SOUTHWEST
LEGENDS
lOST dUTCHMAN mINE
aRIZONA
They say a German prospector by the name of Jacob Waltz discovered a huge gold deposit deep in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix. Waltz would make trips into the mountains and return to Phoenix with very fine gold ore. A writer at the time said that the gold was too rich to come from a mine, and that Waltz had discovered an Apache cache. Jacob Waltz died in Phoenix in 1891, without revealing to anyone where the gold was. There are government documents that prove Jacob Waltz lived in Arizona Territory. But whether or not he had a gold mine is disputed. Soon after Jacob's death, three people that knew him went up into the Superstition Mountains to look for the rich gold mine, but they came back to Phoenix empty-handed. One of the searchers, Julia Thomas, drew up some fake maps of the mine's location and sold them to treasure hunters. The two men continued searching for the mine their whole lives. Some people believed Waltz's
Mine was one of 18 lost mines in the area. People have been looking for the Dutchman Mine for 120 years now, in the vast, rugged Superstition Wilderness. Geologists have said it is highly unlikely that a large gold deposit is located in the volcanic mountains. However, a USGS survey has suggested that there are mineral deposits deep below the surface. Maybe one of these had a vein that reached the surface? Only Mr. Waltz knows the answer. Since 1891, more than 137 people have claimed to have found the Lost Dutchman Mine. The search continues...
-Eamon Decker
15 Southwest Highways & Fields
Superstition Mountains
-Copyright Arizona State Parks