Why Did Crazy Jake Blow Up New Squaw Canyon?

[OldManOfTheRiver]

How and why did he blow it up? How did he not get charged in that for destruction of Federal Property? What was he looking for or conversely trying to hide? Any have any idea? I've always wondered what they were trying to get at over there or trying to hide and if heavy drugs or something were involved.

-Dusty

 

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[azdave35]

How and why did he blow it up? How did he not get charged in that for destruction of Federal Property? What was he looking for or conversely trying to hide? Any have any idea? I've always wondered what they were trying to get at over there or trying to hide and if heavy drugs or something were involved.

-Dusty

crazy jake was mining....wallet mining

 

[coazon de oro]

Using explosives for prospecting was common back in those days. When I first took interest on the LDM, I ran into a video of some guy blowing up a hill just to pan the dirt. My concern was that he was probably destroying clues to the mine without even knowing it. I figured it would now be impossible to find knowing that he was not the only one blowing up things. A part of Weaver's Needle also got blown away.

Homar

 

[Oddjob]

I do not know the story; however I do know that if someone with crazy in their name blows something up that really it was just a matter of time. Be sort of like Bin or Ali these days, you just sorta keep an eye out cause something is bound to go off.

 

[azdave35]

I do not know the story; however I do know that if someone with crazy in their name blows something up that really it was just a matter of time. Be sort of like Bin or Ali these days, you just sorta keep an eye out cause something is bound to go off.

jake had to make it Look like he was doing something to keep his investors happy

 

[deducer]

Crazy Jake interpreted all the LDM and Stone Maps clues to place the mine in a place he called the "Big Draw" at the head of Squaw Canyon, near Squaw cave.

He also wrote a rambling 600 page manuscript while in prison. I tried reading it, then skipping through it, then gave up altogether. Crazy Jake's packer used to say that Crazy Jake wouldn't tell you the truth even if it made for a better story.

 

[Cubfan64]

I've heard it's quite likely there are still stashes of blasting caps buried around Squaw Canyon and Peter's Mesa so be careful where you strike your pickaxe!

 

[Azquester]

How and why did he blow it up? How did he not get charged in that for destruction of Federal Property? What was he looking for or conversely trying to hide? Any have any idea? I've always wondered what they were trying to get at over there or trying to hide and if heavy drugs or something were involved.

-Dusty

The land belongs to Arizona. The Feds only manage it. Blowing up dirt isn't a crime unless you get caught red handed. But I have feeling Crazy Jake was so crazy no Cop or Forest Ranger would go near him. I had a Brother-in-law like that years ago. The state patrol, and city cops all steered clear of him because they were afraid he would beat the crap right out of them. And he did on more than one occasion. He was in a high speed chase once and got caught after destroying half the police force and local state patrols cars in the process. I know because I had to take him cigarettes in the Palmyra Marion County jail for two years. I was with him when he did it as it was my Bachelor Party! I almost missed my wedding the next day. He missed my wedding as he had to turn himself in the next day. 1978 he caused 150 thousand dollars in damaged police cars during the chase. All that in a four door 1957 Pontiac Starchief with no plates! I was mad because we had run out of beer! The chase never bothered me. He ditched the car and we hiked back to my parents house where my Dad was listening to the police scanner and met us out front with some fresh beer. I enjoyed the chase though. He's dead now but before he died he was shot twice in the gut by the husbands of married women he had slept with!

Crazy Terry!

 

[gollum]

The land belongs to Arizona. The Feds only manage it. Blowing up dirt isn't a crime unless you get caught red handed. But I have feeling Crazy Jake was so crazy no Cop or Forest Ranger would go near him. I had a Brother-in-law like that years ago. The state patrol, and city cops all steered clear of him because they were afraid he would beat the crap right out of them. And he did on more than one occasion. He was in a high speed chase once and got caught after destroying half the police force and local state patrols cars in the process. I know because I had to take him cigarettes in the Palmyra Marion County jail for two years. I was with him when he did it as it was my Bachelor Party! I almost missed my wedding the next day. He missed my wedding as he had to turn himself in the next day. 1978 he caused 150 thousand dollars in damaged police cars during the chase. All that in a four door 1957 Pontiac Starchief with no plates! I was mad because we had run out of beer! The chase never bothered me. He ditched the car and we hiked back to my parents house where my Dad was listening to the police scanner and met us out front with some fresh beer. I enjoyed the chase though. He's dead now but before he died he was shot twice in the gut by the husbands of married women he had slept with!

Crazy Terry!

Nah,

Jake himself wasnt a badass. It was the people he surrounded himself with that scared the crap out of folks. When the cops had enough of his crap, they threw him under the jail. Bob Corbin was the guy that did it.

