Jim Hatt wrote:Hello Roy,
There is something in the title of this article that I have always found interesting. "Afraid to return to the source of his mysterious wealth".
I wonder who Bicknell got that from? (My guess is Julia (Helena) Thomas. Some authors have him returning to the mine over and over and over again.
This adds credibility to Sims Ely's version of the story, (from his interviews with Julia & Rhiney) where he said Waltz was only at the mine 3 times. Once with the Peralta expedition, a second time with Weiser, and the last time alone to remove the second small cache.
Jim
HOLA amigo Jim (and everyone),
This is one of the fuzzy factors surrounding the Lost Dutchman mine legend - just how many times was Jacob Waltz actually at the mine? Depending on which source we rely on, it is almost like the old joke of the three blind men who were describing an elephant;
it depends on what part of the critter you are touching!
I tend to believe that Waltz made more than a mere three trips or even fewer as some have proposed, for he was much more active in the late 1860s-early 1870's than he was say in the late 1880's. So a person who was acquainted with him in his later period of life may well have known of only his later trips, while someone who knew him earlier would have seen his obvious greater amount of activity or at a minimum, noted how frequently he was GONE into the mountains.
One other bit also makes me lean toward more frequent visits or at least more TIME spent there, the amount of gold ore mined out of the mine. If we said the whole amount was only that which was found beneath his deathbed, then sure I could accept that he must not have spent that much time there so could not be many visits; when we add in the amount he dug up in order to help save Julia Thomas from bankruptcy and destitution, then consider that he was seen selling (admittedly small amounts) gold in several different towns over three decades, I have to conclude that he must have been at work in that mine for more than just a couple of brief visits over more than twenty years. How much gold ore can one or two men remove from a lode gold vein, working with only hand tools? It cannot have been a lot, based on personal experience it is quite a job to try to bust up solid rock with pick, hammer and hand drills.
One other thing here too - I have read more than once how old Jacob Waltz was "afraid" to return to his mine, one author even saying he was nothing but a coward. From the statements of people who knew him personally and encountered him, I have strong doubt that Waltz was any kind of coward and not a man to take lightly. He had good reasons to be WARY about going back to his mine, for up until 1886 there were still very wild and very hostile Apaches on the warpath just waiting for a chance to go ambush and murder un-suspecting "whites" who might venture into their lairs, plus he knew the tremendous greed and how "white" men would certainly kill for the possession of that mine. He had been followed by men trying to trail him to the mine, and we ought to take note that he told Reiney to keep his mouth shut about the gold when he was selling it to help out Julia. Claimjumpers and dry gulchers were the rule in Arizona Territory of his day. It would have been a foolish man who would shoot his mouth off about finding a very rich gold mine, and a heedless man who would just venture into the Superstition mountains in 1885 without being ready for a serious fight.
I guess we can never know for sure just how many trips old Jake made, just another one of the many mysteries surrounding this legendary gold mine.
Roy ~ Oroblanco
