Greetings friends,
Blindbowman thank you for posting that portion of the Aztec legends. What I find puzzling is why anyone would think Chicomoztoc would be in Arizona? Perhaps a map of the Aztec empire would be useful to get some idea of just how FAR away Arizona was from the northern edge of the Aztec empire:
If you take note of the shadow map in the lower left corner of this map, you can see that area within the borders of modern Mexico. Can you get some idea of the vast distance between the Aztec empire northern border and the Arizona border? We are talking a minimum of 1000 miles just as a rough estimate. Here is another map which shows the Aztec empire at its greatest extent:
I really don't see any reason to think Aztecs were hiking on foot that distance, to a land they probably had little knowledge of. On foot was their only method of traveling, and the lands in between were occupied by other tribes, not all of which were friendly with the Aztecs. There could have been trade going on between the peoples of Arizona and the Aztecs, but this does not mean that the Aztecs would have had permission to use Arizona as a repository for their treasures. For that matter, simply because Aztec trade items coudl turn up in the US, does not mean that Aztecs carried them there - it is quite probable that other peoples were acting as traders. Unless some kind of solid evidence can be shown to prove that Aztecs came to Arizona to bury their treasure, we are speculating to say they were in the Superstitions.
As for what happened to the Knights Templar, well it is safe to say that a good number of them were killed, burned at the stake for heresies, etc and some have theorized that they simply went to Switzerland where they established their own state, similar to what the Teutonic knights did in Prussia. Others ended up in northern Scotland. Without some concrete evidence to show that Templar knights were in Arizona, it is pure speculation to say they were present.
Blindbowman mi amigo have you done a little background research on the famous Portuguese king Henry, known to history as the Navigator? I think you might have overlooked the fact that (other than visiting Africa on numerous expeditions) Henry never left Portugal, but organized and financed voyages of exploration heading around Africa, looking for the legendary kingdom of Prester John (probably Ethiopia, the only Christian kingdom in sub-Saharan Africa at the time) not west across the Atlantic. However, considering that accidental crossings of the Atlantic have taken place throughout history, and there is a Portuguese map dated to 1424 that appears to show some features of the Americas we cannot say that NO Portuguese ever made it to America before Columbus. However, even if Henry
did know of the Americas, he sure expended
all of his resources in NOT going there but pushing for conquest of Mauritania, the Canaries, and elsewhere in Africa in pursuit of the far eastern trade route around Africa. Then too, it is one thing to know about the coastline of any particular landmass, quite another to know the hinterlands of the interior well enough to have knowledge of such an area as the Superstitions.
Wikipedia's article on Henry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_the_Navigator
Here is an article with a good coverage of king Henry:
http://www.thornr.demon.co.uk/kchrist/phenry.html
Again, without solid evidence to prove that king Henry created the stone maps, and that the Portuguese were present in the Superstitions we are speculating. Interesting speculation, agreed, but still un-proven.
They will make you go stark raving mad if you let them.
ABSOLUTELY!
Cubfan64 wrote:
It doesn't help when the have no idea what the motivations were for the writers - did they embelish the story? Did they romanticize it? Did they downright lie to make it sound better? As you said, who the heck knows.
Did the treasure writers embellish the story of the lost mine of Jacob Waltz? YES
Did the treasure writers romanticize the story of the LDM? YES
Did the treasure writers downright LIE to make it sound better? ABSOLUTELY YES
This is a big part of the problem for anyone trying to find the Lost Dutchman mine - that treasure writers have added on so much BS that it is difficult now to try to extricate what the original facts were. I don't know why but some folks just are not satisfied with just the richest lost gold mine in the world, but simply have to have all kinds of romantic, dramatic and exciting fiction tacked on before they can believe it. To make matters worse, for some treasure hunters, when they learn that some particular aspect they have been believing in is fiction, they then dismiss everything as fiction which is not warranted. Let me put this another way: ask yourself this - do we
have to have Aztecs, Templars, Portuguese, Jesuits, Peraltas etc to make an incredibly rich gold mine worth looking for?
Sorry for the long-winded post. Now show us some proof of Aztec treasure, Templar treasure, Portuguese treasure or king Henry in the in the Superstitions so we can go and start re-writing the history books! We can debate endlessly, until the incontrovertible evidence turns up to close the book.
Oroblanco
As far as who I talk to, I'll be shaking as many hands and saying hello to as many folks as I can, but being a relatively newbie to the LDM stories/search, I'll be doing a whole lot more listening than I will be talking 
