The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine

The gold mine

The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine or Lost Dutchman’s Mine is a legendary rich gold mine hidden somewhere in the Superstition Mountains in Arizona, although the exact location is not even roughly known - it is possible that the mine is outside the Superstition Mountains or even outside Arizona. There have been many rumours and legends about the wealth that could be gathered from the mine, also how to locate the mine. The legend started in 19th century with German immigrant Jacob Waltz, who allegedly discovered the mine, but kept the location as secret. It is believed that the name of the mine comes from the word "Deutsch", which means "German" in German language and was often used in 19th century in form of "Dutchman" as term for German immigrants.

The legends tell different stories about the origins of the gold. In some versions it is referred as Apache gold - a man named Miguel Peralta discovered the mine and began mining the gold there, but in 1850 he was killed by Apaches and his whole family massacred. Years later a man called Dr. Thorne while treating a wounded Apache is rewarded with a trip to a rich gold mine in the desert. Blindfolded he was taken by the Apaches to the mine, where he was allowed to take as much gold ore as he can carry, then blindfolded again and taken back to the village. Thorne is said to be unable give the location of the mine or he just kept it as secret.

The Peralta is in small part true - there was mine owner named Miguel Peralta in 1850s, but his mine was located California, not Arizona. Rest of the story seems to be completely made up. The original Peralta, when his business became unprofitable, sold the land to Dr. George M. Willing, who later learned that the deed that was base of the transaction was forged and Dr. Willing lost the money he paid to Peralta.

Also there is story of Dr. Thorne, who used to run his practice in New Mexico. Reportedly in 1854 he was abducted by the Navajos and during his captivity he came across rich gold vein somewhere in the desert. He shared that information in 1858 with some soldiers, who went out to find the gold, but failed to locate the vein. Again, just like in the Peralta story, it is most likely with time this tale was simply incorporated into the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine legend.

Another version of the story is attached to mentioned Jacob Waltz (although exact spelling of his name is disputable), who supposedly helped one of the Peralta family members and for that was rewarded the access to the mine. On his deathbed he passed the location to Dr. Walker, who on his deathbed passed it to Julia Thomas, that made a crude map of the area as described by Waltz. This map is used today as main clue by the people searching for the mine.

Although the location is unknown and the whole story seems to me nothing more than a legend, still few thousands people each year sets out to find the place and get rich quickly. Since 1892 there are informations about people seeking the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine, but the legend about gold is only one part of the mystery around the mine. The other part is the stories of people who tried to find the golden treasure, but instead found death in the Arizona desert. And it wasn’t quiet or peaceful death...

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