On October 17, 2024, a rare privately owned copy of
the U.S. Constitution was sold at auction by Brunks Auctions of Asheville,
North Carolina for $9 million.The final
bid far outstripped the reserve price of $1 million.The bidding lasted seven minutes and bids
came in at $500,000 intervals.
This rare artifact is
one of the 100 official copies printed in 1787 that were sent to state leaders
for review before being formally adopted, and is among only eight copies known
to exist today, and is the only one still in private hands.The document was sold to an anonymous bidder.
The almost 237 year old
document was found inside a battered filing cabinet in a long neglected storage
room on a property in Edenton, North Carolina once owned by the state’s first
governor Samuel Johnston.Johnston was
governor from 1787 to 1789, and oversaw the state convention that ratified the
Constitution.Also found with the copy
of the Constitution was an original letter from George Washington asking for
ratification!
Gregory
Maguire's
1995 novel Wicked: The Life
and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West creates a backstory for Elphaba, the future
Wicked Witch of the West, and explores the world of The Wizard of Oz from
her perspective. Elphaba is modeled after Margaret Hamilton's portrayal in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz: green-skinned,
clad entirely in black and wearing a tall, peaked hat.
The
novel Wicked explains that the ruby slippers a pair of magical shoes which play
a pivotal role in The Wizard of Oz, were given to Nessarose, the future Wicked Witch of
the East, by her father. In the musical Wicked, it is Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who enchants the
shoes, giving her crippled sister Nessarose the ability to walk.
The ruby slippers worn by Dorothy, played by Judy Garland, in
the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz have achieved iconic stature and are among the
most valuable items of film memorabilia.
In L. Frank
Baum's original 1900 novel, The Wonderful
Wizard of Oz, Dorothy wears silver shoes but the color of the
shoes was changed to take advantage of the introduction of Technicolor to the
movies.
The wardrobe woman who worked on the
film claimed "six identical pairs" had been made. Four pairs used in
the movie have been accounted for. Is it
possible that the other two pair are tucked away in someone’s garage or attic?
Let’s look at the big four:
One pair
is on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.
Another
pair was initially owned by one Roberta Bauman who won them in a contest. In 1988, these shoes were sold at auction
to Anthony Landini for $150,000. Landini auctioned this pair of slippers, at
Christie's auction house in 2000, for $666,000. They now belong to a collector
who owns memorabilia shops in Hollywood.
A
third pair were the highlight of the 2011 “Icons of Hollywood auction”. They were offered with a starting reserve price of two million
dollars, but did not sell. Leonardo DiCaprio,Steven Spielberg, and other benefactors
made it possible for the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to acquire the pair for an
undisclosed price in February 2012 for the Academy’s new Museum in Los Angeles.
Michael Shaw acquired the fourth pair in
1970. These were stolen from an exhibit at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand
Rapids, Minnesota, in August, 2005. On
September 4, 2018, the FBI announced the stolen pair had been recovered after
13 years. Five year later, one Terry
Martin was indicted for the crime and pleaded guilty, saying that he thought
the slippers were made from real rubies because they were insured for one
million dollars.
Another iconic piece of Oz memorabilia,
the Wicked Witch’s hat from the 1939 movie, has recently come up for auction
with a whopping price tag of $140,000.
Major General William Elphinstone is considered by some
military historians to be “the most
incompetent soldier who ever became a general”, possessed of “the
leadership qualities of a sheep.”Elphinstone’s road to disaster, however, was well paved and made broad
by others.
In 1838, Afghanistan
was a buffer state between British India and
the expanding Russian Empire. Energized
by real or imagined Russian plots in the country, the British rallied support behind
a prince favorable to British interests, marched into the country, and after a
short campaign installed a puppet king in Kabul
on August 6, 1839.
Many in British India now
felt that the mission had been accomplished.
It was time to bring the troops home.
Most of the victorious army marched home, but a permanent British
garrison was established in Kabul
to prop up the new regime. It needed
propping up. The British had replaced a
relatively popular ruler with a weak puppet. Scattered fighting erupted in the
surrounding countryside.
