What do you consider to be the best book on the LDM?

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Steamboat

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Feb 20, 2018
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Has the Walter Gassler manuscript been printed? How does one get a copy?
 

Matthew Roberts

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Apr 27, 2013
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Has the Walter Gassler manuscript been printed? How does one get a copy?

Walters manuscript has been in print for many years and at one time the Superstition Mountain Museum at Apache Junction sold copies. I don't know if they still have it for sale but the Museum archives has a copy.
 

Old Bookaroo

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Dec 4, 2008
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It's hard to beat Tales of the Superstitions; The Origins of the Lost Dutchman Legend by Robert Blair (Tempe, AZ: 1975). It is thoroughly researched - although he couldn't find the very important P.C. Bicknell article (San Francisco Chronicle, January 13, 1895). I didn't know Adolph Ruth looked for Peg-Leg Smith's nuggets before he began his search for Jacob Waltz' gold.

I remain partial to the pamphlet Barney Barnard put his name on, because it is the first book on the LDM I ever owned (purchased from Bob Nesmith's late, great Foul Anchor Archives). I haven't counted them in some time, but it wouldn't surprise me if I owned forty or so books on the subject.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo
 

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wrmickel1

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No, the best book to the Dutchman’s Mine is not a book at all.
Its in the head of Clay Worst most likely in a manuscript for his children/Grandchildren.

I do believe he knows enough to connect the dots.

Babymick1
 

azdave35

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Dec 19, 2008
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No, the best book to the Dutchman’s Mine is not a book at all.
Its in the head of Clay Worst most likely in a manuscript for his children/Grandchildren.

I do believe he knows enough to connect the dots.

Babymick1
i believe clay only has a daughter and she has no interest in the ldm
 

Mescalero1

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Jun 26, 2020
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I have read a lot of books about the LDM but the one that fascinated me the most, I can't remember the name nor the authors name. I have misplaced the book, so when I find it, I will post the cover. I know the book drew a lot of feedback, both good and bad. He had started writing an article in Desert USA about his work and ended up writing the book. I have an autographed book by him. And I think he came back as Mr. X as a lot of what Mr. X said was the same thing the other guy was saying. One of the replies to his post was some guy saying he found the mine with some friends and they were taking gold out now and then. A few years back, I had gone online looking for the publishing company which doesn't exist any more and all traces of him are gone. The Mr. X guy, which I am sure was him, has apparently passed away. When I find the book, I will post the cover. It is a very interesting read. You can go on Desert USA and they still have his article active and they have saved all the responses to his article there.
 

Old Bookaroo

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Dec 4, 2008
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Mescalero1:

Which article are you referring to?

Please let us know.

Thank you!

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo
 

azdave35

Silver Member
Dec 19, 2008
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I have read a lot of books about the LDM but the one that fascinated me the most, I can't remember the name nor the authors name. I have misplaced the book, so when I find it, I will post the cover. I know the book drew a lot of feedback, both good and bad. He had started writing an article in Desert USA about his work and ended up writing the book. I have an autographed book by him. And I think he came back as Mr. X as a lot of what Mr. X said was the same thing the other guy was saying. One of the replies to his post was some guy saying he found the mine with some friends and they were taking gold out now and then. A few years back, I had gone online looking for the publishing company which doesn't exist any more and all traces of him are gone. The Mr. X guy, which I am sure was him, has apparently passed away. When I find the book, I will post the cover. It is a very interesting read. You can go on Desert USA and they still have his article active and they have saved all the responses to his article there.
jim hatt maybe?
 

Mescalero1

Greenie
Jun 26, 2020
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San Fernando Valley
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OK guys, found the book. It was by Johnn Victor Ramses. The book was titled "Quest For Peralta Gold A Hidden History of Red Mountain". It is a great read. Most of the LDM books seem to hash over the same clues but he did a lot of research and actually shows pics of landmarks as he found them. He also talked about the Church Treasure up there that is supposed to contain a full sized golden pony. Sounds a lot more interesting that the LDM! The book is out of print but there are copies available for sale online.


