The Great Bisbee Diamond Hoax
Instigated by the notorious John B. Slack and Philip Arnold in Bisbee, AZ, The Great Diamond Hoax of 1872 involved two con men, Philip Arnold and John B. Slack, who discovered a cache of quartz crystals and garnets that resembled diamonds near Fort Defiance. While the cache was declared worthless by an assayer in San Francisco, both men determined to proceed with an infamous con job
(Ascarza).
As a result, this con job became one of the largest in Arizona. Compounded by their newfound resources from the hoax, containment of the material they had sold grew increasingly difficult, and ultimately resulted in the formation of C.A.P.E.R. to organize a formal effort to track it all down.




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