Growing Spearmint in your backyard - by Ken Lafler .

Fall by Kenneth Lafler

Skull and Bones

Ken Lafler: The Curse of Tutankhamen, by Ken Lafler

Ken Lafler: The Curse of Tutankhamen, by Ken Lafler:         On November 22, 1922 in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, Sixteen cream colored steps were discovered. They lead to a tomb...

Ken Lafler: Andy Micheli - Guitar and Vocals - Artist Profile....

Ken Lafler: Andy Micheli - Guitar and Vocals - Artist Profile....:     Andy Micheli is one on the primier guitarists in the Inland Empire. Andy works with his band Road Works and also does instructional ...

Andy Micheli - Guitar and Vocals - Artist Profile. Photography by Ken Lafler

    Andy Micheli is one on the primier guitarists in the Inland Empire. Andy works with his band Road Works and also does instructional video's .  Chuck Henry is also one of the primier bassists. Both are vey close friends of mine and always a pleasure to go out and see them tear it up!.   Ken Lafler Artist Profiles.

Chimes House Part Two With Soundtrack

The Curse of Tutankhamen, by Kenneth Lafler

        On November 22, 1922 in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, sixteen cream colored steps were discovered. They lead to a tomb with the Royal seals still intact and the tomb unplundered. This was the Royal Tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen. This is considered the greatest Archaeological find in history. The Tomb was discovered by a man named Howard Carter who was an archeologist and his benefactor the fifth earl of Carnarvon, also known as Lord Carnarvon

.

   

       Lord Carnarvon had been a in serious automobile accident and had sustained severe damage to his lungs. Carnarvon's doctors recommended spending the winters in Egypt. He met Howard Carter while wintering in the desert. Carter was making his living painting historic sites for travelers at the time but was also considered an expert on Egyptology.

   

  The tomb was located in The Valley of the Kings. The valley had been explored for centuries and was considered devoid of any more artifacts. But Carter felt there was still one area that had not been excavated.

   

      Carnarvon after years of  searching  had decided to call off the endeavor. Carter was persistent and Carnarvon agreed to one more season. 

  

    On his trip back to Egypt on a ship from England, Carter brought with him a yellow canary in a cage. This bird would play a large part in  the rumors to follow.

  November 22, 1922 - Carter arrived at the dig to find it quiet. The workers had found something. Sixteen steps. At the end of them were the Royal Seals of Tutankhamen. The Seals were unbroken but showed signs of tampering. Carter wired Carnarvon and waited for his arrival. 

   

     When Carter opened the tomb, the lighting was dark at first, but as his eyes adjusted he couldn't believe what he saw. When Carnarvon ask what was in the tomb the only thing Carter could say was " Wonder Things". The tomb was filled with artifacts and everywhere gold. The  amount gold removed from this tomb was beyond belief.

         Tutankhamen was a relatively insignificant Pharaoh. He ascended the throne at about nine years of age and died at nineteen. The only reason he is known of at all was due to the archaeological find. Tutankhamen also died under mysterious circumstances.

    

     The find was international news and the workers at the dig named the site  "The Shrine of the Golden Bird" in honor of the canary which they felt brought them good luck. 

     However, several days after the discovery the bird was attacked and eaten by a Cobra. The Cobra and the Vulture are the symbols for upper and lower Egypt. The Pharaoh wore these on his crown.


 Now the workers said this was due to 

the curse of Tutankhamen for Carnarvon and Carter's desecrating the tomb.  Some of the tombs discovered in the past  had been "rigged" to keep out plunderers. There supposedly was an inscription in the tomb to the effect of  "Death shall fall swiftly on those who disturb  the Pharaohs  rest". 



     

     The team assembled the artifacts for removal from the site until.......Six months after the discovery,  Carnarvon was bitten by a mosquito and then cut himself while shaving and developed blood poisoning. He died shortly after. At the moment of his death all the lights in Cairo when out. This is strange because Cairo is on a four grid system. If one grid fails the other three  should stay online. 

