Chapter VI: Part 6

In 1956 the late John Latouche was chosen to write the libretto for an opera, The Ballad of Baby Doe. He read all available treatments of the Tabors but preferred this booklet (as he said in Theatre Arts magazine). His lyric telling of the story follows fairly closely the same line and found audiences across the United States and in Europe, where the opera has had a number of productions.

During the intervening years I have received fan mail from as far away as Yokohama, Japan, and Stuttgart, Germany, and the booklet continues to have wide appeal. It had been my intention to write a definitive large-size book on Baby Doe but I am not certain if there is sufficient interest for such a work. I should be glad to have the opinion of current readers.

Caroline Bancroft, 1962

_Acknowledgments_

(reprinted from the fourth, fifth and sixth editions)

For Research Aid:

Father F. M. McKeogh of St. Peter’s, Oshkosh, James E. Lundsted of the Oshkosh Public Museum, and J. E. Boell of the State Historical Society at Madison have supplied masses of Wisconsin data. Their courtesy and unusual interest in running down many obscure points in the last three years have amplified and verified my knowledge of the Doe and McCourt families. In Denver, The Western History Department of the Denver Public Library—Ina T. Aulls, Alys Freeze and Opal Harber—have suffered with me intermittently for the eighteen years that I have been working on the Tabor Story, lending aid and enlightenment. At the Colorado Historical Society, Agnes Wright Spring and Dolores Renze have been phenomenally generous and helpful.

For Criticism:

Marian Castle, author of “The Golden Fury,” has made pertinent suggestions for clarifying captions and improving the general style.

For Proofreading:

Mrs. J. Alvin Fitzell has graciously read and re-read galley sheets in order to catch errors.

For Photographs:

Fred Mazzulla, collector of Western Americana, has been a beaver of industry and ingenuity in locating unusual prints and in making gifts of copies. The Western History Department has supplied the great majority of prints used; generously donating these in return for my gift of many originals. Frances Shea, Dolores Renze and Edgar C. McMechen of the Colorado Historical Society provided ten views from the Tabor and W. H. Jackson collections. Samuel F. McRae, Lenore Fitzell, Mary Hohnbaum, Ralph Batschelet, Gene Hawkins, Florence Greenleaf and the Central City Opera House Association have all contributed in large and small ways to the final lay-out.

C. B.—1953

_By the Same Author_

Colorful Colorado: Its Dramatic History: “... a remarkable feat of
condensation ... ought to be a copy in your car’s glove locker.”
Robert Perkin in the _Rocky Mountain News_.

Historic Central City: “We could do with more such stories of
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Marian Castle in _The Denver Post_.

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AUGUSTA TABOR: HER SIDE OF THE SCANDAL

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HISTORIC CENTRAL CITY

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FAMOUS ASPEN

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1081 Downing Street, Denver 18, Colorado

* * * * * *

Transcriber’s note:

--Silently corrected obvious typographical errors; non-standard
spellings and dialect were not changed.

--Added roman-numeral page numbers to the “illustration” pages.