In the 1920s, two
prospectors hiked into the area of Pope Springs to search for gold.In the middle of the night, a huge beast
killed and carried off their four hundred and fifty pound burro.The prospectors described the beast as a,
“large smelly, strange animal with a matted, coarse and tangled hair
coat.”The creature walked on its hind
legs and stood at least eight to ten feet in height.The prospectors claimed that the creature
“smelled like feces and urine” and was agile on its hindquarters.They testified that the creature weighed four
to eight hundred pounds.
The creature
described by the two prospectors closely matches descriptions of the Mogollon
Monster, Arizona’s answer to Big Foot.The Mogollon Monster is described as being over seven feet
tall, with inhuman strength, and large, wild and red eyes. Its body is covered
with long black or reddish brown hair, and it emits a strong odor described as
that of “dead fish.”The creature is territorial,
and sometimes very violent. The creature is also
said to decapitate deer and other wildlife prior to consuming them.
The earliest known documented
sighting of the Mogollon Monster was reported in a 1903 edition of The
Arizona Republican, in which I.W. Stevens described a creature seen near
the Grand Canyon as having, “long white hair and matted beard that
reached to his knees. It wore no clothing, and upon his talon-like fingers were
claws at least two inches long.” Upon further inspection he noted, “a coat of
gray hair nearly covered his body, with here and there a spot of dirty skin
showing.” He later stated that after he discovered the creature drinking the
blood of two cougars, it threatened him with a club, and “screamed the wildest,
most unearthly screech”.
An account from the mid-1940s by Don
Davis says, “The creature was huge. Its eyes were
deep set and hard to see, but they seemed expressionless. His face seemed
pretty much devoid of hair, but there seemed to be hair along the sides of his
face. His chest, shoulders, and arms were massive, especially the upper arms;
easily upwards of 6 inches in diameter, perhaps much, much more. I could see he
was pretty hairy, but didn't observe really how thick the body hair was. The
face/head was very square; square sides and squared up chin, like a box.”
The creature was
spotted a number of times between 1982 and 2004 near the Fort Apache Indian
Reservation.
The Phoenix Gazette on Monday, May 11, 1981,
announced, “Explorer Plans Capture of Big Foot.” C. Thomas Biscardi was making
an exploratory trip to the Superstition Mountains of Arizona to search for Big
Foot.His search turned up nothing
conclusive.
In 2007, there was a
Big Foot sighting in the Superstition Wilderness Area.A large upright animal spooked a rider and
pack horse near the head waters of Rough Canyon along the northern edge of
White Mountain.
Another set of monsters supposedly roaming the
Superstitions are the lizard men or reptilians.Are these creatures coming from UFOs or are they homegrown?No one can quite decide.Indian
legends speak of reptilian beings inhabiting the earth when their ancestors
roamed the west. There are numerous Native American petroglyphs throughout the
region that depict what appear to be upright, bipedal lizards.
The earliest documented sighting occurred on October
28th, 1878.On that date, the Louisville Courier-Journal ran a story
about a scaly “Wild Man of the Woods” that had been killed and was on display
for public view. The creature was described as being about six feet tall, with
large eyes, and covered with scales. The strange being was viewed by hundreds
of the curious.
Gold, Murder and Monsters in the Superstition
Mountains
Arizona’s Superstition Mountains are mysterious,
forbidding, and dangerous.The
Superstitions are said to have claimed over five hundred lives.What were these people looking for?Is it possible that these mountains hide a
vast treasure?Is it possible that UFOs
land here?Is it possible that in these
mountains there is a door leading to the great underground city of the Lizard
Men?Join us as we recount a fictional
story of the Superstitions and then look at the real history of the legends
that haunt these mountains in our new book:Gold, Murder and Monsters in the Superstition
Mountains.
The year 1931 saw one of the best known, best
publicized and most investigated deaths in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains,
the death of Adolph Ruth.Adolph Ruth was
a sixty-seven year old retired government employee and amateur treasure hunter. Adolph
Ruth’s story began not in the Superstition Mountains but in Mexico.His son Erwin, a veterinarian, who was a
cattle inspector in Mexico, helped eradicate the cattle tick problem plaguing
Mexican ranchers.He helped the Gonzales
family who were so grateful that they gave Erwin Ruth some old mining
maps.These maps had been in the
Gonzales family for many generations, and showed the exact location of a number
of gold mines in the United States.Erwin who had no interest in the maps passed them along to his father
Adolph.One of these maps showed the
location of an old mine in the Superstition Mountains.