Mike

 

[OldManOfTheRiver]

Nah,

Jake himself wasnt a badass. It was the people he surrounded himself with that scared the crap out of folks. When the cops had enough of his crap, they threw him under the jail. Bob Corbin was the guy that did it.

Mike

Ahh cool. So he did end up in the pokey. Lol. The blasting caps thing has me worried now Cubfan64. It adds to the danger a little bit. It would really suck to bury a pick or most any sharp object in one of those stashes. Lol.

 

[azdave35]

Ahh cool. So he did end up in the pokey. Lol. The blasting caps thing has me worried now Cubfan64. It adds to the danger a little bit. It would really suck to bury a pick or most any sharp object in one of those stashes. Lol.

he bilked investors out of a ton of dough..tom k had a pretty good write up on him in his chronicles

 

[Holyground]

It used to be quite common. Havent you ever seen all of the holes out there? That's why they had to close it to mining because at the rate they were going, it would be nothing but a big hole that rivals the Grand Canyon by now. Besides, Crazy people and Idiots just love the sound of a big explosion.

 

[coazon de oro]

I've heard it's quite likely there are still stashes of blasting caps buried around Squaw Canyon and Peter's Mesa so be careful where you strike your pickaxe!

Howdy Paul,

I've heard some claim that Jacob Waltz booby trapped the portal when he covered it? I figured that if he used a gun, or shotgun shells, they would be all corroded by now. Would blasting caps still explode after 120 years?

Homar

 

[Tpmetal]

It used to be quite common. Havent you ever seen all of the holes out there? That's why they had to close it to mining because at the rate they were going, it would be nothing but a big hole that rivals the Grand Canyon by now. Besides, Crazy people and Idiots just love the sound of a big explosion.

well shoot, wonder if I'm crazy or an idiot then? Love blowing stuff up.

 

[Azquester]

Howdy Paul,

I've heard some claim that Jacob Waltz booby trapped the portal when he covered it? I figured that if he used a gun, or shotgun shells, they would be all corroded by now. Would blasting caps still explode after 120 years?

Homar

I found a bunch of blasting caps in an old Indian cliff dwelling used as a mine storage room. I didn't know what they were at first. Just looked like Clusters of copper tubes. I metal detected in the dwelling and used my pick hammer for digging up any targets. Found an old wooden plank with some faded writing on it. Took it home and cleaned it up and it said: "Dynamite"! Blasting caps corrode after time as these were almost unrecognizable. Nitroglycerin does not and I was digging in it!

If old Waltz used Dynamite it may still be active. Blasting caps, no way!

 

[markmar]

Waltz gave clues to Julia and Holmes for the mine with the tunnel below . If he thought to trap the hole that he opened on the outcrop above the tunnel , then there would not be any trap with dynamite or blasting caps , but something to roll under your feet and send you in a " flying lesson " from the mountain wall . The mine is on the lip of a cliff .
There are many questions why the Peraltas chose to make a tunnel bellow the gold outcrop , in the cliff's wall , instead to open a shaft and after to make a tunnel upward . Maybe the mecanics miners didn't find so stable the place . Seems Waltz was afraid to try enter from the tunnel because of its location .

 

[Al D]

There are many questions why the Peraltas chose to make a tunnel bellow the gold outcrop .

Digging a tunnel below the mineral outcrop is a common method, one still used today.
then after breaking the ore loose, it just falls into a stoop or an ore cart to be hauled away, it takes much less effort to mine in this manner

 

[markmar]

Digging a tunnel below the mineral outcrop is a common method, one still used today.
then after breaking the ore loose, it just falls into a stoop or an ore cart to be hauled away, it takes much less effort to mine in this manner

Yes , sounds a good method when you have a large place to step on at the tunnel entrance . At the Waltz mine is no way to get out of the tunnel holding a full basket of ore . You just have to use the hands to climb up the narrow ledge . For sure Peralta used a couple of men with ropes to lift the sacks or baskets of ore from that tunnel mouth .

 

[nobodie]

J.W. could have made a simple trap by bracing a shotgun at the bottom of the mine pointing up and tying a string to the trigger then to one of the logs. Dig the dirt away pull out the right log, then bang. If he did that, by now everything has rotted away.

 

[deducer]

Howdy Paul,

I've heard some claim that Jacob Waltz booby trapped the portal when he covered it? I figured that if he used a gun, or shotgun shells, they would be all corroded by now. Would blasting caps still explode after 120 years?

Homar

I think the boobytrap confusion arises from a saying that's attributed to Jacob Waltz that's unverified- he is alleged to have said "You can't approach the mine from either above or below but must enter from the side" and that the mine was a "deathtrap with only one entrance and exit and that one could approach unseen." (Peck notes).

What he meant was that when he worked this mine, it became a deathtrap because anyone could approach it, unseen, and easily trap or ambush him.

It seems that some people interpreted that to mean that he booby-trapped the mine.