Dumbest bet ever?

Few people outside of Bisbee know of George Warren even though he is immortalized on the Arizona State Seal.

Warren was a hard-drinking forty-year-old Irishman who stumbled into what should have been an incredible fortune.
Through some murky circumstances, he ended up as a one-ninth owner of The Copper Queen mine, one of the most productive and profitable mines in American history. One commonly accepted story had the mine discovered by some calvary troops searching for Cochise and his band of Apaches. Since they were on patrol, they were worried the government would claim it so they made a deal with Warren, who immediately screwed them.
The Copper Queen is an instant success and Warren is quickly one the richest men in the Arizona Territory. He becomes partners in a mine in Tombstone while avoiding the politics that would lead to the OK Corral.
One afternoon, he is drinking and needs to send a messenger to Tombstone, a day's ride across the Mule Mountains. There are still Apaches in the Mountains , and highwaymen on the road so it isn't a walk in the park.
His friend volunteers and as he goes to get his horse, Warren writes the note he wants to be delivered.
When the man returns, he is on an ancient nag of a horse. Warren takes one look and says the horse isn't capable of making the journey. They tie the horse up and go back to drinking. Warren keeps ragging on the horse and finally declares he could beat the horse in a footrace. After some more drunken haggling, a bet is made. If Warren wins, he gets the broken-down horse. If he loses, he gives up his ownership in his mines. What he wanted to do with the horse if he won is lost to history.
Some say half the territory turned out for the race, while others are more modest.
It was a 100-yard race and Warren lost by some thirty yards.
A man of his word, he signed over his mines and went bankrupt. A few years later, he signed himself into near-slavery in Mexico in order to pay off a $40 debt.
Some of his former workers and a few friends learned of his fate and bought his debts, allowing him to return to Bisbee, where he lived out his days trading his story for shots of whiskey. He was buried in a paupers grave until the nearby town of Warren gave their namesake a proper grave and headstone. Warren Ballpark, now the oldest baseball stadium in America is named after him.
The Copper Queen and the newer mines the owners developed have pumped out billions of dollars since Warren owned his one-ninth share. Twenty years after he died, a photograph of him prospecting was selected for inclusion on the state seal.

The REAL adventures of terapined
No fiction here, all facts

Thanks
Very interesting story
I visited Bisbee and walked around the town in the course of my RV travels
And of course
Did the copper queen mine tour
I really enjoyed it

The REAL adventures of terapined
No fiction in my posts, just the facts
What are the odds
I took the mine tour exactly one year ago today

The Real adventures of terapined
No fiction in my posts, all facts
Bisbee exactly one year ago today
Isn't this the place where they have a climbing stairs festival

It's a 5K run that includes climbing up 1,000 stairs. Top finishers get to compete in the Iceman challenge- climbing 163 steps with a 55-pound block of ice.

What an odd bet.