October 5, 2009 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved.
The story of
Jacob Waltz and his fabulous gold mine continues to attract prospectors
and treasure hunters to the Superstition Wilderness Area of central
Arizona. There are many versions of stories about Waltz’s lost mine.
Many old timers really don’t believe
Waltz had a mine, but knew exactly what he was doing when he high-graded
gold from other mines. He allegedly left clues around the frontier town
of Phoenix to discourage anyone trying to figure out his scheme. One of
his clues was, “You can’t see my mine from the military trail, but you
can see the military trail from my mine.”
He also said, according to legend, “The
evening rays of the setting sun shine into the entrance of my mine.”
Waltz left these clues behind to hinder and confuse those who wanted to
follow him into the mountains. Actually there is no real proof Waltz
left such clues behind.
Jacob Waltz did exist. His name appears
on naturalization papers, census records, grain receipts, and other
documents. Waltz did live in Phoenix from about 1868 until the time of
his death on October 25, 1891. His death was well documented by local
periodicals.
Some claim there was forty-eight pounds
of high-grade gold ore in a candle box under his deathbed. This
discovery of gold ore under his deathbed lead to many versions as to how
he acquired this small fortune.
Many of you have heard the standard
version of where this ore came from, but there are others stories from
different sources that are creditable. There are several interesting
stories that have emerged from the old pioneers around Florence.
There is a story told about Waltz
arriving in Florence in 1872 looking for a carpenter who could build a
dry washer. Waltz was told to look up a man named “Frank”. Waltz found
Frank. He asked him if he could build a dry washer that could be packed
on the back of a burro. Frank looked at Waltz’s burro and agreed he
could build such a dry washer.
Waltz told Frank that he had been
working some placer gold near Pinto Creek and he wanted to trace its
source with a dry washer. He had already worked the area with a horn and
pan. He said he wanted to do a little more serious searching. Waltz’s
search area was no secret to many people around Florence at the time.
This story correlates well with another
tale. The story of Fool’s Canyon has some interesting parallels to this
story first printed in a book by John D. Mitchell, a close friend of
Milton Rose’s father. The Fool’s Canyon story tells of another placer
gold deposit near Pinto Creek. Bill Cage spent many years prospecting
the area and knew old man Shute quite well. Shute claimed there was a
rich deposit of placer gold in the area somewhere, therefore there had
to be a rich vein of gold ore in the area. Shute had used a dry washer
in the tributaries of Pinto Creek since the 1880s.
Shute also told Bill Cage he had never
seen Jacob Waltz in the area, but that really didn’t mean anything. The
Pinto Creek country is really a rugged brushy terrain.
Prospectors have worked placer gold in
the Pinto Creek and Gold Rush Creek area for decades until the mines
completely obliterated the eastern tributaries of creek.
Placer gold could still be found in the
narrows below the old steel bridge that crosses Pinto Creek on the
Kennedy Ranch (Miles) road in the mid 1970s. It is possible the area was
the source of some of Waltz’s gold ore, especially if Waltz had traced
out the placer and found the ore deposit. We must remember Waltz was
very experienced at hunting gold and tracing placer deposits to their
source.
Many prospectors have worked the placer
gold of Pinto Creek over the years. Big mining conglomerates and
individual prospectors claim much of the area today.
There are a few areas along Pinto Creek,
when there is sufficient water, you might be able to stick your pan in
the water and pan for gold and not be considered a high-grader.
Some of the claim holders along Pinto
Creek are serious prospectors and miners and if you are on their claims
looking for gold they may consider you a high-grader. You are\ stealing
if you remove material from a legal claim.
Several years ago there was an enormous
flood that completed covered most of the bedrock in the “narrows” of
Pinto Creek. These “narrow” were the best locations for placer. Flash
floods continue to change the topography of Pinto Creek along with the
mining companies and prospectors.
The story
about Jacob Waltz working placer in area is not preposterous. You must
consider he was an experienced miner, there was gold in the area, and he
could have discovered the source of the placer gold in Pinto Creek.
