Heinze, Frederick Augustus

Heinze, Frederick Augustus (hīn`zē), 1869–1914, American copper magnate, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He went in 1889 to Butte, Mont., as engineer for a mining company. In 1893 he organized the Montana Ore Purchasing Company and challenged the claims of the Amalgamated Copper Company, which was controlled by Standard Oil. Brilliant and aggressive, Heinze won sympathy as a knight pitted against the "interests," but he was unsuccessful. In 1906 he sold most of his holdings, and the United Copper Company, which he founded, went down in the Panic of 1907.

Bibliography

See J. Fahey, Inland Empire (1965); S. McNelis, Copper King at War (2d ed. 1968).