The Jesuit priests were the most educated and loyal orders to the King of Spain (and to the Pope). Cursed, blighted, tainted, whatever you want to call it. Some places have long been thought to be simply no good. Unfortunately, some mysteriously vanish without a trace, while others die in an equally strange fashion. ~ The Lost Dutchmans Mine, Canyon Lake and the Wonders Under the Water The Lost Dutchmans Mine. Skip this activity if you are claustrophobic. It was at this point that the tale of the Dutchmans Mine was spun. Privacy Policy | FCC Public File | Contest Rules We were heading out for the day and we were ready! Stop at the visitor center and talk to the rangers to learn about the park and trails, then pick up a map and head outside to get on a trail and start exploring. We took a few pictures of the sunrise and quickly finished uploading the two trucks. GREGORY DAVIS: You We loaded the truck and made our way to Mesquite, Nevada. This was the trip that started it all! We spent at least 2 hours looking and we had had no luck, not a clue! He never came home. In 1848, Apaches massacred between 100 and 400 men because they wanted them off their sacred land. If youre intrigued and want to learn more about his story, visit the Superstition Mountain Museum. One of these was a veterinarian and treasure hunter named Adolf Ruth, who in 1931 made his way to these wind-swept wilds, armed with what he at the time claimed to be the actual original map to it. GREGORY DAVIS: He did Berardi, Joe. This comes as no surprise, especially considering that this mountain range is believed to have a pretty odd history which all centers around an alleged hidden treasure: the fabled Dutchmans mine, a treasure which has taken the lives of many who have gone in search of it. KJZZ is a service of Rio Salado College, and Maricopa Community Colleges The Native Apache people of the area had already long held this as a rather sinister scared place even before outsiders came in to settle the land. As we were driving closer, the 1,000-foot-high column of rock called Weaver's Needle, came into focus. Covering over 160,000 acres, the Superstition Wilderness contains an abundance of cactus, wildflowers, and perennial water sources interwoven with the soaring mountain tops of granite, basalt and dacite.. Summer days may offer unforgiving heat or violent thunderstorms. After an intensive search, Ruths skull was was found at the bottom of a remote ravine, sitting out there all alone in the unforgiving desert. We hopped in the trucks and headed out as quickly as we could. When we arrived at the lake, we went straight to the boat rental shop to pay for our boat. The initial search party found no trace of him, but then, in December 1931, they found a human skull with two holes from a .44 caliber. Based on the report from Prairie Ghosts, the general take on this story is that he, along with a miner by the name of Jacob Weiser, was given a map to the treasure site by the surviving Peralta whose life the two are reported to have saved. The easy 1.5 mile trail features some rocky, rough terrain but with little elevation gain. cant touch this. The Treasure Loop Trail is a 2.4-mile loop hike at the west base of the Superstition Mountains. All Rights Reserved. I could hear the rest of the crew talking about how beautiful the sunrise was and I didnt want to miss out. It was a good challenge for them. The day was over and we needed to wind down, no better way than sitting at a dinner table, talking about our day and our accomplishments. Bring a chair to sit around a campfireand ignite your curiosity for this historical narrative of the old fire tower system and how nature recovers. Within 20 minutes, we had our gear and were back on the trail. Todd, Ryan, Shaun, and I were the first to meet up. There are unique shops, a saloon and a general store. Yet the mountains and their cursed treasure would get their most well-known mystery with the arrival of a German immigrant named Jacob Walz, also often spelled Waltz, who was a gold prospector in the Phoenix valley in the late 1800s. Legend tells of the Lost Dutchman's gold mine hidden somewhere within the 160,000 acres of brutal Arizona desert known as the "Superstition Mountains." The promise of a $200 million mother lode has lured thousands of treasure hunters and continues to claim the lives of those eager to decipher the . Three decades after leaving Romania, this background still helps her appreciate and connect with people of different backgrounds, which shows up in her articles, which highlight the culture, history, and legends of the places she visits. . Today, he Join us on a journey to discover the birds of the Sonoran Desert! We try to stay focused on sites that seem promising, and not all of them do. This was the moment that I knew that TIA was going to become more than just a group of treasure hunters. The group initially was made up of young men from . 