 Tabor was married, but in 1880 he left his wife Augusta Tabor to be with Baby Doe; he established her in plush suites at hotels in Leadville and Denver.Horace and Augusta had lived for 25 years on the frontier, first moving to Kansas where they tried their hand at agriculture, then following the gold rush to Colorado, but never striking it rich.Eventually they found their way to Leadville, where Horace, in 1878, grub-staked two prospectors with about $60 worth of goods ($ today) in return for one-third of their profits.