# The Lost Dutchman's gold mine > Jacob Waltz, a German immigrant farmer, died in Phoenix on 25 October 1891 and is said to have told the woman nursing him where his rich gold mine lay in… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:47:45+00:00 --- **MYS** 0D0G056A6M9R·Mystery · treasure # The Lost Dutchman's gold mine **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=lost-dutchman-mine) The Lost Dutchman's gold mine ![Lost Dutchman State Park](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/lost-dutchman-mine-lead) dconvertini · CC BY-SA 2.0 Where Superstition Mountains, east of Phoenix, Arizona⁠[[13]] The man Jacob Waltz, c. 1810 to 25 October 1891; homesteaded near Phoenix 1870⁠[[1]] First search Julia Thomas and the Petrasch brothers, summer 1892⁠[[4]] The legend in print P. C. Bicknell, San Francisco Chronicle, January 1895⁠[[4]] Geology Miocene caldera complex; Apache Leap Tuff 18.58 Ma⁠[[9]] Gold found in the range None of consequence⁠[[10]] Searchers each year About 9,000 (one estimate)⁠[[1]] Status Partly explained Questions 0 of 4 answered People [**Jacob Waltz** German immigrant prospector and farmer; the 'Dutchman'](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/people/FIG0D0G06X03Z9D/jacob-waltz)[**Julia Thomas** Neighbour who nursed Waltz; led the 1892 search; sold maps](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/people/FIG0D0G074T1WAN/julia-thomas)[**Adolph Ruth** Searcher whose death made the story national](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/people/FIG0D0G07ME22HG/adolph-ruth)[**Pierpont C. Bicknell** Journalist whose 1895 article made the legend](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/people/FIG0D0G07CM6N9C/pierpont-c-bicknell)[**Robert Blair** Historian of the legend's origins](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/people/FIG0D0G07W82B8Q/robert-blair) Catalog key**MYS** 0D0G056A6M9R The documented Jacob Waltz is a modest figure: a German immigrant, "about 38" in an 1848 affidavit, who came to Arizona Territory in the 1860s, prospected without recorded success, farmed about 160 acres near Phoenix from 1870, lost the farm to the Salt River flood of 1891 and died that October, nursed by a neighbour, Julia Thomas⁠[[1]]⁠[[2]]. Within a year Thomas and two brothers, Rhinehart and Hermann Petrasch, were in the Superstition Mountains looking for a mine he was said to have described to her; the Arizona Enterprise and other territorial papers reported the search in September 1892, and when it failed Thomas sold maps at seven dollars each⁠[[3]]⁠[[4]]⁠[[1]]. The legend as now told, with Spanish Peralta miners massacred by Apaches, a mine inherited by Waltz and his partner Weiser, caches near Weavers Needle and a deathbed map, was assembled by the journalist Pierpont C. Bicknell in the San Francisco Chronicle in January 1895, who first joined Waltz to the Peraltas and to the Needle and coined "Dutchman's Lost Gold"⁠[[4]]. Robert Blair's 1975 study traced the story's parts to three unrelated tales (the Apache or Dr Thorne gold, the Dutchman, and the soldiers' lost vein), found the only documented Peralta mine in California, and found no Dr Thorne in Army service⁠[[2]]⁠[[1]]. A folklorist counted 62 variants by 1977⁠[[5]]. Adolph Ruth's death in the range in 1931, with a skull that an anthropologist said had been shot through, made the story national news; since then at least a dozen searchers have died or vanished, most recently three Utah men in 2010 and Jesse Capen in 2009⁠[[6]]⁠[[7]]⁠[[8]]. The range itself is a Miocene caldera complex of ash-flow tuff and lava, dated about 20.5 to 16 Ma, in which neither prospectors nor mining companies have found gold of consequence; the gold districts lie outside it at Goldfield⁠[[9]]⁠[[10]]. Of the 4 questions on this site, 0 are answered. The most likely answer to “Can the Superstition Mountains hold a rich gold vein?”, not yet confirmed: the range is mid-Miocene ash-flow tuff and lava of a caldera complex, without the hydrothermal systems that…. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**Can the Superstition Mountains hold a rich gold vein?