As for Critter, rest assured, he is the scientist others here don't do. He is more than qualified to set the rest of us straight, whether you fellers like it or not.
He can set us all straight all right, straight into Liberal LA-LA Land!
Go a head and dig those sites whether qualified or not don't listen to chicken little.
Grab that gold and grab those artifacts before time destroys them!
It's legal to dig on public land no matter what anyone says. Bring a back hoe!
Read the laws for yourself.
If you don't like the laws screw them and do it anyway.
Great finds aren't made by men being timid about digging for gold.
If you want to wait for the Archeaologists and public land grabbers to do it for you, you'll need at least ten lifetimes. Those guys wouldn't know an artifact, well, just look at the previous posts.
There was a site north of Sun City that had a number of pithouses and artifact dumps that survived for decades, even though the area was well known. I doubt more than a few shards were taken, the place was littered with them everywhere.
A gravel company now operates on the site and a trailer sits on the main building site. Never understood why Peoria allowed this (I think it is Peoria) area to be built on. The dumps and some artifgacts still lay there, some of it being driven over by vehicles now.
I twist in the wind over whether in hindsight it would have been proper that things were removed by joe average rather than lost. I still got pictures, but everytime I drive out there I remember what it used to be like. A lot of people did the right thing, but in the end all was lost.
"Be Careful of What You Do Before A Lie Becomes The Truth"
actually, there are still several old sites up there (north of Sun City) that remain isolated enough to have avoided destruction. I am personally aware of at least a dozen or so such sites.
Of course, we did in fact, notify Scott, but he blew us off (in writing, no less).
He does have a very dangerous habit of thinking he knows everything. The result, is that he actually knows very little. Rest assured, it will eventually come back to bite him in the ass, but that's his problem. His lack of sound judgment does not give the rest of us an excuse to dig up the desert.
I didn't mean we notified Scott about the locations north of Sun City. Those are not in his jurisdiction. We did, however, notify him of other sites, which he assured us were nothing.
I have reached two conclusions concerning the maps which I am willing to share at this time. Take them for what they are worth.
One:
The maps were not carved by Miguel Peralta. In fact, Miguel, as personified in folklore, never existed. The maps were not carved by anyone named Miguel, nor Peralta.
Two:
The figure depicted on the so called 'Priest Map' is neither priest nor witch.
It is, of course... a saint.
Much of the Jacob Waltz Legend is, no doubt, less than truthful. What seems likely, is that he knew Miguel Peralta. In fact, it would be very difficult for the two of them not to have met.
It could be that the story, basically as we know it, developed from that possible connection. Why the story, if it was not true?
It may be that Waltz found an existing (rich) mine, just as he claimed, but did not know who the owners were. It was obvious they were no longer working the mine, perhaps driven off by Apaches so, fearing the return of the real owners, he took what he could, buried some nearby and ran with what he could carry.
In making up the story he told Julia and Rhiney, he simply used a name that was familiar to him. Having heard the family history from Antonio and his son Miguel, it came easily into his tale.
The rest of the legend grew from this original justification for Waltz working someone else's claim. According to his story, the owner (Miguel Peralta) gave him permission.
Considering the "fact" that the mine could be worked by hand, that might explain why Waltz said they could not work the mine. Still fearful they would be caught, he would only have them retrieve wha he had buried.
Fact is, that Jacob Waltz and Miguel Peralta were both miners in La Paz and Prescott/Bradshaw Mountains in the same years.
Actually, I have found little about the story that doesn't pan out.
You are right, of course... The Peralta of which you speak is probably responsible for Jake learning about the mine. However, I don't believe either of these guys had access to the stone maps. In fact I believe Jake was given oral instructions on how to find the mine.
yes, I believe two guys from very different cultures were able to communicate in great detail. Jake obviously had a soft spot for Mexicans.
He may have been given a rough map of the terrain, I can't really say.
I can tell you this. Most of the maps associated with the legend do in fact point to the same location. This implies the area can be reached from several
angles.
Even Jake spoke of different approaches, however, he did not enter from the canyon. He only hiked the canyon to obtain water or slip out of sight. There were other, more practical ways to reach he mine.
I have mentioned many times that a number of the popular LDM maps lead to the same area, if not the same ravine. That includes the Stone Maps.
"Multiple approaches to a well hidden mine?"
I have also said that the Stone Maps show many trails that lead to the final location. Some of them are difficult, some fairly easy. Coming in from the Massacre Grounds was likely the preferred route. That may be why they were killed there.
There is evidence in that area, more than the arrastra, that indicates that the gold ore was being refined even farther.
The mountain was created through two different types of geological event, one very old, one relatively new. The first event brought up the layers containing Gold, etc. The second event tore through the middle of the first event, causing the convolution we see today.
It is understandable why a geologist might be caught off guard, as the interior of the range should not produce Gold, etc. and in fact it doesn't, but when the uplift occurred, the ground fractured into concentric rings, like sound waves, or ripples in a pond. Anywhere the first event was broken up by the second event can produce Gold, and has.
Good examples of this are the Buckhorn mine, along the western face, the Bluebird mine, in Goldfield, and of course, the Black Queen, also in Goldfield.
I have also suggested Gold could be found near the top of the flat Iron, which of course, I later learned was true. In fact, the metal drums used at one time for hauling ore, are still out there, stacked up in a shallow pit. I know the are metal drums are now part of the story. I assume these are the same drums.
Obviously, one is not apt to find Gold in Dacite, but not everything out there is Dacite. The three red hills of legend are supposed to be reddish in color, which is a good place to start looking. Here in Arizona, Saguaros are also synonymous with Gold. I believe this is because of their ability to withstand high levels of Mercury.
The interior of the range may indeed possess Gold, but it was probably hauled in for safe keeping, and hidden near the base of a small ledge or wash. I am aware of several such locations.
I don't believe Jake was robbing a cache. I am pretty certain he focussed his time on the lode.
"The mountain was created through two different types of geological event, one very old, one relatively new. The first event brought up the layers containing Gold, etc. The second event tore through the middle of the first event, causing the convolution we see today."
Is this your own theory, or are you using another source? You are stating it as "fact", so it seems a fair question.
