Johannes Henricus Wickenburg (Henry)
Birth Date: November 21, 1819
Birth Place: Essen Prusia (Germany)
Death Date: May 14, 1905
Death Place: Maricopa County, Arizona
Key Facts: Henry Wickenburg is known for discovering the Vulture Mine near the town of Wickenburg which was named after Henry. It is not known what contact Henry had with the Weaver Group or Peeples Party but it is known he was in the area most likely arriving after hearing of the discoveries. He was living in Peeples Valley during 1863.
History: Johannes arrived in New York in 1847 at the age of 28 and became a naturalized citizen in 1853. After a couple years, Henry headed for the gold fields in California and eventually ending up in Arizona. During his travels back to Arizona he spent a short time at Fort Yuma and La Paz where he tried his hand at placer mining. He eventually moved on and ended up in Peeples Valley. This was sometime in 1863 but this was not the end of his search in finding gold in Arizona.
During this time, Henry heard of gold prospects in the Harquahala mountains ans headed out with two other men. The small party consisted of Henry Wickenburg, E. A. Van Bibber, and Theodore Green Rusk which was unsuccessful in finding anything of value in the Harquahala mountain area began their trip back. On the trek back, Wichenburg became interested in a quartz vein along a ledge the group came across just west of the Hassaqyampa. Henry’s traveling companions did not show the same interest in the outcropping and returned home without filing a claim.
Henry felt the location had promise and returned a short time later to investigate the outcropping. His initial investigation yielded some promising results with gold present. Henry returned home and shared his findings with his previous traveling companions which now showed interest in the location. Upon returning and further investigation the threesome decided to file a location notice for the mine claim. This claim was filed as the Vulture mine which became one of the most productive gold mine claims in Arizona.
There are a couple of stories about how the mine became to be known as the vulture mine. It is not uncommon to see vultures in the area and being in the remote desert location this seemed to be a fitting name. Some stories state that Henry named the mine after a vulture he killed in the area that lead him to the outcropping when searching for the fallen prey. Others stories tell of vultures that were perched nearby gave Henry the idea for the mine name.
The mine had a slow begging with little action taken by Henry or his fellow companions. Van and Rusk left the area while Henry stayed along the Hassayampa river for a short time several miles from the claim. In May of 1864 Henry returned and found his claim as he had left it. He again took interest in the location and filed another claim with four new partners. This group filed the claim in Prescott and began preparations at the mine organized as the Wickenburg Mining District.
The small group began initial work on the mine and removed some ore from the quartz outcropping. Due to the remote location of the mine in the desert, there was not much water to do any kind of initial analysis on the ore obtained. The ore which is noted to be approximately a ton in weight was hauled down to an area near the Hassayampa river which provided water. The group setup an arrastra (see the Mining Terms document on the “Links and Terms” tab for detailed explanation) to break down the larger size rock into powder that could be panned panned using water available from the Hassayampa. The amount of gold obtained from this initial effort has been speculated but the exact amount is unknown. Based on the continued work at the mine, the value of gold was enough to justify further work at the location.
The amount obtained also got the interest of Wickenburg’s original partners as they now felt they were being cheated of their 1/3 percent of the findings. Rusk, from the original claim members, now filed a lawsuit against Wickenburg alleging a portion of the claim belonged to him. Henry Wickenburg won out on this suite based on the grounds that the original claim was not properly filed at the territorial capital. This freed up Henry to pursue his interest in the Vulture Mine. For whatever reason, Henry chose not to work the mine himself and chose to let others work the mine for a fee of $15 per ton of ore. The mine finally started a sort of full operation around this time and processing ore along the Hassayampa with estimates of miners taking out as much as $700 in gold a day. By 1865 there were approximately forty arrastras in operation along the Hassayampa.
I have found a couple different version of how henry Wickenburg sold off his claim to the mine. I am not sure what is correct but the following information is what I have come across:
Account 1: The production at the Vulture Mine and the amount of gold being produced began to attract attention. By 1865 Henry was the sole owner of the claim. With the interest shown in the mine, Henry sold off his interest in the mine for $25,000 to a group of New York men led by Behtchuel Phelps.
Account 2: This is a more colorful story of Henry’s sale of the Vulture Mine. In 1866 it was noted Henry sold his share in the mine for $85,000 and received $20,000 up front. The new owners claimed that Henry did not have a clear title to the mine and would not pay him the remaining note on the mine. Henry depleted his earnings from the sale to collect the money owed to him with no success. Despite his attempts and his failing health, Henry died of a gunshot wound to the head on May 14th, 1905 and was buried in a small cemetery near Wickenburg Way and Jefferson Street.
Associated Mine Link: Vulture Mine
Acknowledgement: The Arizona Republic June 10, 2014 (John Stanley), The Town on the Hassayampa – A History of Wickenburg, Arizona by Mark E. Pry.