The Columbine, Colorado's State Flower
Silver started drinking in Leadville. She found she had a knack for it. One night out and she didn't come home until morning, still drunk. If her last name hadn't been Tabor, would anyone have cared? How many girls in their teens drink to excess? How many have their exploits written up in history books or imagined, after the fact, to be much worse than originally thought? How many young women Silver's age went out with men, drank and used drugs? Are the reports accurate? Who made the reports? How much was exaggeration, how much was the truth? The only reports we have left are books written after her death. Although there are letters from Silver to her mother with different addresses, different names. Was it just that she was ashamed of the Tabor name finally, or was she trying to disappear, running from someone? How many possibilities are there? What really happened? And are all the stories informed by how she died, looking for connections, foreshadowing, attempting to make Silver's fate her own doing instead of looking beyond blaming the victim, looking for other causes, other possible outcomes. How can there be any doubt about her death? If you wanted to commit suicide, would you dump a pan of boiling water over your head? Unlikely.