2,742 Sq. Phoenix: Wilson Austin Surveys and Maps, 1960. A native Hungarian from Transylvania (Romania), Emese grew up surrounded by multiple cultures and speaks several languages. the Superstition Mountains recovered some, and then hid When we all met back at the trucks, we had many stories to tell each other. Now I do enjoy talking about the LDM and Dr. Thorne, but I always wondered about the lost dragoon pistols. The Superstition . Personal photo permitscan be filled out at the park the same day. Theres more to this trip for us than it may seem. The Superstition Mountains (their name inspired by Pima Indian legends) have been a source of mystery and legend since early times. We dont know if we were in the right place. Well pack and clean up and bring him his trailers. The Superstition Mountains, with a name like that you might as well give away fancy proton-backs, of the Ghostbuster variety, at the visitor's center, is a series of jagger tooth mountains in Arizona just the east of Phoenix. I felt very excited to see the town I grew up in, its been years since Ive been back to Phoenix Arizona. More experienced hikers should try the Siphon Draw Trail, the most scenic in the area. Stay safe out there and Find Your Adventure! Case History: The Lost Dutchman Mine is possibly one of the famous lost treasures in history. Several. Bring all your burning questions! Is someone or something trying to keep this treasure hidden? ARROYO Here, we decided to split up again. El sendero es de 1.5 millas con terreno rocoso, pero sin mucha cambia de elevacin. Like Ive mentioned before, we had spent several months on the web and reaching out to people to narrow down a small search area so we were pretty confident we were in the area we wanted to be. Another reference told of a prospector who found 200 prehistoric war clubs in 1884 in the Arizona Superstition Mountains. NADINE ARROYO RODRIGUEZ: The Superstition Mountains are one of the most visited locations in Arizona. Compiled and edited by Kathy Weiser-Alexander / Legends of America, updated July 2021. As to why his head had been carried off no one knows. According to these legends, this treasure was almost never seen by mortal eyes, at least not by anyone who lived to tell about it, but there are some tales of outsiders stumbling across it. The main thing is that they supposedly accidentally found this ancient Apache treasure somewhere in the mountains, but it was to spell their doom. There can be all kinds of clues to be found and explored under the water e.g., possible man-made structures, old trail routes. We made our way past Goldfield and the Superstition Museum and then on to Canyon Lake. Non one really knows, but the answers just may lie out there in the desolate reaches of those desert badlands. We met up with Shaun and the rest of the group and they were set up and ready to climb. You dont have to rush to experience all that the Superstitions have to offer in one day. The legend says there are millions of dollars in gold in those mountains. Consider the severe elements in the Superstition Mountains, during that past 250-300+ years, and the fact that the marker in that area would not be made of granite, but of porous stone that would severely deteriorate. In this series, forensic geologist Scott Wolter -- considered a real-life Indiana Jones by some -- travels across the country to uncover some of the hidden treasures and to reveal the history. One mystery of the legendary Lost Dutchman gold mine has been solved. These two work hard to stay in shape and keep up with their training because there are so many places they get sent to climb down into like shafts, caves, & more. They began extracting the gold ore from the site, eventually attracting attention from the community. After we packed up the gear and hiked back down to the cars we decided to go to the famous Lost Dutchman Mine restaurant. Length 4.3 miElevation gain 944 ftRoute type Loop. The 180 miles of trails range Indeed, in the decades since Waltz made his mysterious proclamation of the mine public, there have been numerous earnest attempts to try and track it down, and these have the sinister habit of meeting rather gruesome ends. Even though I was so tired at first, I felt myself becoming wide awake withinseconds as I remembered where we were, and what was on the agenda for the day. We parked the trucks in the area we were to search, only to find that there were a LOT of people around. Arizona is host to one of the great treasure legends of not just America, but of the world: The Lost Dutchman Mine. At the age of 13, Trevor Tuttle sat at a campfire at the base of the Superstition Mountains, listening intently to the lore of the Lost Dutchman Mine's legendary, cache of gold. After a few minutes, we noticed that the area looked like it had been worked. Apache Junction, AZ 85119, Walking with Wildflowers at Lost Dutchman, Music in Lost Dutchman State Park: Singer Songwriter Steve Holmquist, America's Greatest Idea: A Park Origins Story, Nature's Bounty - Discovering the Herbal Riches of the Desert, Music in Lost Dutchman State Park: Mark Fogelson, SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN LEGENDS- LOST DUTCHMAN, Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park, Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. Where am I? Most recently, in 2009 there was a would-be treasure hunter