Hola amigos,
Roadrunner I get the impression that you have not researched this too much, seems that you have only some parts of the story? I think if you did some more research on it, you would not feel quite so negative about the prospects.
First consider this - most of those whom have hunted this lost mine, have zero experience at prospecting and have been counting on the various "clues" or treasure maps to lead them to the mine, which a lot seem to expect to be a big open hole they can not miss. Even today, a lot of fellows can't tell a mine from a cave, and often mistake an empty prospect hole for the lost mine. Remember too that Waltz went to some effort to conceal the entrance to his mine, and covered up the spot where the vein is exposed further down the canyon. The entrance was "no bigger than a barrel" according to one who saw it, so this is not exactly a large thing to look for. Waltz put in desert ironwood logs, six feet in by one source, and then filled in the hole from there with rocks and dirt, so it is quite possible that a 100 year old cactus could be growing right on top of it today for that type of wood is remarkably resistant to rot. Anyway point is that a LOT of people have already walked right past it, almost certainly. It will not be easy to see, barring some earthquake (and Arizona does get a fair number of quakes) or perhaps a heavy rainfall will result in a landslide, uncovering either the mine or the vein below it.
Next - Waltz gave a set of directions to Dick Holmes the very night he was feverish and dying, and this version we see in the Holmes manuscript. To Julia and Reiney however, he gave the instructions over a much longer period of time, weeks or months, and they simply did not pay much attention when he was trying to tell them how to get to the mine. Even Waltz himself told Reinhard once, "Reiney you better listen! That mine is hard to find, even when you know where it is!" This statement indicates to me that the mine is not near any remarkable landmarks and is quite difficult to find, perhaps even so for Waltz himself. Anyway Waltz was certainly in sound mind prior to the last days of his life, and had been trying to tell his friends Julia and Reiney the correct directions, then later (according to Dick Holmes) tried to tell Holmes how to get there but was of course feverish, and dying, so those directions you find in the Holmes manuscript could be confused due to Waltz being feverish.
Julia Thomas was not really the type of person whom could go out in the desert to hunt for a lost mine; her first night spent in the desert, she climbed on top of a big rock and fired her gun at "rattlers" all around it, which was simply the rustling leaves. Reiney was not much better and enlisted the aid of his (real) father and brother, and they made another attempt, but to the disgust of Reiney's relatives, Reiney had a very muddled memory of what the directions were. They broke up but spent years hunting separately. If only Reiney had paid better attention, this lost mine might not even be known today as a lost mine.
Most of the folks whom have hunted for the Lost Dutchman since 1891, were laboring under one or more false ideas, like the funnel shaped pit for example, which was from the Ludy brothers story and not Waltz but got mixed in to the story. So these treasure hunters could have (and probably did) walk right past the actual mine while looking for that funnel shaped pit. I am fairly convinced that one did find it, Walt Gassler, but he died before being able to show anyone else the location. Inside his backpack was an ore sample that matched the Dutchman specimens, of which several still exist and as you surmise, are held by private parties but could possibly arrange a comparison by request. Dick Holmes had an assay done on Waltz's ore, and it came out very high in gold, and rather low in silver by comparison.
It takes a lot of research for any serious and successful treasure hunt, whether it is hunting the sunken ship Atocha like Mel Fisher did, or the Lost Dutchman gold mine. Just because many have failed is no proof that the mine is not still out there, waiting for someone with a bit of luck and hard work to find it. A great deal of 'chaff' has been thrown into this legend too, which makes the job that much harder. I hope that you won't give up on finding the Lost Dutchman without at least giving it a try.
Good luck and good hunting Roadrunner, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.
Oroblanco