Also at the exact time of his death in Egypt, Carnarvon's  dog, still in England stood up, howled and fell over dead.

        After this several others who enter the tomb also died, the workers were sure it was from the curse. Lord Westbury's son died  after entering the site and Westbury jumped from the seventh floor window  of  his apartment weeks later.  On the way to the cemetery the hearse ran over a young boy killing him.

   Most of the deaths were due to pneumonia. Some scientists feel this was due to a bacteria called Aspergilis. The Bacteria lives in area's such as tombs. It is an extremely lethal agent. Could this have been left here by the Egyptians in case of tomb plundering.

   One of the more interesting facts of the case was, the amount of treasure found was unbelievable, especially for a minor Pharaoh. The tomb of Ram es the second is a huge cavern. One can only imagine how many artifacts and  gold were buried here.

    With all the deaths on this find, one would think something was there.  

   Carter however suffered no ill effect and became quite wealthy giving lecture tours.

          By 
              Kenneth Lafler

Ken Lafler: The Orange Empire Railway Museum Photo...

Ken Lafler: The  Orange  Empire  Railway Museum


       Photo...: The  Orange  Empire  Railway Museum        Photography  by                  Kenneth  Lafler    ...

The Lost Dutchman Mine by Kenneth Lafler

     
   
      Located about forty miles from Phoenix, Arizona are the Superstition Mountians. They are home to one of the most well known legends of the South West, The Lost Dutchman Mine. Looking more like a medieval fortress, the mountains are mostly comprised of Basalt and Andesitic rock. This is not an area where one would look for gold.





   

    But gold has been found here since the 1860's in large quantities. The first recorded find was by a Doctor named Thorne. He had cured the local native American population of a severe eye disease and in reward he was lead blindfolded to a huge pile of gold. Thorne was financially independent for the rest of his life, but he still had not seen a mine. Just a large quantity of gold. 

     The next person associated with the mine was the "Dutchman". His name was Jacob Waltz and he was German not Dutch.  He appears to have come to the United States in the 1860's living in the Los Angeles area. He had been working a claim in the Azuza area for a time and later moving to the Presscot area near Flagstaff. He was working with his partner Jacob Weiser who also was German.



   

      At this point there are several versions as to what happened. On a trip to Arispe, Mexico Waltz and Weiser  had saved the life of one Don Miguel Peralta. Peralta had come from a wealhty land owning family with large mining interests in Arizona. In reward for saving his life, Peralta gave the two a set of maps. They lead to one of the richest mines in the world according to Peralta.

 

   Several members of the Peralta Family had been killed by the Apaches and  Don Miguel was terrified of going back to the mine. But if the mine had not been found , it should still be there. Peralta claimed the mine was in extremely rough country and very difficult to find.

       
     
    Waltz and  Weiser quickly made the trip back and headed directly for the Superstitions.
With some difficulty they managed to locate the mine. Waltz claimed that saying the mine was in "Rough Country" was an understatement. Waltz said that you could be right on top of the mine and not be able to see it. Waltz and Weiser worked the claim until one day, when waltz had to go into town for supplies, their camp was attacked by the Apache and  Weiser was tortured to death by them. After this Waltz only returned to the mine twice. 

    In 1891, the Salt River overflowed it's banks and the city of Phoenix was inundated. Waltz was caught in the flood and after being trapped in tree overnight, Waltz developed Pneumonia. Waltz had been living with a women named Julia Thomas, who owned an ice cream shop. Thomas tried to Nurse Waltz back to health but at 81 he was unable to recover and the pneumonia only got worse. 



   


     Waltz died in October 1891. On his death bed, he gave several clues as to the mines location to the two people present Julia Thomas and  young boy named Rienhard Petrash.   Entering the area in a spot called "First Water" and proceeding  on the old military trail , one had to look for a house in a cave, Also there were three red hills. If you passed these you had gone to far.



