|
 One
of the earliest stories remembered around here about
a cave full of gold was the story that emerged in
1934 when Charley Williams came out of the
Superstition Mountains with a pocket full of
nuggets. He claimed he had found a cave with a pile
of gold nuggets just inside the entrance. He further
claimed he bumped his head so hard he was
disoriented for a couple of days before he could
find his way out of the mountains. Charlie said he
wandered around the Superstition Mountains lost for
several days.
A search for Charley Williams, a World War I
veteran, was organized by the Maricopa County
Sheriff’s Office. Charley Williams eventually
wandered out of the mountains unharmed. Williams’
gold was confiscated by the United States Government
and was later proven to be dental gold.
This story was followed by a tale of gold bars
buried near the Massacre Grounds. A prospector named
James Baxter spent a lot of time prospecting the
area between Superstition Mountain and Garden Valley
area. Generally speaking, this was an area within a
two miles radius of the old First Water Trailhead.
Baxter claimed he was guided to the cave by a blue
light emitted from the cave. Bob L. Ward confirmed
Baxter’s story on several occasions, but said he
never saw the cave or the gold bars. Baxter, after
several years in the desert around Superstition
Mountains, moved back to his home state of
Washington empted handed with no gold bars.
 Every
since the middle of the 1930’s there have been
stories circulating around Apache Junction about a
cave in the Superstition Mountains filled with gold
bars. This story may have originated with a man
named John Hallenberg in the late 1930’s. John
always talked about a cave located on Bluff Springs
Mountain filled with gold bars. He was convinced the
story was true and he had a map pointing to the
direction to this so-called Cave of Gold. John tells
a story about the time he was hiking along a narrow
ledge and spotted a small cave. He bent over and
could feel cool air coming from deep within the
Earth. He inspected the cave closer and found it to
be large enough to crawl into. Several days later he
returned to the cave site with a rope and two
flashlights. He was determined to explore the cave.
As he climbed down into the cave he found all kinds
of old writing which he said was not petroglyphs. He
thought the writing was Hebrew or something similar.
Like many of the stories about the Superstition
Mountains this was what I call a one-man story. A
one man story is a tale without any witnesses or any
method of verification.
There is another tale about a cave full of gold
bullion that emerged in the circles of treasure
hunters in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The
story centered on a man named Harry France or
LaFrance. Dale Howard, Tracy Hawkins and Ernie
Provence often talked about France discovering a
cave filled with gold near Black Top Mesa or
Weaver’s Needle. Bob Ward, a well known treasure
hunter in the area, talked about a cave filled with
gold bars and a man named Harry France. Allegedly
they claimed the source of this gold was the
Jesuits. Of course Dr. Charles Polzer, a Jesuit
historian at the University of Arizona debunked any
stories associating Jesuit missionaries with gold or
silver mining in the Southwest. Still, traditional
treasure hunters continue to talk about buried or
lost Jesuit gold in their narratives. It has never
been decided whether Harry’s name was France or La
France.
The most elaborate tale about a cave filled with
gold bars must be credited to Robert Simpson Jacob
or “Crazy Jake.” This cave allegedly was located in
or near Squaw Box Canyon just east of La Barge
Canyon and north of Charlebois Mountain (Black
Mountain). Jacob talked about a cave filled with
twenty metric tons of gold bullion. He talked so
much about it he believed the story himself.
I first met Robert Simpson Jacob in November of
1964, just a month after he arrived in Arizona. He
was driving down First Water Road in 1960 Red Toyota
Land Cruiser. We met at the old trailhead and had
quite a talk. As soon as he found out I had worked
for the Barkley Cattle Company I couldn’t get rid of
him or his stories. He told me he came to Arizona to
find the Peralta Mines. He was convinced he had
located them in the mountain near a place called
Squaw Box.
Finally Jake and I parted company that day, but it
wasn’t long until I ran into him again. The next
place I found him was at Pop Hamaker’s Bluebird Mine
& Curio Shop before Ray Ruiz bought the business in
1967. I believe Jake lived at the curio shop for a
short time in 1965. “Crazy Jake” was making regular
trips into the Superstition Wilderness Area by the
middle of 1965. Jake was always looking for
investors for a variety of schemes he was always
promoting. He was always willing to sell you gold
bullion half of spot price. If gold was going for
$300 an ounce, Jake would sell you gold bullion for
$150 per ounce with delivery within ninety to one
hundred and twenty days. You would be surprised how
many people fell for this deal and bought lots of
mythical gold bullion.
Robert Simpson Jacob had quite an operation going in
Squaw Box Canyon by the middle of the 1970’s. I
started writing columns for the Apache Sentinel in
September 1976. Jake invited a reporter from the
Mesa Tribune and me to visit his treasure site at
Squaw Box. He guaranteed us we would see gold
bullion. As you can imagine the trip never became
reality. Jake was going to fly us in by helicopter
in violation of forest service regulation. He
claimed he had authorization from the U.S. Attorney
General to land in the wilderness area with a
helicopter. Those of you out there who remember Jake
knew he was good at postponing those events that
would reveal his scams or make him out a liar.
Jake was one of those individuals who had a magnetic
attraction to those who wanted to get rich. These
people believed Jake was their instrument to wealth
and fame. It was for this reason Jake was so
successful at conning people out of money. Over a
seven-year period it was estimated Jake raised more
than thirty million dollars, however only seven
million dollars of this money was ever documented.
Robert Simpson Jacob was eventually convicted of
fraud and sentenced to ten years in prison in 1986.
He was eventually released and died shortly
thereafter. Jake was still trying to find his Cave
of Gold in the final month of his life.
Jake constantly talked about his cave of gold in the
Superstition Wilderness Area. His story about a cave
of gold will probably survive and continue to be
retold as long as there are dreamers out there who
want to believe.
Ron Feldman began a search near Iron Mountain for a
cache of gold bars. He was the first prospector to
convince the forest service he had a valid claim.
The government for the first time gave Feldman a
Trove Treasure Permit to search for treasure in the
Superstition Wilderness Area. On September 11, 2004,
Feldman set up camp at Roger’s Trough Trail Head and
proceeded to excavate an area nearby. His search did
not produce any gold bars, but it did document the
fact early miners had worked in the area prior to
1850’s. Feldman’s search continues to be a hallmark
in accession rights of prospectors and miners with
the United States Department of Agriculture,
Department of Forestry.
The “Cave of Gold” story can be found on various
sites on the world-wide web. In addition to
Williams, Baxter, Jacob and Feldman there are others
who have made the claim of a cave filled with gold
bullion, nuggets, or high grade in the Superstition
Wilderness Area. The stories of lost caves full of
gold bars in the Superstition Wilderness Area are
never ending. If such a cave were ever found I am to
first to suggest it will be filled with copper
instead of gold ingots. As far fetched as that may
seem; many years ago a cache of copper bullion
poorly smelted was found in cave near the
Globe-Miami area. Little information exists today
about this discovery, however it could explain all
the stories about caves full of gold bullion in the
region.
|
