Roy,
That statement and question are the answer to ALMOST everything people need to know about the Lost Dutchman Mine.........................and why going on almost 129 years and nobody has found it!
Here is what I have learned in my years researching this subject:
1. The mine is real and as of 2020 has not been found.
2. 99.9% of all the known CLUES are complete and utter BULLPUCKY! Imagine you own the "Quarter Circle U" Ranch. Your cattle graze in the Western End of the Superstition Mountains. You don't a bunch of out of town idiots running through your grazing area scaring cattle and tearing apart springs, troughs, and rock line shacks. SO.................you tell everybody the "SECRET" clues all place the LDM somewhere in the EAST SIDE of the mountains. NOW, lets say you own the JF Ranch and your cattle graze on the East End of the mountains. You don't want those nutjobs running around there scaring cattle and tearing apart springs, troughs, and rock line shacks. SO.................you tell everybody that YOUR secret clues all place the LDM in the West End of the mountains. Now......you are an author. You know that everybody already knows all the usual clues that have been regurgitated ad nauseum. So, in order to sell more books, you make up some new clues. Now you are a newspaper reporter. You want people to buy the paper and read your article, so you make up some new clues to add to the mix. NOW..........you are a Pathological Liar who wants to inject yourself into LDM History. You make up even more clues to add to the mix. AND EVEN if people don't just make up "NEW" clues, the old clues being regurgitated ad nauseum are like playing "Telephone". Every time the clues get retold, someone adds a word or a comma that alters the original meaning of the clue. There are a million ways things get added to or made up, so that what clues aren't BS, their meaning has drastically changed since 1891.
The only clues I give any credence to are from Sims Ely's Book. BUT...........even then I understand the Spangler Family (Jim Bark's Family) asked Ely to leave out or change some things for the book, so those are somewhat suspect.
So...........there are precious metals in the Superstitions (regardless of what most Geologists will tell you). There are still several unfound Peralta/Gonzalez Mines. There is probably at least one cave with a stack of gold bars. Possible Jesuits Treasure Cave. Large Silver Bell (Rojas), Valuable Paintings, etc, etc, etc.
Enjoy - Mike