Increasingly frustrated with the costs of maintaining a
large garrison in Kabul, the British government eliminated the subsidies being
paid to the various tribes in the area around Kabul to keep the peace. Once the
subsidies ended, hostile activity increased even more.
Into this rapidly
deteriorating situation stepped Major General William Elphinstone, who
was assured by all, “You will have nothing to do here; all is peace.”
When Elphinstone arrived in Kabul his command consisted of
some 4,500 troops (British troops and Indian sepoys). Additionally, there were 12,000 army
dependents such as wives, children, and servants, living in the British
cantonment just outside of Kabul.
The military situation on the ground when Elphinstone
arrived was a tragedy waiting to happen.
The British had abandoned the city’s fortified citadel, the Bala Hissar,
to the puppet king and built the British cantonment some 1.5 miles outside of
the city in a low area surrounded by Afghan forts occupying the high
ground. These forts had been neither occupied
nor destroyed.
The cantonment itself was indefensible. According to
contemporary witnesses there had been, “a pretense of rendering the cantonments
defensible by surrounding the great parallelogram with the caricature of an
obstacle in the shape of a shallow ditch and feeble earthwork over which an
active cow could scramble.”
Elphinstone now nearly sixty was racked by gout and
rheumatism. He was soon unable to mount his horse un-aided. He was incapable of
reaching clear cut decisions and vacillated depending on the opinion of the
latest person with whom he spoke. One
officer wrote, that Elphinstone was “fit only for the invalid establishment on
the day of his arrival.”
On 2 November 1841 a revolt broke out in Kabul. A mob of insurgents stormed the house of one
of the senior British civilian officers and murdered him and his staff. Elphinstone took no action, which encouraged
the insurgents to press the British further.
The Afghans next stormed the poorly defended supply fort where the
British garrison’s provisions were housed.
After furious fighting around the small fort and repeated
calls for help, Elphinstone finally realized that he should do something. The relief force was surprised, however, to
find the survivors of the supply fort, having abandoned all hope of relief,
making a hasty retreat toward the cantonment.
Elphinstone’s inaction had resulted in the loss of most of the army’s
food and supplies.
A council of war proposed, as the winter was coming on,
either to retreat to the British stronghold of Jalalabad some ninety miles
away, or to move to the Bala Hissar, Kabul’s strong bastion. Elphinstone overruled the move to the Bala
Hissar and settled on retreat.
On the Afghan promise of a safe retreat, Elphinstone
capitulated on January 1, 1842, handing over the army’s gunpowder reserves,
most of the cannon, and all of the newest muskets.
The troops and twelve thousand civilians began the march to
Jalalabad on January 6. The sick and
wounded were left behind with a guarantee of their safety. They were murdered as soon as the last of
Elphinstone’s soldiers left the cantonment.
The retreat of
the column was an unmitigated horror.
Weather conditions were extreme, and the column was continually harassed
by the fire of Afghan tribesmen. The
first night, the column halted six miles from the city. The road was already strewn with the dead and
dying.
By the evening of January 9, some 3,000 of Elphinstone's
column had died due to enemy action, the freezing weather, or even
suicide. Elphinstone had ceased giving
any orders.
On the evening of January 11th, the wives of the British
officers accepted being taken hostage by the Afghans who anticipated a large
ransom for their release. The wives and
children of the Indian troops were all to die since they would not bring a
ransom.
Elphinstone and his
second in command also allowed themselves to become hostages, while the column
struggled on against certain death.
Elphinstone died of dysentery on April 23, 1842, while in captivity.
Only one British officer managed to reach Jalalabad.On 13 January, Assistant Surgeon William
Brydonrode through the gates of Jalalabad on an exhausted horse. Part of his
skull was sheared off by a sword.When
asked what happened to the army, he answered “I am the army.”
