January 17, 2011 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved.
There
has been a lot said about lost gold in the Superstition Mountains and
the involvement of native Americans. The following is a story that
supposedly occurred in 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and first began with
a letter written by John Kochera to Robert Simpson Jacob on April 4,
1974. John Kochera wrote the following:
“With this letter I am
enclosing a copy of the assays I had made on the ore we found. They are
not too impressive. Just thought you might care to know. Also enclosed
is a map that I will detail to you. I don’t have the money to search for
it. I am a darn good prospector but a poor salesman. I can’t get any
man with money to sponsor me in a search. So I am giving it to you. You
seem to be an honest person and since you have about all the maps
available I would like you to have these also. I hope you find it and if
you do remember me in some small way.
“In 1960 I met an Apache
Indian named Haywood. He was from the Verde River country in Arizona. He
was in Milwaukee going to vocational school, which the government sent
him to along with some others. We became good friends and one night he
was over at my house and we had been drinking heavy. I started talking
about finding gold in Mexico and then he told me this story.
“He said in the Spring of
1942, he and fourteen other men went on horses up the Salt River to La
Barge Canyon then up La Barge Canyon to Squaw Box Canyon. They passed by
the box canyon, than passed on the north side of three red hills. Then
turned north about one mile and turned west to a hill north of the box
canyon. There is a tunnel at the south side base of the hill, with brush
and small trees nearly hiding it. They then went to the top of the hill
and uncovered a pit. They took out about $50,000 in gold. When they
finished they covered the pit again. The vein of gold is in a soft black
rock and on both sides of the black vein is red rock.
“Haywood was thirty-seven
years old when I met him. He believes strongly that something bad would
happen if he told a white man, but since I am part Indian. He thought it
would be all right. In July 1960, he and another guy died in a head-on
crash with a tractor-trailer.
“For fourteen years I’ve kept
this to myself and you are now the only person I’ve told this to. I
hope it does some good for you. I personally believe this is the
Dutchman’s mine. I wish I could search for it, but just don’t see how I
can.
“I would appreciate hearing
from you on what you think of this. I’ll close for now and if you have
any questions I’ll be glad to help you out. I believe you are the person
all this was pre-destined for.
Good luck and best wishes,
Johnny Kochera.” This letter to Robert Simpson Jacob from Johnny Kochera
is interesting and certainly a different kind of perspective on a story
about lost gold in the Superstition Mountain region. Many of our
readers are familiar with Robert Simpson Jacob and his operation in
Squaw Box Canyon and on Peter’s Mesa for more than a decade. Johnny
Kochera reported he heard many of his stories about the Superstition
Mountain from Silas Haywood. According to Kochera he met Haywood when he
was attending school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Another man spoke about Silas
Haywood on several occasions and said he actually met a man who worked
with Haywood and heard the same story about the rock that was formed by
alternating layers of red and black material. This same rock was filled
with gold.
Stories often get confused
over the years. The J.J. Polka story is very similar to the Haywood
story, except it occurred in the area above the upper box of La Barge
Canyon. The rock in the Polka story is almost identical to the rock in
the Kochera story. There are several maps associated with these two
stories.
Jim Butler, who knew Chuck
Aylor, Roy Bradford and Abe Reid, spent a considerable amount of time
searching for the ore associated with alternating layers of red and
black rock filled with fine gold. Butler was familiar with the Polka
story and the man named Silas Haywood. I don’t dare try to figure out
the exact relationships between these individuals and how much they knew
about the Haywood story. As far as I know most of the knowledgeable
“Dutch” hunters knew something about this story. There were many simple
and some complex versions of this story.
The Kochera letter of April
1974 did shed a little light on the subject of the lost gold ore in the
Superstition Wilderness Area and the origin of the story. When Kochera
talks about Silas Haywood and fourteen other men making a trip up the
Salt River in 1942, I find it difficult to believe they rode up La Barge
Canyon from the Salt River. There were enorThere were enormous
obstacles to overcome with such a route. First and most important there
is a large lake in the way. Possibly Haywood and the fourteen men were
hauled with their horses to a point just east of Boulder Canyon and rode
south into La Barge Canyon. Many individuals believe all stories of
lost gold must be checked out thoroughly.
I first heard about this
story while working on the Quarter Circle U Ranch in 1955. Jim Butler
was still active in the mountains with Chuck Aylor and others. Butler
stopped by the Quarter Circle U Ranch hoping to acquire access to the
region east of the ranch. He asked for permission to use the road going
through the ranch. I told him he would have to talk to Bill Barkley.
Butler then told me a little about the mine he had been looking for. I
believe he called it the Lost Polka Mine at the time.
Butler said Haywood
supposedly told those who would listen there were two almost impassible
boxes in La Barge Canyon. I am sure he was making reference to the Upper
Box and Lower Box of La Barge Canyon. The Upper Box is located just
above the confluence of Whiskey Springs Canyon and La Barge Canyon. This
is the only part of his story I have found to be accurate.
It could be Haywood and
Kochera were talking about two entirely different locations. Only time
will prove it out. To this day I have doubted the existence of Silas
Haywood and furthermore, neither I nor my research associates have found
any documentation to support the concept that Johnny Kochera was part
Native American. Searching for the truth often makes stories very
complex and sometime difficult to accept, except as legend.
Author’s
note: It is difficult to document or prove the existence of Silas
Haywood. Could it be Johnny Kochera used the name to kept his story safe
from those who might research thoroughly the background of Silas
Haywood? Could this be the reason for the deception on Kochera’s part?
Only research will prove or disprove the existence of Sila Haywood. Tom
Kollenborn
