Treasure Hunting in Arizona – Lost Dutchman Gold Mine

Treasure Hunting in Arizona – Lost Dutchman Gold Mine

Lets start big, and lets talk about Arizona’s most prolific treasure story, and that is
The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine Treasure
East of Phoenix, Arizona, up in the precipitous Superstition Mountains, lies a hidden treasure responsible for ruining the lives of more than a few of its seekers, at least according to legend. This treasure is named the Lost Dutchman Mine, and the legends surrounding it are as vast as they are inconsistent. One of the most well-documented accounts can be found in The Curse of the Dutchman’s Gold, written by Helen Corbin. It pertains to a man named Jacob Waltz, a native of Wurttemberg, Germany, who moved to the US in 1846. He became a naturalized citizen in July 1861, and thereafter became a prospector. Between 1872 and 1878, Waltz, along with his colleague Jacob Weisner, was said to have found gold in a quartz vein that was around 18 inches wide. They then proceeded to mine some ore, which they cached nearby. Work continued on the mine for some time, until Weisner’s untimely death at the hands of a band of Apaches. Distraught, Waltz decided to leave the mine behind. He took enough ore to sustain himself, concealed the mine’s entrance, and never looked back. He also never bothered to file a claim for the mine. Waltz moved to Phoenix, and set up a farm by the Salt River.
Waltz then transitioned to a life of farmsteading from prospecting. One of his customers was a woman named Julia Thomas, a baker whom he delivered eggs to. In 1891, Waltz found out that Julia was in debt. With her bakery on the line, Waltz took pity on her and offered to help her pay off the debt. He then showed her some of his gold ore valued at $1,500, much to Julia’s bewilderment. In her time knowing him, she only thought of him as a farmer of modest means.
Waltz then told her that he had experience in trading gold from Casa Grande, and that he would ship that ore to a smelter in San Francisco. He expressed that he had a lot of familiarity with how gold trades are done, and promised to lend her most of the returns from this one.
He then proceeded to tell her about the cache, and the mine. He professed that he deliberately gave up the rights to it, recounting his grief due to the loss of his partner decades prior. Waltz admitted to Julia that his sorrow was such that he never wanted to work there again. And even if he wanted to, he continued, he was too old for prospecting.
Nevertheless, Waltz promised that he would take Julia to the mine, and pass over ownership to her once she’s seen it for herself, asking only for a small share of the wealth. He and Julia planned to go to the Superstitions in the spring of the following year, along with Julia’s adoptive son Rhinehart Petrasch, to take the remaining gold in Waltz’s cache. However, things would take an unfortunate turn when Waltz’s house was flooded that summer. The Salt River is by and large a relatively dry river, but that summer’s torrential rains had swelled it with excessive runoff. Waltz would catch pneumonia from this flood, and die of it on October 25, 1891, a scant few months before their planned trip. Just before he died, he supposedly told Julia and Rhinehart that there was a portion of gold ore he set aside for himself under his fireplace. He was also reported to have drawn them a rough map that revealed the location of the mine. But Julia and Rhinehart would unfortunately be robbed of Waltz’ final gift, and even more distressful was the fact that they would never manage to find the mine.
As sparse in details as this story is, it was enough for thousands of treasure hunters to trek the Superstitions in search of the Lost Dutchman Mine. Several of these seekers would lose their lives, with some even meeting unexplainable or grisly fates. Only a few individuals were able to rein in their hunger for Waltz’ treasure trove and come home with something of at least some substance.
One such individual was a man named Bob Corbin. In 1957, Corbin started to look for the legendary mine. But he was not after the treasure. Instead, his curiosity about the Lost Dutchman Mine was piqued when he first read about it in a magazine as he was serving in the Navy in 1948. This curiosity compelled him to move to Arizona from Indiana so he can pursue the mystery of the Lost Dutchman Mine.
But his move to Arizona was not immediate. Driven by inquisitiveness instead of greed, Corbin was able to avoid the pitfalls that besieged many treasure hunters before him. He was not obsessed like they were; rather, he treated this hunt as a hobby. After he left the Navy, he first went home to Indiana, and his primary focus became higher education. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Indiana University, and eventually, a law degree.
Bob Corbin only moved to Arizona in June 1957, 9 years after he had first heard of the Lost Dutchman Mine. He was able to rely on his law practice to settle comfortably in the state and sustain his hobby. But that isn’t to say he wasn’t excited. Bob visited