Although the Bisbee Deportation is better documented, the Jerome Deportation was the precursor for what was to follow on July 12, 1917, when more than 1,100 men were rounded up in Bisbee and transported to Columbus, New Mexico.
Prior to 1901 the Arizona mining industry was financed and controlled by eastern investors. The town of Jerome is named for Eugene Jerome, a New York attorney who invested capital to purchase the claim that started it all.