Is the Pit Mine really the Lost Dutchman mine?

[Cubfan64]

If this is a bad subject I'll just quit talking about it. Sometimes (often <g) I'm prone to dissecting something to death.

I understand completely the need to convert raw product to cash. I can relate to Holmes' need to do that in this case. I'm not questioning that aspect of the story.

Its the thought process and selection of what to keep and what to sell that went into that decision I'm having a hard time reconciling.

After selecting that portion Holmes wanted to keep for his personal use, he sold the hoard to Goldman. Apparently at gold bearing weight value.

Weight is weight........Just using 20 ounces as an example for discussion.......20 ounces saved is 20 ounces not sold regardless of which pieces make up 20 ounces. Its the selection of the pieces saved and not sold I'm having a hard time with. If the matchbox specimen was one of the larger pieces in the hoard Holmes could have hit it with a hammer to break it into smaller pieces if he was looking to maximize the weight value sold and still keep enough to make small jewelry items like a stick pin or a ring setting. Where am I missing the point here?

Old - a couple things...

1) First off, shortly before this post you mentioned that Hermann Petrasch is/was a secondary source. I've asked more than a few times and did as much digging as I could, but have never been able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hermann ever met Jacob Waltz, except for his own claim that he did. I've always felt there is a good chance they met because (and I can't find Waltz's obituary right now to confirm) I thought the obituary mentioned that Waltz was buried in a Petrasch plot next to George. For the family to have had a plot in PHX to bury George at the age of 13 and purchase another plot next to him, it seems like more of the family had to have been in the area than just Rhiney. Nevertheless, unless there is documented evidence that Hermann was there, I have to accept the fact that he is a third hand source and not second hand.

2) I'm confused by your confusion over the selling of gold ore (that's a mouthful I know). I really know nothing about how gold was sold back then so hopefully someone can correct me. I assume that placer gold in dust, flake or nugget form was sold by mass after determining how rich the gold content was. There is no gangue to speak off in these forms of gold. When it comes to ore samples however, I don't have the slightest idea how a merchant determines what to pay for a gold ore sample. For example I could take a fist size chunk of quartz laced with gold and break it into 20 pieces with a hammer - the one thing I can guarantee you is that the mass of gold in each chunk is not going to be equal - so how does one go about deciding what to pay for it? The best I could imagine is two scenarios - either an assay has to be done on a representative sample of the ore (don't ask me how you do that if you don't have a lot of ore to sell) and the buyer/seller agree to the value of what's to be sold - or - some of the "best" or "most visually appealing" ore is sold by the old "how much will you offer me, how much do you want for it" haggling with the express purpose that those pieces would be sold exclusively for making jewelry or other appealing items worth much more than the base gold containing value.

So with that said, it doesn't seem too strange for me for someone to keep some of the largest and most visually appealing pieces to possibly be sold at a later time or for them to perhaps have a piece made for themselves.

I don't follow what you mean here...

Holmes could have hit it with a hammer to break it into smaller pieces if he was looking to maximize the weight value sold

- can you elaborate on what you mean? How do you maximize the weight value by breaking it into smaller pieces?

 

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[audigger53]

To turn gold into cash or products, one had to have an Assay. Gold has been found as low as 50% and only once as high as .99 fine, Cripple Creek Colo. That was the reason for the Denver mint. They needed to make coins as they couldn't get enough coinage otherwise. The Government came in to shut them down for counterfeiting and found that instead of being 90% gold and 10% copper, the Denver mint was 100% gold. The Gov took it over so that they could make them like theirs. 90% gold. LOL True history. Normally places would have scales and weigh the dust and then make an offer on the color of the gold. Ore was different. That is when an assay would be done. Color, softness, and weight were the general yard sticks for trying to cash without and assay. We won't talk about Mercury and gold mixes.

 

[Old]

Good morning Paul,

Great analysis on Herman. I had not thought of perhaps him having met JW personally, but you raise a good point with the place of burial.

