George Wingfield made a personal fortune estimated at $25 million in the early twentieth century Nevada boomtowns of Tonopah and Goldfield. He was a formidable force in the state from 1909 to 1935.
Born in Arkansas, he traveled with his family by train and wagon to California and Oregon, where they operated cattle ranches. At age 15 he showed up as a cowhand at Winnemucca, Nevada. When the excitement at Tonopah surfaced, Wingfield left for the new camp in 1901. He played cards professionally, operated the Tonopah Club Saloon, purchased real estate, and bought and traded mining stocks. Later, he began investing with Winnemucca banker George Nixon, who later became a U.S. Senator.
The partners were spectacularly successful in their Tonopah and Goldfield investments. In 1906, they combined six of the latter’s richest mining companies into a single giant, the Goldfield Consolidated Mining Company. One of their backers was Bernard Baruch of New York.
Wingfield was adamantly anti-labor union and acted to suppress the mining unions in the riotous labor troubles in 1906-1907. He was willing, however, to cooperate with what he thought was responsible labor leadership.
In 1909, the Wingfield-Nixon partnership was dissolved and George moved the banking and mining interests to Reno. In 1912, he was offered Nixon's seat in the Senate but he refused; for the next 47 years he devoted himself to interests in Nevada.
In 1914, Wingfield organized the Reno Securities Company, which owned and operated hotels, ranches, and mines in the area. Among major mining investments were those in Aurora, Eureka County, Tonopah, Goldfield, Nye County, and Churchill County, Nevada. Also, by 1932, Wingfield held controlling interest in 12 Nevada banks. When the Depression hit, his banks failed. In 1935, a former multi-millionaire, he filed for bankruptcy.
A year later, an old friend needed help with an attractive gold mining prospect near Winnemucca. Wingfield went back to Bernard Baruch, who enlisted Newmont Mining Corporation. The Getchell Mine proved to be an outstanding producer, switching to tungsten in World War II. By the end of the war, Wingfield had regained a portion of his wealth.
Among those who made fortunes in Nevada mining, he was unique as an economic and political leader of the state.
