"[Charles] Kenworthy became a full-time treasure seeker in 1972. He was working on a project south of Tucson in 1978 when he "casually" decided to come to Phoenix to work in the Superstitions. In the Greg Davis collection, there is a video where he explains how he got started. Kenworthy claims that he found the "caverna con casa" in December of 1980 and the Dutchman Mine in 1981. The Arizona Republic ran an article about the discovery on January 25, 1980. The laws at the time said you could mine as long as it was an existing mine. But in August of 1984, the laws changed. The Superstitions became part of the Tonto National Forest. It was deemed "wilderness" property and so you couldn't mine at all. There was plenty of forewarning. Kenworthy knew what he had, he had a staff of able men, and filed a claim in May of 1983. He took $13.5 million dollars worth of gold out of it. Greg Davis confirmed for me that Kenworthy is the only person known to have taken millions of dollars worth of gold out of the Superstitions. The mining claim calls it the "Big D" (named after the big D carved in the side of the mountain). Then he filled in the funnel with rubble and left it. He self-published a book about it in 1997. The book doesn't give the details of the value I just mentioned. This is hearsay from the Tin Man, who should know because Kenworthy's youngest son is his antiquities lawyer. Kenworthy passed away in 2000 and he bequeathed his money to all five sons. The wife is still alive near Los Angeles and she manages the Quest Corporation, the treasure seeking "business" that Kenworthy founded. Maybe someday, they will come out with information and documents about the discovery. (151)"
Alan,
There seem to be to many holes in this, none of which are the LDM.
It seems that the Arizona Republic ran the article on Jan. 25 1980. This is before Kenworthy claimed to have found anything.
If Kenworthy really found the LDM in 1981, he could have claimed it right away. Why wait until May 1983?
If he had really found the LDM, he would have matched the gold with that of the match box.
If he had really found the LDM, and worked it, a lot of people would have seen it, or known about it.
If he had a real claim to the LDM, it would have been grandfathered by the Wilderness Act. There would have been no need to stop working the mine in 1984. The Milk Ranch claims #4 & #5 were maintained as valid mining claims right up to April 7, 2004 when they expired due to abandonment based on the owner's failure to renew the claims. BLM records will verify this.
What could be possible, is that Kenworthy found some sunken ship gold, and used a mining claim to cash it in.
Is there a picture of the big D carved into the mountain side?
Homar
