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Adventure vacations in Arizona! Information and brochures from Arizona's best resorts and attractions. September 10, 2010 |
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Updated 01/07/10
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Is there really a Lost Dutchman's Mine, does it exist? In order to answer the question we must examine the factual history of the period and the various documents about the region. The Superstition Mountains and the Dutchman's Lost Mine are entwined with Arizona's lost mine legends. The first question we must ask ourselves is the Dutchman's Lost Mine a myth or is there some truth to this lingering tale from the past? It is very likely that the most difficult part of this question will be the separation of fact from fiction. The two have been so combined over the past one hundred and twenty years that it is almost impossible to separate the truth from the legend. There are several well documented facts associated with the story as well as outrageous lies. The story goes like this, a prospector named Jacob Waltz had a rich gold mine deep in the rugged mountains East of Apache Junction Arizona. The story tells us of a German prospector who made periodic trips into the Superstition Mountains and returned to Florence with small quantities of nearly pure gold ore. The old prospector survived the dangers of the marauding Apaches that controled the territory before the 1886 surrender of Geronimo. Barry Storm, an often quoted author on the subject of lost gold mines, believed Waltz had found a Peralta storehouse or cache. Storm suggested Waltz's gold was too rich to be from a mine. It was believed by Storm that the gold had been hidden by the Apaches after they massacred a group of Mexican miners. Many of Storm's followers believed his popular scenario. Therefore, many early prospectors believed Waltz's mine and the Peralta cache were all one in the same. There is no evidence to suggest the Peraltas ever even mined in the Superstition Mountains, or that they were actually massacred by the Apaches. Alfred Strong Lewis, in his manuscript, Rain God's Gold, held onto the idea that the Peraltas or earlier Spaniards had worked the rich goldfields several miles northeast of present day Apache Junction. He also subscribed to the idea that they were not massacred by the Apaches as they were preparing to leave the area and did return to their homes in Sonora Mexico back in 1847. Alfred Lewis's scenario safeguarded Storm's unproven theory. Alfred Strong Lewis was a mining engineer who was totally convinced that these goldfields were the source of Jacob Waltz's gold ore. This unproven theory continues to linger today, but does make a logical argument. To examine the story of the Dutchman's Lost Mine we must first consider the established facts and the verified bits of truth in the wild tales about Jacob Waltz. It is also necessary to establish both his existence and the actual role he played in the story. To do this extensive research has been done by looking in national, state, county and municipal records. Jacob Waltz, was born near Oberschwandorf, Wuttenburg, Germany around 1810. No church baptismal records support this, but his age on several census records do. His immigration to America has been documented 1845, when he arrived in New York City, New York. Waltz then traveled to the gold diggings of North Carolina and Georgia. He arrived in Meadow Creek, North Carolina, like all prospectors, hoping to strike it rich. The Meadow Creek area had been well established by the time Waltz arrived and like many foreigners he had been misinformed about the area. After that it is very likely he moved on to Dohney, Georgia again hoping to find work or to stake a gold claim. From Georgia he was likely to have followed the Natchez Trace to Mississippi. The experiences in the gold rush of North Carolina and Georgia had taught Waltz that he must be a citizen of the United States to stake a mining claim. Realizing this Waltz filed his letter of intent to become a citizen of the United States on November 12, 1848, in the Adams County Courthouse in Natchez, Mississippi. Waltz almost immediately made plans to travel West to California during it's famed gold rush. Jacob Waltz arrived in California about 1850. His name appears on several California census records. He prospected and worked as a miner on the American River of California for eleven years. It was on July 19, 1861, in the Los Angeles County Courthouse, Jacob Waltz became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. Waltz worked as a miner on the San Gabriel River for a man named Ruben Blakney. It was probably