Adolph
Ruth was familiar with the hardships of prospecting in the desert.He had previously looked for the Lost Peg Leg
Mine in California.In 1931, he came to
the Superstition Mountains to look for what he believed to be the Lost
Dutchman’s Mine.It should be noted that
Ruth was talkative.He showed his map to
any and all who were interested, and talked authoritatively about how HE was
about to find the Dutchman’s Mine.Ruth
hired guides and horses and was packed into the mountains around June 14 by two
cowboys.He set up camp at Willow
Springs in West Boulder Canyon.This was
the last time anyone saw Adolph Ruth alive.
After six days, the cowboys’ boss, Tex Barkley, went
looking for Ruth. Upon arriving at Ruth’s camp, Tex Barkley could tell that no
one had been there for at least a day and reported Ruth missing. A reward
was posted and search parties combed the mountain fruitlessly for the next
month.
In December, a skull with two holes in it was
discovered near the three Red Hills by an archaeological expedition. It was the
skull of Adolph Ruth.The story of Ruth’s death was
headlined by the Arizona Republic and
went national.Sensational
stories alleged that Ruth had been killed for his map.Ruth’s son, Erwin,
was convinced that his father had been murdered.
The rest of Ruth’s body
was found the next month, in a small tributary on the east slope of Black Top
Mesa. Ruth’s treasure notebook was also found at his original campsite.In this notebook, were written these cryptic
words, “Veni, Vedi, Vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”).Did Adolph Ruth discover the Dutchman’s mine?
Legend
tells of a fabulous mine in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. So alluring is
the prospect of unlimited wealth that it said that hundreds have died searching
for the lost mine.
The
entire story began in 1748 when the Peralta family began mining silver and
gold. According to family records this wealthy family operated eighteen silver
and gold mines in the Superstition Mountains. With the Mexican War of 1848, law
and order disintegrated in the area and the Apache Indians grew increasingly
hostile, attacking the miners almost continuously. Disaster finally overtook
the Peraltas in September 1848 with a general massacre by the Apaches.
Following this massacre the Apaches controlled the Superstition Mountains until
1865.
Jacob Walz (or Waltz),
the “Dutchman” enters the picture in 1871 with his partner Jacob Weiser.
The two immigrants purchased a map drawn by the original Peralta family and
located the mine “within an imaginary circle whose diameter is not more than
five miles and whose center is marked by the Weaver’s Needle.”
Weaver’s Needle was
known early on as “the finger of God”.Woven into the fabric of the Superstition Mountains, this prominent peak
was named in the 1850s for Pauline Weaver, a famous pioneer scout.
Join us as we recount a fictional story of the
Superstitions and then look at the real history of the legends that haunt these
mountains in our new book:Gold, Murder and Monsters in the Superstition
Mountains
Arizona’s Superstition Mountains are mysterious,
forbidding, and dangerous.The
Superstitions are said to have claimed over five hundred lives.What were these people looking for?Is it possible that these mountains hide a
vast treasure?Is it possible that UFOs
land here?Is it possible that in these
mountains there is a door leading to the great underground city of the Lizard
Men?Join us as we explore the history
of the:Legends of the Superstition Mountains.
Although the story of the Lost
Dutchman’s Mine is the best known of the treasure legends in the Superstitions,
there are others.One of these legends
involves the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), a
Roman Catholic order of priests founded by St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Francis
Xavier, and others in 1534, to do missionary work (and to act as the “shock
troops” of the Pope during the Counter-Reformation).