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/questions/QST0D0G0B9M1S49/can-the-superstition-mountains-hold-a-rich-gold-vein)Most likely: the range is mid-Miocene ash-flow tuff and lava of a caldera complex, without the hydrothermal systems that… [**Did Jacob Waltz have a gold mine in the Superstition Mountains?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/questions/QST0D0G0B1T7EHP/did-jacob-waltz-have-a-gold-mine-in-the-superstition)Most likely: there was no mine; an old man's deathbed talk, perhaps with a small cache, grew into a composite legend [All 4 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=lost-dutchman-mine) ## What is known The record of Waltz is thin but real. Blair cites an 1848 affidavit giving his age as about 38, a Jacob Walz born in Württemberg in September 1810 who may be the same man, the 1870 homestead of about 160 acres near Phoenix, the 1891 flood and his death on 25 October 1891; he is buried in what is now the Pioneer and Military Memorial Park in Phoenix⁠[[1]]⁠[[2]]. That he told Julia Thomas something about gold is supported by the fact that she went looking within months and that the territorial press reported it in September 1892⁠[[3]]⁠[[4]]. One 1892 paper dismissed the story as a typical deathbed revelation⁠[[11]]. [![Jacob Waltz's grave](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/263a8dcf1a435b5d19d0e3687feb83f2b201725b1b5c8dd6c355af20cd2e1cd9/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/artifacts/ART0D0G0P1C5W4N/jacob-waltzs-grave) Jacob Waltz's gravePlazak, 1891. CC BY-SA 3.0[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/artifacts/ART0D0G0P1C5W4N/jacob-waltzs-grave) Everything beyond that is later. The Peralta family, the massacre, the partner Weiser, the Apache gold and the soldiers' vein were separate Southwestern tales before Bicknell fused them in 1895, and the first two were reinforced in the 1930s by the Reavis land-fraud Peralta papers and by Ruth's "Peralta map"⁠[[2]]⁠[[1]]. Waltz's gold ore, said to have been found in a candle box under his bed, exists in rival accounts (the Thomas and Petrasch line, and the Dick Holmes line) that contradict each other; no assay or specimen with a chain of custody survives⁠[[11]]⁠[[1]]. One author notes that the gold described was in quartz, while the Superstitions are volcanic, and that Waltz was a placer miner⁠[[1]]. The geology is settled in outline. The Superstition volcanic field is a mid-Miocene caldera complex; the state survey's 2001 revision recognises one regional ash-flow sheet, the Apache Leap Tuff at 18.58 ± 0.03 Ma, from a single Superstition cauldron, within lavas dated 20.5 to 16.0 Ma⁠[[9]]. The wilderness has never shown significant near-surface mineralisation; companies drilled near Woodbury in the 1970s without result; the small epithermal gold veins of the district are at Goldfield, on the range's western edge, where the Mammoth mine produced about three million dollars in gold after its 1893 discovery⁠[[10]]⁠[[4]]. The Superstition Wilderness has been closed to new mining claims since 1984⁠[[1]]. **Map of the region** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/map) [Area][Region][Region] [+][−] 1 **Weavers Needle** Peak Mapped 2 **Superstition Mountains** Mountain range A region 3 **Arizona** State A region 4 **Phoenix** City Within 10 km 5 **Pioneer and Military Memorial Park, Phoenix** Cemetery Within 100 m MappedA regionNatural Earth ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## The search Thomas and the Petrasch brothers searched in the summer of 1892; Bicknell published in 1895; a steady trickle of searchers followed, and the Goldfield strikes of 1892 to 1893 kept the idea of gold in the area alive⁠[[4]]. Adolph Ruth, a retired federal meat inspector in his late sixties or seventies (accounts differ) with a Peralta map from a man his son had helped, went into the range from the Barkley ranch on 13 June 1931 against the rancher's advice and did not return. His skull was found in December 1931 in La Barge Canyon and his skeleton in January 1932 on Black Top Mesa, three-quarters of a mile away, with his pistol fully loaded and, by one account, a note in his chequebook claiming he