George Warren (prospector)

George Warren
Miner George Warren
Born1835
Massachusetts
DiedFebruary 13, 1893
Bisbee, Arizona, United States
OccupationMiner
Years active1877 – 1879
Known forDiscovery of the Copper Queen Mine which he lost on a bet

George Warren (c. 1835–1893)[1] worked as a prospector in the Tombstone and Bisbee, Arizona region during the late 19th century. He is credited with having located the body of copper ore, which later was known as the Copper Queen Mine, one of Arizona's most productive copper mines. Warren drank too much and bet his interest in the mine on a foot race against a horse and lost.

In 1880 pioneer photographer C. S. Fly often visited Bisbee on miners' paydays and he took a photo of Warren. The image was used as a model for the miner posing with long-handled spade on the Seal of Arizona.[2] His pauper's grave, originally only marked by a wooden plank saying "G.W. 24" in the Bisbee-Lowell Evergreen Cemetery was later commemorated by a large monument erected in his honor.

  1. ^ Cox, Annie M. (1938). History of Bisbee 1877 to 1837 (PDF) (Master of Arts thesis). University of Arizona.
  2. ^ History of the Great Seal of the State of Arizona Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine