Bluff Springs Mountain

December 30, 1997 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved. 

Bluff Springs Mountain or Bluff Mountain, as it was called around the turn of the century, has played an interesting role in the history of the Superstition Wilderness Area. The mountain, like Black Top Mesa and Weaver’s Needle, has long been synonymous with the legends of the region. This walled monolith lies directly east of Weaver’s Needle and immediately south of the Three Red Hills. The rugged façade of this elongated mountain still attracts the curiosity of adventurers and prospectors alike.

Individuals have been prospecting around and on Bluff Springs Mountain since the famous Goldfield strikes of the late 1880s and early 1890s. The mountain has been sacred to several groups of Native Americans. Early ranchers William A. Barkley and James A. Bark talked about ancient burial grounds on top of this rugged mountain.

Near the top of Bluff Springs Mountain ancient stone defense circles are found. These structures were Native Americans’. On the northeast corner of the mountain there is a series of three caves that were inhabited by early Native Americans who lived here prior to the turn of the century. Also on the northeast corner of Bluff Springs Mountain an excellent spring or seep can be found. This spring was the source of water for early inhabitants of the area and the cattle that were brought in later by the ranchers.

The origin of the mountain’s name must have come from the early cattle ranchers who worked cattle in the area. James A. Bark once said the mountain was called Buff Springs Mountain instead of Bluff Springs Mountain because of its color rather than the bluffs that totally encircle this elongated mountain. William A. Barkley always called it Bluff Springs Mountain. He ran cattle in the area from 1907-1955. Bark began running his cattle in the area about 1891. It is reasonable to believe the people who first reported the mountain being called Bluff Mountain may have corrupted the name themselves.

History does not record the name of the first prospector who searched this mountain for gold. It would not be unreasonable to believe the first prospectors in this area were Hispanic prospectors from along the Rio Gila in the early 1800s. These Hispanic prospectors were probably followed by mountain men led by Paulino Weaver in 1827. The reason for this suggestion is the name of Weaver’s Needle. This landmark was named after Paulino Weaver in 1853, about twelve years prior to Weaver’s death near Camp Verde.

Weaver was a notable Arizona guide, prospector, mountain man and scout. It is further reasonable to believe prospectors covered this area during the great search for mineral wealth in Arizona Territory (1863-1895). Many newspaper articles place prospectors in the vicinity of Weaver’s Needle and Bluff Springs Mountain as early as 1884.

Bluff Springs Mountain became a prominent part of the Dutchman’s Lost Mine story in the early 1930s. The mountain played a role in Harvey Mott’s articles for the Arizona Republican in 1931. A story that began about an archaeological expedition ended up being one of the lead stories concerning the tragic death of Adolph Ruth in December of 1931. It was chroniclers like Oren Arnold, Charles Higham and Barry Storm who placed this rugged mountain in their literary works. Prospectors like Charles Aylor, Albert Morrow, John Pearce and Glen Magill made Bluff Springs a part of Superstition Mountain history. It was not until 1967 that the mountain acquired national prominence. In April of that year Glenn Magill announced to the world he had found the Dutchman’s Lost Mine on Bluff Springs Mountain.

He said, “We don’t just think we have found it, we have found it.” Magill, like many other men over the years, made a claim and then couldn’t produce sufficient [evidence] to back it. This has been the story of the elusive Dutchman’s Lost Mine since the death of Jacob Waltz on October 25, 1891, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Bluff Springs Mountain is a three by one-and-a-half mile rock composed of alternating layers of basalt and ash formed some 24-29 million years ago during the Tertiary Period of geologic time. Geologically the mountain is a poor place to search for gold-bearing minerals. There are a couple of insignificant sites that have been intruded by small mineral-bearing veins that contain a little quartz and iron pyrite. The iron pyrite of Bluff Springs Mountain does not contain gold or any [valuable] metal.