When the Spanish arrived in Arizona they set about
building missions.Most of these
missions were built near highly mineralized regions.When gold and silver were discovered, the
priests set converted Indians, both Pima and Papago, to working the rich
deposits.The precious metals were
stored in the missions in the form of gold and silver ingots (so the legend
says).The great Pima Revolt of 1751
temporarily drove the Jesuits out of the area.Missions were burned, and priests were killed.Fleeing priests decided to hide their gold
and silver in mines located deep in the surrounding mountains.The mines were then carefully concealed.Other treasures hoards were deposited in
caves.It is said that Jesuit missionaries
led two hundred and forty gold-laden mules across southern Arizona into the
barren mountains, stashing their riches somewhere among the bluffs, caves and
canyons of the Superstition Mountains.
A variation of this story says that the Jesuits did
not hide their treasure because of Indian revolts but because of the expulsion
of the Jesuits by the Spanish crown in 1767.The Jesuits were a rich order, accumulating wealth not only by mining
but by raising enormous herds of
cattle, horses, mules, burros, sheep and by raising crops.These commodities were sold to the miners and
settlers.The wealth of the Jesuits was
used for display to overawe Indian converts.Churches, so the thinking went, needed the allure and shining examples
of gold and silver to give testament to the magnificence and power of God.
The Jesuits were often as concerned with power and
politics as they were with piety, which lead to their expulsion in country
after county in Europe.Due to Jesuit involvement in rebellions in
Portugal, they were expelled from all of Portugal's lands around the world on July
6, 1758.Due to their political
intriguing, the Jesuits were expelled from France and its holding in November
1763.The Jesuits had reason to think
that they were likely to be expelled from Spain and the Spanish empire, so the
legend says, and took steps to hide their wealth.The Jesuit treasures were safely tucked away
somewhere near Weaver’s Needle in the Superstitions just in the nick of
time.The Jesuits were expelled from
Spain in 1767, and all of their property seized. Unfortunately, no one seems to
know exactly where the Jesuit treasures were tucked away.
Arizona’s Superstition Mountains are mysterious,
forbidding, and dangerous.The
Superstitions are said to have claimed over five hundred lives.What were these people looking for?Is it possible that these mountains hide a
vast treasure?Is it possible that UFOs
land here?Is it possible that in these
mountains there is a door leading to the great underground city of the Lizard
Men?Join Josh, a skeptical journalist,
as he explores the mysteries of the Superstition Mountains in our new fiction book
Death and Delusion in the Superstition
Mountains.
The Superstition Mountains of Arizona,
the Legend of the Lost Dutchman’s Mine, and the Peralta Stones are inextricably
linked. The entire story supposedly began in 1748 when the Peralta
family are said to have started mining silver and gold in the Superstition
Mountains. With the Mexican War of 1848, law and order disintegrated in the
area and the Apache Indians grew increasingly hostile, attacking the miners
almost continuously. It is said, that disaster finally overtook the Peralta
family in September 1848 with a general massacre by the Apaches. Following this
massacre the Apaches controlled the Superstition Mountains until 1865.Supposedly after the massacre of 1848 the Indians filled the
mine shafts and disguised the remains.
Jacob Waltz,
the “Dutchman” enters the picture in 1871 with his partner Jacob Weiser.
The two immigrants supposedly purchased a map drawn by the original Peralta
family and located the mine “within an imaginary circle whose diameter is not
more than five miles and whose center is marked by the Weaver’s Needle.”Weiser soon vanished...the victim of either,
Indians, desperados, or Waltz, depending on which story you want to believe.
The Dutchman continued working the mine, carrying the secret of its location to
the grave with him in 1891.
For over fifty years
after the death of the Waltz, treasure hunters followed the ambiguous clues that
the Dutchman left behind as to the whereabouts of the mine, such as these
helpful clues:
“No miner will find my mine. To find my mine you must
pass a cow barn. From my mine you can see the military trail, but from the
military trail you cannot see my mine. The rays of the setting sun shine into
the entrance of my mine. There is a trick in the trail to my mine. My mine is
located in a north-trending canyon. There is a rock face on the trail to my
mine.”
