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Bob,
Your welcome on the knee tip. I would rather go in from any direction other than the north. It's a tough hike from the north. The Peralta family had numerous mines in the Superstition Mountains, I would say they had eight mines there. I can tell you the inside the mine it is 47 feet long, and could be expanded beyond that. I have no knowledge about what the last days were for Jacob Waltz, just what I have read. What I was told that he had 232 ounces of gold in a candle box under his death bed, and Dick Holmes ended up with the gold.
The way the mine was covered up most of taken a long time. A very slow process indeed. He didn't only cover the portal, he covered a big area. When I dug it up the first time. At seven feet down I ran into six ironwood logs that looked brand new. It was like the mine was buried the day before I got there, except for the dirt & rock was time consuming to pick through. I was told he had three cache's in the Supertition Mountains, and one of those was under his death bed, so the other two cache's may still be waiting. I heard one of the cache's was very big, he just kept adding to it over the years. So it must be a safe place in his mind. He wouldn't have to travel that far if he had some sort of trouble. Say maybe half way between the mine & Phoenix. All of the tailings that were pulled out by the Peralta's. Miguel Peralta the miner was at least one hundred years ahead of his time. What he did with the tailings, was pure genius. I never would have thought of that myself, but I'm no miner. I can't say how he hid the tailings. Do I believe Jacob Waltz ever killed anyone to get or keep the mine ? Yes, I would think he killed every person that ever came close to the mine. Or, if they tryed following him on his path to the mine, he probably waited for them in turn up ahead and it was another shallow hole to dig. I would think if Jacob Waltz found any person at his mine that person was fair game. In Jacob Waltz mind, he dreamed & looked all of his life for a gold mine like this, (the mother lode) and nothing was going to take it from him. I think that's why he never filed a claim on it, because this. I think Jacob Waltz feared the Apache Indian's that's why he had the three caches. Jacob Waltz had to be right every time he traveled to the mine, what I mean is, if he was ever followed to the mine, he would have lost the mine and his life all at the same time. I would have to say Jacob Waltz was very clever. When Miguel Peralta left the mine, and Jacob Waltz took over as proprietor. The only job for Jacob Waltz to do was mine gold and protect the mine from interlopers. He had a full time job from the middle of October through up to the middle of May keeping a eye on his enterprise. Jacob Waltz probably looked forward to the summer time, he could relax some what. One more thought on the cache's. I would imagine the gold sits in saddle bags in a hole somewhere. Probably weighing in at 35-45 pounds per bag. That would be the best way to be carried, the standard color for a saddle bag was brown back then, and that would blend in well in the area. One bag might be worth today around $ 400 K.
Brad W.
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