Matchless Mine

Useful Information

Location:	Leadville. 2 km east on East 7th Street. The Matchless Mine & Museum
Open:
Fee:
Classification:	Silver Mine
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	A=3,154 m asl.
Guided tours:	D=60min
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Matchless Mine, 414 W. 7th Street, Leadville, Tel: +1-719-486-3900, Tel: +1-719-486-1899, Tel: +1-719-486-4918.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1879	Matchless Mine purchased by Horace Tabor.
1893	repeal of the Sherman Silver Act.

Geology

Description

Matchless Mine was owned by Horace Tabor, and for some time it was matchless, as it produced up to $2,000 per day in high quality silver ore. He seems to be one of the strangest figures in the history of gold mining. He made and lost a fortune from his silver mine. However, much of the boom was a result of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, a law which required the government to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver bullion every month. So the silver prices were artificially high. After the Panic of 1893 President Grover Cleveland repealed the Act in 1893. As a result the silver prices dropped and the Colorado Silver Boom collapsed. Horace Tabor lost anything and the mine was closed. He worked as a postmaster for a salary of $3,500 per year, a sum he formerly had earned in a day.

At the mine is a small museum and a collection of memorabilia of Horace Austin Warner Tabor (26-11-1830-10-APR-1899) and his second wife Baby Doe Tabor (07-OCT-1854-07-MAR-1935). The owner sells videos and books about the life of both. There is no underground tour, but this story is so strange and became a sort of cultural heritage.