cactusjumper,
You asked why I didn't talk with Tom Kollenborn at the Dutch Hunter's Rendezvous in October ?
I did talk with Tom, I had a long conversation with him about an article he wrote in the AJ News and other issues he and I had.
I think the reason there is so much confusion and misinformation surrounding the Holmes Manuscript is because so few in the Dutch Hunter community have actually read it and rely solely on the rumors, misquotes, disinformation and outright lies that many authors and writers have told about it.
When someone comes along and tries to accurately portray the manuscript and the history surrounding it they are immediately suspect and set upon because it doesn't sound like what people have been fed over the years. The quote, " Brownie denied knowing anything about the manuscript until the day he died" is just one of the many falsehoods that Dutch Hunters have heard and blindly accepted as fact.
To read and understand the Holmes manuscript and it's origin and history you have to do it with an open mind, objectively. That is a problem for some in the Dutch Hunter community, an open mind and objectivity is not in the vocabulary. Subjectivity and taking sides in petty personal grudges are easier and more fun than actually trying to see things as they really are. If someone was to actually take the time to read and learn about why the manuscript was written, when it was written, by whom it was written and the manuscript's evolution and history they would be surprised and probably see it in a much different light.
No one, not even Brownie ever said every word of the manuscript is accurate or solid documented evidence. The collaboration between Brownie and Kennison produced a manuscript that was part history, part fact, part speculation and even some outright fanciful storytelling. It doesn't take a genius to read it and see which parts are which. I would urge everyone if you haven't read the manuscript to get in touch with the Superstition Mountain Museum and get a copy for yourself.
Since the thread topic was steered far off course I am reposting the top thread for those who are still interested.
Matthew
The Holmes manuscript has been the focus of many spirited discussions, disagreements and misconceptions over the years since it first surfaced in the early 1960’s. Allegedly written by George “Brownie” Holmes, Holmes denied being the actual author but did admit that he furnished a lot of the information that the manuscript contained.
The Holmes manuscript is 41 typed pages, a Forward, 12 chapters, and a 9 page Dutchman story addition entitled, The True Story Of The Lost Dutchman Of The Superstitions As Told To Me By My Father Dick Holmes, By Jacob Wolz On His Deathbed.
It is clear to anyone reading the manuscript that the 9 page Dutchman story addition was written in a much different style than the rest of the manuscript which deals mostly with Brownie’s life and stories of his experience with his father and other lost mine hunters. This 9 page Dutchman story addition is oddly sandwiched in between chapters 2 and 3 almost as if it were inserted after the rest of the manuscript had been finished.
Brownie was not a writer, author or typist so in 1944 he employed someone who was to help him put together a story of his life and his account of the Lost Dutchman Mine as told to his father by Jacob “Wolz”. That man was Charles Kennison a former Phoenix newspaper man and author of several articles.
Between Brownie and Kennison no fewer than 4 separate versions of the manuscript were compiled. Brownie liked none of them and their disagreements eventually ended the project.
According to John Higham, in the fall of 1948 Charles Kennison delivered to John Lindley Higham a copy of one of the versions of the Holmes manuscript. Higham was a local author also known as Charles Fredrick Higham who had in 1946 written his own Lost Dutchman Mine book entitled, The True Story Of Jacob Waltzer And His Famous Hidden Gold Mine, The Lost Dutchman.
There was a discrepancy between Kennison and Higham of when exactly Higham received the manuscript. Higham says it was 1948, Kennison said it was 1944 the year it was written. This is important because if Kennison is correct it seems Higham wrote his 1946 book based largely on the Holmes manuscript.
Other than Kennison, Brownie and John L. Higham, no one else knew anything of this Holmes manuscript until November 1, 1962 when John L. Higham donated it to the Arizona State Department of Library and Archives. It was soon after “discovered” by the general public and caused quite a sensation. Brownie Holmes was set upon and hounded by an army of lost mine seekers and questioned relentlessly concerning the “Wolz story and deathbed confession.” Finally in desperation Brownie withdrew and denied being the author of the work.
I have always wondered why Higham waited 14-16 years (depending on whose story you believe) to donate the manuscript to the Arizona Library and Archives and make it public? Higham and Kennison knew each other but were not particularly close or considered good friends. Hardly anyone was considered a friend of Highams, he had an extremely abrasive personality. Higham and Brownie Holmes were not friends by any stretch of the imagination. In fact Higham went out of his way to disparage Brownie and Dick Holmes every chance he got.
When Higham donated the manuscript to the Archives he inserted into the manuscript his own personal view of the work which was a scathing review. The amusing thing about Higham’s case against the Holmes manuscript was in trying to disprove Brownie’s “facts” he used “facts” of his own that were so outrageously ridiculous and false it made Brownie’s manuscript look positively scholarly.
Another thing I have always wondered about was the actual manuscript that is in the Archives. I have read that very work and there is something strange about it.
Both Higham and Kennison stated it was Kennison who gave Higham the manuscript. The manuscript Kennison gave Higham is typed with an old style typewriter. Higham added two separate pages of his own to the donation, both pages were typed overviews and his assessment of the manuscripts unworthiness. What I find strange is that all the donated work, Kennison’s and the pages Higham added were all typed on the same typewriter. At least two of the typewriter keys had defects and the same defects are on both Kennison’s copy and Higham’s additions.
Unless Higham used Kennison’s typewriter I don’t understand how this could have occurred. This raises a lot of interesting questions. Did Higham retype what Kennison gave him? That would seem unlikely because Brownies original signature is on the manuscript. And if Higham did retype it, did he type it faithfully or did he change and add his own version to things? After all, there was no love lost between Higham and Holmes. Could this be why Brownie denied the authorship of the manuscript until he died?
It’s interesting to speculate on the many paths this story could have gone down. Fortunately we don’t have to rely on the Holmes — Kennison manuscript for the story of Wolz-Walzer-Waltz and his deathbed confession. Brownie Holmes was taped in interviews by four separate people (David Russell, Monte Edwards, Tom Kollenborn and Greg Davis) between 1975 and 1979 giving specific details about the things the Dutchman told his father on his deathbed.
In addition, Clay Worst, a longtime friend and partner of Brownie Holmes was given a detailed firsthand account by Brownie. Clay uses Brownie’s account to make a “Dutchman” presentation each year to a crowd at the Superstition Mountain Museum in Apache Junction. Clay will give that presentation again on January 7, 2016 for anyone who wants to hear the story the way it was passed down from Jacob Waltz to Dick Holmes to Brownie and finally to Clay.
Personally I believe the Holmes account of Waltz’s deathbed confession. Not every word, word for word but the basic premise of it. I believe it as well as a story can survive given time and being passed down through three or four persons.
I believe the account also because of something Clay Worst told me once. I was staying with Clay at his house for a few days and one evening after dinner we were sitting outside on Clay’s back porch talking and watching the sunset reflecting off Superstition Mountain. Clay told me about Easter Sunday 1980 when Brownie had come out to have Easter dinner with Clay and his wife Muriel. Brownie Holmes was 87 years old and in failing health. After the dinner Clay and Brownie had gone out back on the porch and Brownie began to reminisce about the old days. Pausing as he gazed off at the mountain Brownie turned to Clay in all seriousness and spoke these words, …. “Clay, I don’t know if the Dutchman lied to my father or not, but I know my father never lied to me, and I know I never lied to you.”
Five days later, on Friday April 11, 1980, his 88th birthday, George Brownie Holmes passed into eternity.
Maybe you can add something to the Holmes debate.