Shortly before his murder in 1890, Sitting Bull said
to his biographer:
“When I was a boy, the Sioux owned the world.The sun rose and set on their land; they sent
ten thousand men to battle.Where are
the warriors today?Who slew them?Where are our lands?Who owns them? …. Is it wrong for me to love
my own?Is it wicked for me because my
skin is red?Because I am Sioux.Because I was born where my fathers
lived?Because I would die for my people
and my country?I wish it to be
remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle.”
James Barroll Washington was born in
Baltinore, Maryland in 1839.His father,
Colonel Lewis Washignton was a grandson of General George Washington’s brother,
John Augustine Washington.James entered
West Point in 1859 and was a classmate of George Armstrong Custer.
When the Civil War broke out, young
Washington left West Point and joined the staff of Confederate General Joseph
E. Johnston.On May 21, 1862 at the
Battle of Seven Pines, while delivering orders from General Johnston to General
Longstreet, Lieutenant Washington was
captured by a company under the command of Captain George Armstrong
Custer.Custer took the opportunity to
have a picture taken with his old classmate before sending him the rear as a
prisoner of war.Washington was
subsequently exchanged and continued to serve in the Confederate army until the
end of the war.
“I went over
the battlefield carefully with a view to determine how the fight was
fought. I arrived at the conclusion I
have right now-that it was a rout, a panic, till the last man was killed; that
there was no line formed.
“There was no line on the battlefield.You can take a handful of corn and scatter it
over a floor and make just such lines.There were none. The only approach to a line was where five or six
horses were found equal distances like skirmishers.Ahead of them were five or six men about the
same distances….That was the only approach to a line on the field. (This was on
Calhoun Hill).
“There were more than twenty killed there to the
right; there were four or more all within a space of twenty to thirty
yards.That was the condition all over
the field.Only where General Custer was
found was there any evidence of a stand.
“ I counted seventy dead horses and two Indian
ponies.I think, in all probability,
that the men turned their horses loose without any orders to do so.Many orders might have been given, but few
obeyed.I think they were panic stricken;
it was a rout….”
“The battalion
organization was made after we had marched about four hours. I think at the first halt an orderly came to
me with instructions for the officers to assemble. General Custer told us that he had just come
down from the mountain; that he had been told by the scouts that they could see
a village, ponies, tepees and smoke. He
gave it to us as his belief that there were no Indians there; that he had
looked through the glasses and could not see any, and did not think there were
any there.
“Now, in 1875, I had a
very similar experience with Indians in Dakota, and as the statements of the
Indians then were absolutely confirmed by what was afterward proved, I was
strong in the belief that the Crow Indians only reported what was shown them by their superior keenness
of vision, and that the hostile village was where they located it; but as no
opinions were asked for, none were given.”
On June 25, 1876, at theBattle of the Little Bighorn, five
companies of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry, under the direct command of George
Armstrong Custer were wiped out.
Many artifacts initially lost on the
battlefield were to have a strange after life.Take for example, the engraved pocket watch of George Armstrong
Custer.There are at least two stories
regarding the odyssey of the watch.
In Son of the Morning Star, historian Evan S. Connel relates that in
1906 a Montana saloon keeper bought the watch from a Sioux Indian.The watch waslost in a dice game, exhibited in a
travelling show, and finally turned up in California before being purchased for
the Don and Stella Foote Collection in Billings, Montana. The Foote’s
would eventually offer their Treasures of the West collection to the city of
Billings, which rejected the gift because the city did not want to pay to have
the collection insured.The collection
was sold off and the whereabouts of Custer’s watch is now unknown.
In his book, The
Law Marches West, a Canadian Mountie named Cecil Denny claimed that he
retrieved the watch from Sitting Bull and sent it to Libbie Custer.
Custer’s final message to Captain Benteen to “Come quick,
bring packs”, written down by Adjutant Cooke went missing for decades.
In the 1920’s one of Custer’s early biographers, William
Graham tried to locate the missing document, only to be told by Benteen’s son
thatall his father's papers had been destroyed when their
house had burned down many years before.This turned out to by incorrect.
