The story of the Lost Dutchman gold mine actually has its roots in the 1540's. In the 1540's, Coronado and his men were looking for the "Seven Golden Cities of Cibola." When they came to the area currently east of Phoenix, the Indains told them the mountains were full of gold. The Indians refused to help Coronado explore the area because it was sacred land of the Thunder God. They said that the Thunder God would kill any man who set foot in his land. The Spaniards ignored the Indains and sent parties into the mountains. They noticed that if a man strayed only a short distance from his party, he was later found dead and decapitated. This happened to numerous people in thier party. Coronado named the area Monte Superstition. They soon left the area, as it wa too dangerous. By the 1700's, Arizona had many Spanish missions, and in some of the areas gold was being mined by the Spaniards. This went on for a number of years before they were pulled out of the area. Some people believe that the Apache Indians either helped them locate the gold or just allowed them to mine the gold without any major confrontations. They may have been scared to go into the Superstitions themselves. When the Spaniards were pulled out of the area and returned to Spain, some believe they convinced the Apaches never to reveal the source the gold mines they established. They may have planned to return in the future. Some believe this is the reason the Apaches were so hostile to all gold seekers in the Superstition Mountains.
The next chapter of the story goes as follows. In 1845, a well off Mexican named Don Miguel Peralta was looking for the gold spoken about by Coronado. He lived in Sonora, Mexico, but found a rich gold deposit in the Superstitions. Before he returned to Mexico, he memorized the surroundings of the mine. He said one of the landmarks looked like a big sombrero and called his discovery the Sombrero Mine. He later sent many expeditions to this area. Some believe this is a reference to the well known mountain named Weavers Needle in the Superstitions. For a time, they they mined the gold and sent it back to Mexico by mule train. Numerous expiditions were a success. Peralta caught word of an impending attack by the Apaches. They were angry that this mining operastion was going on in thier sacred land. Peralta had his men pack up all the mined gold, mules and wagons. They were to conceal the opening of the mines so no one could ever tell a mine had existed here. He planned to return. But in 1848, the same year the U.S. would gain this area as Arizona Territory, one of their mule trains had problems. On their way back to Mexico, they were ambushed by the Apaches. The Apaches massacred both mule trains. All of the mules and prospectors were killed, except a cousin named Carlos Peralta. Legend has it that Carlos Peralta made it back to Mexico to tell the story of the ambush. The gold mines had been hidden or obstructed from view, and only Carlos now knew where they were. The current problem became that the Peraltas lost their land grant to the U.S. They could no longer go after their gold legally.
The next chapter of the story goes as follows. A German immigrant named Jacob Waltz came to the U.S. in the 1840's. Many German immigrants were called Dutchmen, a mispronunciation of the word "Duetch." He headed for the Carolina gold fields, but found out the gold was gone. Then the gold rush of 1849 started in California started. Waltz headed for California. He worked in the gold field there for some time. In 1861, he applied for naturalization in Los Angeles. He was acccepted. He could now file claims in his own name. Soon after, he joined a group of prospectors heading for the Bradshaw Mountains of Arizona Territory. In 1866, the tiny little town of Phoenix had been establised due to a man named Jack Swilling. Swilling had taken up a project to reopen the canals and waterways abandoned by the anchient Hohokam people many centuries before. Swilling proved everyone wrong when his efforts worked and provided much needed water to the small town.
In 1868, a sixty year old Jacob Waltz moved the Salt River Valley just south of Phoenix. He farmed and raised chickens and hogs. This consisted of his life for the first few years here. He finally found time to prospect again in the 1870's. He spent these years prospecting in the Superstition Mountains. He had a partner named Jacob Wieser, it was safer in these Apache infested mountains not to mine alone. Accounts from a descendant of Weisner, say that they met Carlos Peralta around this time. If this is true, then the gold that they found was probably from the lost Peralta Mine. These facts are supposedly in a journal of Weisers that is still in the family. The stone tablets indicating the location of the gold mine that were later found (1954) in the area, were either carved by the Peralta propspectors or by Waltz and Weiser. No one knows for sure. Anyhow, Carlos Peralta accompanied them into the Superstitions twice. On the second time, he was killed by the Apaches. If he showed them where the gold was, now only the two of them knew. Waltz lived a very modest life. On occasion, he was spotted in a general store buying supplies. He managed to have some good amounts of gold in his possession at times. No one seemed to know where this gold came from.
In May of 1887, an earthquake rocked the area. Some say it rearranged the landscape in the Superstitions quite a bit. Some close to Waltz say he did not return to his gold mine again because it was either it was buried in fallen rock or the landmarks leading the way no longer existed. In 1891, a flood hit the Phoenix area. Jacob Waltz's property was destroyed. A friend named Julia Thomas became concerned about him and sent people to check on him. He was on his bed a few inches above the water. During this flood, waltz contracted pneumonia. Julia brought him back to her house to take care of him.
It is at Julia's house that the first seeds of the legend started to grow. Julia knew about the gold because Waltz had given her some to pay off her debts after her husband left her. She a first thought it was gold that had been saved up for a long time and would not take it. He assured her that there was planty more where that came from. Now with the old man very sick, she started to ask him questions about the location of the mine. On October 21, 1891, Jacob Waltz died. Some of the details of Julia's stories don't seem to match known events throughout Waltz's life. Soon after the old mans death, Julia sold her ice cream parlor and headed to the Superstitions to seek the gold mine. She never found it. To try to recoup some of her loses, she started selling supposed copies of the map that would lead some lucky prospector to the gold mine. No one ever found it and the legend began to grow. No record of Jacob Weiser exists in Germany or the U.S., but his journals and some accounts are claimed to be known by Weiser's descendants. Within a couple of years of the Dutchman's death, low grade gold ore was discovered near the site of the 1848 Peralta massacre. A town sprang up named Goldfield (see AZ ghost towns). Many forgot about the Dutchmans lost gold mine for a while. Some say that Waltz may have been the only white man to take gold out of the Sombrero Mines after the Peralta Massacre and live to spend it.
Today, the legend lives on. Many prospectors are still searching the Superstition Mountains for the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine. No one has found it. The stone tablets found in 1954 supposedly point the way, but they are very confusing. Many differnt interpretations have been concluded, but with no avail. Through the years many people have sought the gold mine. Many people have strangely disappeared or turned up dead by murder or the elements. The Apaches claim that the Thunder God protects the mine. And all who seek it shall wind up dead. Numerous people have been found shot or decapatated in this wilderness. It is a ghostly and dangerous place. Many prospectors in the mountains now would not hesitiate to kill you if they think you are getting to close.