Busniess Tactics

{{Infobox Person
|name = William Cornell Greene
|image = WilliamCornellGreene.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1851|08|26}}
|birth_place = Westchester New York
|death_date = {{Death date and age |1911|08|05|1851|08|26}}
|death_place = Cananea Mexico
|other_names = Colonel W.C. Greene
|known_for = Cooper Mining Venture
|occupation = Businessman
|nationality = American
}}

'''William Cornell Greene''' ([[August 26]], [[1851]] - [[August 5]], [[1911]]) was an [[United States|American]] businessman, who was famous for discovering rich copper reserves in Cananea Mexico and founded the Greene Consolidated Copper Company in 1899. By 1905, William Greene was one of the wealthiest businessmen in the world.

== Early life ==
Greene was born in [[Westchester County, New York]] on [[August 26]], [[1851]]. He was a son of Eleanor Cornell and Townsend Greene. He was educated at private schools and at the [[Chappaqua Mountain Institute]] in [[Chappaqua]], [[New York]].

== Career ==
Greene started off as a clerk for [[O. H. Angevin & Co.]] where he worked for three years before heading out to the western United States as a surveying party member of the [[Northern Pacific Railroad]]. He left the Railroad and then in 1870 staked out the site of [[Fargo, North Dakota]] before becoming involved with various businesses. He worked in both mining and cattle-raising industries across the southwest which included [[Montana]], [[Colorado]], [[Arizona]], and [[Mexico]].

Most notable is that William led an adventurous life while prospecting and ranching in the southwestern United States and Mexico. He was reported to have had numerous encounters with local native tribes and outlaws that roamed the areas where he prospected.

== Copper magnate ==
On September 15, 1899, William founded the [[Greene Consolidated Copper Company]] to develop copper rich resources he discovered near [[Cananea, Mexico]].[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F01EFDA103EE233A25752C0A9679D946997D6CF "THE CAREER AND FINAL COLLAPSE OF A COPPER KING; Five Years Ago Col. Greene's Cananea Mine Ranked Among the World's Greatest Copper Producers. Then Came Panic, Dramatic Struggle, and To-day the Daring Miner Is a Recluse in Mexico. The Career and Final Collapse of a Copper King" [[New York Times]] [[November 1]], 1908] Greene Consolidated became in a very short time one of the richest sources of cooper ore in the world, with an average output over 70 million pounds per year. Accordingly, Greene himself soon became one of the wealthiest businessmen in the United States and based on his success soon created a number of other ventures; the Pacific Coast Coal Company, Greene Consolidated Gold Company, and the Cananea Railroad Company, Sierra Madre Land and Lumber Company, as well as many others. None of his other ventures ever produced the wealth found in the copper mines of [[Cananea]].

== Cananea copper bubble ==
The Lawson Panic of 1904 and mining strikes two years later were the beginning of the end for Greene Consolidated. The panic, started by [[Thomas Lawson]], a popular investor and writer of his day, created a selling frenzy on Wall Street that sent the price of shares spiraling down. There was some recovery to the the share price but the situation worsened in May 1906 when the company was under siege by hostile miners unhappy about unequal pay.[http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F30C15FE355A12738DDDAA0894DE405B868CF1D3 "ARMED AMERICANS AT GREENE'S MINE; Rushed Into Mexico from Arizona Against Gov. Kibbey's Orders. TAFT HOLDS UP U.S. TROOPS Cavalry from Huachuca Stopped at the Frontier – Only Two Americans Killed in Riots]" [[New York Times]] [[June 3]], [[1906]] There was a call for help, and Greene Consolidated was quickly supported by the local Sonoran [[rurales]] as well as by the [[Arizona Rangers]] who entered Sonora against orders. [http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F00B15FE355A12738DDDAA0894DE405B868CF1D3 "WENT AGAINST ORDERS; Governor of Arizona Warned Capt. Rynning and Other Americans" [[New York Times]] [[June 3]], 1906]

In addition to the troubles with miners, many of Greene's backers in New York began to turn on him. They began to sell their shares which sent his stock price lower. Still, it was not until his own overspending in related businesses, combined with the aggressive business tactics of rival business men and competitors, forced Greene to succumb. In 1906 with dwindling finances and no where else to turn, he sold Greene Consolidated to [[Thomas F. Cole]], [[John D. Ryan]], and [[Amalgamated Copper]].

==Career end==
After selling Greene Consolidated, Greene was forced out from daily operations of the mine. He disappeared from society for the most part and lived a quiet life in [[Cananea]] until his death on August 5, 1911. Greene was buried in [[Cananea]], [[Sonora]] where more than a thousand people came to honor him at his funeral.
[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9D00E3DC1131E233A2575BC0A96E9C946096D6CF "Thousand View Col. Greene's Body.]" [[New York Times]] [[August 8]], [[1911]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Charles Leland Sonnichsen, ''Colonel Greene and the Copper Skyrocket : The Spectacular Rise and Fall of William Cornell Greene Copper King, Cattle Baron and Promoter'', Arcadia Publishing, 1974, ISBN 0816504296 ISBN 9780816504299.
* Miller, Joseph, editor, ''The Arizona Rangers'', Hastings House, 1975, hardcover, 268 pages, ISBN 0-8038-0353-2
* O'Neal, Bill, ''The Arizona Rangers'', Eakin Press, 1987, ISBN 0-89015-610-7

* Zimmerman, David A., "Panic! Markets, Crises, and Crowds in American Fiction", Chapel Hill, 2006, ISBN 0-807-83023-2, 0-807-85687-8

==External links==
* [http://www.archive.org/stream/prominentprogres01harr/prominentprogres01harr_djvu.txt Prominent Americans]
* [http://www.jjjcorp.com/history.html The O RO Ranch History]
* [http://www.ahfweb.org/download/GreeneCattle_MSS_95.pdf Greene Cattle Company Collection]
* [http://www.jstor.org/pss/3110648 Colonel William C. Greene and the Cananea Copper Bubble]
* [http://www.cananea.com/ History of Cananea in Mexico (Spanish language)]
* National Mining Hall of Fame: [http://www.mininghalloffame.org/inductee.asp?i=200&b=inductees%2Easp&t=n&p=G&s= Colonel William C. Greene], accessed 20 May 2009,

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, William Cornell}}
[[Category:Businesspeople in mining]]
[[Category:American businesspeople]]
[[Category:American prospectors]]
[[Category:Businesspeople in metals]]
[[Category:1851 births]]
[[Category:1911 deaths]]