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Story Of A Little Known Mine In The Superstition Mountains In Arizona


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The Lost Dutchman Rendezvous is usually the last weekend of October every year. You should make it out this year. The really old Dutch Hunters are dying out every year. In the last couple of years we have lost Tracy Hawkins and Ernie Provence. They were the last two people alive that had actually seen the gold bar that Harry France showed them as proof of his finding a cave with stacks of gold bars, to get them to help him find it. They never could find it.

 

Tom Kollenborn and Bob Corbin are still with us. Tom always shows up for the Rendezvous. I think Bob said he might be there this year.

 

Mike

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Sounds like a good place to be in October. I was told it was in the high 90's already in Phoenix right now, a bit much for me. Where can I find details on this rendezvous? I could sure use an experienced prospector  buddy to go exploring with  around that area. Is it better to fly into the airport in Apache Junction or Sky Harbor? Inexpensive SUV rental and not too expensive hotel would help this man on a budget if you have any suggestions?

Last 2 times I was out there, I was unable to get a rental 4wd without having to sign a waiver stating I would NOT go offroad with it, so got stuck with 2wd suv's. One was a Ford Explorer.I had a scare over by Gillette,north of Phoenix. The Explorer could not get up the gravel road to Tipton, west of the Agua Fria river over there. I put my foot on the brakes to ponder what to do. Hmm, why does it feel like the truck is moving anyways? And BACKWARDS??  Yipes, I suddenly realized that I was sliding backwards on gravel apparently, almost into the ravine on the side of the  road, in fact, just barely missed rolling over into it. Of course the Enterprise rental guy had assured me it was a 4x4,......NOT....

I'd sure like to meet these Dutch hunters and swap stories and go exploring ,perhaps you can send me a PM ..thanks

Ps, I just found your treasure entries on Desert.com forum, good reading, never knew about the Jesuit treasure in the Supers..

-Tom

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I live in Woodland Hills, CA. Last July, the TV Show "Legend of Superstition Mountain" flew me out, it was 111 and raining like hell. HAHAHA At the time, the working title of the show was "Dead Man's Gold". When they found out there were many more treasure stories in the Supers than the Lost Dutchman, they renamed it so they could take advantage of more than one story. I won't fly out there again. Makes it damn near impossible to bring weapons. I drive whenever I go now.

The Rendezvous is open to everybody that wants to show up, and there is no charge. There are usually a few speakers that talk Dutch Hunting (Greg Davis, Clay Worst, Bob Corbin, Tom Kollenborn, Jack San Felice, MK Roberts, and on, and on, and on. You can find updates on Treasurenet once things have been finalized:

Lost Dutchman

or on Ron Feldman's Lost Dutchman Forum:

Dutchman Forum

Depending on how long you want to go out, you might check with Ron Feldman and his OK Corral. He is the only person legally allowed to pack anyone into the Superstition Wilderness Area.

Ron Feldman's OK Corral

Can't think of a better way to see the Supers, and Ron is a loooong time Dutch Hunter. Ron is the guy on the lead horse in the splash picture on his web page. His two sons Josh and Jesse are the Cowboy Hat wearing guys on "Ice Cold Gold".

When you are out there, I highly advise a trip to the old mining town of Goldfield. Its owned by Bob Schoose (his son Gator is also on Ice Cold Gold). Very nice guy and knows everything you would want to learn about hard rock mining and the Supers.

Goldfield Ghost Town

I know I sound like a member of the Apache Junction Tourist Board, but I get no kickbacks nor am I associated in any way with any business in the area. I just love going there and for the small amount of time I am not in the mountains, I like to visit a few places and people.

Hope to see you there - Mike

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Yes, we toured Goldfield, saw all the nasty rattlesnakes, spiders,and such in one part of town, in glass cages thank goodness... and the museum on the south side of the road..what was it....? Superstition Mountain History Museum or something? They had replicas of the tablets that were found years ago with the horse and heart and such. I 'll stay out of the mountains for now, just camping out with a bunch of treasure hunters sounds good. I found 4 potential gold hot spots within a 1/4 mile of each other.so far, seems they are just 1/4 mile outside the wilderness boundary ,thank goodness. Maybe we can go check em out when the time comes.

 

-Tom

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Heading North on Apache Trail, Goldfield is on the left and the SMHS Museum is on the Right. The SMHS Museum has a little white Chapel on the property.

 

The Stone Maps are the originals that used to be on display at the Arizona Mining and Minerals Museum/Flagg Foundation. They are on permanent loan. I believe the copies are at ASU.

 

Mike

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Nice story but I believe it's just a made up story. Things just don't add up to me. That specimen looks nothing like rose quarts, but probably white quartz from someplace in California. So they snuck all there equipment in to the wilderness area. That means everything done by hand. Have you ever carried heavy items up and down steep terrain for miles it's a nightmare. Think about it you would need a tripod hoist system of some sort that would be very visable. No electric so that it done by hand in the middle of the summer. Need a huge bucket for the muck and ore. Where are they putting 210 ft of tailings, very hard to cover and hide that much loose rock. How did they remove the rock? Blasting is out to loud! Roto hammer could do it but not 210ft in two summers in Arizona heat. Every day one person would need 3 gallons minimum of water a day. 24 pounds of water a day and you're still going to need to eat. That is a lot to pack everyday several miles. I'm calling shenanigans just a story made up by a armchair prospector with zero experience hard rock mining. This is my opinion.

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BD... apparently you don't know much about the LDM. First of all, the Spanish or the Jesuits did all the easy work and dug all the mines in the SWA many hundreds of years ago before it was a wilderness area. After digging their mines, they then hauled all the tailings away so there was no trace of their mining. Plus they booby trapped all their mines so nobody else could find them or steal any ore when they went on vacation and came back to dig some more. Don't believe me, just ask Gollum, he's an expert on the LDM and will verify what I say. Second of all, Jacob Waltz was the best miner in the entire state of AZ, and maybe even the world at the time. He was able to find the richest ore in history right smack dab in the middle of the Superstition Mountains. Once again, just ask Gollum. He'll tell you the ore assayed out to something like 10,000 ounces of gold to the ton. Nobody else has ever been able to find that rich of ore since then anywhere else in AZ.

 

I believe everything Gollum says... he's been studying and researching the LDM for at least 25 years or more, so what he says is the truth. I think he's even been to the Superstitions a few times looking for the LDM, so that makes what he says even more believable. On top of that, there are Stone Maps that lead right to the mine. Those are facts that can not be disputed, as they are real and are now in a museum. :lol:

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BD has some good points but I will try to have an open mind myself. I would say the Peraltas from Mexico were the expert miners and Jacob just got lucky is my humble theory...yummy...cookies and cream ice cream...on my third bowl....am looking forward to seeing Gollum and Bob Corbin and other Az treasure hunters in October. Bob was a longtime attorney general of Arizona and long time LDM hunter himself.He must be pushing 90 by now....nothin much better in life than settin around a campfire telling tall tales about gold and treasure and such....

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am looking forward to seeing Gollum and Bob Corbin and other Az treasure hunters in October.

 

If I was you, I would keep quiet about your unique talents. You could cause quite the stir if the LDM'ers found out how easy it would be for you to find the lost treasure. There are many in attendance who have been searching for the LDM for 30 years or more. I don't think they'd appreciate some new guy showing up and finding the LDM on his first hike into the mountains. That'd be a can of worms I definitely wouldn't want to open. :unsure:

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