had found the mine. Aleš Hrdlička of the Smithsonian said the two holes in the skull were from a shot at close range; the sheriff ruled thirst or heart disease and held no inquest; a later historian concluded heat killed him⁠[[6]]⁠[[12]]⁠[[1]]. The deaths since are a mixed list. Some were shootings (John Burns 1951, Joseph Kelley 1952, Charles Massey 1955, Martin Zywotho 1956), some disappearances in rough country (James Cravey 1947, James Kidd 1949), and the recent cases were exposure: Jesse Capen of Denver vanished in December 2009 and his remains were found by volunteers in a crevice half a mile from his camp in 2012; Curtis Merworth, Malcom Meeks and Ardean Charles of Utah went missing in July 2010 and their remains were found in January 2011⁠[[1]]⁠[[8]]⁠[[7]]. The Superstitions are a wilderness of cliffs, canyons and summer heat over 40 degrees, and most of the toll needs no mine to explain it. Organised searches include Glen Magill's expeditions of the late 1960s, which twice announced the mine and twice withdrew, and countless private ones; Tom Kollenborn, who chronicled the range for fifty years, said he never found evidence the mine existed⁠[[1]]⁠[[11]]. ## The explanations The legend's own reading is a rich lode in the Superstitions, worked by Waltz and perhaps by Spaniards before him, with ore hidden near Weavers Needle⁠[[13]]. It predicts a gold-bearing vein in the range and a record of Waltz converting gold to money. Neither is found: the range's rocks are tuff and lava without significant mineralisation, and Waltz's finances show a farmer who died poor, with the claims of large mint sales resting on a treasure writer's unverified report⁠[[9]]⁠[[10]]⁠[[1]]. A second reading is that Waltz had real gold from somewhere else: high-graded ore from the Vulture mine near Wickenburg, where he is rumoured to have fenced for miners, a small find in the Bradshaws, or the Goldfield ground on the range's edge, where John Wilburn argued the Bulldog mine fits Waltz's description⁠[[1]]. It predicts that any genuine Waltz ore would match one of those districts, which an assay could test if a specimen with provenance existed. The third reading, Blair's, is that an old man's deathbed talk about gold, perhaps with a small cache, was turned by Thomas's search, Bicknell's article and the 1930s revival into a composite legend borrowing from other tales, and that the Ruth sensation fixed it in the national imagination⁠[[2]]⁠[[1]]. It predicts what the record shows: no pre-1892 mention, contradictions between the main lines of the story, and a Peralta story that is traceable to a California mine and a land fraud. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1895 | Pierpont C. Bicknell⁠[4] | Waltz's rich mine lies in the Superstition Mountains near Weavers Needle, on ground first worked by the Peralta family. | Disputed | The range's rocks carry no significant gold, and Blair traced the Peralta story to a California mine⁠[9]⁠[2]. | | 1932 | Aleš Hrdlička⁠[12] | Adolph Ruth's skull shows a strong possibility that he was shot with a high-powered gun. | Disputed | The sheriff ruled death by thirst within weeks, and a historian later rejected the murder reading; the skull has not been re-examined⁠[12]⁠[6]. | | 1932 | J. D. Adams, Maricopa County sheriff⁠[12] | Ruth, crippled and walking in June heat, died of thirst. | Disputed | It sits against Hrdlička's reading of the skull, and no forensic re-examination has settled the two⁠[12]. | | 1975 | Robert Blair⁠[2] | There was no mine: the legend fused Waltz's deathbed talk with Peralta, Dr Thorne and soldiers' tales, and the Peralta mine was in California. | Most likely | It is the only source-critical history and fits the record of no mention before 1892, though it cannot rule out a small cache⁠[4]⁠[11]. | | 1977 | Byrd Granger⁠[5] | The Lost Dutchman story exists in 62 variants built from three older legends. | Accepted | The composite origin agrees with Blair's source study⁠[2]. | | 1992 | James Kearney⁠[6] | The murder theory is nonsense; the June heat and Ruth's age killed him. | Disputed | Hrdlička's reading of the skull has never been tested again, so neither account has been