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.
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
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