That's the title of another "I found it" book on the LDM, authored by Jason Fritsch. The price for the paperback edition is $29.95, which I think is a bit steep for a slim, 100-page book. I'd like to know if anyone has bought a copy and is willing to share if the author has pinpointed and disclosed a location for his discovery. Any reviews of the book would also be appreciated. I'll consider buying the Kindle edition if it is complete with photos and I see favorable reviews.
Review of
Cracking the Code on The Lost Dutchman Mine by Jason Fritsch
by Steve Bowser, July 20, 2025
On page 81 Jason claims the Lost Dutchman Mine he found is located at latitude 33.416268 and longitude -111.283394. I believe his coordinates puts the mine on the south side of Coffee Flat Mountain in upper Coffee Flat Canyon just south of where the canyon makes a hard hook to the east. Basically, he places the mine north of Reid’s Camp (Reid’s Camp not Reid’s Water) about a mile.
The book has lots of good, clear photos. Unfortunately those photos, that are supposed to help prove he has found a mine and other related sites, don’t show anything other than scenes of rocks and cliffs, I don’t see a mine, two room cave, ruins, etc. that his captions proclaim.
Jason presents a chronological timeline of his trips into the Supes to locate his mine. But following his sequence of time, he found the Lost Dutchman Mine sometime in 2026.
Lots of high profile names are brought up (Wayne Tuttle, Bob Schoose, Larry Hedrick, Ron Feldman, Jack San Felice) that Jason talked to about his ideas on where the mine was, but it sounds like no one took him too seriously by his own admission.
Jason never made it to the site. He made it to a nearby saddle where he waited while the people with him made it to the “mine” area and took photos.
There are no topographical maps in his book. He gives a convoluted description of the route and I could not follow his explanation.
No physical evidence of a mine or prospect. He has a photo of what he says are excavation marks. He refers to a wide crack going up the side of a cliff as a tunnel. His photos show no sign of a mine or prospect or anything else other than boulders and a cliff face.
He claims he found the LDM because he knows for a fact that the site matches the clues to the mine. Most of his clues I’ve never heard of like Highway 60 is the “old military trail” and “My mine lies near an old Spanish house on a hidden ledge.”
In his mind, the features on the LDM maps he used can be found on Google Earth, and these features match up with many clues to the mine, therefore, he found the Lost Dutchman Mine using an analytical approach.
In addition, his supporting research was watching
Legends of the Superstition Mountains starring Wayne Tuttle and Frank Augustine.
Jason tries to convince his readers he is a very smart guy who is a doctoral candidate and has advanced degrees in computer information systems. He thinks his analytical background and methodical approach gives him the credentials for matching Google maps research to Frank Augustine’s Peralta Heart Map (based on the Peralta Stone Maps) and multiple well known maps to the Lost Dutchman Mine. Keep in mind Jason admits he never set foot into the Superstition Mountains before his field search began in 2023.
If there are signs of prospecting/mining in the area Jason claims is the Lost Dutchman Mine, I would suggest the work might have been done by Abe Reid or Abe’s cohorts.
I believe Jason Fritsch will be presenting at the Dutchman’s Rendezvous this year on Saturday, November 15.
