George's mother died when he was very young and he lived with a maiden aunt until he was 10, when he was sent to New Mexico to join his father, who was a government teamster and later a herder.

George was held captive for 18 months until prospectors saw the white boy among the Indians and traded 15–20 pounds of sugar for Warren's freedom.

[1] The presence of copper ore in the Mule Mountains of southeast Arizona may have been known as early as 1876, but the first mining claim was filed on August 2, 1877.

During his search he found a spring along a very large cliff of limestone, later named Castle Rock, and on his return an outcrop containing lead carbonate, which was known to carry silver, in a gorge later known as Tombstone Canyon.

They named the find the "Rucker" and planned to file a claim, but were delayed when their patrol was ordered to resume pursuit of a band of Apache warriors.

Over the next six months his name is mentioned either as the locator or witness in several other claims in the Tombstone Canyon and Mule Mountains and established what became known as the Warren Mining District.

[1] While drinking with acquaintances in Charleston, the milling town for Tombstone, he argued with his friend George W. Atkins about the agility and speed of men versus horses.

Warren placed a stake in the ground at 50 yards (46 m), believing he could beat the horse on the corner, but lost the bet and his one-ninth interest in the Copper Queen Mine, later estimated to be worth US$20,000 (equivalent to $543,000 in 2023).

Reilly persuaded engineers DeWitt Bisbee, William H. Martin, and John Ballard in San Francisco to visit the mine, and they were pleased with the prospects.

Offered the choice of a flat fee or a 10% interest in the property for his services, he chose the latter, a decision that subsequently made him a fortune.

[1] The surface pockets of cerussite were soon exhausted, but the owners found that the ore body ran 23% copper, with silver and gold as byproducts.

The mining company provided him a small pension,[4] and Warren worked as a blacksmith and tool dresser, but he finally resorted to the life of a "rounder"[13] as the miners called it.

"[16] Penniless at the time of his death, Warren was buried in a pauper's grave and was practically forgotten for a number of years.

Fly's image of him and the words," George Warren Born unknown Died 1892 Poor in Purse Rich in Friends."

Fly's photograph of Warren was the model for the miner incorporated into the Arizona State Seal,[17] and the mining district around Bisbee was named for him.