The OTHER Lost Dutchman Gold Mine in Arizona<
NOT the one in the Superstitions linked to Jacob Waltz! 
>
There are well over 1000 lost mines and bonanza ledges scattered over the western states, and nearly 300 in Arizona alone, so perhaps we ought not be surprised to learn that there is actually more than one Lost Dutchman mine legend including three in Arizona and one in Colorado, which has led to some confusion for treasure hunters and prospectors hunting for these lost mines.
The lost mine of Jacob Waltz, believed to be located in the Superstition mountains, almost certainly cannot be the same one as we are talking about here. I say this not only because of the region this other "Dutchman" was working in, nor the fact that it dates to a few years earlier than Waltz's story, <this Dutchman was well known in Wickenburg in the 1870's, Waltz's notoriety didn't arise until the 1880's> but because this Dutchman was found dead several years after Jacob Waltz had died.
One early version of this OTHER Arizona Lost Dutchman is this one; extract quote
Quote:
 |  | Quote: |  | | Posted by {author} | | |  |
 | One variety of the "Lost Dutchman" story concerns the operations of a German who made his headquarters at Wickenburg, in the early seventies. <edit, 1870s he is referring to here not 1970s> He had a very irritating habit of disappearing from the camp once in a while, going by night, and taking with him several burros, whose feet would be so well wrapped that trailing was impossible. He would return at night, in equally as mysterious a manner, his burros loaded with gold ore of wonderful richness. Efforts at tracking him failed. The country for miles around was searched carefully to find the source of his wealth, which could not have been very far distant. The ore was not the same as that at Vulture. The location of the mine never became known to anyone, save its discoverer. He disappeared as usual one night, and never returned. The assumption that he was murdered by Apaches appears to have been sustained by a prospector's discovery near Vulture in the summer of 1895 of the barrel of an old muzzle-loading shotgun, and by it, a home-made mosquito gun stock. The gun had been there so long that even the hammer and trigger had rusted away. Near by was a human skeleton, bleached from long exposure. The next find was some small heaps of very rich gold rock, probably where sacks had decayed from around the ore, and then at a short distance was discovered a shallow prospect hole, sunk on a gold-bearing ledge. The ore in the heaps was about the same character as that which had been brought into Wickenburg in the early days by the "Lost Dutchman," but it didn't agree at all with the ore in the shallow prospect hole, which was not considered worthy of further development |  |
 | |  |
.End quoted extract
<
from Arizona, Prehistoric, Aboriginal, Pioneer, Modern: The Nation's Youngest
by James H. McClintock - Arizona - 1916 pp 392, online at Google books free, public domain>
Now unless someone dug up old Waltz from his grave in Phoenix and set him up near the Vulture mine several years later, this can not be the same man or the same mine.
We can also rule out the very site where this Dutchman was found dead as the location of his mine, for the ore found in piles near his remains did not match the ore in the shallow prospect hole near his body, and gold ore is a bit like fingerprints in that no two ore deposits are identical; in fact a good geologist can identify which mine any ore sample came from just by a careful examination with a jeweler's loupe.
Speaking of geologists, studies done on the region around the Vulture mine, where this Lost Dutchman mine is located, have supported the contention that other very rich gold deposits are very likely to be found in the area. In fact the Arizona Geological Survey has a very interesting and informative article on the geology of the Vulture mine, free online at
You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login
Geology of the Vulture Gold Mine
DesertUSA has an excellent article on the famous Vulture mine at
You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login
The Vulture
This mine produced approximately 340,000 ounces of gold and 260,000 ounces of silver, a very rich gold in quartz deposit first discovered by yet another Dutchman named Henry Wickenburg. (
Seems those German pioneers were excellent prospectors and miners!)
The area around Wickenburg is a known gold region, with placer gold being found in the Hassayampa river and many side gulches, the famous Vulture mine not far away, and in the nearby Black Rock district which has the Oro Grande and Gold Bar mines, while the White Picacho district includes part of the Wickenburg mountains; to the north of town are the Weaver and Martinez gold districts. In the White Picacho district, the Golden Slipper mine in particular had very rich ore, which indicates that the potential for rich gold deposits in this region is very good indeed.
Grants Stage station in Wickenburg 1874, the period when this Dutchman was active
Who was this other Dutchman? Could it be one and the same with the man Cal Madden? Madden discovered a rich gold quartz deposit not many miles from the famous Vulture mine in 1878 in the Vulture mountains. He would slip out of town and elude any trackers very like our Dutchman story, and his body was found near Vulture Peak, about 6 miles south of the Hassayampa river. I suspect this is the Dutchman of this lost mine legend.
Beth and I have never hunted this particular Lost Dutchman mine though we have done some prospecting up the Hassayampa and found it a very promising area. While we don't have a full set of "clues" as we do with some other lost mine legends, a careful and diligent prospector may be able to locate this lost mine, perhaps even with the aid of some of the satellite or aerial photographs that are available today. The mine cannot have been any great distance from the town of Wickenburg for it was noticed that the Dutchman could leave town and return not long after, loaded with gold ore. Of course the old timers could cover more ground than most modern people can today, but we have motorized vehicles so we can 'cheat' a bit. I believe this lost Dutchman gold mine of Wickenburg could be located and rediscovered with a little research, a lot of leg-work and a goodly portion of good luck.
For maps of the area, check out
You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login
DesertUSA maps
You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login
http://www.desertusa.com/who/du_maps.html
So dear reader, I ask your opinions, experiences or any clues or tidbits you may have garnered on this Lost Dutchman which you would share with us. Thank you in advance,
Good luck and good hunting amigos, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.
Roy ~ Oroblanco
Linkback: You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login
http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,35850.msg218607.html#msg218607
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ef/Wickenburg,1874.jpg
|
|
Logged
|
"We must find a way, or we will make one." -> Hannibal Barca
|
