Travis,
Not saying that Clay is lying at all. Just saying what I believe from what I have read and been told. In addition to what I have already written, I don't believe that Dick Holmes knew Waltz personally or was at his deathbed. I have doubts about the source of that information.
The source for the story of Dick Holmes and Gidion Roberts being with Waltz when he died is highly suspect. Chances are that Gidion did not even exist? Here are some interesting questions:
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Ozarker Post subject: Roberts Family?Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:47 am
Part Timer
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 12:12 PM
Posts: 158 Hello Roger:
Well, I’m not even sure where to start. The family historian? Gideon? George Riley? The family farm? Matthew Robert’s relationship to the family? Family familiarity with Dick Holmes? With Jacob Waltz? The discovery of the richest gold mine in California, only to walk away from it for a mere pittance?
Where did any of this information come from? Was it the same source that placed Jacob Waltz in the back of Julia’s store? That had Christina Morrell interviewing Rhiney in 1933?
Who was Bertie Roberts? Did she even exist? Glover didn’t seem to think so. Corbin did.
Who was Margaret Roberts? Did she even exist? Corbin didn’t seem to think so. Glover did.
Who was the aunt that passed all this information along? Did she even exist? If so, did the information get modified after it left her hands?
How does Gideon O. Roberds (not Roberts) fit into all of this? He owned a lot just one block south and one block west of Julia’s in 1891 (his sister owned it for about 8 years before that). He was from Trinidad, in Las Animas County, Colorado, but spent every winter in Phoenix. He was a miner by trade. Dick Holmes’ lot was just south of his, but at a different time. Is it possible that Gideon O. Roberds and Gideon O. Roberts histories are getting confused, either mistakenly or intentionally? (For comparison, see Glover, page 199)
(BTW, Gideon Roberds lived until 1903).
Did Gideon Roberts even exist? If so, did he die in 1891? Who buried Gideon Roberts? Where was he buried? Where did the reference to the Pioneer Cemetery in Phoenix come from? When did that reference first come to light?
I guess my original question was one of frustration. I really didn’t expect any answers as there are none apparent. Even the questions above have no ready answers. It’s just another path of research that leaves me wondering whether there is any merit to some of the LDM backstory, and whether the Roberts family has been woven into the story through someone’s imagination.
Oh well.
Larry
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You wrote:
"I personally think Brownie did write the Manuscript, or at least provided most of the material for it, even if he did deny it. My personal opinion is that he thought the Manuscript "gave away" more information than he intended, and that's the reason he denied writing it. I believe he passed his knowledge on to someone, and he didnt want the world to know that MOST of the information his father Dick received from Waltz was made public by this Manuscript."
If you believe that Brownie wrote the manuscript on his kitchen table, as his family claimed, why would he put information in it that he wanted to keep secret? If you accept it as written, it was meant for publication.......from the start.
Take care,
Joe