at each of the major Phelps Dodge operations in Arizona: Morenci, Globe, Bisbee, and, later, Tyrone, New Mexico, directed by a chief chemist in the Phelps Dodge research labs outside New York City. Dr. Douglas’ emphasis on research chemistry supported by Phelps Dodge was one of the first such efforts in the mining industry. He is praised as a proponent of the open exchange of ideas, scientific and technological innovations, especially during the secretive years of 19th century copper metallurgy. Phelps Dodge and the Copper Queen Mine Douglas' patents attracted attention in the United States, and in 1875 he quit his teaching post to work as superintendent for the Chemical Copper Company, Phoenixville, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then a major center of the chemical industry. In 1883, after the Phoenixville works burned down, he made his last permanent move, to the New York City area to be closer to the financial hub. During this period, he also performed mining consultant work, which took him to mining camps across the far West. In 1880, Douglas was recruited by Professor Benjamin Silliman Jr. of Yale (and stockholder in the Chemical Copper Company), to report on the Detroit Copper Company of Morenci, Arizona Territory as a favor for Phelps Dodge and Company. While working for Chemical Copper, Douglas had opportunity to view fabulously rich specimens from a mine in Bisbee, Arizona Territory known as the Copper Queen mine, the latter’s bonanza orebody having been opened by a San Francisco firm two years previously. Only a day’s travel from Morenci, Douglas visited the other claim, then looked around the tight confines of Mule Canyon. Adjacent the Copper Queen was the Atlanta claim, which Douglas also reported on for the New York import/export trading concern. Douglas urged Phelps Dodge to option the Detroit Copper Co. ($75,000) and to purchase the Atlanta claim outright. Asked if he would manage operations in the West as a representative of Phelps Dodge, he agreed. Douglas was given the choice of a flat fee or a ten percent interest in the property for his services, of which he chose the latter, a decision that subsequently made him a fortune. In 1885, Douglas helped negotiate the purchase of the Copper Queen for Phelps Dodge after the Atlanta and Copper Queen both hit the Atlanta ore body, resulting in the formation of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company, with Douglas as president and