Henry Wickenburg

Henry Wickenburg (November 21, 1819 – May 14, 1905) was a Prussian prospector who discovered the Vulture Mine and founded the town of Wickenburg in the U.S. state of Arizona. Wickenburg never married. Mrs. Helene Holland inherited Wickenburg’s personal property in 1903, while he was still alive, and the remainder of his estate in 1905 after Henry Wickenburg died from a gunshot wound in the head. His death was deemed a suicide, but many questioned this ruling. The mine that he discovered produced as much as $70 million worth of gold during its course of operation, making it the most important gold mine in Arizona.

Early years Wickenburg (birth name: Johannes Henricus Wickenburg) was born in Essen, Prussia, a coal and steel town in what is now Germany. Together with his brother he mined coal on the land which belonged to his family. However, the mineral rights were claimed by the government and Wickenburg immigrated to the United States in 1847, after the local authorities raided the family farm.

Henry Wickenburg in the United States Wickenburg arrived at the Port of New York in 1847. Upon learning of the discovery of gold in California, in what is known as the California gold rush, he decided to go to San Francisco. He arrived in San Francisco in 1853 and learned how to prospect and pan for gold. In accordance to his Declaration of Intention in 1877, he became a naturalized American citizen that same year. In 1862, he joined the Pauline Weaver party, who had struck gold in the Antelope Peak, and traveled into the interior of what was then the Arizona Territory. The group settled in what became known as "Peeples Valley" by the Hassayampa Creek. After the Walnut Grove Dam burst in 1890, which destroyed all of the farm and mining operations he had recently invested in, Wickenburg was forced to sell the 80% interest of the Vulture mine which he owned, for eighty-five thousand US dollars ($85,000). The Vulture was the most important gold mine in Arizona.