The Lost Dutchman Mine, Arizona
The American West, a landscape etched with tales of ambition and hardship, holds within its vast expanse a treasure story that has captivated imaginations for over a century: the Lost Dutchman Mine. More than just a rumored source of untold riches, this elusive mine is steeped in mystery, whispered to be cursed, and linked to numerous unexplained deaths and disappearances among those who dare to seek its golden embrace. The legend of the Lost Dutchman Mine has grown over the past 120 years, and some people believe that it is just a myth.
The enduring allure of the Lost Dutchman Mine persists, drawing prospectors and dreamers to the rugged Superstition Mountains of Arizona even today. Whether reality or myth, the haunting narratives surrounding this lost treasure solidify its place as one of the most famous lost treasure tales ever told.
East of Phoenix, Arizona, rises the imposing Superstition Mountain range, a geological tapestry sculpted by time and the elements. Locals often simply refer to them as the "Superstitions." Dominating this formidable landscape is Superstition Mountain itself, a 3,000-foot-high monolith that seems to stand sentinel, guarding the secrets and dangers hidden within its territory. The Lost Dutchman Mine is rumored to be somewhere in this mountain range.
Long before the glint of gold sparked feverish pursuits in these cliffs and mesas, the area was shrouded in an aura of mystery. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in 1540, led by Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, they encountered the Apache Indians, who considered Superstition Mountain sacred. To the Apache, this was the home of their Thunder God, a place of reverence and power. Coronado and his men, however, driven by the insatiable quest for the legendary "Seven Golden Cities of Cibola," paid little heed to the indigenous beliefs and customs.
The Spanish learned from the Apache that the mountains held gold, fueling their desire to explore the region. The Apache, deeply protective of their sacred ground, warned the Spaniards against trespassing. They told tales of the Thunder God’s wrath, of suffering and death that would befall those who dared to violate the mountain’s sanctity. The Indians referred to Superstition Mountain as the "Devil’s Playground," a testament to its perceived dangers.
Undeterred, the Spaniards pressed on, their lust for gold outweighing the warnings. Almost immediately, men began to vanish, their fates unknown. Fear gripped the conquistadors, and orders were given to stay within arm’s reach of one another. Still, more men disappeared, only to be discovered later, their bodies mutilated and decapitated, gruesome evidence of the mountain’s dark power.
Terrorized, the remaining conquistadors fled, vowing never to return to the cursed mountain. They named it Monte Superstition, and so the legends began.
A century and a half later, the tales of gold in the Superstitions reached the ears of Jesuit priest Eusebio Francisco Kino. Driven by a mission to establish missions and convert the native population to Christianity, Kino was also drawn to the rumors of wealth. In the early 1700s, he began exploring the region, discovering several sources of gold. Whether he located the legendary Lost Dutchman Mine itself remains unknown, but his expeditions yielded enough of the coveted metal to further ignite the legend of gold in the Superstitions. These expeditions, however, further provoked the Apache, who intensified their attacks on all intruders.
In 1748, a vast tract of land, including the Superstitions and approximately 3,750 square miles of present-day Arizona, was granted to Don Miguel Peralta, a Mexican cattle baron from Sonora. This land grant marked the first official record of the mine’s existence, with the Peralta family purportedly extracting ore from a rich gold mine, as well as several silver mines, within the Superstitions. Aware of the Apache’s hostility, the Peralta family minimized their mining operations, avoiding unnecessary risk of confrontation.
However, in 1846, four descendants of Don Miguel Peralta – Enrico, Pedro, Ramon, and Manuel – decided to venture into Arizona once more, defying both the "curse" and the wrath of the Apache. They returned to Sonora laden with gold, planning another expedition. The following year, with the Mexican-American War raging, Pedro Peralta was the only one willing to risk the journey, determined to extract as much gold as possible before the territory became part of the United States. The Apache, enraged by the continued intrusion, were preparing to strike back. Hearing rumors of an impending attack, the Peralta miners concealed the mine’s entrance and, with burros and wagons loaded with gold, began their return to Mexico in the winter of 1847-1848.
Tragedy struck. The Peralta party was ambushed by the Apache. The pack mules scattered, spilling gold across the landscape. For years afterward, prospectors flocked to the area, seeking not only the mine itself but also the lost Mexican gold scattered during the massacre. In the 1850s, two prospectors are said to have discovered three dead burros with intact pack saddles containing approximately $37,000 worth of gold.
The Peralta family refrained from working the mines for the next sixteen years. In 1864, however, Enrico Peralta led a force of approximately 400 men back into the Superstitions. It would be his final journey. On the northwest slope of the mountain, in an area now known as "Massacre Ground," all but one of the miners were ambushed and killed by the Apache. The Peralta family never returned to the mine, and over time, all maps and knowledge of its location were lost.
