Mining In Arizona - San Simon Rest Area, San Simon, AZ
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 32° 14.336 W 109° 05.222
12S E 680234 N 3568525
Instructional - historical markers in the rest area.
Waymark Code: WMRPX6
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 07/20/2016
Views: 11
County of marker: Cochise County
Marker erected by: Arizona Department of Transportation
Marker erected: 2000
MINING IN ARIZONA
Mining was the lure that opened Arizona to Anglo-American settlement and subsequently, led to its statehood. However, Arizona mining began with the Spanish discovery of the rich Planchas de Plata silver deposits just west of Nogales in 1736. In the century that followed, Spanish miners opened numerous mines around Tubac, Patagonia, Ajo and Arivaca.
After the California gold rush subsided, many prospectors, hearing stories of Arizona's mineral wealth, turned hopeful eyes eastward. The later half of the 19th Century witnessed a series of boom and busts in Arizona as new mineral deposits were discovered and worked out. While gold and silver were the initial enticement, copper eventually became the state's most important mineral.