AshtonPage wrote:I just finished watching Clay Worst’s DVD of the LDM. Interesting to say the least, especially for someone like me who has followed Sims Ely, almost exclusively. I read Holmes (Glover’s versions) before but I always took it with a grain of salt because the Holmes Manuscript seemed to be blatantly exaggerated. But Clay makes a decent case for the Holmes version. So the problem persists; how can one reconcile the Holmes vs. Ely stories?
Listening to the Holmes version, Waltz is portrayed as a trigger happy, shoot-em-up kinda guy who murdered three Mexican miners so he could take the mine from them - but in Ely’s version Waltz is a compassionate Good Samaritan who saves a stranger from a crooked gambling game to (eventually) get the mine. Yes, in Ely’s version Waltz did tell Julia and Reiney that he and his partner Weiser shot two Mexicans working the mine, but Waltz and his partner believed it was an honest (?) mistake because they thought they were shooting Apache.
While listening to Clay, it occurred to me (assuming that Holmes was telling the truth) that Waltz simply didn’t want to tell his friends, Julia and Reiney that he committed murder in order to get possession of the mine. I know that I’m guessing, but it makes sense – it also accounts for other discrepancies in the Holmes \ Ely accounts; like Waltz being in the Confederate Army (he wasn’t). If I’m correct, that means that the Peralta story is made up - as is Waltz’s partner, Jacob Weiser. And if that’s the case, then the Weedin map could have come from any miner, partner of Waltz or not, but the shoe seemed to fit back in the day of Bark and Ely, so it blends into the story about Waltz saying that he had a partner. I know I’m making lots of assumptions here, but if I’m right about all this, we can scratch the Weedin map because it might lead somewhere, but it almost certainly does not lead to the LDM. Not that I’m a big fan of treasure maps in the first place, but you see where I’m going.
I realize that this forum is specifically dedicated to NOT making a bunch of wild guesses, so I apologize for making these unfounded assumptions. But to me, this is the first thing that makes sense regarding how Holmes and Ely could be so vastly different and at the same time both could be an ‘accurate’ recounting of what Waltz said.
Best,
Ashton
Ashton,
After hearing his lecture, I believe Clay told the story exactly how he heard it from Brownie, and I believe Brownie told the story exactly like he heard it from Dick Holmes.....I just don't believe Dick told the truth.
Dick's story portrays Waltz as a killer who has almost no reguard for human life. But, the story has a serious "hole" in it for me, right when they start telling it. If Waltz was a stone cold killer, why did he NEVER FIRE A SHOT at the Indians who attacked him? They only had Bows and Arrows..... You have to remember that Waltz hadnt found the mine yet. So Dick is telling us that Waltz was a killer, but he let three Indians with no guns run him off from EVERYTHING he owned in the world (except his gun), and he didnt even TRY to fight them off....??? Doesnt sound like a killer to me.
Another huge mistake I have with Dick's story is that he ask's Waltz "how much is left?", when Waltz is giving him the directions. I've written my theory on this before. I believe Waltz did tell Dick the directions/clues to the mine that we see in the manuscript. BUT....Dick was supposed to SHARE THE MINE with Julia and Rhiney..... I'll explain why I believe this.
BEFORE Waltz got sick, he was giving Julia and Rhiney directions/clues to the mine. Also BEFORE he got sick, Waltz realized that they would never find it by themselves, because they were greenhorns, so he decided he would take them himself.
THEN Waltz got sick from the flood, and KNEW he would not be able to go. On his deathbed, in walks Dick Holmes.....An avid outdoorsman, military man, and he came from a mining family.....What a perfect person to take Julia and Rhiney out to look for the mine!
So Waltz gives Holmes a "quicker/shorter" version of the directions, with the idea that Dick would SHARE the mine with Julia and Rhiney. THAT is the main reason Dick asks "how much is left?". If I were to be dying and say "Ashton, I have a rich gold mine in those mountains, and I want you ALONE to have it". There is NO WAY you're going to ask me how much is left. Why would you care? You're about to get a FREE GOLD MINE. BUT.....if I said "Ashton, I want you to SHARE this goldmine with 2 other people", THEN you may ask, "How much is left?".
I still believe Holmes' directions are 100% real, I just think he made up the "garbage" around those directions because he got greedy. He had directions to the mine, straight from Waltz, and decided he didnt have to share.
Of course, this is only my personal version of the story, but I still believe this is what happened. There are just too many "holes" in the story........They just never found the correct "hole".....
Thanks,
Travis