here he met Elisha M. Reavis, who was later to become known as the "Hermit of Superstition Mountain." Waltz departed California in 1863, with the Peeples-Weaver Party a group of prospectors headed for the Bradshaw Mountains of Arizona Territory. Waltz was one of the earliest pioneer prospectors in the Bradshaw Mountain area. Waltz's name appears on the Gross Claim which was filed in Prescott, Arizona Territory on September 21, 1863. His name also appears on a special territorial census taken in 1864. On this census Waltz is listed as a miner, 54 years of age, and a native of Germany. Waltz's name also appears on a petition to territorial governor John N. Goodwin soliciting a militia to control the predatory raids of hostile Indians in the Bradshaw Mountains. Jacob Waltz's name also appeared on the Big Rebel and the General Grant claims in the Bradshaw Mountains between 1863 and 1867. Jacob Waltz moved to the Salt River Valley in 1868 and filed a homestead claim on 160 acres of land on the north bank of the Salt River. It is from here Waltz began his exploratory trips into the mountains surrounding the Salt River Valley. If Waltz had a rich gold mine or cache he must have discovered it on one of these prospecting trips. People who knew him claim Waltz prospected every winter between 1868-1886. Waltz died in Phoenix, Arizona on October 25, 1891, in the home of Julia Thomas without revealing the source of the rich gold ore found beneath his death bed. Jacob Waltz did exist. There are many government documents that support the fact that Waltz lived in Arizona from 1863-1891. The question still remains, did Jacob Waltz find a gold mine in the Superstitions? Not long after Waltz's death Julia Thomas, Rhinehart and Hermann Petrasch made their way into the Superstition Mountains trying to locate Waltz's rich gold mine. After several weeks of searching in these rugged mountains, Thomas and the Petrasches returned to Phoenix empty handed and broke. Disappointed and broke and hoping to make back her investment, Thomas produced several maps with misinformation on them. She sold these maps hoping to recoup her losses. It is said that the Petrasch brothers hunted for Waltz's mine for the rest of their lives. Julia Thomas and the Petrasch Brothers were the first to search for the Dutchman's Lost Mine. The origin of the legend of the Dutchman's Lost Mine may have started with Julia Thomas. Many Arizona pioneer historians believed Julia Thomas gave an interview to Pierpont C. Bicknell, a free lance writer and lost mine hunter, shortly after her return from the Superstition Mountains in September of 1892. Bicknell probably paid her a token fee for the story. Ironically Julia Thomas and the Petrasches walked over the gold deposits at Goldfield in September of 1892 without discovering them. The rich Black Queen was discovered in November of 1892, and the Mammoth Mine was discovered on April 13, 1893. The Mammoth Mine produced about three million dollars worth of gold bullion in four years. Peirpont C. Bicknell , more than any other person, may be responsible for the tale of the Dutchman's Lost Mine. P.C. Bicknell was the earliest writer to associate Weaver's Needle, the Peraltas and Jacob Waltz with the Dutchman's Lost Mine in his writing. Bicknell's first major article on the Dutchman's Lost Mine appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on January 13, 1895, revealing several clues to the location of the Dutchman's Lost Mine. These clues followed the story that Julia Thomas and the Petrasches often claimed had been told by the Dutchman. Bicknell may have also been the source for the variety of names Weaver's Needle has had. He called the rock spire Needle Rock, Sombrero Peak and El Sombrero in different articles that he had written about the Dutchman's Lost Mine. Actually Weaver's Needle is a prominent pinnacle that towers over much of the region east of Superstition Mountain and had played a major role in the legend of the Dutchman's Lost Mine. This famous landmark was named after Powell (Paulino) Weaver, a famous mountain man, guide, prospector and early Arizona pioneer. Weaver first visited the area in 1825 when the region was still part of Mexico. On his first exploration he carved his name in the ruins at Casa Grande. Weaver's Needle appeared on military maps as early as 1853, making it one of the oldest American named landmarks in the Southwest. Weaver's Needle appeared on maps almost two decades before Superstition Mountain did. There is little doubt among historians that Peirpont Constable Bicknell exaggerated the truth, as did many of the early writers of the West, in much of his written material about lost mines. The weeding out of