Wickenburg

Wickenburg was born from one of the richest gold strikes in Arizona Territory history. Henry Wickenburg, a Prussian-born prospector, discovered the Vulture Mine in eighteen sixty-three, and the ore body turned out to be enormous, eventually producing over thirty million dollars in gold. The town that grew around the mine became a supply center for central Arizona.

What makes Wickenburg unusual is what it became after the mines played out: starting in the nineteen twenties, it reinvented itself as a guest ranch destination, drawing wealthy Easterners who wanted to experience the Southwest on horseback. By the nineteen fifties there were more than a dozen dude ranches operating in the area, and Wickenburg called itself the Dude Ranch Capital of the World, a reputation it still trades on today.