July 18, 2011 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved.
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| The motion picture "Lust for Gold" was the reason many begin their search for Dutchman's Lost Mine. The release of the film by Columbia Pictures in 1949 started another generation of Lost Mine searchers in the Superstition Mountains. |
Early
in 1947 Columbia Picture Corporation bought the rights for Barry
Storm’s book “Thunder God’s Gold” with the intention of writing a
screenplay and making the book into a motion picture. From the
metamorphosis of a book to a motion picture considerable changes
occurred. Ted Sherdeman and Richard English wrote the screenplay and the
film was produced and directed by S. Sylvan Simon. The film was billed
as the “true story of a secret treasure”. This film was meant to be
Columbia’s competition against Republic’s film “Treasure of the Sierra
Madres” starring Humphrey Bogart. “Lust of Gold” starred Glenn Ford, Ida
Lupino, Gig Young, William Prince and Edgar Buchanan.
Glenn Ford played the role of
Jacob Waltz, the Dutchman. Ida Lupino played the role of Julia Thomas.
William Prince played the role of Julia Thomas’ husband. Gig Young
played the role of Barry Storm, a modern adventurer and prospector.
Edgar Buchanan played the role of Waltz’s partner. Three other prominent
stars also had roles in this film. These stars included Will Greer, Jay
Silverheels and Paul Ford.
The producers asked Arizona’s
Gov. Dan E. Garvey for a letter of authenticity about the Lost Dutchman
Mine. The governor wrote a letter that basically stated the story
presented by Columbia Picture Corporation was true account describing
the Lost Dutchman Mine.
Portions of the motion
picture were filmed on the studio lot, however a large percentage of the
film was filmed on location along the Apache Trail. Many scenes were
filmed in an area near the Salt River Project access road to Horse Mesa
Dam.
The film opens with a
spectacular scene of Superstition Mountain with an adventurer named Paul
Buckley hiking toward the mountain. A narration describes how rugged
the mountains are, how dangerous they are, and that many people had lost
their lives in these mountains searching for gold. The film’s narrator
talks about a cache of gold worth $20 million dollars hidden in these
mountains. According to the story, the Apaches under the leadership of
Cochise, killed the Peraltas and buried their gold.
The film then introduces a
treasure hunter by the name of Floyd Buckley, who appears to know what
he is talking about. Barry Storm is portrayed as the grandson of Jacob
Waltz, the German prospector who had a rich gold mine in the
Superstition Wilderness Area. Storm tries to talk Buckley into accepting
him as a partner, but Buckley quickly brushes him off.
Buckley hikes off into the
Superstition Mountains and is mysteriously murdered in an ambush. Storm
had followed Buckley to the point where he was killed, but didn’t
witness the shooting. He did hear the shot and found Buckley’s body.
According to the film, Storm ran and walked 36 miles to Apache Junction
to report the murder. Ironically, there is no place in the Superstition
Wilderness, particularly the western portion that would be 36 miles from
Apache Junction.
At this point in the film,
Barry Storm begins his research about the infamous tale of the Lost
Dutchman Mine. He travels to the pioneer’s home and finds out about
Jacob Waltz. Here, the producer of the film inserts many of the stories
about Waltz being a murderer. Storm found out at the Pioneer’s Home that
the Lost Dutchman Mine and the Peralta Mine were all one in the same.
The film stresses the cactus
marker with the stones in it as one of the key markers in locating the
mine. This clue continues to surface today in a variety of stories about
the Lost Dutchman Mine. The film also presents an interesting
correlation between the sunburst, ORO, and snake on Black Top Mesa and
the one in the film. According to the film Manuel, Pedro, and Ramon
cached the gold somewhere in the Superstition Mountain where the moon
shines through a window rock revealing its location.
Glenn Ford was far to young
to portray Jacob Waltz who was 64 years old at the time. Waltz arrived
in the territory from California in 1863 with the Peeples-Weaver Party
and spent his first five years in the Prescott area before moving to the
Salt River Valley in 1868. Most documents about Waltz indicate he was
the opposite type of person the film portrays. Many sources reported
Waltz as well liked and a kindly person. Records indicate he voted in
every election after receiving his citizenship in 1861 in California.
The film portrays Waltz as a vicious premeditated murderer.
This was absolutely not true.
Every since I have been doing research on this subject some researchers
have been constantly trying to prove Waltz was a murderer.
Much of this film is based on
exactly what Barry Storm believed, but the problem is that Barry
Storm’s research was not accurate. Barry, like a lot of researchers,
developed facts that fit his own scenarios.
Next week, Part II