fact from fiction must start with Bicknell's published works. It is doubtful that Barry Storm or Oren Arnold thoroughly researched Bicknell's early work on the Dutchman's Lost Mine. Since 1895, thousands of periodicals have appeared on the Dutchman's Lost Mine and much of the legend can be traced back to Bicknell. Bicknell may have had the earliest impact on the legend itself, but Barry Storm embellished all of the articles he found on the Dutchman, Peraltas or the Jesuits. Bicknell's work has impacted the thinking of more treasure hunters and prospectors than any other individual. The one exception may be the man who perpetrated the infamous Peralta Stone Maps. The book that probably had the greatest impact on contemporary prospectors and treasure hunters in the Superstition Wilderness Area was Barry Storm's Thunder God's Gold , published in 1945, by the Southwest Publishing Company. Storm promoted the theory in his book that Waltz's mine was one of the eighteen Lost Peralta Mines. Storm tried his best to link the Dutchman's Lost Mine to the tales of lost Spanish gold. Barry Storm's first book, On The Trail of Dutchman, was published by Barry Goldwater and most of the photography was done by him. Storm used Goldwater's money and also used his first name. Barry Storm, better known as John T. Clymenson, was one of the most celebrated writers and promoters of the Lost Dutchman Mine and the Peralta Mines in the early 1940's through the early 1960's. His lurid stories about the legend fired the imagination of an entire generation of lost mine hunters. The two hundred and forty-two square miles of rugged terrain found in the Superstition Wilderness makes it a difficult task to systematically search or prospect the region. Most professional geologists will insist there is little geological evidence to suggest a rich gold deposit exist in these volcanic mountains. Jacob Waltz, the alleged owner of the Dutchman's Lost Mine, claimed his mine was located where no other miner or prospector would search for gold. A more recent U.S. Geological Survey could possibly support this clue Waltz left behind. The application of a mercury vapor test over the Superstition Wilderness Area has proven the region to be highly mineralized. The report indicates many deep seated mineral deposits. therefor it is possible that one of those highly enriched mineralized areas could have reached the surface by way of a geologic intrusion. Since 1891, more than one hundred and thirty-seven people have claimed to have found the Dutchman's Lost Mine. The first claim was made on December 7, 1895. There is no doubt about the story of the Dutchman's Lost Mine being well rooted in local history long before the first tourist visited Arizona. Fake maps, wild lies and man's imagination are the foundations of many tales told about the Superstition Mountain region. During the past forty years investors have lost millions of dollars to con men and promoters. The naive investor better beware of the writings of authors or periodical chroniclers without knowing their credentials. Authors of dime novels and periodical chroniclers are often found to "never let the truth stand in the way of a good story." No landmark in the history of the Southwest has generated so many interesting tales of lost gold and resulted in more deaths than Superstition Mountain. According to some, Weaver's Needle towers high over the surrounding terrain east of Superstition Mountain and serves as a monument to those who have searched and died for the gold of Superstition Mountain. Prospectors and treasure hunters continue their search of this vast Sonoran Desert wilderness looking for gold and lost treasure. Stringent rules for prospecting have limited their activity in recent years. The United States Department of Agriculture placed a moratorium on claims in the Superstition Wilderness Area to mineral entry, at midnight, on December 31, 1983. This was ostensibly to comply with the National Wilderness Act approved by Congress in 1964. The clues to Waltz's gold mine still ring clear through the towering peaks and deep canyons of the Superstition Wilderness Area. "No miner will find my mine." "To find my mine you must pass a cow barn." "From my mine you can see the military trail, but from the military trail you can not see my mine." "The rays of the setting sun shine into the entrance of my mine." "There is a trick in the trail to my mine." "My mine is located in a north-trending canyon." "There is a rock face on the trail to my mine." These and many other clues have fired the imaginations of men and women for more than a century. |
Gold Prospecting Information
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