9780646396521-us.jpg
 

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Mescalero1

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Jun 26, 2020
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San Fernando Valley
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And, like I had mentioned before, his article in Desert USA disappeared, but this guy named Mr X. showed up talking about a lot of the same things and at some point, since I had read his book a few times, I was convinced it was him not wanting to use his name. The Mr. X article is still there to read but the book is a great book.
 

azdave35

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Dec 19, 2008
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OK guys, found the book. It was by Johnn Victor Ramses. The book was titled "Quest For Peralta Gold A Hidden History of Red Mountain". It is a great read. Most of the LDM books seem to hash over the same clues but he did a lot of research and actually shows pics of landmarks as he found them. He also talked about the Church Treasure up there that is supposed to contain a full sized golden pony. Sounds a lot more interesting that the LDM! The book is out of print but there are copies available for sale online.


View attachment 1924595
he thought the ldm was on red mountain by granite reef dam....he ended up going to prison for something or another..he is the reason the indians closed off the red mountain area
 

azdave35

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Dec 19, 2008
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Dave,

Google John Victor Ramses UT1351094
i knew he got into trouble but wasn't sure what it was...i know the indians were pissed at him for writing that b.s. book...all it did was flood the red mountain area with knotheads looking for gold..the indians finally shut the area off
 

Mescalero1

Greenie
Jun 26, 2020
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San Fernando Valley
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i knew he got into trouble but wasn't sure what it was...i know the indians were pissed at him for writing that b.s. book...all it did was flood the red mountain area with knotheads looking for gold..the indians finally shut the area off


Like I had mentioned, there were a lot of mixed feelings about the book. Now you say the book is BS Dave, but how do you know? No one has found the mine yet. To me, all the books I have read over the years on the subject are conjecture. They all point to about the same places but no one has found it. This shed a new light on areas not considered, or maybe not explored (or maybe they have been). And it seems like most of the popular clues aren't leading to the mine but the church treasure. Kesselrings explorations and ground surveys pointed out to finding different areas but the one he was sure about wasn't the LDM, it was the church treasure. He pointed to one area that he said maybe was the LDM. That was the area located at 33°28'54.53"N 111°22'0.46"W. But, even with all of his work, the only thing he was sure about was that he found the church treasure. And I am really surprised that all of the locations he provided haven't been clandestinely dug up.

Anyway, for me the book was a good read, regardless of what Ramses did in his personal time.
 

azdave35

Silver Member
Dec 19, 2008
3,606
8,104
Like I had mentioned, there were a lot of mixed feelings about the book. Now you say the book is BS Dave, but how do you know? No one has found the mine yet. To me, all the books I have read over the years on the subject are conjecture. They all point to about the same places but no one has found it. This shed a new light on areas not considered, or maybe not explored (or maybe they have been). And it seems like most of the popular clues aren't leading to the mine but the church treasure. Kesselrings explorations and ground surveys pointed out to finding different areas but the one he was sure about wasn't the LDM, it was the church treasure. He pointed to one area that he said maybe was the LDM. That was the area located at 33°28'54.53"N 111°22'0.46"W. But, even with all of his work, the only thing he was sure about was that he found the church treasure. And I am really surprised that all of the locations he provided haven't been clandestinely dug up.

Anyway, for me the book was a good read, regardless of what Ramses did in his personal time.
you are right..i dont know for sure if his book is bs...i'm just going on what i know about the other dozens of bs'ers that have written books around here...they are all drawn to the mountains with high hopes of getting rich...when they have exhausted all of their funds they start roping in investors...when the investors lose faith in them they pull out...when the treasure hunter finally realizes he is never going to find the mine or treasure he seeks...he then gets the bright idea he can make money off writing a book....and as we all know the truth is boring and doesn't sell so he packs on a bunch of drama...like ramses saying he was shot because he was getting too close to the ldm...i went to school with a few pima indians from the reservation so i asked them what happened up there and they laughed...ramses or nobody else was ever shot up there...i checked the local newspapers and found nothing (if you have access to the online newspaper site maybe you can turn up something that i missed) ......all this coupled with what he went to prison for seems to point to a load of doo-doo...at least for me it does...the indians were quite upset over him writing a book and drawing vandals to their land.(and they have a right to be..because it is their land)...i looked into this when the book first came out...obviously the internet has come a long way since then and there might be more info available now
 

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Steamboat

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Feb 20, 2018
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For what ever it's worth, when I lived in Phoenix in 1969 and 70 I climbed Red mountain twice. I wasn't looking for any treasure. Too bad the mountain is off limits, it was a nice climb.
 

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