Captain Benteen had given the famous
message to an army officer friend, Captain Price. The message finally came to
rest in the hands of a New Jersey collector for fifty years, before being put
up for auction.By a happy circumstance Colonel Charles Francis Bates learned of the
existence of the message and secured it for the museum at West Point, where it
resides today.
The medals of Captain Miles Keogh tell an
interesting story. The senior captain among the five companies wiped out with
Custer, Keogh's body was found at the center of a group of troopers that
included his two sergeants, company trumpeter and guidon bearer.
Keogh was
stripped but not mutilated, perhaps because of the "medicine" the
Indians saw in two Papal medals he wore on a chain around his neck. Vatican records confirm these two medals were
given to Keogh during The Papal War of 1860.
Captain Benteen secured the medals which were
sent to Keogh’s sister in Ireland.They
remained in the family until 1988 when they passed into the hands of a well-known
collector.The medals were recently
auctioned off for $35,000.
2nd Lt.
John James Crittenden of Kentucky received a gold watch from his father on his
twenty first birthday.Crittenden was 22
years old when he died at Little Big Horn. His body was identified because of
his glass eye.
His watch
was missing.In 1880, E.F. Gigot was
working in a Canadian trading post when a trapper came in with furs, blankets,
and a watch.Gigot bought the watch of
$2.This was a gentleman’s watch and
Gigot began to research.He wrote to the
watchmaker in London, providing the serial number.The watchmaker confirmed that the watch had
been sold to a man named Crittenden.Gigot wrote to the U.S. Army which confirmed that the watch belonged to
2nd Lt. John James Crittenden.The watch
was returned to the family, which loaned the artifact to the Kentucky Historical
Society in 1949 where it remains to this day.
In the early days of the American Civil
War, George Armstrong Custer wore his hair long, and wore a braided black
velvet jacket and a flaming red necktie.When a female friend asked Custer why he had dressed in such a fantastic
manner he replied:
"I was but a boy, just from West
Point and I felt young and insignificant. There were men in my brigade old
enough to be my father. I wished them to know and recognize me at once from any
part of the battlefield. I chose a uniform that would catch their attention and
individualize me."
On June 25, 1876, at theBattle of the Little Bighorn, five companies of the U.S. Seventh
Cavalry, under the direct command of George Armstrong Custer were wiped
out.
White Wolf, who was in the fight, said that afterwards a
lot of young men searched the soldiers’ pockets. That square green paper money
was in them. Later when the children were making toy mud horses, they used the
money for miniature saddle blankets. Silver money was also found from which the
Cheyennes made silver buckles.
Other warriors including Wooden Leg, Little Hawk and Bobtail Horse found bottles of whiskey on
dead troopers.
On June 27, 1876 the cavalry
discovered the remains.
Lieutenant E.S. Godfrey reported
The marble white bodies, the
somber brown of the dead horses and the dead ponies scattered all over the
field, but thickest on and near Custer Hill, and the scattering tufts of
reddish brown grass on the almost ashy white soil depicts a scene of loneliness
and desolation that "bows down the heart in sorrow." I can never
forget the sight:
Captain Tom
Custer was found near the top of
the hill, north, and a few yards from the General, lying on his face; his
features were so pressed out of shape as to be almost beyond recognition; a
number of arrows had been shot in his back, several in his head, one I remember,
without the shaft, the head bent so that it could hardly be withdrawn; his
skull was crushed and nearly all the hair scalped, except a very little on the
nape of the neck.
General Custer was not mutilated at all;
he laid on his back, his upper arms on the ground, the hands folded or so
placed as to cross the body above the stomach; his position was natural and one
that we had seen hundreds of times while taking cat naps during halts on the
march. One hit was in the front of the left temple, and one in the left breast
at or near the heart.
Boston, the youngest Custer brother was
found about two hundred yards from "Custer Hill." The body was stripped except his white cotton
socks and they had the name cut off.