Something
significant changed in 1949 when the so called Peralta Stones were discovered
in the desert. A Mexican bracero (a
legal migrant laborer) was digging fence posts near Black Point, in Pinal
County, when he came across a large flat stone.He dug the stone out only to find that it was covered in strange
writing.He recognized a Spanish word,
Indian petroglyphs, and some Spanish markings.In all, the bracero dug
up three stones carved with writing and a crude map. The bracero hauled the curious stones into Florence
Junction, three miles away, where he washed them, and prepared to sell the
curious stones to any willing tourist who might come along. Robert G. Tumlinson (or Travis E. Tumlinson
depending on who is telling the story) of Portland, Oregon turned out to be
that tourist.The bracero pocketed the
equivalent of a week’s wages, and Tumlinson drove off with the stones.Tumlinson went on to Phoenix, to visit his
brother.The two brothers thoroughly
washed the rocks and examined them, determining that what they were looking at
was some kind of coded map.
There a number of variations on exactly
how, where, and by whom the Stones were discovered, but many “Dutch Hunters”
believe that the Stones refer to the location of the Lost Dutchman’s Mine and that they were carved by the
Peralta family.The Stones consist of two red sandstone tablets and a
heart-shaped rock made of red quartzite. Each red stone block is carved with
lines and one long line. When the two blocks are placed side by side and the
stone heart is inserted the long line has 18 dots pecked into it. This style of
map is known as a Post Road Map and it is a style used in Mexico and Spain
during the period of the Mexican-American War. Inscribed on one the stones is
the date 1847, and one stone contains a sunken relief of a heart, into which
the heart-shaped stone fits perfectly. The back of the stone that the
heart-shaped stone fits into has the outline of a cross carved into it.
Apparently, Tumlinson spent a number of years in the Superstition
Mountains trying to track down clues from the Stones.The Stones
emerged again in the early 1960s, after Tumlinson’s death.One
Clarence O. Mitchell persuaded Tumlinson’s
widow that he could
decipher the stone maps.Mitchell organized the M.O.E.L. Corp. in Nevada and began a stock
selling campaign among his friends and close associates to raise capital for
the treasure expedition.Mitchell raised more than $70,000 over a two-year period. Eventually
Mitchell ran into difficulties with the Securities and Exchange Commission for
over selling the number of shares the corporation had issued.The corporation was forced into bankruptcy.
In 1964, freelance
writer Richard B. Stolley sold a story about the stone maps to Life magazine.The article provided the first public
photographs of the Peralta Stones (although certain markings on the maps were
covered by black tape).These
photographs inflamed the nation’s imagination.
In 1967, Barry Storm,
the “Dean of American Treasure Hunters”, wrote an article for Treasure Hunters in an attempt to
decipher the Peralta Stone Maps. This article was followed by a variety of
other writers, photographers, film makers, and con men who have since used the
Peralta maps as a factual source for treasure hunting in the Superstition
Mountains.
So the real question is, “Are the
Peralta Stones real or fakes?”Do they
present genuine clues, or phony clues?For more than seventy years the Peralta Stones have been the
subject of heated controversy.Over this
time period those who’ve studied the maps have remained firmly and pretty
evenly divided into two separate camps: (1) those who believe, and (2) those
who do not believe. It does not appear that this will change anytime soon.
These are the stories of treasures great and small and
of those who hunt for them. The book includes the world's most famous treasure
cipher, sunken treasure ships, treasure caves, and tales of over fifty of the
most famous lost treasures of the globe. For all who dare to go in search of
golden opportunities and glittering prizes.
A lively history of the Civil War sprinkled with tales
of over 60 buried treasure in sixteen states. History buffs and adventure
seekers will enjoy this work.
Legend tells of a fabulous mine in
Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. So alluring is the prospect of unlimited
wealth that it said that hundreds have died searching for the lost mine.
The entire story began in 1748 when
the Peralta family began mining silver and gold. According to family records
this wealthy family operated eighteen silver and gold mines in the Superstition
Mountains. With the Mexican War of 1848, law and order disintegrated in the
area and the Apache Indians grew increasingly hostile, attacking the miners
almost continuously. Disaster finally overtook the Peraltas in September 1848
with a general massacre by the Apaches. Following this massacre the Apaches
controlled the Superstition Mountains until 1865.
Jacob Walz
(or Waltz), the “Dutchman” enters the picture in 1871 with his partner Jacob
Weiser. The two immigrants purchased a map drawn by the original Peralta
family and located the mine “within an imaginary circle whose diameter is not
more than five miles and whose center is marked by the Weaver’s Needle.”
