Bisbee was the greatest of the Western mining towns. It was called the Billion Dollar Copper Camp because when the mines closed down in 1975, Bisbee had produced over 6 billion dollars worth of ore – mostly copper, but also huge amounts of gold and silver.

Founded in 1880, the town was named for Judge Dewitt Bisbee of San Francisco, a big financial backer of the Copper Queen, an incredibly rich mine in the area. It’s said that he never set foot in the town that bears his name.

The Irish Mag, the second largest mine in Bisbee, was named for a local dance hall girl who paid the claim registration fee. Owned by one James Daley, it was sold to a Tombstone saloon keeper for $1,800 by his Mexican widow when Daley killed a lawman and disappeared. The Tombstone saloon keeper then sold the mine to Calumet and Arizona Mining Co. for $550,000. Starting in 1899, Calumet made millions before merging with Phelps Dodge in 1931.