A licensed paramedic, Grant Seibert is a longstanding presence in the San Francisco Bay Area professional community. An avid traveler who enjoys piloting aircraft, Grant Seibert has had the opportunity to explore regions of the Southwest, from Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico to Arizona ghost towns. One of the most unique relics of the past in Arizona is Vulture City, which was the site of an 1863 gold discovery a dozen miles from present day Wickenburg. The Sonoran Desert settlement, which grew up around what emerged as Arizona’s largest gold mine, totaled 5,000 inhabitants at its peak.
Known as a relatively lawless locale, the mining site produced 260,000 ounces of silver and 340,000 ounces of gold until operations closed in 1942. The closure was mandated by the War Production Board as a way of redirecting all American non-essential mining operations toward World War II production efforts.
Today, much of Vulture City has been restored, with visitors able to walk a half-mile gravel path that takes them past noteworthy sites. These include the assay office, post office, brothel, cookhouse, residence of Henry Wickenburg, and a hanging tree. The latter reflects Vulture City’s status as a “vigilante town” for many decades, with no formal law enforcement in place to deal with miners caught stealing gold.
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