Weiser soon
vanished...the victim of either, Indians, desperados, or Walz. The Dutchman
continued working the mine, carrying the secret of its location to the grave.It was 1891. 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 Walz 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 search for the mine. Armed with clues left by Walz on his deathbed,
Julia and two friends spent about four weeks searching the canyons and ravines
adjacent to Weavers Needle, and the west side of Bluff Spring Mountain.
The weather was so hot they spent the afternoon in the shade, and did their
searching in the mornings. After suffering in the heat, and lacking sufficient
water for their animals, the disappointed treasure hunters abandoned the
search. Julia then came up with a brilliant idea and began to produce
maps illustrating the exact location of the lost Dutchman mine.Although the maps were complete fabrications,
the treasure maps produced a nice income for Julia.There are more ways than one to find gold.
Video: Is There Gold in the Superstition Mountains?
Arizona’s Superstition Mountains are mysterious,
forbidding, and dangerous.The
Superstitions are said to have claimed over five hundred lives.What were these people looking for?Is it possible that these mountains hide a
vast treasure?Is it possible that UFOs
land here?Is it possible that in these
mountains there is a door leading to the great underground city of the Lizard
Men?Join us as we recount a fictional
story of the Superstitions and then look at the real history of the legends
that haunt these mountains in our new book:Gold, Murder and Monsters in the Superstition
Mountains.
As he seeks shelter from the unrelenting Arizona sun
at Apache Junction, local resident, Keith, says, “There is no gold in the
Superstition Mountains.Never has been.”Despite the skepticism of some, the lure of gold
has brought thousands to the Superstition Mountains for over a hundred years,
all in search of the Lost Dutchman Mine.
This, one of the most sought after treasures in
history, is still definitely in the lost column. Legend tells of a fabulous
mine in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. So alluring is the prospect of unlimited
wealth that it said that hundreds have died searching for the lost mine.Some of the dead were so close that they may
have been murdered, but treasure hunter Walt “AZ” Guenther tells a different story,
“They’re mostly easterners.Come out
here unprepared.No hats.Not enough water.”“AZ” dismisses stories of bushwacking, and
being a seasoned outdoorsman, laughs off other desert dangers like
rattlesnakes, scorpions, gila monsters, and mountain lions, “No, the big killer
out here is the sun…and not enough water.If somebody offers you water…you take it.”
"AZ"
The entire story began in 1748 when the Peralta family
began mining silver and gold. According to family records this wealthy family
operated eighteen silver and gold mines in the Superstition Mountains. With the
Mexican War of 1848, law and order disintegrated in the area and the Apache
Indians grew increasingly hostile, attacking the miners almost continuously.
Disaster finally overtook the Peraltas in September 1848 with a general massacre
by the Apaches. Following this massacre the Apaches controlled the Superstition
Mountains until 1865.
Stone map found in the desert.
Spanish armor found in the Superstition Mountains
Jacob Walz, the “Dutchman” enters the picture in 1871
with his partner Jacob Weiser.The two
immigrants purchased a map drawn by the original Peralta family and located the
mine “within an imaginary circle whose diameter is not more than five miles and
whose center is marked by the Weaver’s Needle.”
Weiser soon vanished...the victim of either, Indians,
desperados, or Walz. The Dutchman continued working the mine, carrying the
secret of its location to the grave with him in 1891.
Supposedly after the massacre of 1848 the Indians
filled the mine shafts and disguised the remains. That there are eighteen mines
once owned by the Peralta family in the Superstition Mountains is historical
fact; their richness is legendary; their location, still a mystery.
Looking out toward the ominous mountains, “AZ” says
knowingly, “Oh, yes.There is definitely
gold out there.”
The history of Virginia told through treasure tales about pirates,
Indians, Revolutionary War heroes and Civil War raiders. The full text of the
famous Beale Treasure cipher is included along with some sixty other
legends.
A lively history of the Civil War sprinkled with tales
of over 60 buried treasure in sixteen states. History buffs and adventure
seekers will enjoy this work.
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