September 28th, 2008

Stately rows of Victorian windows keep watch on the doings of Leadville and Cripple Creek. It was just as I expected it would be. The drive to both Old West towns was beautiful. The trees were a mixture of gold and red. I saw antelope sparring with one another on the open range and watched a thin band of rain fall on a dilapidated cabin near the base of a mountain. I stayed the night at the Hotel St. Nicolas in Cripple Creek. Built in 1898, it was initially a hospital. My room was the nursery at one time. Cattle roamed the streets like they owned it. Which in some respect they do. The open range law is still in existance there. If you want the cattle out of your yard and off your property, it’s your responsibility, not the owner of the cattle, to build a fence to keep them out. While in Leadville I visited Baby Doe Tabor’s cabin near the Matchless Mine. Actually, it’s more of a tool shed than a cabin. Her husband told her never to sell the mine because gold would be found there again in time. Baby Doe died in the one room cabin at the age of 81. She froze to death waiting for another fortune. I stayed at the Delaware Hotel, in the same room Horace and Baby Doe stayed in from time to time. The Tabors weren’t the only famous people to come out of Leadville. An Irish lass married a miner there, and became the Unsinkable Molly Brown. Doc Holiday visited the area too. On the way back to Denver I stopped at the grave of Buffalo Bill Cody. It’s a lovely spot overlooking miles and miles of the state. The only thing detracting from the beauty of the area were numerous rude bicyclist with no sense of courtesy for the pedestrians walking on the sidewalk leading to Cody’s grave. The museum at the spot had one of the outfits Buffalo Bill wore in his Wild West show. Sitting Bull’s headdress was on display there as well. I had a lot of time to think while driving. The was the most unfortunate part of the trip. Wish I could have left those things that continue to haunt me behind in Grass Valley. I’ve come to the conclusion that what people long for is reconciliation of one kind or another. But that topic is for another day. Right now it’s enough to savor the memory of the Colorado Gold Country and the rich history that’s still alive.