Oroblanco
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Lost Dutchman in the Superstitions? What is wrong with this 'picture'?
Lost Dutchman Mine in the Superstition Mountains? What is wrong with this picture?
Most Dutch-hunters know the story of the Lost Dutchman gold mine by heart. There are over 100 "clues" to help locate it, and at least several dozen people have claimed to have found it - but very VERY few ever had gold to show. The big question is where exactly is the mine?
Jacob Waltz told somewhat different stories to the two "main" parties we trace nearly all of our sources to, being Holmes versus Julia & Reiney. Their two versions have even been somewhat "homogenized" by Holmes going to Julia and comparing notes. There is a third version which is little known and is far less dramatic, but we will not address that here other than a couple of points, which I will get to in a moment.
Waltz told Holmes and his friends Julia and Reiney that the mine is in the Supers. He gave them a story (or we are told he did) that he got the mine from Peralta, about the massacre etc. We know that Waltz came to Phoenix about 1868. In his early days, he seems to have made Florence his "base" for prospecting expeditions into the Superstitions, which is a bit odd.
I posted a new thread with an 1876 map of Arizona, the link is
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,281261.new.html
Take a look at it, you may notice a few things. For one, the Superstitions are not even shown. The settlements of Phoenix, Macdowell, Florence and Adamsville seem to be the only "civilization" around the Superstitions, unless we count the Pima and Maricopa Indian villages which are on the river.
Now back to our story of Waltz and his gold mine. According to the stories, Waltz had a partner - his "nephew" according to Holmes, whom he murdered, or another "Dutchman" named Weisner, or Wiser, Weiser, Wisner, Wizer, Weisse etc by the other version. <I am going to skip some dramatic details which are not too important for our purposes here> Waltz took him to the mine and they had worked it only a short time before they had an incident in which one of their mules got into their supplies and destroyed most of it, so someone had to go for more and Waltz elected to go and leave Weisner to work at the mine. While he was gone, Weisner was attacked by Indians, Apaches as assumed by both partners. When Waltz got back to the mine, he found the evidence of the attack and his partner's bloody shirt, and concluded that he had been killed. What he was unaware of was that Weisner escaped, wounded desperately but managing to make it to friendly Pimas who took him to see their friend Doctor Walker. Doc Walker tried to help Weisner but his wounds were too much and he died in a few days, but not before drawing a map for Walker to find the mine. Weisner had assumed that the Apaches must have gotten Waltz and wanted someone to find the mine.
Now this is all well-known to Dutch hunters, whom could easily add much detail and corrections to what I just wrote. What seems to be skimmed over is a few landmarks. You see, Waltz went for more supplies - where did he go? Did he go to Phoenix? Did he go to MacDowell, which surely would be shorter? No - he went to Adams Mill. Adams Mill was pretty much where Adamsville is marked on the 1876 map. Weisner expected Waltz to be gone four days, allowing two days travel each way.
Back in this post I mentioned that Waltz had sort of made Florence his "base" - for several of the 'pioneers' (old timers) who knew him claimed he came into town fairly regularly, hired a Florence carpenter to build him a portable dry washer, and that his mine was "no big secret" in those days. Where is Florence? Very near Adamsville, check that 1876 map.
Weisner rode away from the marauding Apaches whom had ambushed him, hurt and bleeding, firing at them. They had jumped him early in the morning, and he rode the only horse they had not gotten, but only covered a few miles (as he estimated) before the Apaches arrows dropped the horse. He kept on, running and firing from behind rocks and eventually the Indians lost interest. He headed for the first water hole he knew of. He said he must have gone delirious, pulled out the arrow he had been hit by, and crossed the desert to the Gila river, where some Pima squaws found him. As far as we can tell this all took place in one day, for Doc Walker sat up with Weisner all that night. Where did the Pimas find Weisner? At the Pima villages on the river - now check that 1876 map again, you will see they are almost directly West of Adamsville. You may also notice an Indian trail is marked there, running North-Northeast and which would have run right through the Superstitions.
It seems logical that Weisner probably ran onto that Indian trail which led right to the river and is where the Pima villages were, where he was found.
When you put this together, you have to ask - if the Lost Dutchman mine is located somewhere up in the northern Superstitions, why would Waltz go to Florence to get his drywasher, or to Adams Mill to get flour, why would Weisner flee to the Pima villages, all of which are SOUTH of the Superstitions? According to Weisner, the mine ought to be two days travel from Adams Mill, and he himself made it, wounded, from the mine to the Pima villages in one day. So I am asking you, dear reader.
What is wrong with this picture? Thank you in advance for your replies.