I think we may be saying the same thing about how close a source Herman may be. It could be I'm using the term "second hand" incorrectly. To me; that means he heard it not directly but from someone who heard it directly. He's once removed (2nd) from JW.

As to Goldman; that's speculation on my part. Pure speculation based on how the story is told and where the emphasis is placed.

We have good reason to believe (Bark notes and letters) that Holmes himself crushed and extracted some gold from the ore hoard. If that happened he had a pretty good idea of gold yield per ounce/gram of ore to use as his base in his negotiation on its sale. He had a base line.

Goldman may have purchased some pieces solely on specimen quality. That's entirely possible, I'm open to that. But that's not how the story as told unfolds. If they did it would have been an important element to the story. We hear none of that. We hear that the saving of the matchbox piece happened after it had been purchased and in Goldman's ownership. We hear from the story that Goldman crushed the rest of their purchase extracting the raw gold.

It would have been quite usual and expected for Goldman to test the gold to ore ratio to establish an estimate value before the purchase. I'm saying (based on the story told) that Goldman's purchase was based on gold yield per ounce/gram based (I believe) on their own testing of samples. If they purchased the hoard based on beauty of the specimens its not told in the story and the balance of the story handed down conflicts with that. They crushed it. Saving only the matchbox specimen as an after-thought.

If as I suspect, Holmes sold the hoard based on an agreed estimate of yield to ounce/gram .....then it would have made no difference as to the size or the chunks that made up the entirety of the sale. He's selling weight not beauty.

Now, you are going to make me say things I wouldn't have said that might hurt someone's feelings <g>. This again is speculative on my part. And; beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If we are speaking solely of beauty value we have the results to judge. To me; its obvious the matchbox specimen is "prettier" than the other specimens that were supposedly kept by Holmes. How big a chunk do you need for a ring setting? For a stick pin? Not a shaved and polished settinga but a raw ore setting. Not much. If what goes in the sale box is based solely on its weight, would you rather hit the "pretty rock" with a hammer and keep three or four small pieces to use for your own purposes; or sell the pretty one in tact and keep the lesser specimens? I know what I'd do. But to each his own.

 

[cactusjumper]

All,

No one can say for certainty that the Pit Mine is the LDM. For that matter, no one can say for certainty that Waltz actually had a mine in the Superstitions. It may be, as I have surmised, that the Pit Mine was a worked out Silver Mine that was used to store high grade gold ore for any number of mines in the area.

I have recently seen ore that matches the matchbox ore. It's been claimed that the ore came from the Pit Mine, but I have no idea if that's factual. It certainly looks like the matchbox ore to the untrained eye. I would also say it does not match the Kochera Ore either. All just one man's unqualified opinion.

Best Wishes to all for a Happy New Year!!

Joe Ribaudo

 

[deducer]

deducer

In my opinion , the only type of terrain should search for , is a small valley of about two acres , high up and hidden by the surrounding natural contour of the land . So , someone have to be upon it to see it .

Another important clue that should be taken in consideration , is the juniper that Waltz said he have hidden the mine . In one clue , Waltz said how about a distance from his tunnel , the richest mine in the world , on the mountainside , is a shaft well hidden in the brush . So , the logic says how the shaft hidden in the brush , didn't need a reason to be hidden with a juniper . The only reason to hid a mine with a juniper , is for the tunnel mine which was in a bare rocky shelf at a lip of a cliff .

If someone would find the camp , the roofless two room in a cave's mouth ( my avatar ) , and will look across the ravine/gulch , then will see how from there , at about 200 feet , is a shelf with a single big juniper close to the lip of the cliff . Is the only part of the small hidden valley that you can see from the camp .

Hi Marius,

Well, if we were to go by what John Chuning did, bringing in rope ladders as well as building ladders for the various search areas, I'd venture a guess that the specific type of terrain he was looking for was pretty steep. Something that fits the "higher up and further away" mantra that we've come to associate with the LDM.

