Jim,
I am currently engaged in going over the Bark Notes you sent me and making notations of things of interest. Since I'm being a "watcher" here at the library (that is, I'm assigned to watch contractors working in the stacks, so they don't steal any books (ha-ha)), I have plenty of time to sit and read. I came across a few things I'd like to ask about. First is Rhiney's relating of the Waltz story to Bark. When he gets to the part where Waltz is going to take them to the mine, but says he can only go as far as the board house because of his health, he says he thinks he can show them the trail over the mountain looking from the house. Is the location of the board house known, and is the location of the trail Waltz was talking about known today?
Second, under the title Monumented Trail And Cut Timber, there is a statement that Helena and Rhiney told Bark that there were two pits at the mine about 75 feet deep and a like distance across the top. I think you and I corresponded on the subject of two pits versus one pit awhile back. Then, under Tom Weedin And The Walker Map, Weiser tells Doctor Walker that the mine has a "tunnel and two pits". Now, is it conceivable that there were several pit mines in the Superstitions that were worked by Peralta, and that the stories that refer to only one pit are about a different mine, or that (less plausible) the pits were far enough apart that some finders never saw the second one?
Third, under Dr. Thorne, the story seems to give several use clues to directions and locations. Thorne says he was taken to an Apache village at the junction of the Salt and Verde Rivers. After observing small parties of indians bringing in quantities of gold, he asked one of the chiefs where they got the gold. He replied by pointing up the Salt River. Now, from the junction of the Salt and Verde Rivers, the camp being on the northeast junction, which way would "up the Salt" be? Later, as he describes being taken to the mine by the indians, he says that on the way back to where they had left the horses, they didn't blindfold him right away, and that "we walked through a hole or cave" and that it had a lot of old Mexican mining tools in it, and that horses could not go through. This sounds like Waltz's description of there being a "trick" to finding the mine, and that you had to go through a hole to get to it. Also, the two soldiers described going through a cave or hole between two peaks on the trail before they found the mine. And Waltz also said no cowboy would find the mine because they wouldn't get off their horse to walk, and that's the only way, it seems, that they could get through the hole or cave or whatever it was you had to pass through to reach the mine.
Thorne also said a sharp peak that looked like a sombrero appeared to be about 5 miles south of where the mine was located, and that when they reached the Salt on the way back, it seemed to be about 15 miles south. If the sombrero was Weaver's Needle, that puts the mine between there and the Salt in a northerly direction.
I just found these clues quite interesting because many of them match up with what others, who have supposedly found the mine at one time or another, have said.
Bob

Hi, Jim,
Sorry to tell you, but no hiring. In fact, they are laying off here. Because of the state budget crisis, we are looking at losing over half of our staff, and only being open to the public 3 days a week! And we haven't been paid since the middle of July, because a budget hasn't been passed. I've been here 15 years and this is the worst I've ever seen. There is still no end in sight because the administration, which is Democrat, and the Republicans, are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Oh, well, at least I still have a job.
As far as my question about the board house, Bark says in the notes that it was on the sight of his horse ranch, so that should be pretty authoritative, no? Also, in reading the Two Soldiers story in the notes, they describe leaving Ft. McDowell and getting on the Apache Trail (although I geuss it wasn't called that then). I would assume they came down the Verde and crossed the Salt somewhere in that vicinity. Most versions don't mention it, but there is an allusion to them having mules. Anyway, it goes on to say that they followed the Apache Trail until it appeared to turn alomost straight north, whereas they wanted to go south. So at that point they found a creek and followed it south until they came to a waterfall and couldn't go any farther. Now I know I have read on one of the hiking sites about a creek that runs from the direction of the Salt and has a waterfall and a box canyon part way along it. It might be Reavis Falls, but I'm not sure. I'll have to try and find it again, unless you know which one it is. Anyway, they went back the way they had come for a ways and then climbed up a mountain which was flat on the top and on which they couldn't find any sign of a trail; however, they later came across a trail which took them through the tunnel or cave that is spoken of that you have to pass through to find the mine. And of course, they did find it. Do any of these landmarks sound at all familiar to you? Any idea what that creek might be? Also, when they get to the Silver King mine (where was that located?) they state that they haven't got their "naturalization papers" yet so can't file a claim. Now, if they were in the Army, they would have to be U.S. citizens, wouldn't they? Do you think Bark might have meant Discharge papers? It sounds like it would be really simple if you could find that creek, then climb up the mountain, search around and find the trail, follow it until it went through the cave or hole, and there you would be, at the mine! How much easier could it get?
Bob

Jim,
Maybe you didn't get the fact that I was being a little tongue in cheek when I said that about how easy it would be to find the mine. I do have Ely's book, remember? We have two copies of it here at the library. It was the first book I read on the subject. I want to pick up Conatser's book too. It seems to me that the waterfall is significant, if in fact it was true and not added into the story at some later point. It might not be a waterfall in dry weather, but you could tell if you ran into a high pouroff that you couldn't climb around.
If, for the sake of argument, it was Tortilla Creek they went up, does that mean the mountain they climbed and on which they eventually found the trail that took them to the mine was Tortilla Mtn.?

How did Waltz get to his mine? He must have had several ways of reaching it, it seems to me. When he lived with the Pimas, he would have travelled into the mountains from the south, past the board house, or later, the Bark ranch. When he came from Phoenix, getting ready for his last trip with Julia and Rhiney, he said they would go in by the board house (or cow house) on a trail he would point out to them, while he waited there. But when he tried to tell Dick Holmes how to get there, he allegedly said to go to First Water then Second Water (creeks?) and then take the old government trail to San Carlos, which would have meant going in from the north along the Salt River, correct? Never having been to the Superstitions ( a situation I hope to remedy very soon) I'm only familiar with the area from looking at maps. Is there any conflict in these directions? I mean, would going in by either route logically take you to the same place? Would one be just as easy as the other? Do you think he told Holmes to go that way because it was easier to describe how to get to the mine that way than from the board house?

Ok, I'll go back and re read.