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Blaire, Lucky

Mining tycoon in Colorado[1] in 1878 (May 3, 1840 – June 1, 1910)[2]

In 1878, Blaire partnered with Horace Tabor in a grubstake the Little Pittsburgh Mine in Leadville, Colorado. The mine had been salted by its previous owner to lure Tabor into buying it for an inflated price. Blaire and his minors worked past the salted level and discovered a rich body of silver ore, earning him the nickname "Lucky."[2]

In December of 1878,[1] Horace Tabor invited several of his friends and gambling associates to his home in Denver.[3] There, Lucky Blair[2] met Bret[1] and Bart Maverick, Doc Holliday, Mandy Packer[2] and Colonel Arnold Taylor.[3]

In April of 1879,[2] to gain the confidence of Jody Collins while being held as his hostage in New Orleans, Bret Maverick claimed he and Brother Bart had kidnapped Blaire's son the year before for a ransom of $100,000. The ruse helped convince Collins of the Maverick Brothers' experience in kidnapping.[1]

See: Hostage