Oroblanco
.
Lost Dutchman Mine in the Superstition Mountains? What is wrong with this picture?
Most Dutch-hunters know the story of the Lost Dutchman gold mine by heart. There are over 100 "clues" to help locate it, and at least several dozen people have claimed to have found it - but very VERY few ever had gold to show. The big question is where exactly is the mine?
Jacob Waltz told somewhat different stories to the two "main" parties we trace nearly all of our sources to, being Holmes versus Julia & Reiney. Their two versions have even been somewhat "homogenized" by Holmes going to Julia and comparing notes. There is a third version which is little known and is far less dramatic, but we will not address that here other than a couple of points, which I will get to in a moment.
Waltz told Holmes and his friends Julia and Reiney that the mine is in the Supers. He gave them a story (or we are told he did) that he got the mine from Peralta, about the massacre etc. We know that Waltz came to Phoenix about 1868. In his early days, he seems to have made Florence his "base" for prospecting expeditions into the Superstitions, which is a bit odd.
I posted a new thread with an 1876 map of Arizona, the link is
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,281261.new.html
Take a look at it, you may notice a few things. For one, the Superstitions are not even shown. The settlements of Phoenix, Macdowell, Florence and Adamsville seem to be the only "civilization" around the Superstitions, unless we count the Pima and Maricopa Indian villages which are on the river.
Now back to our story of Waltz and his gold mine. According to the stories, Waltz had a partner - his "nephew" according to Holmes, whom he murdered, or another "Dutchman" named Weisner, or Wiser, Weiser, Wisner, Wizer, Weisse etc by the other version. <I am going to skip some dramatic details which are not too important for our purposes here> Waltz took him to the mine and they had worked it only a short time before they had an incident in which one of their mules got into their supplies and destroyed most of it, so someone had to go for more and Waltz elected to go and leave Weisner to work at the mine. While he was gone, Weisner was attacked by Indians, Apaches as assumed by both partners. When Waltz got back to the mine, he found the evidence of the attack and his partner's bloody shirt, and concluded that he had been killed. What he was unaware of was that Weisner escaped, wounded desperately but managing to make it to friendly Pimas who took him to see their friend Doctor Walker. Doc Walker tried to help Weisner but his wounds were too much and he died in a few days, but not before drawing a map for Walker to find the mine. Weisner had assumed that the Apaches must have gotten Waltz and wanted someone to find the mine.
Now this is all well-known to Dutch hunters, whom could easily add much detail and corrections to what I just wrote. What seems to be skimmed over is a few landmarks. You see, Waltz went for more supplies - where did he go? Did he go to Phoenix? Did he go to MacDowell, which surely would be shorter? No - he went to Adams Mill. Adams Mill was pretty much where Adamsville is marked on the 1876 map. Weisner expected Waltz to be gone four days, allowing two days travel each way.
Back in this post I mentioned that Waltz had sort of made Florence his "base" - for several of the 'pioneers' (old timers) who knew him claimed he came into town fairly regularly, hired a Florence carpenter to build him a portable dry washer, and that his mine was "no big secret" in those days. Where is Florence? Very near Adamsville, check that 1876 map.
Weisner rode away from the marauding Apaches whom had ambushed him, hurt and bleeding, firing at them. They had jumped him early in the morning, and he rode the only horse they had not gotten, but only covered a few miles (as he estimated) before the Apaches arrows dropped the horse. He kept on, running and firing from behind rocks and eventually the Indians lost interest. He headed for the first water hole he knew of. He said he must have gone delirious, pulled out the arrow he had been hit by, and crossed the desert to the Gila river, where some Pima squaws found him. As far as we can tell this all took place in one day, for Doc Walker sat up with Weisner all that night. Where did the Pimas find Weisner? At the Pima villages on the river - now check that 1876 map again, you will see they are almost directly West of Adamsville. You may also notice an Indian trail is marked there, running North-Northeast and which would have run right through the Superstitions.
It seems logical that Weisner probably ran onto that Indian trail which led right to the river and is where the Pima villages were, where he was found.
When you put this together, you have to ask - if the Lost Dutchman mine is located somewhere up in the northern Superstitions, why would Waltz go to Florence to get his drywasher, or to Adams Mill to get flour, why would Weisner flee to the Pima villages, all of which are SOUTH of the Superstitions? According to Weisner, the mine ought to be two days travel from Adams Mill, and he himself made it, wounded, from the mine to the Pima villages in one day. So I am asking you, dear reader.
What is wrong with this picture? Thank you in advance for your replies.
Oroblanco
.