Occasionally,
there was a body with a bloody undershirt or trousers or socks, but the name
was invariably cut out. The naked mutilated bodies, with their bloody fatal
wounds, were nearly unrecognizable, and presented a scene of sickening, ghastly
horror! There were perhaps, a half dozen spades and shovels, as many axes, a
couple of picks, and a few hatchets in the whole command; with these and knives
and tin cups we went over the field and gave the bodies, where they lay, a scant
covering of mother earth and left them, in that vast wilderness, hundreds of
miles from civilization, friends and homes, to the wolves!"
Trumpeter
Giussepi Martini saw a
heap of dead men in a deep gully between Custer and the river. Martini said that one of the first
sergeants with whom some of the men had left their pay for safe keeping had
about $500 in paper money torn up and scattered all over his body.He also reported that one of Adjutant Cooke’s
sideburn was scalped off, skin and all.
Seventh Cavalry scout George Herendeen added, "The heads of four white soldierswere found in the Sioux camp that had been severed from
their trunks, but the bodies could not be found on the battlefield or in the
village."
Lieutenant Charles Roe of the Second Cavalry, said, "we found in
the Indian villagea
white man's headwith a lariat
tied to it, which had been dragged around the village until the head was pulled
off the body."
Survivor Jacob Adams recalled,
"troopers were lassooed from their horses and dragged to the center of the
village, where they were
tied to trees and burned to death that night within sight of
their comrades of Benteen's division, who were helpless
to rescue them. After the battle, John
Ryan said, "we found what appeared to be human bones, and
parts of blue uniforms, where the men had been tied to stakes and trees."
Of the fiveguidons carried by Custer's troops at
the “Last Stand” only one was immediately recovered, concealed under the body
of a dead trooper. That trooper was Corporal John Foley, who was trying
to escape on horseback. Foley was pursued by Indians and shot himself in
the head before he was overtaken. The recovered flag later became known as the
Culbertson Guidon, after the member of the burial party who recovered it,
Sergeant Ferdinand Culbertson.
The Culbertson Guidon
was sold by Sotheby’s auction house to a private collector in 2010 for $2.2
million.
Soon
commenced the rattle of rifle fire, and bullets began to whistle about us. I
remember that I ducked my head and tried to dodge bullets which I could hear
whizzing through the air. This was my first experience under fire. I know that
for a time I was frightened, and far more so when I got my first glimpse of the
Indians riding about in all directions, firing at us and yelling and whooping
like incarnate fiends, all seemingly as naked as the day they were born, and
painted from head to foot in the most hideous manner imaginable.
We were soon across the stream,
through a strip of timber and out into the open, where our captain ordered us
to dismount and prepare to fight on foot. Number Fours were ordered to hold the
horses, while Numbers One, Two and Three started for the firing line.
Our horses were scenting danger before we dismounted, and several at this
point became unmanageable and started straight for the open among the Indians,
carrying their helpless riders with them. One of the boys, a young fellow
named Smith, of Boston, we never saw again, either dead or alive.
In forming the firing
line we deployed to the left. By this time the Indians were coming in closer
and in increasing numbers, circling about and raising such a dust that a great
many of them had a chance to get in our rear under cover of it -- where we
found them on our retreat!
It was on this line that I saw the first
one of my own company comrades fall. This was Sergeant O'Hara. Then I observed another, and yet another. Strange
to say, I had recovered from my first fright, and had no further thought of
fear, although conscious that I was in great peril and standing a mighty good
chance of never getting out of it alive.
The Indians
were now increasing in such hordes and pouring such a hot fire into our small
command, that it was getting to be a decidedly unhealthy neighborhood for Reno's
command. In a short time word came to retreat back to the horses in the timber.
We got back there about as quickly as we knew how. In this excitement, some of
the horseholders released their animals before the riders arrived, and
consequently they were "placed afoot" which made it exceedingly
critical for them. It was said that before Reno gave the order to
mount and retreat, he rode up to Capt. French and shouted,
"Well, Tom, what do you think of this?" Capt. French replied,
"I think we had better get out of here." Reno thereupon gave
the order, although I did not hear it. Neither did I hear any bugle calls or other orders or
commands of any sort. I could hear nothing but the continual roar of Indian
rifles and the sharp, resonant bang-bang of cavalry carbines, mingled with the
whoops of the savages and the shouts ' of my comrades.
