The Superstition Mountains

Discuss information about the Lost Dutchman Mine
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buscar
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Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2005 8:36 am
Location: Mohawk Valley

The Superstition Mountains

Post by buscar »

Hello Lawrence -

I really don't know anything beyond what I have in the article. The period I wrote of took place in the 1960's while I was stationed in the Far East. Dad never wrote down anything about his experiences so we don't have any written record. I put down what I remember from the days when he and I explored in the Superstitions, and recorded what he told me the best I could, The problem is that Dad is now in his middle 80's and has Alzheimer's. I questioned him today about the gold bars but he could not remember much of anything. And his memory these days is not trustworthy. He tends to run together things he has read with things he experienced. He cannot tell the difference.

The bars you describe (Bob Brady and Harry France found) sound like what Dad described, but again, all I have are accounts from Dad back when his mind was still sharp.

Please feel free to use what I have written if it is of any help. I cannot confirm it at this late date. I don't have any record of who the man was Dad got the piece of gold bar from or who it was he had test it.

Sorry

Jim Taylor


The Superstition Mountains by Jim Taylor

The Superstition Mountains were the location of much Spanish mining activity over the years. Earlier in the 1900's there was still a lot of evidence of their working in the mountains. Some of this evidence was in the form of arrastras and crude smelters that could be found. Most of these have been picked apart long ago by prospectors looking for gold dust or ore that may have been left in them.

An arrastra was a place where the ore was crushed. Usually it was a round, trough-like area where a large stone was drug around by a burro or slaves in order to reduce the ore to a crushed form so it could be melted and poured into ingots.

The smelters that I knew of were built on the canyon floors and usually had a long mud chimney going up the side of a cliff. The ore was not really well refined.

Dad knew a man who had found a cache of Spanish bullion in the Superstitions. He allowed Dad to cut the end off of one of the bars he had found. The bars were made up of a small percentage of gold and silver with a higher percentage of lead and tin. The miners who had crudely cast them apparently wanted the ore in a form that was easy to transport. Once they got the bars back to Mexico [or wherever they were destined for] they could be refined further.

Some of the Indians said they worked "all one winter" covering up the mine shaft and hiding all traces of it. Thus the mine became "lost". However there are still lots of Spanish "sign" in the mountains.

I was well acquainted with Jim Hardy, who was born in 1875 in Phoenix, Arizona and who died in 1978. Jim was a part-time prospector as were many in the early days. He told me of a time in the 1920's when he grubstaked an Indian. The man wanted to repay Jim and asked him what he would like. Jim told him he wanted to see a Spanish mine in the Superstition Mountains. The Indian agreed and at a set time they packed off into the mountains. Jim knew where there were some rocks with odd markings and they started there. The Indian interpreted the markings, saying that one set of symbols indicated the direction to a mine, another to water, another to a placer working etc. They followed the symbols for the mine until they came to a certain area. Standing on hilltop the guide pointed out a rough square, the corners marked by 4 Saguaro cactus with the tops cut off. He said that when you measured between the 4 corners, at the point where the lines intersected a mine was located, but that it had been buried. Jim told me they worked for several days digging up the mine and uncovering it. It turned out to be a tunnel that descended at a shallow angle for about 50 feet, with two side tunnels. He said the mine was worked out. There was no ore remaining in it, the vein it followed having played out. He described some artifacts that were in the mine. The Indian insisted that they leave it all as it was and cover the entrance back up.

Jim showed me how the markings in the cactus would indicate a trail or directions to specific locations. My Dad and I once followed some such markings to a modern mine located in the McDowell mountains near the Verde River northeast of Phoenix. The markings pointed directly to a "notch" in the mountains 10 or 15 miles distant. When we made our way there we found a working mine in operation We spoke to the gentleman working the mine and he said he had discovered an old Spanish or Mexican mine there and had developed it. The markings we had followed pointed us directly to the mine. And from quite a distance away. Since the Saguaro cactus lives for such a long time, many of those that the Spanish marked are still in existence and the trails can still be followed if one knows what to look for.

In the 1960's an eccentric black opera singer by the name of Celeste Jones took up residence near Weaver's Needle in the heart of the Superstition Mountains. Weaver's Needle is actually all that remains of an ancient volcano, the outer part having weathered away leaving the lava core. It is named after a trapper, Pauline Weaver, who was one of the first white men to discover it. Since it can be seen for many miles from certain angles it makes a perfect point to pilot from. Anyhow, Ms. Jones was convinced there was treasure in the Needle. She fought with other prospectors in the mountains and several of the conflicts resulted in people becoming shot. An old-time prospector from Iowa named Ed Piper killed one of her Mexican hands after the Mexican threw a .30-30 down on him and said he was going to shoot him. As the Mexican was cussing him, Ed drew his .45 S&W and shot him 3 times, then walked the all-day trip into Apache Junction and turned himself in to the Sheriff. The Sheriff investigated the site of the altercation, ruled that it was self-defense and let the oldtimer go free. When asked about the shooting Mr. Piper commented that if you are going to shoot someone, you should shoot first and talk later.

Dad and I were in the mountains prospecting on the day when Jones killed a geologist she had hired to check out the Needle. She kept the Sheriff's Posse at bay all day long but eventually gave up. Last I heard she went to an asylum for the mentally deranged. I was told that there was a large iron cross placed on the top of Weaver's Needle in the late 1800's. Supposedly Ms. Jones took it down. The assumption was that whatever direction the arms of the cross had been pointing was significant. Of course, that information is long lost.

The story is that the Catholic Missions in southern Arizona and northern Mexico had hidden their Church treasures in the Superstition Mountains during an Indian uprising. The Needle being prominent from south of the border, supposedly it figured in somehow with where the treasure was hidden. As in most all treasure stories, no one ever made it back to recover the treasure. Quien sabe?

I remember once in the early 1960's we were hiking out of the middle of the Superstitions, heading out to First Water on the west side of the range. As we came up the trail we met a man in a business suit, tie and all. I mean, even carrying a briefcase! He was purposefully striding along like he was going to a meeting at the office down the street. The only thing is that he was at least 5 miles from the nearest building and that was a cow shed! The one thing about him that was out of the ordinary for a businessman was the 9mm Luger he had strapped on his hip in plain view. He passed us with a nod and went on down the trail, heading into the remote heart of the mountains.

buscar :)
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