The town of Spenazuma was part of an elaborate swindle by an east coast con man, Richard C. Flower, to sell shares in the Spenazuma Mining Company.

Several trainloads of eastern investors were brought to Spenazuma to sustain the illusion.

It is unclear how large the mining town was during its brief life, although friendly newspaper accounts credit it with several stores and businesses, and regular stagecoach service to the railroad station at Geronimo, Arizona.

The swindle collapsed after an investigation by Arizona Republican reporter George Smalley in 1899.

Flower ostensibly dropped out of the company management, although the remaining management immediately started another mining swindle at Aura, Arizona, now also a ghost town.