Kochera's Gold

Discuss information about the Lost Dutchman Mine
Post Reply
Roger
Part Timer
Posts: 329
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 5:00 pm

Kochera's Gold

Post by Roger »

I had the fortunate opportunity while visiting an acquaintance in Phoenix to be shown a piece of Kochera's gold ore. Dutch Hunters are well aware of tale by John Kochera of finding roughly 64 lbs of gold ore in a rotted leather bag under a bush in the Superstitions in the early 1960's. The location was on the Northern end of Peters Mesa.

With the permission of the owner, I had placed a photo of that ore sample in the Members Archive Section under "Roger's Album". The ore piece has very visible gold running through it and would probably assay out nicely per ton.

Roger
Joe Ribaudo
Expert
Posts: 5453
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2002 10:36 pm

Nice Rock

Post by Joe Ribaudo »

Roger,

That's a beautiful picture.

Do you know when "Kochera Ore" was first brought to public attention?

Thanks,

Joe
zentull
Expert
Posts: 1039
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2002 11:15 am
Location: Surprise, Arizona

Post by zentull »

John Kocheras story is linked with Silas Haywood, the Polka mIne and an Indians tale of a mine in Needle canyon with ore that shined like the stars at night. Kocheras ore was not the ore he was looking for I believe. It was massacre ore.
Roger
Part Timer
Posts: 329
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 5:00 pm

Kochera's Gold

Post by Roger »

Joe, I first heard of Kochera's gold when I read Ron Feldman's book, "Zig Zag Canyon (1994), where he had a chapter on Kochera (pages 202 - 212). His book is called a "novel" but in my estimation it has a lot of hard fact in it. Here's the story line on John Kochera:

John was a half blood Mimbres Apache born in 1928. In the mid-1950's he met a full blood Apache at a bar in Milwaukee named Haywood that got drunk with him. Haywood claimed that when he was 16 yrs old in 1942, he and 14 other Apaches went into the Supers and brought out hundreds of pounds of rich ore. Kochera got Haywood very drunk and Haywood finally drew him a map to the mine on a bar napkin. On Jan 6, 1962, John and his older brother, Joe Jr., started the trip from Milwaukee to the Supers, and using Haywood's map, ended up on Peters Mesa or possbily points North. There John found the infamous leather bag under a bush full of ore. There was 24 lbs of gold ore that assayed at $48,928/ton when gold was fixed at $35/oz.

A protion of this story from Zig Zag Canyon plus more exacting detail on the finding of the ore was printed in the Superstition Mountain Journal, Vol 13 (1995), in the article "Kochera's Gold", pages 16 to 19. Ron Feldman and Mic McPherson were the authors on this article.

Ron packed Kochera into the Supers for many years and over that time I suspected he learned most of the story that is in his book and the SMJ article from John. I have found some additional details on Kochera during research through Greg Davis's collection.

So my first info on Kochera's gold was in 1994, but from Greg's records, it is obvious that several of the early Dutch Hunters were well aware of Kochera and his story and some had direct communication with Kochera. Hard to say when the story actually went "public" other than Ron's book.

Roger
zentull
Expert
Posts: 1039
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2002 11:15 am
Location: Surprise, Arizona

Post by zentull »

I think it was discussed on the forum sometime back about 2 of the letters Kochera had written concerning where he found the ore. The first letter was to Crazy Jake I believe. That was in 1974-75 so I would figure any further disclosure came later. Think I have a copy of the contents of the letter somewhere, don't know if it really discloses the spot where Kochera found the ore, just the background story.
Joe Ribaudo
Expert
Posts: 5453
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2002 10:36 pm

Thanks

Post by Joe Ribaudo »

Roger and Wayne,

My thanks for the information, but I was aware of the entire story some time ago.

What I was trying to find out, which you answered, was when the existence of the Kochera Ore was first made public, not the story.

Did Ron tell anyone he had some samples of the ore, or show them, prior to 1997? Did he mention the samples in their article?

Roger, IMHO, you are correct about Ron's "novel".

I suspect I know the answer to my own question, but just wondered if there was confirmation anywhere. It has no bearing on anything important, just curious as to when that ore surfaced.

Thanks,

Joe
User avatar
djui5
Expert
Posts: 835
Joined: Tue May 16, 2006 4:33 pm
Location: AJ
Contact:

Re: Thanks

Post by djui5 »

but I was aware of the entire story some time ago.