    


   Julia and Rienhard  searched for years for the mine but were unable to locate the site. Rienhard  commited suicided in 1943 and Julia died in absolute poverty in 1917. Both could be considered  two of the first victims in the search. There would be many others .



  

     At this point the story was more of a local legend until in 1931 a retired civil servant named Adolf Ruth went in search of the mine. Ruth had been given a set of maps from his son Irwin. In all there were supposedly were three. 



   

      Ruth had arrived in Arizona in the middle of June. This is one of the hottest months  of the year with the water holes dry. Ruth had also talked openly about about having the original maps in his pocession.




  

       Ruth hired two ranch hands at the Quater Cirle U Ranch to pack him in. Six months later his skull was discovered with a large caliber entery at close range , probably by a shot gun. At the coroners inquest the cause of death was ruled as suicide. The strange thing is the angle was almost impossible for one person to inflict.

   When Ruth's diary was found there was an inscription at the bottom of the last page, Vidi, Veni, Vinci. Ceasar's triumphant words - I came, I saw, I concured. Had Ruth actually been the first person in recent history to see the mine for himself?




  

     After this the story was nation news. Hundreds of persons came to Arizona to hunt the Dutchman. With this came it's share of violence. Persons hunting the Dutchman feel that they have a sole right to the mine and some are prepared to go to extreme lengths to protect thier find.
  

      In 1966  a private investigator named Glenn Magill was hired by a group of Denver Attorneys to search for the mine. Magill aquired the set of maps from Irwin Ruth,  Adolf Ruth's son, Magill after an exhaustive search felt the mine was located on Bluff Springs Mountain, a large wedge shaped area with shear cliffs in some places several thousand feet high. This is one of  the most inaccessable areas in the Supersitions.  Waltz had said the mine was in very rough country.   Magill felt this was a gross understatemnet. 


      By using the maps and the clues Waltz left,   Magill discoved a site that fit the Dutchman's disription exactly. 

      Other than Adolf Ruth,  Magill most likely came the closest to finding the mine. However after months of hard labor, Magill and his team  found the vein, or at least where it was. The mine had been played out. This means all the ore had been mined leaving a large shaft or in mining terminology a Stope. 

  Whille working the mine, Magill had quite a few strange experiences. When taking pictures of the site the film always came out blank. Magill even tried different time exposures and type's of film, all with the same results.

   Magill seached for the mine the rest of his life and died a broken man. 

    There is a legend of an apache curse gaurding the mine . When asked about this Magill refused to comment saying only the search had taken quite a few years off his life. He died in 1991.


   In 1984 the BLM made it illegal to prospect on federal land so even if the mine were discovered  the government would be entitled to it. 


  Still to this day, people still search for the Lost Dutchman.

   

 By 
            Kenneth Lafler
   

    

Growing Spearmint in your backyard - by Ken Lafler .

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The Lost Dutchman Mine. By Kenneth Lafler

Ken Lafler: The Titanic and the Olympic by Kenneth Lafler

Ken Lafler: The Titanic and the Olympic by Kenneth Lafler:     The Titanic has been a source of  fascination to the public since the headlines came out that the ship had been lost. How could a ...

Ken Lafler: The Santa Susanna Reactor Accident, Canoga Park, C...

Ken Lafler: The Santa Susanna Reactor Accident, Canoga Park, C...:      In the 1950's in the hills between the San Fernando Valley and  Simi Valley an experiment was being conducted. An experiment ...

Ken Lafler: John Luther "Casey Jones" by Ken Lafler

Ken Lafler: John Luther "Casey Jones" by Ken Lafler: Come all ya Rounders if you want to hear, the story about a great engineer. Casey Jones was the Rounders name on a ...

John Luther "Casey Jones" by Ken Lafler

"Come all ya Rounders if you want to hear, the story about a great engineer.

Casey Jones was the Rounders name on a four by eight wheeler is how he met his 

fame". The Station master called Casey at half passed four, kissed his wife at station door , and  I forget the rest...         The Ballad of Casey Jones.

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