How an 1877 Find & A Shady Claim Jump Changed Bisbee Forever

1877 was a landmark year for Cochise County. Fort Huachuca was established at the base of the Huachuca Mountains, and a discovery was made that would eventually put Bisbee on the map and establish it as an important center for mineral claims.

The First Big Find: 1877

In 1877, a group of U.S. Army scouts traveled into the Mule Mountains. The scouts were looking for Apache groups.

During the search, civilian tracker Jack Dunn noticed clear signs of minerals embedded in the rocks. All signs pointed to lead, copper, and possibly some silver. It was this moment that marked the official start of Bisbee’s copper story.

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Because Dunn was on military duty and couldn’t file a claim for himself. So, he asked prospector George Warren to do it for him.

Warren had his own ideas and, rather than help a friend out, filed the claims under his own name. George Warren took all the credit for discovering what became one of the West’s richest copper districts.

READ MORE: The History of Copper Mining in Bisbee

The Claims Rush and Bisbee’s Birth

As you can imagine, news of Warren’s claims spread quickly. The rumors drew prospectors to the Mule Mountains in droves.

By 1877, when the first official mining claim was recorded, a mining camp was formed around the discoveries. The camp eventually became the town of Bisbee, which was officially founded in 1880.

Bisbee didn’t waste any time earning its crown as the Queen of the Copper Camps. The veins of super-rich ore bodies turned up all over the area. Some of the copper ore was of particularly high quality, containing up to 23% copper, well above average.

READ: THIS was the Deadliest Shootout in Arizona History

The Copper Queen Mine: Bisbee’s Shining Star

The largest claim, the Copper Queen Mine, became the center of Bisbee’s mining boom. Phelps Dodge purchased it in 1885, and by the early 1900s, it was Arizona’s leading copper producer. The mining operations supported the local economy and added to the nation’s industrial growth.

Bisbee Today

Today, Bisbee has been claimed by historians and artists, and you can take a tour of Bisbee’s Copper Queen Mine.

While copper is no longer mined in Bisbee, the town's history and legacy live on. Tourists come from all over the world to soak up the atmosphere of its historic buildings and learn about the legacy of the Queen of the Copper Mines.