The next individual to stumble upon the mine was Dr. Abraham Thorne. In 1865, Thorne served as an army doctor at Fort McDowell, Arizona. During this period, the Apache had directed their hostility towards Arizona settlers and the U.S. Army. As the soldiers subdued the Indians, a reservation was established near Fort McDowell, where Thorne began providing medical services. Earning the respect of tribal leaders through his care for the sick and injured, particularly after curing several Apache of eye diseases, Thorne was offered an opportunity to be led to the gold in the Superstitions in 1870. However, he had to agree to be blindfolded for the 20-mile trip.
Thorne agreed, and he was taken to a location purportedly near the mine, where a pile of gold ore lay stacked near the base of a canyon wall. Allowed to remove the blindfold, Thorne found himself in a canyon dominated by a large, unusual rock pinnacle to the south. The Apache allowed him to collect as much ore as he could carry before blindfolding him again for the return journey. Thorne sold the ore for approximately $6,000, making him a wealthy man. However, legend states that Thorne later attempted to find the location again. Gathering a group of friends, they allegedly stumbled upon the mine, filled their saddlebags with gold, and started back to Phoenix, but were attacked and killed by the Apache before they could escape with their riches.
In the 1870s, Jacob Waltz, a German immigrant who had befriended one of the Peralta heirs, was allegedly told the location of the mine. Waltz, who had relocated to Arizona years earlier, worked as a prospector and owned a homestead on the northern side of Superstition Mountain.
Before settling in Pinal County, Arizona, Waltz worked at Henry Wickenburg’s Vulture Gold Mine near Wickenburg, Arizona. There, he met an Apache woman named Ken-tee, who became his mistress despite Waltz being almost 60 years old. Later, Waltz was suspected of stealing ore from the Vulture Mine and was dismissed.
The pair then moved near the Superstition Mountain range. Another version of the story claims that Waltz learned of the mine’s location from Ken-tee. The Apache, convinced that Ken-tee had betrayed the site of their secret shrine, attacked Waltz and his mistress, seizing Ken-tee and cutting out her tongue. Waltz managed to escape and eventually ran a saloon in Tortilla Flats.
By 1877, Waltz and another man named Jacob Weiser (or Wisner) returned to the Superstitions. Soon after, the miners began paying for supplies in nearby Phoenix with high-grade gold ore, but they never revealed its source or filed a claim.
A few years later, Weiser disappeared without a trace. Speculation was rife, with some claiming he was killed by the Apache and others alleging that Waltz murdered him.
For the next decade, Waltz would frequently appear in Phoenix with saddlebags filled with exceptionally rich gold ore, disappearing again into the Superstition Mountains.
People constantly asked him where the gold came from and where the mine was located. Waltz would give contradictory statements and directions. When people tried to follow him out of town, he would lose them in the many clefts and canyons of the mountain.
In the spring of 1891, Waltz’s homestead was caught in a flood, and he was rescued from certain death by two brothers, Herman and Reinhardt Petrasch. Severely chilled, he was cared for by a woman named Julia Thomas, who tried to nurse him back to health, but Jacob contracted pneumonia.
He sent friends to his home to find the gold he had stored there. Although the house was gone, searchers later located five sacks of gold worth about $15,000. They gave it to Jacob, and it was placed under his sickbed. Throughout the summer, he lingered in a weakened state, providing clues to his caretaker, Julia, and his rescuers, Herman and Reinhardt Petrasch. His condition worsened, and he suffered a stroke, becoming paralyzed and barely able to speak.
Undeterred, Julia and the Petrasches ventured into the Superstitions that summer to find the mine. After five weeks, they returned empty-handed. Jacob finally died on October 25, 1891. The legend continued to grow, and the lost mine became known as the "Lost Dutchman," as many at the time confused the Germans with the Dutch.
Having invested all her possessions in the venture to find the mine, Julia Thomas never attempted to find it again. Herman Petrasch accused his brother, Rhinehart, of not paying attention to Jacob’s bedside clues, and the disagreement led to them never speaking again. Separately, however, they spent much of their lives searching for the lost mine.
The legend of the Lost Dutchman Mine and the tales of its curse continued to grow over the years, with more stories of mysterious deaths, disappearances, and small gold finds.
The Lost Dutchman Mine remains an enigma, its location fiercely debated and its existence questioned. The stories, however, persist, fueled by dreams of fortune and the allure of the unknown. The Superstition Mountains stand as a testament to this enduring legend, a place where ambition and mystery intertwine, forever tempting those who seek the golden promise of the Lost Dutchman Mine.