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Treasure Map
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.
