While the existence of the fabled “Lost Dutchman” gold mine has never been proven, that hasn't stopped thousands of fortune-hunting prospectors from searching the desert for it every year... even though many of them have died trying.
Photo: Chris C. Jones
Named after immigrant miner Jacob Waltz (who was German, not Dutch), the mine is believed by many to be located east of Phoenix in the Superstition Mountains (shown above), which may have earned their name from the myths and legends surrounding the Dutchman's alleged fortune. Dozens of separate but similar legends have grown together over the past century, but Waltz is the one referenced most, and many tales surrounding the mine consider it to be cursed – by Waltz himself, or by Apache tribes whose territory Waltz violated – while others claim its location is carefully guarded by people or groups whose names remain a mystery.
Photo: Above the Norm
Multiple stories suggest a prospector named Miguel Peralta found rich gold deposits in the Superstition Mountains, but was tracked down and killed by Apaches for looting their lands. A group of engraved stones is believed to represent directions to the mine carved by Peralta, but no one has been able to properly decipher them, and some were proven to be fakes.
Photo: Desert USA
In 1931, an explorer named Adolph Ruth disappeared while searching for the mine, basing some of his information on the Peralta stones; his body turned up six months later... with two bullet holes in the skull. Many more have died or disappeared since then – even as recently as 2010, when three hikers vanished while searching for the mine and were never seen again.
The history of the American West is filled with tales of abandoned, cursed and haunted mines... like Bodie, California, which is just as spooky, but a bit safer to visit!