Abraham Lincoln created the Arizona Territory in 1863, separating the future 48th state from the Territory of New Mexico. Fort Whipple, near what is now Prescott, became the first territorial capital. Henry Wickenburg uncovered a gold bonanza in the Bradshaw Mountains the following year and established the extremely lucrative Vulture Mine, south of Prescott and east of Cave Creek. When the word got out, gold seekers poured into central Arizona. In 1865, the U.S. Army established Camp McDowel
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