A Gold Rush Saga

The search for the riches that gold would bring brought a lot of people heading to places like the Arizona Territory in hopes of striking it rich.  Henry Wickenburg was one such adventurer.  Born in Germany in 1819, he arrived in New York in 1847 and became a U.S. citizen in 1853.  He took a job driving wagons for the U.S. Government in the Tucson area but in 1863 he discovered the Vulture Mine, a now defunct gold mine just outside of the town of Wickenburg.

Henry built a three-room adobe house and founded the city known as Wickenburg today.  Back in the early spring, I took a private tour of the old Wickenburg home which still stands today.  The home was later owned by John Boetto so most of the historic furnishings inside were actually from the Boetto family.  The very knowledgeable guide/historian was able to point out features of the home that existed in Wickenburg's time as well as explaining how the home would have looked then.

The guide told us interesting stories about Henry that can't be found in the usual biography spheres.  One of those stories was about a woman Helene Holland, with whom Henry became friends.  Records say she was already married to someone else but the husband wasn't around.  Not much is recorded about the type of relationship that existed between Helene and Henry.  We'll have to use our imaginations for that.

Henry was a very busy man.  Besides running the mine, he served as president of the mining district, inspector for the schools, a census taker and a Justice of the Peace.

In 1903, Henry initiated a deed leaving his estate to Helene upon his death.  And in May of 1905, Henry Wickenburg was found dead under a tree near the house.  He had been shot with his own gun.

The official records all say the Henry committed suicide because of financial problems and years of fighting to obtain the money that was owed him from the sale of the Vulture Mine.  With the exception of the home, he was penniless when he died.

However, our guide told us that most people actually thought that Helen Holland killed him.  Because of that, she was forced to sell the house and move away from the town of Wickenburg.

In back of the house is the sign in the above photo calling the spot "Bootless Hill".  Most people thought Henry was buried on the property but he was not.  Thus the sign "No Body is Buried Here".

So, there you have it, an old west story worthy of a Hollywood script!