Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine

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Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine

Lost Treasure AZ • Pinal / Maricopa County
Description
America's most famous lost-mine legend — a fabulously rich gold mine in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix, associated with Jacob "Dutchman" Waltz, the Peralta massacre, and Weaver's Needle.
Historical Notes
The Superstition Mountains (Apache: "Devil's Playground") east of Phoenix have drawn treasure hunters since Spanish expeditions in the 1540s. Don Miguel Peralta's family mined silver and gold until the 1847 Apache massacre scattered pack trains of ore. Jacob Waltz (c. 1810–1891) allegedly worked a secret mine in the 1870s–80s, paying for supplies in Phoenix with extraordinarily rich ore. He died in October 1891 after giving cryptic clues to Julia Thomas and the Petrasch brothers. Searches centered on Weaver's Needle and La Barge Canyon. Dozens of deaths and disappearances — Adolph Ruth (1931), James Cravey (1947), and many others — fueled tales of a curse. Lost Dutchman State Park lies at the range's northwest edge; most rugged interior is wilderness. Exact mine location (if any) unknown. Coordinates approximate Weaver's Needle, a landmark in most Dutchman maps.
Status / Verification legend — Legendary or approximate

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