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 Arizona’s
Superstition Wilderness Area has fascinated and
mesmerized those who have walked and rode the trails
within the towering spires and deep canyons of this
region. The terrain can overwhelm you with beauty,
isolation, tranquility and pure ruggedness. These
159,780 acres of wilderness continue to attract gold
and treasure hunters. Prospectors continue to wander
the trails of the Superstition Wilderness Area in
search of gold. Most of the gold they searched for
was in their minds, according to “Doc” Rosecrans, an
old time prospector of the area now deceased. He
spent forty years living along the Apache Trail and
occasionally hiked into the Superstition Wilderness
to explore a hunch. He published a small book on the
Dutchman’s Lost Mine in 1949. His book wasn’t much
of a success; however it did get him a threat of a
lawsuit from Barry Storm, another author on the
topic.
Today prospectors and treasure hunters still wander
the region in search of gold or treasure, however
for the most part their way of life is slowly
disappearing. Strict forest service regulations and
the withdrawal of the wilderness from mineral entry
has all but ended prospecting and mining in the
region.
Contemporary writers, weekend explorers, and the
curious continue looking for facts and information
associated with events that occurred decades ago.
Such research and discussions has been opened to the
public through various forums about the Superstition
Mountains and the Lost Dutchman Mine on the internet
or worldwide web. You might say a new Argonaut has
arrived on the landscape for the wilderness area.
The three most controversial topics are the location
of the Dutchman’s Lost Mine, the Peralta Stone Maps
and the tragic death of Adolph Ruth. These topics
continue to attract a wide range of interest among
readers on the internet or the worldwide web. The
internet has changed the way we view and research
material today. The forum about the Dutchman’s Lost
Mine can be factual and it can fictional at the same
time. It is very difficult to separate the fact from
the fiction. After all, history is a very thin gray
line between the truth and a lie.
When somebody claims they have found a lost gold
mine how do you know they are telling the truth? A
simple question might be; where is the gold?
If that person were to produce gold then there would
be some interesting repercussions from those
interested in where the gold was found. The next
question would be did you stake a claim? Would any
person in their right mind stake a claim on rich
vein of gold? Probably not! A claim notice would be
an invitation for everyone to come and look at your
rich gold mine. I believe this explains the dilemma
you would be in. I believe some old timers might not
have told anyone about their discoveries in the
hills. This type of behavior could easily explain
all the confusion involving the Dutchman’s lost
mine.
Jacob Waltz, the legendary “Dutchman”, may or may
not have had a gold mine. Nobody knows for sure.
When he died on October 25, 1891, a candle box of
high-grade gold ore was found under his bed. This
gold proved to be of bonanza quality. The discovery
of this candle box of rich ore created a controversy
that continues to linger to this day. Where did this
gold ore come from? Men and women have searched the
high peaks and deep canyons of the Superstition
Wilderness Area for the source of this gold ore to
no avail.
The Dutchman’s lost mine continues to be a tale
about a lost gold mine in the Superstition
Mountains. To many folks, the mine is a figment of
somebody’s imagination that continually draws in
more dreamers each year. Since the early 1920’s more
than 170 individual have claimed they found the
fabulously rich Dutchman’s lost mine. The roll of
discoverers lists the names of men like Glen Magill,
Barry Storm, Robert Simpson Jacob, Charles M.
Crawford, and many, many more that allegedly found
the mine and reaped its profits. Most of those
profits were monies they conned out of innocent and
naïve investors. I have watched this vicious cycle
for more than fifty years and witnessed the
destruction and heartache it has caused to innocent
people. Robert K. Corbin successfully tried and
jailed a couple of these crooks. Most notable was
Robert Simpson Jacob, who was sentenced to ten years
in prison for his part in a criminal conspiracy.
Now you ask me is there a Dutchman lost mine
somewhere out in the rugged Superstition Mountain
region? Yes, I have dreamed of finding this mine,
but I have never found any evidence that really
suggested the mine existed. Everything is based of
subjective hear-say. Actually facts about the lost
mine just don’t exist. Even the alleged rich gold
ore found under Waltz’s bed is based on hearsay
information. Yes, there are alleged pieces of this
gold that supposedly exist today. The documentation
that supports this alleged gold ore is nothing more
than hear-say. Even I am guilty of signing an
affidavit that verifies I saw the gold ore and
jewelry “Brownie” Holmes claims belonged to Jacob
Waltz. Again witnessing such a thing is still
subjective information at best.
A very distinguished gentleman once said Waltz’s
gold ore is what dreams are made of; meaning who
knows where that gold came from that was found under
his bed. Dreams help to build subjective ideology.
Let’s face it, if you have spent a life time
searching for the gold of Superstition Mountain
there has to be something meaningful to the story.
Maybe my father had it all figured out when he
basically said, “Yesterday’s adventures are today’s
memories.”
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