George Warren worked as a prospector in the Tombstone, Arizona

Tombstone, Arizona

Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...

 and Bisbee, Arizona

Bisbee, Arizona

Bisbee is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, 82 miles southeast of Tucson. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 6,177...

 region during the late 19th century. He is credited with having located the body of copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 ore, which later became known as the Copper Queen Mine

Copper Queen Mine

The Copper Queen Mine was the copper mine in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, that gave birth to the surrounding town of Bisbee. In the early 1900s it was the most productive copper mine in Arizona.- History :...

, one of Arizona's most productive copper mines. Warren never enjoyed the potential riches from his prospecting work and he died in obscurity. He was the victim of his bad judgement and a drinking problem, and wealth passed him up in favor of other men who developed the Warren mining district.
In 1880 when pioneer photographer C. S. Fly

C. S. Fly

Camillus "Buck" Sydney Fly was an American photographer most noted for the many photographs he took during Tombstone, Arizona's wild and wooly days. He was also a lawman and served as Cochise County Sheriff from 1895 to 1897. His photos are legendary and highly prized.-Early life:His parents...

 visited Bisbee during its boom, he took a photo of Warren posing as a miner. This image was used as a model for the miner posing with long-handled spade in the Seal of Arizona

Seal of Arizona

The Great Seal of the State of Arizona is ringed by the words “Great Seal of the State of Arizona” on the top, and 1912 the year of Arizona’s statehood. In the background is a range of mountains with the sun rising behind the peaks. At the right side of the mountains is a water storage reservoir...

. His pauper's grave, originally only marked by a wooden plank saying "G.W. 24" in the Evergreen Cemetery in Bisbee was later commemorated by a large monument erected in his honor.

Biography

George lost his mother as a young boy and at the age of 10, joined his father who was a government herder in New Mexico. While herding horses, the Warrens were attacked by Apaches; George was wounded and his father was killed. George was held captive for 18 months and traded to prospectors for 15-20 pounds of sugar. Warren remained with these men for some time learning their prospecting trade.

Copper mineralized rocks may have been noted in the Mule Mountains

Mule Mountains

The Mule Mountains are a north/south running mountain range located in the south-central area of Cochise County, Arizona. The highest peak, Mount Ballard, rises to...

 in Southern Arizona as early as 1876. The confirmed discovery of copper in these mountains, however, came in 1877 when a scouting party from Fort Bowie

Fort Bowie

Fort Bowie was a 19th century outpost of the United States Army located in southeastern Arizona near the present day town of Willcox, Arizona.Fort Bowie was established in 1862 after a series of engagements between the U.S. Military and the Chiricahua Apaches. The most violent of which was the...

 made its way through the mountains on the lookout for the local Apache Indians and for water. John Dunn, a member of the party, found a spring along a massive cliff of limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 as well as an outcrop containing lead carbonate (cerussite

Cerussite

Cerussite is a mineral consisting of lead carbonate , and an important ore of lead. The name is from the Latin cerussa, white lead. Cerussa nativa was mentioned by Conrad Gessner in 1565, and in 1832 F. S. Beudant applied the name cruse to the mineral, whilst the present form, cerussite, is due to...

). Dunn, along with two other men later staked the first claims in the Bisbee area; Dunn later offered to grubstake George Warren, who agreed in late summer of 1877 but did not honor his commitment. George and several friends from Tombstone, Arizona

Tombstone, Arizona

Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...

 located a number of claims in the Mule Mountains

Mule Mountains

The Mule Mountains are a north/south running mountain range located in the south-central area of Cochise County, Arizona. The highest peak, Mount Ballard, rises to...

, which established the Warren Mining District. George had one-ninth interest in the Copper Queen mine, which according to legend, he lost in a race in 1879. While drinking with his acquaintances in Charleston, the milling town for Tombstone, he bet George Atkins he could run a distance of 50 yards, turn around a stake driven into the ground, and return faster than a man on horseback. Lack of success after this imprudent bet caused him to lose his share in the Copper Queen. In May 1981, he was judged insane after review by Cochise County Court Probate Judge J.H. Lucas. Guardian George Onciham was appointed, and George's remaining property including real estate and interests in mining claims were sold at public auction. He was released after his property was sold; he then went into Mexico where he sold himself into peonage for money to work his latest discovery. Judge G.H. Berry, hearing of this rescued George and pay off his debt so he could return to Bisbee. He thereafter spent much of his times doing occasional work for the Copper Queen Mining Company and odd jobs around saloons for a drink of whiskey. The details of his birth and death dates are subject to a variety of opinions. The plaque on the monument at the Bisbee-Lowell Evergreen Cemetery lists the date of death as 1892. A death certificate most likely for the same person indicates he died of pneumonia and heart failure in Cochise County on February 13, 1893. An Arizona Republic article on September 15, 1897 stated Warren had died "three years ago".