Joe
I wasn't, so someone learned something here....
Randy Wright
Hobbiest LDM seeker
Mesa, AZ

"I don't care if it has electric windows. I don't care if the door gaps are straight, but when the driver steps on the gas I want him to piss his pants."
Enzo Ferrari
zentull
Expert
Posts: 1039
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2002 11:15 am
Location: Surprise, Arizona

Post by zentull »

Joe and/or Roger,

I know Kochera looked for the mine from where that ore came from, but did he ever reconcile the 2 different descriptions and the Haywwod story or did he understand they were 2 separate events?
Roger
Part Timer
Posts: 329
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 5:00 pm

Kochera's Ore

Post by Roger »

Joe,

Ron Feldman did not mention his having any of Kochera's ore in his book or the Superstition Mtn Journal article. However, Thomas Glover in "The Lost Dutchman Mine of Jacob Waltz Part 1: The Golden Dream" (1998) wrote a chapter on analysis he had done of Arizona gold ore to see what matched the "Dutchman Ore" taken from under Waltz's deathbed or "jewlery ore" as he called it. On page 278 he writes:

"The Kochera Ore had come via Ron Feldman at the OK Corral. Ron had had a client, John Kochera, who came faithfully almost every year to hunt the Dutchman. Finally, as Kochera was giving up the hunt due to failing health, he confided to Ron what it was that had kept him going all those years. Back when he had first started the search he had found a small pile of high-grade ore with the remains of rotting leather identifiable under the ore. He still had a small amount of the ore left and he would sell it to Ron. I had purchased a piece of this ore from Ron, and that was the piece or ore I had originally asked Martin to test back in 1990. But was it really Superstition ore, or was it a good story to sell rocks? For while the ore was rich, it was sold to Ron and by Ron, for much more that its gold content."

This statement would push the knowledge of Ron plus Glover having Kochera ore back to 1991 as a minimum. I'm certain that it was fairly common knowledge over many years around the Dutch Hunter community in Arizona about the existence and ownership of this ore just as was the case with the jewelry ore.

Zentull,

I don't think Kochera had any confusion that Haywood's story was for a mine and where it was located. I don't think he was confused with Polka's mine or the Indian tale of a mine in Needle Canyon. He had very specific directions of what canyon to go up and which way to go from there. There is a letter he wrote on April 4, 1974, to a Dutch Hunter explaining these facts plus giving him a copy of Haywood's hand drawn maps. He said that he and Haywood were in a vocational school in Milwaukee that the government had sent them (Indians) to in order to learn a trade. The two of them spent a lot of time together and they became good friends. They were drinking at Kochera's house when he got the mine story - but it was not a chance happening in a bar as the public story goes.

Also, if you do your research, you can find a very specific location where Kochera found his ore and it matches exactly where he should have been by following Haywood's directions and maps. Note that there were two maps that Kochera got from Haywood in May, 1960.

Food for thought. I do believe that Kochera found real Dutchman ore and Thomas Glover's lab analysis seems to confirm that. Kochera's information would certainly place the Haywood mine East of La Barge and North of Weavers Needle.

Roger
Joe Ribaudo
Expert
Posts: 5453
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2002 10:36 pm

Nice Work

Post by Joe Ribaudo »

Roger,

Thanks for your informed reply.

As soon as we drifted back to this topic, I revisited Dr. Glover's mentioning of the Kochera ore. Your timline seems correct.

It would be interesting to see the ore in your picture analyzed to determine how it compares to the Kochera ore that Dr. Glover had tested. No doubt it will also show a lot of gold content, but will it be the same ore?

Do you know what year Ron began his attempt to get a Treasure Trove permit?

Joe
Roger
Part Timer
Posts: 329
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 5:00 pm

Ron Feldman's Treasure Trove Permit In The Superstitions

Post by Roger »

Joe,

If you go to Ron's website on his Treasure Trove dig at this web site:

http://www.dutchhunter.com/brief_history.htm

You will find the following info on Ron getting his treasure trove permit:

"It took five years, but the U.S. Forrest Service finally granted Ron Feldman's team, H.E.A.T. (Historical Exploration And Treasures), the first treasure trove permit ever issued within the boundaries of the Superstition Wilderness. It is for the archaeological excavation of an alleged Spanish mine originally believed to have been dug before 1848, far north of where Arizona historians believe "official" Spanish mining took place."

Ron's dig started in mid-2004, so he must have started trying to get the permit sometime in 1999. He had more stamina than I would have had in that process!!

Roger
Post Reply