June 6, 2011 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved.
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 also 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 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. The only mining that might exist in the wilderness area is
totally illegal.
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 and the
worldwide web. The internet has changed the way we view and research
material today. A forum about the Dutchman’s Lost Mine can be factual or
it can be fictional depending on its source. It is very difficult to
separate the fact from the fiction. After all history is a very thin
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 would 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? How
much was there, 24 lbs., 48 lbs.? 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. There is no guarantee as to the
source of this gold ore found under Waltz’s deathbed.
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 who 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. Former Attorney General Robert K. Corbin
successfully tried and jailed a couple of these crooks. Most notable
was Robert Simpson Jacob. Jacob 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 this 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 some thirty years ago verifying I saw the gold ore
and jewelry “Brownie” Holmes claims belonged to Jacob Waltz. Again, even
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 lifetime 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.”