THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Question: The miner on Arizona’s state seal is based on which real-life prospector?

Answer: George Warren. A controversial and ill-fated prospector who shaped Bisbee’s early history, Warren was orphaned young and raised for a time by Apache before staking the rich Tombstone Canyon copper claims that led to the Copper Queen Mine and the town’s founding. He later drunkenly gambled away his share—later sold for $1.25 million—and died penniless. A photograph of Warren with his pick and shovel was chosen as the model for Arizona’s state seal in 1911.