Miss Mollie

Miss Mollie. Her story is similar to other women who followed her husband’s dream of striking it rich, mining for gold in the Colorado Rockies in the mid 1800’s. Mollie Dorsey 1838-1915, was far more practical than husband to be Byron Sanford, insisting on a 3 year engagement so they could save earnings for a good start. He a blacksmith and she a seamstress, made a good wage in Nebraska City, but one bad venture after another, once married in 1859, Pike’s Peak fever lured By to the mountain camps to try his luck.

Mollie tired of being left alone, bought a wagon and drove herself to join him in Colorado. At the different camps, often the only female, she cooked, sewed and took in laundry, lived in shanties, boarding houses, tents, then later, a soldiers barracks when By joined the Union Army. Mollie’s sewing skills saw her through. Gold played out, By tried ranching but at last they, with two young children, settled in Denver where By took a good, steady job with the Denver Mint.