Here is a map that, at first, I couldn't make heads or tales of. It just didn't "look right." It reminded me of a single-slice toaster, on the right. The boxy shape on the left looked odd. And the little kidney shaped "layers" in the lower middle, where the arrow from the left indicates "mines," just didn't look natural to me.
But I came across a scene using Google Earth, that somehow eeriely resembles it, I think.
Here is the map---
And here is the scene---
This site is just over 2 1/2 miles beyond the "circle five miles in
diameter." But it is within the yellow line between Four Peaks and Weavers Needle. And is a little more than five miles from the needle, which would be very close, if Waltz actually said, "...within a circle five miles from Weaver's Needle."
Who knows, maybe Waltz didn't have his transom with him, and he just estimated the five miles.
Or maybe the Polka #1 Map has nothing to do with the LDM. Or maybe it's just my imagination!
Another problem is that the picture is facing to the South West, and the map is supposedly facing generally Northward according to the instructions with the other arrow. But then, what would be to the North of the Supers, "Six Peaks," as shown in the map?
Or instead of meaning "1 mi. S.E. to
go to the mine," the notation means, "1 mi. S.E.
in relation to the mine"? That would mean the map is supposedly facing generally Southward.
If the person drawing the map was off by only 1/8th of a compass rose, the map could match the picture, if the second possible meaning of the notation is the right one. Could anyone make a 45 degree mistake and still find his way in and out of the Supers?
The mountains in the background of the Google picture are the Superstition Mountains. If these are the same mountains depicted in the map drawing, that would mean that the maker of it was looking South West, but
thought he was looking South. Is that big of a mistake possible?
Actually, the compass on the Google shot is showing about half way between SW and SSW, so he would "only" off by about 35 degrees. But that's still a lot.
Edit, 5-30-11: This lower right hand portion of a 1907 survey map posted by Somehiker, in
post #293 of the "LDM why you can't get it !" topic, shows the difference between true North and Magnetic North, in the Superstitions back then.

This could account for some of the difference, too.
On the other hand, it's hard to judge compass angles in a map which is not a direct overhead view, whether you are reading it or drawing it. He may have positioned the window differently than it actually is, merely to make it more visible in the drawing. Since he added his compass direction, he may have figured that exact placement in the map was not critical. And, when you think about it, since he notated the compass direction, it's not. In fact, maybe that's
why he added the direction.
