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Leadville

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:40,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD
Leadville

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Auction Date:2016 Apr 13 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Remarkable archive related to the early development of Leadville, Colorado, which rivaled the likes of Tombstone and Virginia City as an archetypal Old West boomtown—with the lawlessness to match. This museum-quality archive consists of about one hundred items—many of them exceedingly rare or absolutely unique—that embody the rise Leadville as a mining center of the West. Leadville was founded in 1877 by mine owners Horace Tabor and August Meyer, with the former becoming Leadville’s most famous and successful resident. Within a mere three years the population had exploded to over 15,000 and Leadville was one of the world’s largest silver camps, with more than thirty mines and ten large smelting works. It became a haven for outlaws and gamblers including Doc Holliday, who lived in Leadville during the last years of his life.

Among the items this collection are numerous original photographs and stereoviews showing the city’s progress as saloons, stores, and other businesses begin to line streets—telephone poles, too, as the communications revolution took hold. The area’s drastic increase in commerce is revealed in dozens of billheads, receipts, and other ephemera from Leadville businesses. Most interesting, of course, are the items related to Leadville’s lawlessness, which include an original Leadville policeman’s badge, a tintype of a policeman, tokens for several local establishments, a prostitute’s punch card, and saloon’s billiards license. Also of the utmost desirability are a presentation fire horn and a wedding announcement for Horace Tabor. Details of some of these highlights:

An exceptionally rare policeman's badge in the shape of a star, engraved “Leadville” across the top banner with “Police No. 18” in the center of the star. With this is a cabinet photo of a Leadville policeman wearing badge number 22, imprinted on the reverse by the studio, "Rocky Mountain Art Gallery, J. C. Macurdy, Portrait and Landscape Photographer, East 5th St., North of Quincy Block, Leadville, Colorado." Except for the policeman number, the badges appear to be exactly the same.

Three fantastic items relate to the Board of Trade saloon, one of Doc Holliday’s favorite hangouts: first is an original twenty-cent trade token reading, “Board of Trade, 20, J. G. Morgan,” on both sides; second is a three-month license issued by the mayor of Leadville, November 17, 1883, granting permission to “John G. Morgan to maintain and carry on the following described Business of (2) Billiard Tables at ‘The Board of Trade,’ Harrison Avenue, Leadville, Colo.”; and a circa 1880s cabinet photo of Leadville's Harrison Avenue by important photographer W. H. Jackson, with the Board of Trade visible as the second building from the left, as well as the important locations of Tabor Opera House and Hyman's Club. Also visible in this image are a sign advertising keno outside of Hyman’s and an Anheuser-Busch sign outside the theater. In addition to the Board of Trade, Doc Holliday spent much of his time gambling at Hyman’s, which was where he shot bartender and ex-police officer Billy Allen.

Like any Wild West boomtown, Leadville had its fair share of brothels, represented here by a prostitute’s punch card for employment at Leadville's “Bartley, Rochon & Johnson, Red Light Hall, 114 West Second Street.” West Second Street was designated as the official ‘red light’ district, with the Red Light Hall being one of its notorious dance halls and brothels.

Another of the most important items in the collection is the announcement of the wedding of Horace Tabor, reading: “Horace A. W. Tabor & Lizzie Bonduel McCourt, Married Thursday, March first, Eighteen hundred eighty three, Washington, D. C.” Tabor, nicknamed 'The Bonanza King of Leadville,' was an enormously wealthy mine owner whose name appeared on many of the town’s staple institutions, including the Tabor Opera House. His wife, known as ‘Baby Doe,’ became one of the legendary women of the old mining towns. She lived lavishly—once considered the ‘best dressed woman in the West’—but after Tabor lost his fortune and passed away she became a destitute inhabitant of a shack at the Matchless Mine, where she eventually died of a heart attack, her frozen body found by neighbors days later. A classic story of rags-to-riches-and-back, her life inspired an opera and Hollywood movie.

Also of great interest is a small pamphlet from the Hotel Windsor promoting Leadville to travelers and advising them to "wear clothes you do not care for as the dust during the stage ride will ruin any good piece of clothing." The Hotel Windsor would burn down on May 19, 1882, in the worst fire to ever strike Leadville—the result of arson, not an uncommon occurrence in the boomtown. Related to Leadville’s firemen are two of the most appealing items in this collection, a Leadville fire chief’s trumpet and a period tintype of a fireman. The gorgeous silver-plated ceremonial fireman’s trumpet measures 23.5? tall with a 9? diameter bell and is engraved on one side of the bell, “Awarded to the Humphrey Hose by the Fun on the Bristol Co., Leadville, Colo., Feb. 15th 1882,” and on the other, “Presented to Asst Chief L. A. Scholes by the H. H. Co. N. 2, May 24th 1882.” The horn features ornate designs on the sides and is engraved with depictions of a fire wagon, hoses, ladders, and firefighters’ helmets. It retains its original golden rope with tassels. “Fun on the Bristol” was a troupe in town to perform at the Tabor Opera House, and this trumpet was initially awarded to the Humphrey Hose firemen company for selling a large number of tickets for their engagements; the trumpet presentation is mentioned in the Leadville Daily Herald issue of February 16, 1882. The tintype is presented in its original 3.25 x 3.75 case and depicts a fireman in a three-quarter-length pose, holding a similar looking fireman’s trumpet against his hip.

In the collection are six other tokens of various denominations for The Saratoga, Henry Martinez, Henry & Fred Office Buffet, Earl A. Johnson, Mack’s Bar and Cafe, and two for the Adolph & Zeiler Health Office. Subjects of stereoview photos include street scenes of Harrison Avenue and Chestnut Street, mines, and the town from a distance. Cabinet photos include portraits by Leadville studios Brisbois and J. F. Needles, the Leadville boardwalk with Barnum & Bailey advertisements in the background, the town from a distance, and several street scenes. Billheads trace the development of Leadville’s industry, with a blacksmith, grocer, telephone company, mining company, grocer, art supplier, bookstore, lumber dealer, and railway all represented. Also included is a large, impressive banner reading, “Pikes Peak Local No. 1662, Eight Hours, United Mine Workers of America, El Paso Co. Col.,” representing the area’s mining unions that held enormous power within the labor force. An enormous 1902 map of Leadville is included as well, along with assorted other items.

In overall very good to fine condition. A comprehensive inventory of the archive is available on RRAuction.com.