The Town’s Namesake

Bust of Henry Wickenburg

We happened to be over in the downtown area today, to do a little shopping. As we passed the Town Center, I snapped this photo of the bust of gold miner Henry Wickenburg for whom the town was named. This bust is in front of Town Hall.

From Wikipedia:

In 1862 a gold strike on the Colorado River near present-day Yuma brought American prospectors, who searched for minerals throughout central Arizona. Many of the geographic landmarks now bear the names of these pioneers, including the Weaver Mountains, named after mountain man Pauline Weaver, and Peeples Valley, named after a settler.

An Austrian named Henry Wickenburg was one of the first prospectors. His efforts were rewarded with the discovery of the Vulture Mine, from which more than $30 million worth of gold has been dug.

Click on the image to enlarge.

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