confirmed⁠[12]. | | 1997 | Tom Kollenborn⁠[10] | The Superstition Wilderness has never proved mineralised near the surface; core drilling found nothing, and the district's gold veins lie at Goldfield. | Accepted | The state survey's mapping shows the range is a volcanic caldera complex of tuff and lava⁠[9]. | | 2001 | Charles Ferguson and Richard Trapp, Arizona Geological Survey⁠[9] | The Superstition Mountains are mid-Miocene ash-flow tuff and lava from a single cauldron beneath the range. | Accepted | It is the state survey's revised mapping and has not been challenged⁠[9]. | | 2007 | John Annerino⁠[12] | Ruth was shot at close range for his map, and his body was moved and his skull placed in La Barge Canyon. | Disputed | It rests on terrain and Hrdlička's 1932 opinion against the sheriff's thirst ruling and Kearney's heat reading⁠[6]. | | 2010 | Tom Kollenborn⁠[11] | There is no evidence the mine ever existed: actual facts about it just don't exist. | Most likely | It agrees with the geology and with Blair's source study, though absence of evidence cannot close the question⁠[9]⁠[2]. | ## What would settle it Nothing short of a documented vein would settle it for the mine; two things would settle most of the rest. An assay and provenance study of any ore attributed to Waltz still in private hands, matched against the Vulture, Bradshaw and Goldfield signatures, would tell where his gold came from⁠[[1]]. And a publication of the Waltz documents (the 1848 affidavit, naturalisation, claims, homestead, probate and the 1892 newspapers) with the Thomas and Holmes accounts side by side would give the public what Blair assembled and what the legend's retellers leave out⁠[[2]]⁠[[3]]. On the ground, the state survey's mapping already shows where gold can and cannot be expected⁠[[9]]. ## Questions 0 of 4 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 4](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=lost-dutchman-mine) **0** [Can the Superstition Mountains hold a rich gold vein?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/questions/QST0D0G0B9M1S49/can-the-superstition-mountains-hold-a-rich-gold-vein) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: the range is mid-Miocene ash-flow tuff and lava of a caldera complex, without the hydrothermal systems that… **0** [Did Jacob Waltz have a gold mine in the Superstition Mountains?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/questions/QST0D0G0B1T7EHP/did-jacob-waltz-have-a-gold-mine-in-the-superstition) 0 of 2 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: there was no mine; an old man's deathbed talk, perhaps with a small cache, grew into a composite legend ## Evidence 23 findings [Did Jacob Waltz have a gold mine in the Superstition Mountains?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/questions/QST0D0G0B1T7EHP/did-jacob-waltz-have-a-gold-mine-in-the-superstition)11 findings [Waltz worked or knew a rich gold lode inside the Superstition Mountains.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/answers/ANS0D0G0C126NGB/waltz-worked-or-knew-a-rich-gold-lode-inside-the)Disputed +[Thomas and the Petrasch brothers went searching within a year of his death, so he told her something.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0C8W17TG/thomas-and-the-petrasch-brothers-went-searching-within-a)Supported −[Waltz held a homestead and died poor; a treasure writer's claim of $250,000 in mint sales is unverified.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0CGP7CJ5/waltz-held-a-homestead-and-died-poor-a-treasure-writers)Supported −[The range is a Miocene caldera complex of tuff and lava; no significant mineralisation has been found and companies have avoided it.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0CRG4DQR/the-range-is-a-miocene-caldera-complex-of-tuff-and-lava-no)Established −[Every search with his directions, from 1892 to Magill in the 1960s, failed.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0D0A4MW8/every-search-with-his-directions-from-1892-to-magill-in-the)Supported [Waltz had real gold ore, but from outside the range: the Vulture mine, the Bradshaws or the Goldfield veins.