However, it may well be that he had additional areas of interests, not just the LDM.

 

[deducer]

Agreed amigo - and as you know, with most of the earlier Dutch hunters, on finding gold while out hunting for the Dutchman's mine, the fact that they had found gold sealed the deal it had to be the lost Dutchman's mine. I don't think any of those early Dutch hunters actually found the mine of Jacob Waltz, although a fair number did find good gold mines in their own right.

Side thing here but the way I posted previously made it sound as if I have no idea who or whom was working the Pit mine and made a fair profit on the deal, which is not the case. I do know the names, however unless they are willing to step out of the shadows and put some ore on the line to be compared, an assay done etc then as far as I am concerned I will happily congratulate them for finding the lost Peralta/Ludy mine, and for finding a nice pocket of gold. I would personally be pretty happy with that.

Also to all, if you believe you have found the lost Dutchman's gold mine, good for you, don't be too concerned about what I might think. I may have simply seen too many people claim that and not have it. After all, if you have found a lot of gold and it is making you rich does it really matter what the mine is called? Not to me it won't!

Good luck and good hunting amigos, I hope you find the treasures that you seek. Even if it is the Lost Dutchman's mine.

Oroblanco

Roy,

I guess what I'm saying is that if you include just any dutch hunter, you're going to find claims of the LDM just about anywhere in the state of Arizona. But if you eliminate anyone who doesn't have at least a second or third hand source, or is pretty close to the original source, the area of interest gets small, pretty quick.

 

[somehiker]

 

[sdcfia]

This guy is quite a talker, isn't he?

 

[somehiker]

This guy is quite a talker, isn't he?

Having listened to Ron on a number of occasions, including the talk he gave at the last rendezvous....you should try to attend sometime....he is the best story teller there is, when it comes to the Silver Chief "pit mine" being the LDM. He and Jack San Felice are probably as close as you can get to the origins of this debate.

 

[cactusjumper]

Wayne,

Ron's interview, pretty much, repeats what I have been saying since late 2008. Initially, all of my information and pictures came from Dave Leach but eventually, I managed to dig up some of my own facts. My sources were very close to Ron and were well informed as to what took place concerning the Pit Mine. As Ron mentioned, a number of books since then have had a section dealing with the "Silver Chief". (Pit Mine) I was fairly certain that, in time, Ron would tell the story himself. This seems to be the beginning of that story. As I have written before, I have it on good authority that the Kochera Ore came from the Pit Mine.

I don't know if we will ever get all of the truth but I am satisfied with what I believe I know.

Take care and have a Happy New Year!

Joe

 

[somehiker]

Wayne,

Ron's interview, pretty much, repeats what I have been saying since late 2008. Initially, all of my information and pictures came from Dave Leach but eventually, I managed to dig up some of my own facts. My sources were very close to Ron and were well informed as to what took place concerning the Pit Mine. As Ron mentioned, a number of books since then have had a section dealing with the "Silver Chief". (Pit Mine) I was fairly certain that, in time, Ron would tell the story himself. This seems to be the beginning of that story. As I have written before, I have it on good authority that the Kochera Ore came from the Pit Mine.

I don't know if we will ever get all of the truth but I am satisfied with what I believe I know.

Take care and have a Happy New Year!

Joe

Hi Joe:

Hope you all are having a great holiday season.
I think most of us who were at the Rendezvous in Oct. 2007, where Jack was promoting and selling his new book "Lost El Dorado Of Jacob Waltz", first heard talk about the "pit mine" then. I wasn't really all that interested back then, but others like Randy and Wayne Tuttle hiked out for a looksee shortly thereafter. Dave might have been there earlier, and Jack certainly was...cause he wrote the book ....but I'll bet a few others besides Ted Cox have explored that area and the ridge and examined the workings since that 1882 report was published in 1883. There was some good info in that report.....




