James Stuart Douglas (19 June 1868 – 2 January 1949), popularly known as Rawhide Jimmy, was a Canadian born, American businessman and mining executive.

Early life

Douglas was the son of Canadian mining engineer and executive James Walter Douglas (1837–1918) and Naomi Eleanor Douglas (1838–1922). Born at Inverness, Quebec, Jimmy Douglas grew up in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, where his father managed the Chemical Copper Company. Douglas left home at 17 and moved west to Manitoba, where he homesteaded. Suffering from asthma, he moved to the

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

, in the United States, in the hope that the drier climate might provide relief.

Career

He moved to Bisbee, Arizona at his father's request to work as an assayer for the Copper Queen Mine. His father had acquired an interest in the mine from the Phelps Dodge mining company. In 1892 Douglas moved to Prescott to work for the Commercial Mining Company, an affiliate of the Phelps Dodge. Eight years later he was transferred to

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

, Mexico, to manage the copper mine and smelter at Pilares and Nacozari; and directed construction of a railroad from Douglas, Arizona to Nacozari. While at Pilares, he acquired his nickname, "Rawhide Jimmy", because of his technique of using rawhide to protect the rollers on mining equipment. Afterward, he moved to Cananea,

, to manage the copper operations there.

UVX Mining Co.

In 1912, Douglas returned to central Arizona, where he took an option on the United Verde Extension (UVX) property, a speculative venture to find the down-faulted extension of the great "United Verde" ore body near Jerome, Arizona. In 1914, with funds near exhaustion, an exploration drift cut

bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

copper ore. The UVX mine started to produce a profit. The mine produced copper, silver, and gold valued at $10 million in 1916 alone, with a profit of $7.4 million. The UVX paid $55 million in dividends during its life (1915–1938), making Douglas a wealthy man.

Personal life

James Douglas was married to Josephine Leah Williams (1872–1941). Their son,

Lewis W. Douglas Lewis Williams Douglas (July 2, 1894March 7, 1974) was an American politician, diplomat, businessman and academic. Early life and education Douglas was the son of James Douglas, Jr., a mining executive employed by the Phelps Dodge Company, and ...

(1894–1974), also entered the mining business, went on to a successful political career as an Arizona

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

from 1927 to 1933. He served as the Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1947–51). In 1939, Douglas retired to Quebec where he died of heart failure in 1949.

Jerome State Historic Park

The Douglas Mansion is open to the public as the Jerome State Historic Park.

References

External links

Official Jerome State Historic Park website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, James Jr. Canadian mining businesspeople American miners Arizona pioneers People from Lac-Mégantic, Quebec 1868 births 1949 deaths People from Centre-du-Québec People from Prescott, Arizona People from Jerome, Arizona American mining businesspeople