The Silver Queen
by Jane
Candia Coleman
Augusta Tabor,
the first silver queen
Publisher:
Leisure Books (Dec. 2008)
Augusta Pierce had her eyes set on Horace Tabor, a Vermont master stone
mason hired by her father, from the first moment she saw him.
Left behind when he goes to Kansas to shore up the abolitionist
movement, Augusta misses him terribly. His letters seem formal
and intent on decreasing her fears for his safety as the the
abolitionist and pro-slavery forces make Kansas the political
battleground. When Horace (nicknamed "Haw") returns from Kansas
to marry Augusta, she moves from being a daughter to an independent
woman who faces the hardships of trying to settle a home in
Kansas. Determined to make a success of this new venture and her
marriage, Augusta faces fear and hardship with resoluteness,
thriftiness and creativity. When rumors of gold reach her
husband's ears, Augusta followed him to Colorado. Alone most of
the time while her husband is out prospecting, Augusta Tabor provides
the stable force within the family, running a store and pinching
pennies, the very pennies her husband wants to give away to all those
who ask. When Horace is elected mayor of Leadville and one of his
schemes hits paydirt in Colorado's Silver Boom, suddenly their life
changes forever. Whereas their life had been a battle against the
elements with poverty always a step away, now the Tabors are among the
richest people in Colorado. Augusta is now the wife of Colorado's
Lieutenant Governor. With unlimited power and wealth, Haw Tabor
sets himself on a path that leads to a shocking scandal, a scandal that
will test Augusta to the very depths and threaten everything she worked
so hard to attain.
In THE SILVER QUEEN, Jane Candia Coleman presents the life of Augusta
Tabor, the First Lady of Leadville, Colorado from her early youth in
Maine to her arrival in Pasadena, California in 1895. An epilogue
set in Leadville, Colorado in 1935 rounds out the last details of the
cast of characters. The narrative centers on the Tabor family's
life in Kansas in the build-up to the Civil War, the boom and bust
cycles of Colorado's gold rush and silver boom, and the Tabor family's
political life in Denver as scandal and the repeal of the Sherman
Silver Purchase Act bring another turn to the Tabor family's
life. Winner of several Western awards and a multiple Pulitzer
prize nominee, Jane Candia Coleman narrates one of Colorado's most
fascinating high profile historical families through the eyes of the
lesser recorded figure of Augusta Tabor, the first woman in Colorado's
silver-mining camps. THE SILVER QUEEN provides an insightful look
into the pioneer history in Kansas and Colorado with precise details of
the era, the stages of mining exploration and development as well the
interrelation between Kansas and Colorado history. Without
sidetracking from her main focus, Jane Candia Coleman ties regional
history into the larger picture of American history of the time.
Based on the memoirs of Augusta Tabor, THE SILVER QUEEN's first person
narrative draws readers into the inner thoughts of a woman whose life
suddenly changes as she moves from the security and community of her
Maine childhood to a harsher Western landscape where independence and
inner fortitude are often the difference between poverty and
survival. Often alone, Augusta's self-reliance and resiliency
inspires within her a sense of creativity to reach out to others' needs
and in doing so, she also finds a way to take care of her family.
THE SILVER QUEEN chronicles the rags to riches story of the Tabor
family through the eyes of the woman behind the man, not only the woman
but the lesser known woman. Whereas ballads and operas, and
websites galore tell the story of Elizabeth Doe McCourt, also
known as "Baby Doe Tabor," Jane Candia Coleman tells the story of
Colorado's first Silver Queen. While historians Betty Moynihan in
Augusta Tabor: A
Pioneering Woman and later works by Evelyn Furman provide
intriguing biographical insights into Augusta Tabor and the period,
Jane Candia Coleman's first person historical fiction combines
historical research and fictional imagination to give readers a look
into the inner life of this woman. Set in a time where marriage
often defined a woman, THE SILVER QUEEN gives a glimpse into the
fortitude of Augusta Tabor not only during the harder financial times,
but the most devastating emotional challenges as well. Although
modern readers themselves might not make the same decisions today as
those made by Augusta Tabor when faced with similar circumstances, Jane
Candia Coleman presents an empathetic portrait, highlighting the
themes of steadfastness, independence in the face of adversity,
compassion for others, and inner strength. THE SILVER QUEEN
presents a portrait of a historic pioneer woman who faced difficult
challenges and several reversals of fortune, a woman always bold in her
taking on of the challenges of the movement West in all its forms.
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