Wickenburg, Arizona is a town that takes its Western heritage seriously. The downtown or Old Town area is the home of half a dozen life-size sculptured characters in bronze by the artist J. Seward Johnson. They were donated to the town by the DeVore Foundation.
A jeweler in the store which this character stands outside said this was Henry Wickenburg, for whom the town is named. But my own research revealed that it is just an iconic miner of the 1800's leading his burro.
Wickenburg, incidentally, led an interesting life. He was a Prussian prospector who came to the United States in the mid part of the 19th century and discovered the Vulture Mine, which became the most important gold mine in Arizona. Over the years, an estimated 70 million dollars worth of gold came out of it.
But Wickenburg tired of gold mining and sold his 80 percent of the mine for $85,000. He received $20,000 in cash and a promissory note for the remainder. The new owners, however, refused to pay him, insisting that Wickenburg had not held a clear title to the property. He spent the $20,000 on attorneys fees as he fought unsuccessfully to be paid. In 1905, the now penniless Wickenburg walked into a grove of trees behind his home and took his own life with his Colt revolver. He was 85 years old.
But he lived on as his tent camp near the mine became the town named after him.
This sculpture stands near the railroad tracks in town and represents a young school teacher newly arrived by train.
This one is Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, the original owner of the Hassayampa Hotel in the late 1800's.
This one stands in front of the Gold Nugget Lounge and is a Mexican vaquero playing his guitar and singing.
Then there's my favorite. A duet of sorts as a cowboy talks to (and perhaps bargains with) a saloon girl. These two stand in front of the Bar 7 Lounge.
It is not difficult to see what attracted the cowboy.
There is one other sculpture I missed. It depicts a felon chained to a tree. The story goes that when the jail was filled, additional law-breakers were chained to the big tree out in front.
There are a number of smaller sculptures around the streets. There are four each of Gila monsters, Tarantulas, Roadrunners and Rattlesnakes. Those might have scared me out of my skin if I had noticed them.
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