Many prospectors and treasure hunters believe Bluff Springs Mountain contains a cache of rich gold ore or bullion. There are no historic Spanish, Mexican or American records to support treasure caches on Bluff Springs Mountain. It is a search in total futility to look for a gold cache on Bluff Springs Mountain. When I was a young man in the 1950s I spent many weeks roaming the top of Bluff Springs Mountain. Much of what I found had to do with contemporary prospectors and the early cattle ranchers in the area.

There are numerous stories about hidden Spanish caches on Bluff Springs Mountain. The Jesuit cache theories still remain an interesting theory and that is all there is to it. It is a theory.

Father Charles Polzer, Jesuit historian at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, says, “The insistent legends about Jesuit treasure in the Superstitions are pure bunk. All it proves is the catastrophic ignorance of contemporary inhabitants of the desert of all the important history of the Southwest.”

Stone Writing on Black Top Mesa

December 23, 1997 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved. 

The rugged land east of Superstition Mountain holds many interesting secrets.

On the south end of Black Top Mesa, or if you prefer Black Top Mountain, are several petroglyphs or stone markings. The markings have been the subject of much controversy over the years. Their significance was brought to light more than fifty years ago when John T. Clymenson, alias Barry Storm, wrote his book On the Trail of the Lost Dutchman in 1939.

These markings have been known since the turn of the century. William A. Barkley visited the site prior to 1915 and said the sunburst and snake were on the rock then. He did not recall seeing the word “oro.” My father visited the site in 1933, and he remember[ed] the markings as we see them today. Many old timers have prospected and dug holes in the area around Black Top Mesa believing in the significance of the markings on the south end of the mesa. The Harnish brothers spent more than three decades in the area searching for treasure and a mine. An old timer by the name of Lee Kessler spent a considerable amount of time on Black Top in the early 1950s. Even men like Al Morrow, Dale Howard, John Pearce and Ed Piper were convinced the markings on Black Top were a significant part of a much larger puzzle for locating the Dutchman’s Lost Mine. Also, it must be taken into consideration that most of these old time prospectors believed the Dutchman’s Lost Mine and the Peralta Mines were all one in the same.

During the past fifty years I have made many trips to the south end of Black Top Mesa to look at these markings. Like so many things in the Superstition Wilderness Area, the Black Top Mesa petroglyphs sort of mesmerize those who gaze upon them. The markings invoke one to wonder if the markings were scratched into the rocks by the early Native American inhabitants of the area, early prospectors of the area or early treasure hunters.

If part of the markings are authentic, then they may have been scratched onto the black basalt rocks by the early Native American inhabitants of the area. There are many samples of Native American petroglyphs within the boundaries of the Superstition Wilderness Area. Petroglyphs can be found in La Barge Canyon, East Boulder Canyon, near Garden Valley and Second Water Canyon just to name a few places. Treasure signs, probably made in the past fifty years, can be found throughout the wilderness area also. The most common treasure sign found is the Spanish word “oro,” which means “gold.” There are two oro signs on Black Top Mesa, one located in Middle Boulder Canyon, one in West Boulder Canyon, two in La Barge Canyon, one near Miner’s Needle, three in and around Weaver’s Needle, two on Peter’s Mesa and one in Bark’s Draw just to name a few. Most of these oro signs are at least forty years old. There have been many more scratched in rocks since 1970. It is a major research project today to [locate] oro signs that date prior to 1950.

The oro markings on Black Top Mesa are the best known because of Barry Storm’s Thunder God’s Gold and the Columbia motion picture Lust for Gold starring Glen Ford and Ida Lupino. It is amazing how many people believe these markings to be totally authentic. The United States Geological Survey and the U.S. Army Map Service completed their topographic and geological survey sometime in the 1950s. The results of their work produced new 7.5 minute topographic maps for the wilderness area. On the Goldfield Quadrangle, Arizona you can find the Spanish hieroglyphics on the southeast end of Black Top Mesa. The most recent trip I made to the site was in April of 1997.