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/answers/ANS0D0G0D84267Q/waltz-had-real-gold-ore-but-from-outside-the-range-the)Still possible +[Wilburn argued the Bulldog mine at Goldfield fits Waltz's description.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0DFY2VZX/wilburn-argued-the-bulldog-mine-at-goldfield-fits-waltzs)Suggestive +[The Black Queen and Mammoth strikes at Goldfield came within months of the 1892 search.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0DQR7NXW/the-black-queen-and-mammoth-strikes-at-goldfield-came-within)Suggestive −[No Waltz ore specimen with a chain of custody is known to exist.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0DZJ2KQT/no-waltz-ore-specimen-with-a-chain-of-custody-is-known-to)Supported [There was no mine; an old man's deathbed talk, perhaps with a small cache, grew into a composite legend.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/answers/ANS0D0G0E7C6G0H/there-was-no-mine-an-old-mans-deathbed-talk-perhaps-with-a)Most likely +[Blair traced the Peralta, Dr Thorne and soldiers' elements to separate tales and found the only Peralta mine in California.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0EF671VP/blair-traced-the-peralta-dr-thorne-and-soldiers-elements-to)Supported +[Bicknell's 1895 article is the first to join Waltz, the Peraltas and Weavers Needle.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0EQ00T24/bicknells-1895-article-is-the-first-to-join-waltz-the)Supported +[The Thomas-Petrasch and Holmes accounts contradict each other.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0EYT462C/the-thomas-petrasch-and-holmes-accounts-contradict-each)Supported +[An 1892 newspaper already dismissed the story as a typical deathbed revelation.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0F6M1319/an-1892-newspaper-already-dismissed-the-story-as-a-typical)Suggestive [Can the Superstition Mountains hold a rich gold vein?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/questions/QST0D0G0B9M1S49/can-the-superstition-mountains-hold-a-rich-gold-vein)4 findings [The range is mid-Miocene ash-flow tuff and lava of a caldera complex, without the hydrothermal systems that…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/answers/ANS0D0G0FP84VA0/the-range-is-mid-miocene-ash-flow-tuff-and-lava-of-a-caldera)Most likely +[The state survey maps one regional ash-flow sheet (Apache Leap Tuff, 18.58 Ma) from a single Superstition cauldron, within lavas of 20.5 to 16 Ma.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0FY27GWN/the-state-survey-maps-one-regional-ash-flow-sheet-apache)Established +[The wilderness has never proved mineralised near the surface; 1970s drilling near Woodbury found nothing; companies have avoided it.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0G5W0F6D/the-wilderness-has-never-proved-mineralised-near-the-surface)Supported [Gold exists on the range's margins (Goldfield's epithermal veins) and a legend placed inside the range could…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/answers/ANS0D0G0GDP25DP/gold-exists-on-the-ranges-margins-goldfields-epithermal)Most likely +[Small epithermal quartz veins with gold occur at Goldfield; the Mammoth produced about three million dollars.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0GNG4B6T/small-epithermal-quartz-veins-with-gold-occur-at-goldfield)Established [A mineralised pre-volcanic basement or a cache (not a vein) lies inside the range.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/answers/ANS0D0G0GXA5QSN/a-mineralised-pre-volcanic-basement-or-a-cache-not-a-vein)Still possible +[Precambrian granites occur in a few isolated areas of the wilderness.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0H547GW1/precambrian-granites-occur-in-a-few-isolated-areas-of-the)Speculative [How did Adolph Ruth die?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/questions/QST0D0G0BHE6WKZ/how-did-adolph-ruth-die)5 findings [Ruth was shot, probably for his map, and his remains moved.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/answers/ANS0D0G0HMR2AS9/ruth-was-shot-probably-for-his-map-and-his-remains-moved)Disputed +[Hrdlička of the Smithsonian said the two holes were from a shotgun or high-powered rifle at close range.