Charles A. Mills is an author and historian with a passion for uncovering hidden stories from the past. He has written several books related to the history of Northern Virginia and its intriguing legends and lore. Some of his works are:
“Virginia Legends & Lore”: In this book, Mills delves into the fascinating tales that have been passed down through generations in Virginia. These legends include stories about the “wild Spanish ponies” of Chincoteague, General Braddock’s lost gold, the Mount Vernon Monster, and even the Richmond Vampire. The book also covers historical figures like Revolutionary War heroes and Annandale’s Bunny Man. Mills weaves together secret societies, hidden knowledge, and cosmic mysteries, providing readers with an engaging journey through Virginia’s rich folklore.1
“Hidden History of Northern Virginia”: Another work by Charles A. Mills, this book uncovers lesser-known aspects of the region’s history. From forgotten events to intriguing characters, Mills sheds light on the hidden stories that have shaped Northern Virginia over time.
“Historic Cemeteries of Northern Virginia”: Mills explores the final resting places of Northern Virginia in this book. He delves into the history, architecture, and stories behind various cemeteries, revealing the lives of those buried there. The book provides a unique perspective on the region’s past.2
“Treasure Legends of the Civil War”: Mills has also written about treasure legends associated with the American Civil War. These tales involve hidden caches of gold, silver, and other valuables, often intertwined with historical events and mysteries.
“Virginia Time Travel”: Beyond his books, Mills is the producer and cohost of the cable television show “Virginia Time Travel.” The show reaches approximately 2 million viewers in Northern Virginia, making history accessible and engaging for a wide audience.3
Charles A. Mills’s dedication to uncovering hidden gems from the past has made him a valuable contributor to the understanding of Virginia’s history and folklore. His works invite readers to explore the mysteries and legends that continue to captivate our imaginations.4
Apache tears are
rounded pebbles of obsidian found in Arizona.The name "Apache tear" comes from a legend of the Apache tribe.
In
1872, a band of raiding Apache horsemen were ambushed by a United States
Cavalry force from Picket Post Mountain.This small band of Pinal Apaches lived high
atop a mountain then known as Big Picacho.The outnumbered Apaches were caught off guard
in a dawn attack. Seventy five Apache warriors were killed in the initial
attack, while the remaining Apache warriors rode off the side of the mountain,
now known as “Apache Leap,” rather than surrender.
Relatives of those who died gathered a short distance
from the base of the cliff and mourned their loved ones. Legend says their
sadness was so great that their tears were imbedded into black obsidian stones.
When held to the light, they are said to reveal the translucent tear of the
Apache. Found in great abundance near Superior, just a short distance from
historic Apache Leap, the Apache Tears are said to bring good luck to anyone
who has them in their possession.
The sadness of the families was so great, that the
Great Spirit turned their tears into black stones so that the warriors would
never be forgotten.Legend says that
whoever owns an Apache tear will never cry again, for the Apache women have
shed their tears in place of yours.
Sorting out fact from
fiction is the great challenge for anyone interested in searching for the Lost
Dutchman’s Mine.
There was a Jacob Waltz, “the
Dutchman.”Waltz was born in Germany
around 1810, and immigrated to America in 1839.Waltz arrived in New York City, but quickly made his way to goldfields
in North Carolina and Georgia.
Waltz did not strike
it rich in either North Carolina or Georgia, but he learned a valuable lesson,
that he had to be a citizen of the United States in order to stake a
claim.Waltz filed a letter of intent to
become a citizen on November 12, 1848.
Gold was discovered
in the newly annexed territory of California in 1849. The California fields
eclipsed the gold fields of the East, and Waltz, like every other prospector,
headed west.
