his claim and follow them underground beneath claims owned by others. This was known as the law of the apex, and Heinze maintained that his miners had the right to take out copper ore from beneath his neighbors. Using this law to his advantage Heinze would employ up to 30 lawyers at a time and tie up his opponents in the legal system with case after case. With skillful political maneuverings, Heinze would also ensure that "friendly" people were appointed as judges in Montana. In one incident, a "pretty girl" was found to have offered a judge $100,000 and Heinze was implicated but never charged. Heinze also became a brilliant orator, and in speeches to the miners and public he would paint the Amalgamated Company as a ruthless and oppressive organisation. In 1902, Heinze combined his various mining interests into a company called United Copper Company, valued at $80 million with capacity to produce 40 million pounds of copper a year, compared to 143 million a year produced by Amalgamated. In 1903, frustrated when the Rarus property was subject to a court order to cease mining, Heinze's miners moved down anyway from the Rarus into an adjoining Amalgamated property. Before being stopped, Heinze succeeded in taking out a hundred thousand tons of high grade copper ore. There was hand-to-hand combat with Amalgamated miners, opposition mine shafts were fouled through burning rubber and spreading caustic slaked lime, grenades were thrown, and high pressure hoses were fired. Dynamite was also set off, caving in the property and completely obliterating all the evidence. Heinze was charged with contempt of court yet he was fined only $20,000. The actions of Heinze had severely hampered the giant Amalgamated Company. In 1906, after a decade of the mining war, John D Ryan negotiated with Heinze for Heinze to sell his Butte interests to Amalgamated for a reported $12 million. His mining days in Butte, Montana, had come to an end but Heinze had amassed a fortune. Heinze's role in the Panic of 1907 In 1907, Heinze moved to New York to be a major player, this time in the financial arena. He based his company, United Copper, at 42 Broadway, just around the corner from Wall Street. Heinze entered the banking business, forming a close alliance with Charles W. Morse with whom he served on the boards of at least six national banks, ten state banks,