....enough in fact, that I have no trouble in believing the "pit mine" as having been one of the shafts of the original Silver Chief.

 

[markmar]

The Pit mine place don't fits to a single LDM clue that we know . Is not even close to the region that Julia have searched .
You have missed the point how Julia was the person who have heard the Waltz clues from first hand . I can't understand how you dismiss the first hand person and trust third and fourth hand persons who changed their area of searching every time they were disapointed or followed another story in hope to be the real one that would leads to the LDM .
Julia tried in the area she was directed and after she failed to find it , just stopped searching . Nor other regions , nor other clues . What more simple and clear ?
From my research , I understood how in the most LDM clues , the distances between some landmarks and spots and the dimensions of some landmarks were altered , but not very much .
I post a GE image which contains few of the LDM clues , which are : roofless two rooms stone house in a cave's mouth , gulch , lip of a cliff , terrace , shelf , juniper ( with mine under ? ).

 

[cactusjumper]

The Pit mine place don't fits to a single LDM clue that we know . Is not even close to the region that Julia have searched .
You have missed the point how Julia was the person who have heard the Waltz clues from first hand . I can't understand how you dismiss the first hand person and trust third and fourth hand persons who changed their area of searching every time they were disapointed or followed another story in hope to be the real one that would leads to the LDM .
Julia tried in the area she was directed and after she failed to find it , just stopped searching . Nor other regions , nor other clues . What more simple and clear ?
From my research , I understood how in the most LDM clues , the distances between some landmarks and spots and the dimensions of some landmarks were altered , but not very much .
I post a GE image which contains few of the LDM clues , which are : roofless two rooms stone house in a cave's mouth , gulch , lip of a cliff , terrace , shelf , juniper ( with mine under ? ).

View attachment 1531101

Marius,

You would do well to notice that there are a number of people who post here, who know the stories, clues and physical terrain better than you do. Just returning to Ron Feldman and the people who surround him is the best nucleus of Dutch Hunters in the world. One of his best friends is Tom Kollenborn, who knows every trail in those mountains......intimately.

The Pit Mine has many of the clues said to have been mentioned by Waltz himself. (Julia) You should go back and reread the Pit Mine posts to hear about those clues. It's more than possible that Julia should have started her search from the Milk Ranch. Many stories have been changed from the original by prospectors trying to shoehorn their own areas of interest to fit the clues and others to lead new searchers into other areas.

It's just possible that you don't know everything yet and also possible that you have made some serious mistakes. It would not be the first or last time someone of high intelligence made fatal errors in figuring out where Waltz's mine is. On the other hand, you may have just figured out where the mine is where thousands of others failed with the same information that you have used.

Herman Mountain! There's a big clue for you.

Just glad I never wasted any time looking for the LDM.

Good luck,

Joe Ribaudo

 

[markmar]

Joe

I won't stay in who are the best LDM hunters in the world , but I would remind you the Waltz clue " No cowboy will find my mine " . Maybe this is their destiny or curse . Is not enough to know all the trails , but is required more knownledge , like maps decrypting and to have the capability to distinguish clues that fit in the maps .
There are at last two maps which show a tunnel across a gulch/ravine from a house in a cave , and these are : the " Perfil mapa " and the " Minas del Oro " map .

 

[wrmickel1]

Marius,

You would do well to notice that there are a number of people who post here, who know the stories, clues and physical terrain better than you do. Just returning to Ron Feldman and the people who surround him is the best nucleus of Dutch Hunters in the world. One of his best friends is Tom Kollenborn, who knows every trail in those mountains......intimately.

The Pit Mine has many of the clues said to have been mentioned by Waltz himself. (Julia) You should go back and reread the Pit Mine posts to hear about those clues. It's more than possible that Julia should have started her search from the Milk Ranch. Many stories have been changed from the original by prospectors trying to shoehorn their own areas of interest to fit the clues and others to lead new searchers into other areas.

