The search for lost gold has intrigued and fascinated many people. We often think of lost gold mines and treasures in terms of maps and clues that were left behind. A serious lost mine hunter will begin his or her search with a thorough investigation of available records associated with the story. These documents will include records from vital statistics, census, probate, taxes and real estate ownership.
If all of these records are exhausted and there is still no mention of the person involved with the lost mine or treasure, it is often presumed that the story is nothing but an unsubstantiated tale. It is apparent, when no proof exists of the main character’s existence, the story is nothing but a legend based on hearsay and lacking in documentation.
It amazes historians and [academics] how treasure hunters and lost gold mine searchers base so much of what they believe on weak subjective stories based on faith or belief that another person’s story is totally true. Often intelligent wealthy men or women fall prey to such rhetoric.
Robert Simpson Jacob was a man who could sell any idea if given the proper opportunity. Jacob was known as the man with the golden tongue (not silver). Long before Robert Jacob arrived on the scene of the infamous Dutchman’s Lost Mine there were men like Dr. Robert Aiton, Dr. Rolf Alexander, and others. Jacob was unique because of his success in accumulating a fortune in just eight years of fundraising (as he called it).
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office estimated Jacob accumulated more than thirty million dollars during a five-year period, however they could only account for nine million dollars.
Robert Simpson Jacob died in the summer of 1993, leaving no information or confession as to what happened to the remaining funds. The reason for this paragraph was to explain the ability of some to raise money honestly or dishonestly. The old cliché “a mine promoter is a liar with a hole in the ground” is probably the truth about many of these people.
There are men who come to these mountains to hunt for gold, lost mines and treasure who are reputable and honest individuals. Richard Peck, Alva Reser, Robert Corbin, Walter Gassler, Ron Feldman, and many more searched based on integrity and honesty. Even the old timers like Al Morrow, Edwin Buckwitz, Jay Clapp and others had dreams of helping others if they ever struck it rich. This is the nature of searching for lost gold and treasure. The Superstition Wilderness Area has bee a fertile ground for this wonderful fantasy of lost gold.
[Part II – June 10]
Several years ago a man named Joe came to me with a story about a lost gold mine in the Superstition Mountains. He was careful not to mention the Lost Dutchman Mine. He claimed he needed my assistance in the search for a mine his grandfather had told him about. We sat down and talked on my front porch. He told me a story about a narrow deep canyon on the eastern side of the Superstition Wilderness near Haunted Canyon. He kept mentioning a place called Tonto Canyon. This was a landmark I had never heard of within the boundaries of the wilderness.
I told him I had heard of Tonto Basin and Tonto Creek, but not Tonto Canyon. He then told me this was the Apache name for the canyon. Tonto means “fool” in Apache. Instantly the word “fool” brought back a very important memory from the past. I recalled a rich placer deposit story in a place called Fool’s Canyon somewhere in the Haunted Canyon area. It certainly surprised me this gentleman was talking about Fool’s Canyon.
Bill Cage, my father’s partner and friend, had told him about Fool’s Canyon more than seventy years ago. Could this man be the grandson of Bill Cage’s partner? I ask[ed] him if he had ever heard of Bill Cage. He didn’t recall the name. I then ask[ed] him about his grandfather. He told me his grandfather worked at the Miami Inspiration Mine around 1910.
Bill Cage had worked at the Miami Inspiration. I recalled Bill Cage telling my dad we called the area Fool’s Canyon. Cage and his partner said the region was so rough they figured they were fools for being in there looking for gold. It appeared I had found my father’s partner’s partner by mere accident. When Joe left I was convinced of this relationship. We have continued to work together all these years, hoping someday, we would find Fool’s Canyon. Joe passed away in 1997, ending our partnership.
Yes, I believed in Joe’s story and I still do. The gold was certainly not at the end of the rainbow, but we had a life of dreams and a great friendship. Joe never robbed me of anything but a little time; time I was willing to share. My father always said, “it is not so much the finding as it was in the searching.” It is that adventure that keeps me going, like my father and Bill Cage. Now, as I walk into the twilight years of my life I know now what my father was talking about.
