Thomas Henry Blythe | |
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Born | Thomas Henry Williams [1] July 30, 1822[2] |
Died | April 4, 1883[3] | (aged 60)
Burial place | Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Colma, San Mateo County, California 37°40′48″N 122°28′01″W / 37.680°N 122.467°W |
Monuments | City of Blythe, California |
Nationality | American (naturalized) |
Occupation | Capitalist[4] |
Known for | Obtaining primary water rights to the lower Colorado River, and using that water to develop the Palo Verde Valley in eastern Southern California,[5] and leaving an unsettled estate worth millions of dollars that became a sensational story over 25 years with numerous competing claims filed.[1] |
Thomas Henry Blythe (born Thomas Williams;^ 1822–1883), was a Welsh-born American businessman; he became a successful self-made capitalist and tycoon after emigrating to San Francisco in the United States.[6] Blythe is most remembered for purchasing, developing, and subdividing the Palo Verde Valley in southern California, and obtaining primary rights to Colorado River water to irrigate the valley.[5] The city of Blythe, California, the largest city in the Palo Verde Valley, is named for him.