 In 1901, one of her McCourt sisters may have attempted to buy the mine at a sheriff's sale, but again the fragmented documentation is murky about ownership.When Baby Doe moved with her girls back to Leadville, she claimed she would work the mine herself, despite its deteriorated condition.Temple writes that the mine's shafts were flooded and had not been in working condition for many years, and furthermore that Horace would have known this.