Thank you for your honesty Blackline. I fear that you are setting a goal for yourself that is nearly impossible, for how can it be proved beyond reasonable doubt that any mine is THE lost Dutchman's gold mine? This has been a hot topic of debate here and on other forums, the only somewhat scientific method that I can think of is a comparison of an ore sample with the existing known specimens, and we have plenty of people here that deny that even those specimens mean anything. Plus there is strong reason to believe that several different lost mine stories have gotten mixed together, making an impossible tale.
For instance, look at the list of similarities between the Ludy/Peralta lost SILVER mine, which had pockets of rich gold in it, to the clues we often find associated with Waltz;
The mine had a shaft with a funnel shaped opening, and a tunnel under it;
The two partners were ex Civil War soldiers, and traveled to Mexico where they met Peralta and worked for him, ending up in possession of the mine;
one of the two men (Ludy) was mortally wounded by an Indian attack, but managed to escape to tell the tale, ending up in virtually the same place as the Weiser story;
we could go on with the odd parallels (red flags) but there are others involved too; just look at the ore description for some of the clues, Apache Jack's lost gold "mine" had black quartz with spots of gold "like stars in the night sky" and Waggoner's gold is a rose quartz, yet Waltz's gold is in a vein of white quartz. It is possible, even probable, that other lost mines have also gotten mixed up with the LDM too, like the lost Dr Thorn(e) gold PLACER, which over time and re-telling morphed into a gold lode, or Joe Deering's lost mine which had ore that must have not appeared to be gold because he took it to Mason at Silver King to get an opinion as to whether it was worth anything or not. Just one look at the famous matchbox made from gold ore that is supposed to have come from Waltz and you should not need to get an expert to tell you that it is valuable, so the Deering mine ore must be different from Waltz's ore as well.
Trying to convince a group of treasure hunters that you found the lost Dutchman mine seems like a really difficult problem because everyone has a different idea about what proves the case, many trust in various clues or sets of clues, (like the so-called German clues as an example) or in treasure maps or stone maps. Not everyone can be right. In the end the best case will be if you convince yourself, 99 to 100%, for it is not going to be possible to convince everyone that you found it.
Remember, this mine is supposed to have VERY rich ore, not just a few specks that will pan out of a crushed sample. Statements attributed to Waltz suggest that the mine is not worked very deeply, yet has a good vein of ore exposed to see, hence the boast about enough gold remaining to "make millionaires of twenty men" back when the price of gold was set at $20.67 per ounce. That would translate to his estimating that a million ounces of gold remained in the mine.
I wish you good luck and good hunting Blackline, I hope you find the treasures that you seek. But I also hope that you will reconsider the value of the gold itself, for many a rich mine has been found by a prospector whom was out hunting for a famous or not famous lost mine, failed to find "the" lost mine he was after but struck it rich in gold or silver anyway. Fame is a fleeting thing, gold lasts forever.
Thank you for the kind words Sarge amigo - I could say the same about you and you are right, only a handful of Dutch hunters actually are prospectors, and far too many really have no idea what they are looking for, putting their trust in clues and maps etc when the geology alone will never lie. A guy could literally stand right on the mine and not know it if he does not learn something about gold and minerals, prospecting and mining.
Oroblanco