Waltz worked as a
miner in California for eleven years. On July 19, 1861, in the Los Angeles
County Courthouse, Jacob Waltz became a naturalized citizen of the United
States.
Waltz left California
in 1863, with a group of prospectors bound for the Bradshaw Mountains of the
Arizona Territory. Waltz’s name appears on a mining claim filed in Prescott,
Arizona Territory, on September 21, 1863.
Waltz moved to the
Salt River Valley (an area near Phoenix and the Superstition Mountains) in
1868.
It was now that Waltz
began his trips into the mountains surrounding the Salt River Valley.Did Waltz discover a rich gold mine or cache
on one of these prospecting trips? Witnesses who knew Waltz, say Waltz prospected
every winter between 1868 -1886. Waltz died in Phoenix, Arizona Territory, on
October 25, 1891, in the home of Julia Thomas. Waltz gave Julia Thomas clues to
the location of a mine on his deathbed.Waltz is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery, in downtown
Phoenix.
Jacob
Waltz, the “Dutchman,” was dead. But the clues he left as to the location
of his mine remained alive in the dreams of Julia Thomas. Julia had looked
after Waltz before he died, and was the first of a long line of hunters
for the Lost Dutchman’s Mine.Julia sold all of her worldly possessions to
finance a fruitless search for the mine.
Many historians
believe that Julia Thomas gave an interview to Pierpont C. Bicknell, a
freelance newspaper writer and prospector, shortly after her return from the
Superstition Mountains in September of 1892.
It is with the coming
of Pierpont C. Bicknell that things become murky.Prior to Bicknell’s arrival, there was little
public mention of the Lost Dutchman’s Mine.
On November 17th, 1894, an article
by Pierpont C. Bicknell describing a lost gold mine offering unlimited riches was published in the (Phoenix) Saturday Review. Bicknell wrote during
the age of “yellow journalism” when newspapers reveled in stories based on sensationalism and crude
exaggeration.Bicknell did not
disappoint.
Bicknell whetted the
appetite of the would-be treasure hunters and made the search seem relatively
simple.He wrote, “The district designated is not extensive. It lies
within an imaginary circle whose diameter is not more than five miles and whose
center is marked by the Weaver's
Needle, a prominent and fantastic volcanic
pinnacle that rises to a height of 2500 feet.
The legend of the
Lost Dutchman’s Mine might have withered into insignificance had it not been
for the mysterious death of Adolph Ruth, an amateur treasure hunter, in the
summer of 1931.
The same year, a group of folklore-loving
boosters founded the “Dons of Arizona” to promote the colorful folklore of the
state, including the Legend of the Lost Dutchman’s Mine.In 1945, Barry Storm published Thunder God’s Gold, which was made into
a major motion picture Lust for Gold
in 1948, starring Glenn Ford as Jacob Waltz.In 1949, the Peralta Stones were unearthed, giving a further boost to
the legend.In 1964, Life magazine did a spread on the
Peralta Stones, giving yet further credence
to the legend.
Whether true or not, the Lost Dutchman's Mine is the most
famous treasure legend in American history. The Lost Dutchman's story
has been written about at least six times more often than the story
of Captain Kidd's famous lost treasure.According to one estimate, eight thousand people annually make some
effort, however half-hearted, to locate the Lost Dutchman's Mine.
For over fifty years after the death of Jacob Waltz, treasure hunters followed the ambiguous clues that the Dutchman left behind as to the whereabouts of his mine. Something significant changed in 1949 when the so-called Peralta Stones were discovered in the desert.
Over six hundred people have lost their lives
in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona, some under very mysterious
circumstances. In 1892, Charles Dobie became the last known death
caused by an Apache in the Superstitions.
I stress the words “last known” because of the legend of the “Black
Legion,”a secret group of militant Native Americans, which supposedly did and does
protect the sacred burial grounds in the mountains.
Posts
_(14803001693)_Discovering_the_remains_of_Lieutenant_Kidder_and_ten_of_his_men_(cropped).jpg)
