Thomas Henry Blythe | |
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 | |
| Born | Thomas Henry Williams [1] July 30, 1822[2] |
| Died | April 4, 1883 (aged 60)[3] |
| 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.
- ^ a b Robbins, Millie (4 June 1969). "Millie's Column: A Tough Tycoon's Soft Spot". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 64.
- ^ Gunther, pp. 59-61.
- ^ "Sudden Death of Thomas H. Blythe". Okland Daily Evening Tribune. 5 April 1883. p. 3.
- ^ "Local Breveties". Vol. 16. The Los Angeles Daily Herald. 10 November 1881. p. 4.
- ^ a b Brown and Boyd, pp. 588-589
- ^ Starmans, Barbara J. (22 May 2016). "Part Two: 129 Claimants Battle for Thomas Henry Blythe's Estate". The Social Historian. Retrieved 8 February 2024.