For those that don't know the background of this story, I will briefly recap it;
Dr. Erwin Ruth received from the Gonzales Family of Mexico a set of maps that supposedly would lead to a set of gold mines in the Superstition Mountains owned by both the now famous Peralta Family and the less well known Gonzales Family (who were their partners in a couple of the mines).
Erwin Ruth's father (Adolph) loved the subject of treasure hunting (don't we all). His son Erwin was not so inclined. Long story short, they believed that one of the maps did not fit with the rest. Adolph Ruth believed that it more closely matched the area of Anza-Borrego Desert in Southern California.
Adolph Ruth beat feet to Los Angeles and began researching the subject. After some research he wrote his son Erwin asking him to join him on the adventure. Erwin joined his father, but was not enthusiastic about a trip to the desert. In a post card written to the Hawkins Family on 12 December 1919, he writes:
"Father and I have rented a car and will leave here today. I am not crazy about going into the desert, but will have to protect father. Erwin"
During the trip one day, as it was just beginning to get late in the day, Adolph told his son that there was a place he wanted to investigate. Erwin said that he shouldn't because it was starting to get late and he might not be able to find his way back after dark. He did not return that night.
Two days later, it turns out that Adolph Ruth had fallen into a steep ravine severely breaking a leg, that required plates and screws that would stay with him for the rest of his life (only twelve more years). Adolph had been lucky in that the car that came across him after he crawled out of the ravine was one of the very few that had ever been in the area. They took him to the doctor in Borrego Springs, then went and informed his son Erwin. That was the last adventure of the Ruths in Anza-Borrego Desert.
In the 1970s, a man named Gene Reynolds read a book titled "The Killer Mountains" by Curt Gentry as told to him by Glenn Magill. This piqued his interest in the subject of the Peraltas and the Lost Dutchman. He contacted Magill and began a long time correspondence with him. Through these correspondences, Reynolds found out about the Anza-Borrego Mine of the Gonzales Family. Magill shared maps and letters between himself and Erwin Ruth (with Reynolds) that might help him find the Gonzales Lost Gold Mine. Gene Reynolds and his wife Marie, left civilization and moved to Borrego Springs to look for the Gonzales Mine full time. During this time, he would send Magill weekly progress reports.
Once again, long story short, three years later, out of money, and out of hope, Reynolds claimed to have found the mine Adolph Ruth said he saw before falling into the ravine. He claimed that it was none other than the Gonzales Lost Gold Mine. When he got older, lost his wife Marie, and his health began to fail somewhat, he decided to write a book about his desert adventure. We now have "BORREGO 13"
Here is where I come into the story. I live in Southern California and spend an unusually large amount of time in the Anza-Borrego Desert area. I found out about his book and found it almost impossible to get a copy of for less than a Billion Dollars. On another forum, I received Gene's email address, with the caveat that I had better get a move on as Gene's eyesight was about gone and might not answer emails. Well, he did answer my email and was a very nice and accommodating guy. He answered all my questions and had firmly convinced himself that the mineshaft he found was indeed the Lost Gonzales.
I got a copy of his book and read it straight through all three hundred some odd pages. While the area of his search matches both the description of the area and the map of the mine.............................
.........................................HERE WE GO..........................................................................
I do not believe that what Gene Reynolds found was the Gonzales Lost Gold Mine. At the end of his book, he actually includes a picture of the mine he found. He didn't really find it. It is quite well known, and I have been to and into it many times.
The mine in question does not fit what we know about the GLM (Gonzales Lost Mine). Its' location does, but not the mine itself. We know that the mine was originally worked by the Spanish. It was lost when Indians killed off the Spaniards. Later, an Indian told the Gonzales Family about this mine. The Gonzales Family worked it for many years until the end of the Mexican/American War (1847). They still sent men to work the mine occasionally until two failed to return. They gave up on it.
The mine Gene Reynolds saw is a horizontal shaft only about 30 feet in depth, 6'5" tall by about 5' wide. It is composed of fractured granite with a vein of rose quartz heavily laced with hematite and mica, with small white quartz stringers. A depth of 30 feet is not indicative of may years of working the vein. Thirty feet in fractured rock is maybe two to three seasons for two men. I have also dug into the vein and found no free gold.
Here are some pics:
OPINIONS?
Best-Mike