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0HWJ0QGY/hrdlicka-of-the-smithsonian-said-the-two-holes-were-from-a)Supported +[The Peralta map was reported missing from his effects.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0J4C6CF6/the-peralta-map-was-reported-missing-from-his-effects)Suggestive −[His pistol was fully loaded and his valuables were with the bones.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0JC609SV/his-pistol-was-fully-loaded-and-his-valuables-were-with-the)Suggestive [Ruth, old and lame, died of heat and thirst in June; the skull damage is from scavengers or weathering.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/answers/ANS0D0G0JM01F1K/ruth-old-and-lame-died-of-heat-and-thirst-in-june-the-skull)Disputed +[The sheriff ruled thirst or heart disease; historian James Kearney concluded heat killed him.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0JVT4C29/the-sheriff-ruled-thirst-or-heart-disease-historian-james)Supported +[The skull was found three-quarters of a mile from the skeleton, consistent with scavengers.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0K3M75HF/the-skull-was-found-three-quarters-of-a-mile-from-the)Suggestive [Is there any basis for the Peralta mine and the Peralta stones?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/questions/QST0D0G0BS853ZP/is-there-any-basis-for-the-peralta-mine-and-the-peralta)3 findings [A Peralta family mined gold in the Superstitions before 1850 and was massacred by Apaches.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/answers/ANS0D0G0KK83WM6/a-peralta-family-mined-gold-in-the-superstitions-before-1850)Disputed −[Blair found the Peralta mine in the Superstitions is a contrivance of twentieth-century writers; the documented Peralta mine was near Valencia, California.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0KV24X5T/blair-found-the-peralta-mine-in-the-superstitions-is-a)Supported −[The Peralta name entered Arizona lore through the Reavis land-grant fraud.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0M2W4Q3Y/the-peralta-name-entered-arizona-lore-through-the-reavis)Supported [The Peralta stones are twentieth-century fakes.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/answers/ANS0D0G0MAP0HB0/the-peralta-stones-are-twentieth-century-fakes)Still possible +[The stones' Spanish text and maps are considered by some to be clues and by others modern fakes; no independent dating has been published.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/evidence/EVD0D0G0MJG1THZ/the-stones-spanish-text-and-maps-are-considered-by-some-to)Suggestive ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 9](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/artifacts) Document1 step from object [Gold ore attributed to Jacob Waltz (the "candle box" ore)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/artifacts/ART0D0G0NHR7YJ8/gold-ore-attributed-to-jacob-waltz-the-candle-box-ore) unknown; rival private claims (Thomas-Petrasch line; Holmes line) Photo1 step from object [The Peralta stones](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/artifacts/ART0D0G0NSJ70RE/the-peralta-stones) Latin Heart Reader · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo1 step from object [Jacob Waltz's grave](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/artifacts/ART0D0G0P1C5W4N/jacob-waltzs-grave) Plazak · CC BY-SA 3.0 Document3 steps from object [Adolph Ruth's skull](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/artifacts/ART0D0G0Q8E2KRQ/adolph-ruths-skull) Yuma Sun · publisher [See all 9 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-dutchman-mine/artifacts) ## See also [ **Skinwalker Ranch** A ranch in Utah's Uintah Basin where owners reported lights and dead cattle in 1996. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/skinwalker-ranch) [ **Oak Island money pit** A shaft on an island in Nova Scotia that searchers have dug since the early 1800s. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oak-island) [ **San José galleon** A Spanish flagship sunk off Cartagena, Colombia, fighting British ships in 1708. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/san-jose-galleon) [ **Roswell, 1947** Debris found near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 and announced as a flying disc. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/roswell) ## References 1. 1.[Wikipedia contributors n.d.. Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine. Wikipedia.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G04PP65D7/lost-dutchmans-gold-mine)cited 21 times here**SRC** 0D0G04PP65D7 1. 2.[Blair, R. 1975. Tales of the Superstitions: The Origins of the Lost Dutchman's Legend. Arizona Historical Foundation, Tempe.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G01RY7Z0Y/tales-of-the-superstitions-the-origins-of-the-lost-dutchmans)cited 6 times here**SRC** 0D0G01RY7Z0Y 1. 3.[St. Johns Herald (Arizona Territory) 1892. (Item on Julia Thomas's search for the Waltz mine). St. Johns Herald, 8 September 1892, p. 2.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G037T64BD/item-on-julia-thomass-search-for-the-waltz-mine)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D0G037T64BD 1. 4.[Trimble, M. n.d.. The Lost Dutchman: Where the Legend Began. True West Magazine (Tom Kollenborn Chronicles series).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G03006808/the-lost-dutchman-where-the-legend-began)cited 10 times here**SRC** 0D0G03006808 1. 5.[Granger, B. 1977. A Motif Index for Lost Mines and Treasures Applied to Redaction of Arizona Legends, and to Lost Mine and Treasure Legends Exterior to Arizona. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G020R4A1G/a-motif-index-for-lost-mines-and-treasures-applied-to)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0D0G020R4A1G 1. 6.[Love, F. n.d.. When Arizona was young: what, or who, killed mine hunter?. The Yuma Sun (Desert Life column).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G03FM5NRA/when-arizona-was-young-what-or-who-killed-mine-hunter)cited 8 times here**SRC** 0D0G03FM5NRA 1. 7.[Lee, J. 2011. Third body found in Arizona; Murray family believes remains could be missing Utahn. Deseret News, 16 January 2011.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G04EW0XPM/third-body-found-in-arizona-murray-family-believes-remains)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D0G04EW0XPM 1. 8.[Phoenix New Times 2012. Superstition Search and Rescue Team Finds Human Remains in Same Area Where Missing Gold Prospector's Campsite Was Found in 2009. Phoenix New Times.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G04723ZMT/superstition-search-and-rescue-team-finds-human-remains-in)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D0G04723ZMT 1. 9.[Ferguson, C., Trapp, R. 2001. Stratigraphic nomenclature of the Miocene Superstition Volcanic Field, central Arizona. Arizona Geological Survey Open-File Report OFR-01-06, 103 p..](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G028J5VV6/stratigraphic-nomenclature-of-the-miocene-superstition)cited 7 times here**SRC** 0D0G028J5VV6 1. 10.[Kollenborn, T. 1997. Geology of the Superstition Wilderness Area. Apache Junction Public Library (Kollenborn Chronicles).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G02GC3F80/geology-of-the-superstition-wilderness-area)cited 6 times here**SRC** 0D0G02GC3F80 1. 11.[Phoenix New Times 2010. Fool's Gold: Prospectors Have Looked for the Lost Dutchman's Gold for a Century, But Jesse Capen Figured He Could Find It. He Probably Died Trying.. Phoenix New Times.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G03Z83374/fools-gold-prospectors-have-looked-for-the-lost-dutchmans)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0D0G03Z83374 1. 12.[Annerino, J. 2007. Dead Man's Tale. Arizona Highways, April 2007.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G03QE7P3A/dead-mans-tale)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D0G03QE7P3A 1. 13.[Arizona State Parks and Trails n.d.. The Dutchman. azstateparks.com, Lost Dutchman State Park.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D0G02R64A5Y/the-dutchman)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0D0G02R64A5Y Last edited 27 Oct 2026