It's just possible that you don't know everything yet and also possible that you have made some serious mistakes. It would not be the first or last time someone of high intelligence made fatal errors in figuring out where Waltz's mine is. On the other hand, you may have just figured out where the mine is where thousands of others failed with the same information that you have used.

Herman Mountain! There's a big clue for you.

Just glad I never wasted any time looking for the LDM.

Good luck,

Joe Ribaudo

I must interject here Joe

I can't find one single clue of the Dutchman that would lead any one to that pit mine, but I do know where there are
4 other ones, Now I don't know much about the Dutchman's Clues cause I never talked to him, but I do find it interesting
that Julia's map depic's a horse and the Peralta Stones to. There's gotta be a Hugh connection to that,

I mean the Dutchman tells of A Horse, Julia makes map with horse and Travis finds map deacated to a Horse &#55357;&#56372;
thats like a horse in the Story through this Ledgen for 150 years, And I'm the only one to post a pic of a horse that I know of. But I do have another I haven't posted I'll save that for later.

So Joe do you have Dutchman clues that are kept secret from let's say the public

Wayne

 

[cactusjumper]

I must interject here Joe

I can't find one single clue of the Dutchman that would lead any one to that pit mine, but I do know where there are
4 other ones, Now I don't know much about the Dutchman's Clues cause I never talked to him, but I do find it interesting
that Julia's map depic's a horse and the Peralta Stones to. There's gotta be a Hugh connection to that,

I mean the Dutchman tells of A Horse, Julia makes map with horse and Travis finds map deacated to a Horse &#55357;&#56372;
thats like a horse in the Story through this Ledgen for 150 years, And I'm the only one to post a pic of a horse that I know of. But I do have another I haven't posted I'll save that for later.

So Joe do you have Dutchman clues that are kept secret from let's say the public

Wayne

Wayne,

Dutchman clues? No, but there are some key bits of information that I must keep to myself. I do my best to keep secrets when asked to by my sources. I'm sure you understand.

Take care and Happy New Year!!

Joe

 

[Ponchosportal]

Does anyone not have clues kept from the public?

 

[somehiker]

For reference, and further discussion...... here's a list of 99 clues I saved from an old post....by Peter Esposito I think...
It credits most of the original sources.

The Lost Dutchman Mine

99 Clues !

1) There are three big peaks above the mine to the west. (Bark to Spangler)

2) A north running canyon. (Waltz to Petrasch)

3) The north running canyon is filled with potholes. (Gassler)

4) There is a stone wall in a shelving cave near the mine. (Mitchell)

5) The rays of the setting sun will shine into the tunnel mouth when the mine is open. (Mitchell)

6) The vein runs 400 feet down the mountainside. (Waltz)

7) Look for the shadow of Weavers Needle at 4 pm during the winter solstice. (Various)

8) No cowboy will find my mine. (Waltz)

9) Near the head of the gulch is an old stone cabin foundation directly opposite the mine. (Mitchell)

10) The trail is monumented with two stones, one on top of the other. (Bark)

11) Its high up, yet you have got to go down. (Deering to Chunning)

12) Look for 3 boulders shaped like wickiups high up on the side of a mountain. (Apache woman to Scholey)

13) Theres a spirit that sleeps near the mine 4 hours a day. (Apache Jack)

14) A funnel-shaped pit (Various)

15) There is a waterfall in the vicinity. (Robert Jacobs)

16) Say John, you have to go through a hole. (Deering to Chunning)

17) There is a symbol near the mine that contains a triangle, circle and crescent. (Diaz)

18) I marked the place with a frying pan placed on the middle peak. (Waltz to Petrasch)

19) There is a double pack horse trail that leads right up to the tunnel. (Herman Petrasch)

