Top, the Silver Bell Mine in the 1890s. Bottom, the Mineral Palace, Pueblo, Colorado, in the 1890s.  Both courtesy of the Denver Public Library, Western History Collection (X-62288 and X-10717).

The Harveys arrived in Colorado in 1884. There Harvey operated the Silver Bell, one of the best-producing silver mines in the Red Mountain district of Colorado. He and Anna had their fourth child while he was running the mine. In 1888, following a steady decline in the price of silver, Harvey moved his family to Pueblo, Colorado. There he practiced law, sold real estate, and promoted a tonic he called an “elixir of life.”

While in Pueblo, Harvey became one of the major developers of the Mineral Palace, an ornate exposition hall designed to promote Colorado’s mining industry. Before the Palace’s opening in 1891, Harvey left town. Apparently he never paid his $5,000 pledge toward the project.

The Harveys moved on to Ogden, Utah. There Harvey opened a law and real estate office and bought a home on a one acre lot. In Ogden, Harvey made a variety of business investments. Soon he was asked to help put on a program to promote Ogden.

The extravagant carnival patterned after the New Orleans Mardi Gras was to be the biggest event of its type the West had ever seen. But it was a financial failure, and Harvey ended up spending his own money to cover the expenses. Despite the setback he remained in Ogden until after the Panic of 1893. As a result of the economic panic, Harvey lost most of what he had invested in Utah real estate.

Once more faced with financial failure, he decided to move again, this time to Chicago. Anna and the children had hoped and expected that Ogden would become their permanent home. The couple’s relationship had always suffered from the differences in their temperaments and values; now it would begin to unravel.