The story of Baby Doe is fascinating! She must have been an exceptional woman, full of courage and determination, and well ahead of her time. She went from rags to riches and then back to rags. Honestly, Baby Doe's life is so interesting, I couldn't make it up if I tried. There's simply not enough room here to do her justice, so I encourage readers to purchase a book on her life, and also visit the site. At a recent trip to Leadville, I had the opportunity to go into Baby Doe's cabin and look around. It's tiny inside but contains many of Baby Doe's personal items. Wonderful photographs of her and her family line the walls, her rocking chair sits in the corner with a kerosene lamp on a table, and her black, threadbare parasol is in a basket by the door. It's all that's left of a once fabulously rich (and beautiful) woman who once owned a mine called the Matchless.
Years after Baby Doe's husband died, she held on to the property hoping it would fulfil her husband's dream of once more "striking it rich" but it was not to be and eventually she was put in foreclosure. In the end, she lived alone accepting the charity and kindness of the present day owners of the Matchless Mine. It's where she died on March 7, 1935.
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