20) One needs to climb up about 40 feet to see Weavers Needle to the south. (Waltz)

21) Above the mine was a grassy ridge where we could leave the animals. (Waltz)

22) There is a cross cut into the side of the ravine above the mine. (Robert Jacobs)

23) Waltz covered the mine. He was afraid someone would notice it from the trail below or on the ridge across. (Aylor)

24) The shaft was 75 feet deep made in the Mexican style with flailing walls. (Bicknell)

25) Mine is on a well-terraced hill. Terraced like rice-paddies. (Peck)

26) Dutchman is 69 steps back and down in a ravine only about 50' wide and 200' long shaped like a "Y". (Williams)

27) Waltzs mine had an opening no bigger than a barrel. (Peck)

28) Two pits at the mine about 75 feet deep and a like distance across the top . (Bark)

29) Near the mine, perhaps covering the entrance, is a square rock with one elongated corner. (Peck)

30) Look for a triangle of Rocks. (Jacobs)

31) Just to one side of the mine is a square rock waist-high. (Williams)

32) The gravestone was located 250-300 feet due south of the mine itself and designated a specific crevasse between large boulders that one has to pass to locate the mine. (Petrasch to Synbad)

33) Three stones by themselves are the key to the mine. (Flores)

34) There is a line between two peaks that bisect the shaft. (B Holmes)

35) The hole is small and high up. (Yocum to Morrow)

36) The mine is a rat hole. (Walter Dixon to Dwyer)

37) Mine is on a little knob about 50 feet high at the very end of a peninsula. On this hill is a pile of rocksabout 10 feet away from the opening. (Erwin Ruth to Richard Peck)

38) The soldiers reported the mine as being a very small open cut or trench. (Chuck Aylor)

39) Go up out of a brushy canyon, over a flat and down into a pit. (Al Morrow)

40) Cave near headwaters. Needed rope to get in. (Geronimos great-grand daughter)

41) Tunnel opens onto a caynon floor. (Erwin Ruth)

42) When you find the mine you will be lying on your belly like everyone else who was ever there. (Smitty to Richard Peck)

43) All the old landmarks are still there. You can almost peek into the mine where the entrance has settled. The cave of hidden gold. (San Carlos Apaches 1965)

44) Dutchman was getting gold from a creek bed. There was a shaft in the bottom of the wash. (Clay Worst to Richard Peck)

45) Waltz described his mine as being high up, in an arroyo, and hidden by the natural contours of the land. From over the top of a low ridge you could see down the far side where there was a small clearing, an open hole and a mine dump. (Herman Petrasch)

46) The mine is so cunningly concealed that one could walk within a few feet and miss it. (Waltz)

47) On the steep slope 100 feet above them they spied two Indians breaking rock. (Waltz to Julia Thomas)

48) I had to climb up a small hill from the mine entrance to see the Needle. (Waltz)

49) Its less than two miles from Weavers Needle toward the Salt River. (Phipps to Storm)

50) Weavers Needle was nearby in plain sight. (Apache boys to Barry Storm)

51) Weavers Needle, Four Peaks, a river and the horses head could be seen from the mine. (Al Morrow)

52) The mine was on a twelve foot high ledge, the mine was an open hole and the mine was on the apex of a ridge.

53) The mine is close to a cave and is high up on a ledge. Petrasch spent years searching the canyons looking for a cave or an opening high up. (Richard Peck)

54) Waltz mine is on a twelve foot high shelf. (Synbad)

55) Near the mine is a face that looks right at the mine. (Storm)

56) A Sphinx overhangs and dominates the mine area. (John Reed)

57) Waltz told of a natural stone face sitting upon the end of a canyon below his mine. (Storm)

58) Up above the mine was a cliff like a horses head with one ear laid back. (Storm)

59) The mine was in a northerly direction from a sharp peak. (Aaron Mason)

60) The mine is right out in the open,. You could walk right over it and not know you were there. (John Spangler)

