorado History.

Augusta Tabor was born Augusta Pierce in March of 1833 in Augusta, Maine (you had to wonder where that name came from!).  Born into a stable, educated, hard-working middle class family, Augusta Tabor married Horace Tabor who was an employee at her father's stone quarry.  Augusta Tabor soon moved to Kansas where her husband had homesteaded land.

After growing up comfortably, Augusta Tabor found the harsh realities of frontier life difficult.  The environment with all it's draw-backs were difficult for her.  From the lack of books to read, to the harsh environment, Augusta Tabor drew upon her own will and her strong work ethic to support her husband.  While living in Kansas, Augusta Tabor gave birth to a son named Maxey Tabor. 

After 2 years in Kansas, Augusta Tabor, herfamily and 2 friends from back east moved west to Colorado in their quest to find their fortunes in the Gold Rush.  The trek from Kansas to present day Denver took the group 6 weeks to complete on foot.

With her husband making little headway in Denver, Augusta Tabor and her family moved further into the Rocky Mountain's, close to present day Leadville, CO.  Augusta Tabor maintained the families finances as her husband had spent everything he made if left to his own accord. With Augusta Tabor's frugal nature, as 1880 approached, and before Horace Tabor "struck it rich", the family of Augusta Tabor amassed the amazing sum of $40,000!  That amount would be considerable in 2010, imagine what it meant in the 1870's!  This amount was saved solely because of Augusta Tabor's running of the family's general store business.

Eventually, Horace Tabor struck it rich by grubstaking miners.  While her husband saw their immense wealth as a opportunity to spend money like there was no tomorrow, Augusta Tabor saw                things differently.  Augusta Tabor was against spending money for the pure thrill of it, she was in fact thifty.  Her upbringing and the lean years that she and her husband had endured prohibited her from waste.  Augusta Tabor did not change the way she dressed, in fact she made very few changes to the way she lived after the Tabors became fabulously rich.
                                                                                                                                  
These basic differences in monetary philosophies between Augusta Tabor and her husband created an insurmountable wall between them.  Soon after, Horace Tabor met the beautiful, much younger Baby Doe with whom he carried on a very torrid and public affair.

Augusta Tabor and her husband divorced, with Augusta Tabor living in a home built for her by Horace Tabor in Denver.  In 1892, the Brown Palace Hotel opened for business.  Augusta Tabor's son, Maxey, was the manager of the Brown Palace and she moved into the hotel for a period of time.  Augusta Tabor moved to Southern California for her health where she died in 1895 a very wealthy woman.  In contrast, Horace Tabor died penniless.  Augusta Tabor was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Denver.