These markings, authentic or not, are a distinct part of the human history of the Superstition Wilderness. Nothing can alter or change this. Humankind has made their impact on the land; this cannot be erased by the stroke of a pen.

A.F. Banta: Lost Mine Chronicler

December 16, 1997 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved. 

One of the earliest chroniclers of the Dutchman’s Lost Mine story and Superstition Mountain was a Prescott newspaper man named Alfred F. Banta. President Lincoln had just signed the document forming the Territory of Arizona when Banta first arrived here as a young man.

Alfred Franklin Banta was born in Warwick, Indiana in 1843. He arrived in Arizona Territory at the age of twenty-one. Banta’s first appearance at Fort Whipple was on December 21, 1863, when a military expedition sent by General Carleton entered Chino Valley to take possession of Arizona Territory for the United States. Fort Whipple was later moved to a site on Granite Creek near Prescott in 1864. Banta served as a guide for the state territorial government for almost six years. During the early part of the Civil War Banta worked for the Rio Bajo Press, a newspaper published in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Banta served as chief guide on the Wheeler Expedition and 100th Meridian Expedition in 1871. He accompanied Lt. Wheeler on this expedition when he discovered Meteor Crater. Lt. Wheeler named the crater “Franklin’s Hole” after its discoverer.

After the Wheeler Expedition Banta became involved with newspapers and then entered politics. He served as Justice of the Peace in St. Johns, Arizona Territory in 1876-1877 and in Springerville 1877-1878 and was county assessor in 1880. During the session of the Eleventh Territorial Legislature Banta was instrumental in securing the passage of a bill forming Apache County. Banta served as district attorney of Apache County from 1879-1880 and 1889-1890. He was probate judge of the county from 1881-1882. Banta was appointed the first postmaster of Springerville by President Hayes. He also served as U.S. Marshall in Arizona Territory.

Banta frequently wrote for numerous newspapers throughout the territory of Arizona and New Mexico. He wrote about the early history of Arizona, his life, pioneer families and lost gold mines. In many of his stories he made reference[s] to the Doc Thorne story and the Lost Dutchman Mine. He [led] an expedition out of the Zuni villages in 1869 to find the Doc Thorne Mine. Partners in this expedition included C.E. Cooley and Henry W. Dodd. Banta and the party ran into problems with the Apaches in the Pinal Mountains and returned. After Jacob Waltz’s death in 1891, Banta was involved with several expeditions that searched for the Dutchman’s Lost Mine in the Superstition Mountains east of our community.

Banta wrote many columns about gold mines and mining for the Prescott Weekly Miner and Courier which he owned. He also freelanced for other Arizona papers after statehood in 1912. Banta wrote several manuscripts about early Arizona history, however they were lost in a fire at the Prescott Courier and he never attempted to rewrite them. Much of this work had focused on lost mines and pioneer history. The last newspaper he worked with prior to his death was the St. Johns Observer in St. Johns, Arizona.

Alfred Franklin Banta was actually the earliest chronicler to write and publish about the Lost Dutchman and Lost Doc Thorne mines, both supposedly located in the Superstition Mountains. Banta had a notable record in Arizona and when he performed his last public service as assistant sergeant-at-arms at the Arizona State Senate he was anxious to get out of the limelight and return to the Pioneer’s Home in Prescott. At the time of his death in 1924, he shared with only a couple of other living men the distinction of being a witness to the formation of Arizona Territory.

Funeral services were held for Colonel Alfred Franklin Banta at Ruffner’s Chapel, Prescott, Arizona on Wednesday morning, June 22, 1924, at 10:30 a.m. The service was conducted by Dr. E. Lee Howard, a personal friend. Howard paid tribute to Arizona’s “Last Scout,” the earliest printer in Arizona Territory and recognized him as the dean of pioneer Arizona newspaper men.