61) About 20 steps above a spring is the Dutchmans mine. ( Williams)

62) Mine is located near three natural water tanks in a canyon, one below the other, a short distance from the mine. (Indian to B Holmes)

63) Mine is near the head of a gulch. There is a small spring there with sufficient water for household use. (Aylor)

64) 39 steps to agua. 69 stepd to the mine. (Ruths Eagle Head Map)

65) Mine is in a draw that is well hidden. (Jacobs)

66) The mine lies in the middle of two oblong outcrops that run north south and are above the waterfall. (Stevens)

67) The mine is located in a ravine on the side of a canyon wall. (Conatser)

68) In a steep climbing arroyo high on a mountainside. (Morrow)

69) The mine is in a cave, but the entrance is sealed. (Diaz)

70) Gold buried in a cave in the Superstitions. (Geronimo to soldier at Ft Sill)

71) Indians always spoke about a cave. Mention the mine and they would say, no, the cave. Cave at base of cliff in a little canyon. (Peck)

72) Ruth described the junction of two canyons, one running north south flanked by high cliffs on either side. The other was brushy and came in from the east. Above this canyon junction Ruth expected to find a Spanish marker which would show him the trail. (Storm)

73) If you pass the three red hills you have gone too far. (Waltz)

74) There is a tunnel on the side of the hill and a pit above past the three red hills. (John Kochera)

75) The mine is above a brushy boulder choked little canyon. (Walter Gassler)

76) Trail goes up past a long draw from west end of the south side of the range, down past a cliff into a canyon leading to the river. Take the first right hand canyon out on a flat area, then climb to the pit. (John Walker)

77) Mine is on a steep slope under the lip of a cliff. (Tommy Wise)

78) Mine was on a hillside. (Sims Ely)

79) The logs covering the shaft were set at an angle to conform to the slope of the terrain. (Walter Dixon)

80) The ruins of the rock house did not have a roof. (Weiss)

81) There are four spires above the mine, three tall ones and one smaller. (Spangler)

82) The tunnel entrance is supposed to be shaped like a bell. (Waltz to Thomas)

83) You cant approach the mine from above or below, but have to enter from the side. (Waltz)

84) No miner will find my mine. (Waltz)

85) Theres a trick in the trail. You have to go through a hole. (Joe Deering)

86) I placed a monument near the mine and then placed four similar monuments in the canyon below. (Deering to Chunning)

87) You have to work your way down a water crevasse. The approach to the mine is dangerous. (Weiser)

88)There was a dangerous foot path down to the mine. (Peralta)

89) The area where the mine was located was all broken up. (Ballesteros)

90) 200 feet across from the cave. (Adolph Ruth)

91) Deering said the hole you go thru was "in a rock". (Chunning to Barkley)

92) Mine was a volcanic vent . (Sims Ely)

93) Salazars survey objective was to find a cave with a wall and three red hills. (Livingston)

94) One went down on a rope or ladder, the other two stayed up above. (Granillo)

95) When asked about landmarks from the mine entrance Brownie Holmes hesitated and said "You will see nothing. Only space."

96) The Mexicans always posted a sentry in a brushy canyon below the mine. He could not see, but could always hear, the miners.

97) There was a little bit of brush on the slope above the mine. (Reed)

98) We will throw a stick of dynamite into the opening because of the trap. (B Holmes)

99) Once the rock house was found one would go back down the canyon checking the west side of the canyon wall. Once he found the ___________ he would then find the ___________ and .......................


Feel free to add any others you know of, so long as the source can be identified and verified.

 

[Simon1]

I have nothing invested in the L.D.M. other than being intrigued since I was first able to read. I enjoy everyone's research and even the opinions on this Legend. This was a superb post Wayne.

 

[somehiker]

Just an easy copy and paste Simon.
But thanks...I hope you and the others find it useful in following the the topic.

Regards:SH.