by the name of Jesse Capen, a 35-year old bellhop from Denver who was in his free time by all accounts fascinated and obsessed with the legend of the Lost Dutchmans mine. Brent Swancer is an author and crypto expert living in Japan. I was happy that everyone was just as excited as I was to be here and to get going. While hiking, you might meet people who are still searching for the gold mine supposedly discovered by Dutchman Jacob Waltz. Superstition Mountain is a dramatic expression of Arizona Living at its finest. KRISTOF: Technically you We had hiked about 3 miles in and decided to take a break in a small meadow. I told him dont worry about it. impossible to find. We ran into a couple of hikers along the way and I asked them some questions, trying not to give away too much information about the importance of what we were seeking. It also means that you will rarely have access to water sources or shade. As a sort of reward for this generosity, he was apparently one day asked to put on a blindfold, after which he was told he would be led to the mythical lost cavern of gold. Yet there are still all of these mysterious disappearances and death, these enigmatic decapitated corpses and their bullet-ridden heads. Whats touching me? Spurgin said the men have been in the Superstition Mountains -- where the . There were other weird clues found about the body, such as the presence of two bullet holes to the skull from shots fired at point blank range, and it was speculated that he had perhaps been killed for his secret knowledge or committed suicide, but there was no weapon found. We had a 7-hour drive ahead of us and we wanted to start early. An easy to moderate day hike, Treasure Loop is a must-do for all outdoor enthusiasts. For the last 150 years, people have risked their lives to go in search of Arizona's lost gold, silver and other buried treasures. Goldfield Ghost Town . Featuring desert plants with interpretive signs along the way, this trail acts as an introduction to the area. Roosevelt, AZ. the mine. We had spent many months planning and prepping for this but yet, the outcome was still unsure. After an hour or so of unpacking the trucks, we headed to the grocery store to buy enough food to last us the next few days. A Spanish Arrastra After docking the boat, no time was wasted in loading up the truck to head out to our next destination, a possibly lost Spanish arrastra site within the Superstition Mountains. Theyre bobcats, mountain lions, javelinas, This area is truly a beautiful place, one for the record. The Jesuit Treasure of the Superstition Mountains (Part 1) When the Spanish explorers discovered and began the exploration of the Americas the King of Spain required that a priest accompany the conquistadors. Registration required. Regardless of gold, the Superstition Wilderness offers a much better treasure: a stunning desert environment to explore. I felt proud of them! We had no idea what lied ahead, so I changed into my hiking clothes, boots, and put my handgun on my hip and we were on our way down the trail. Many come for Arizona > Superstition Mountains Highlights: Rough, rocky mountains east of Phoenix, covered by saguaro and other cacti, and split by many canyons. In December of 1949 a man named James Kidd vanished without a trace in the area as well. Many believe the Superstition Mountains We were anxious to get breakfast and packing up the equipment out of the way that morning because we wanted to get Dave down into the water. Superstitions, found gold or knew where the golden spots were located. Good job guys! After you learn a thing or two about the gold rush in Arizona, the Apache tribes, and the lost Dutchman, you might want to experience a gold-mining ghost town. At four miles round trip, it takes you into the heart of the Superstitions, through vertical canyons and wildflower-filled meadows, and you might even see a waterfall, something you might not expect in the desert. It was a fairly short hike, only 1 1/2 miles to the search area. RODRIGUEZ: Davis That he found in a mine? The location is generally believed to be in the Superstition Mountains, near Apache Junction, east of Phoenix, Arizona. Then, Jacob Waltz comes along a Germany-born prospector who, according to Grunge, was mistaken as being Dutch. have to understand how rugged it is and how vast it is. (Tobias) has to do with Jesuit treasure, and this area is represented by the Priest stone. Sign up to get adventurous offers and the latest news on Treasure Hunting! Shrouded in mystery, the mine is not only allegedly rich in gold but is also said to have a curse upon it, leading to a number of strange deaths, as well as people who mysteriously go "missing . The Superstition Mountain range is the biggest mountain range in the Phoenix Area and is mostly made up of true desert. The Superstition Wilderness was declared a National Wilderness Area in 1964. TIM KRISTOF: That These steep, jagged volcanic mountains were formed over 29 million years ago and they cover an area of 160,000 acres. Of mystery and legend since early times, east of Phoenix, Arizona day,. 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