One of the World’s Greatest Puzzles Solved!

Over the last five years I have read close to 100 books plus other literary and research material regarding the history of the Superstition Mountains and its many inhabitants and visitors. My research has gone back as far as the “Hohokam” (l-CE to 1450), a mysterious and little-known group of ancient Indians. Many scholars believe there is link between the Hohokam and the Aztec culture that predates Montezuma’s era in central Mexico. I have thoughts on this that I will share later.

Much of my research on the Superstition Mountains and its history, however, has been on the time of Spanish Conquest and New Spain, tracing those and related events forward up into the early 20th century.

The majority of my research has been focused on Jacob Waltz and the history surrounding his story as it relates the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. Because of the sheer volume of this information I will first address some of the clues accredited to him and connect that information with what we have found at our land-site. I have been surprised at the volume of the historical information pertaining to the LDGM, and the extent of applicatory information that many of these clues have contained within them, that directly matches our land-site. This was totally unanticipated.

Again, a shock!

I expected some things would fit but that a lot would be misinformation from all the years of hash and rehash.  However surprising this was, the fact remains that many of the most discussed clues are not only true but accurate, which in many cases validates their source.   After five years of research and four expeditions, Arcana Exploration has not only found the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine, but has been able to match the most accepted clues with the physical evidence on the ground.  The enigma of the LDGM is that it has been a puzzle with many pieces that, up until now, no one has been able to solve. Arcana Exploration has done this; keep in mind that we continue to find new things that match. Part of the reason for this is that the topography immediately surrounding the mine is so severe and dangerous that it can take days to explore short distances. As we reach these adjacent plateaued spaces we continue to search for additional onsite entities that are of interest.

Another issue is that researching historical information has been very fruitful, so we continue to put efforts in this area and are often surprised and rewarded by what we learn that is relevant to our discovery.

I repeat:

It has always been known that just finding a mine of any type would mean little if it could not be linked to at least a couple dozen of clues. That has now been done, and we are continuing to fit more puzzle pieces together.

So, what exactly does this mean?  First off, there was never going to be a sign that says, “Welcome to the Lost Mine—Property of Jacob Waltz”. If you find the mine, what should be there? What should be there are physical features, some man-made and some natural, that match the most historical and generally accepted clues. No one has found, or at least shared, any viable proof that matches the man-made or natural clues. Until now, that is.

After searching for five years and reading most of the published material, the last paragraph in one book keeps haunting me. The author wrote that he believed the mine was real…BUT! (and this is most important!), there was in fact some “QUIRKY REASON”, a natural fluke why it had not been found, and that someday, someone would figure that out and match the pieces(clues) together and prove that the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine is not just a myth, but that it exists.

There are many who believe that after a 135+ years that if it exists, it would have been found by now and that the LDGM is nothing more than a fairy tale or that it already has been found and is near the old Goldfield mine. In fact, none of clues match the Goldfield location.  Yes, gold quartz matrix is there, but the Goldfield samples have been tested against known Dutchman samples, and it’s inorganic (think of it as sort of DNA) metallurgical characteristics or their fingerprints if you will, do not match. One of the forms for this testing is Laser ablation with a mass Spectrometer. Testing today is much more accurate than the last time the Dutchman gold samples were lab tested.

This type of testing is something we will be doing. At that time, we will need permission to retest the Dutchman’s gold, but this is not as easy as you might think. There are only a few known samples of Dutchman gold and as you would imagine, the owners who are in possession of these priceless pieces might have reasons for not wanting it tested. We believe when the time is right that the overwhelming body of proof that we have will encourage one of these safe-keepers to let a metallurgical comparison be made. We will welcome it.

I am getting a little ahead of myself, so back to the reason the LDGM has not until now been found. YES! YES! And YES! THERE ARE IN FACT FORTUITOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, of the natural kind, that have assisted Mother Nature in keeping some of the most important clues from being matched to any boots on the ground.

Hopefully after our fifth trip we will be at liberty to share more of the connected clues that we have. For now, we will share some meaningful images, but for security reasons we cannot show everything that we have. What we can share for now is some documentation that will not give away mine’s location, or that is not proprietary to our book.

So, what are the clues?  There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of clues, from countless sources. The clues that are most generally accepted by Dutchman scholars are a good place to start, and it will make the most sense to start with the clues that pertain more directly with Jacob Waltz. These and other clues will be grouped into three main categories.

The Lost Dutchman Gold Mine Clues are as follows:

• 1.  Written documentation, including books, historical documentation–both Jesuit and Spanish records (diaries, journals and secretarial expedition logs).
• 2.  Maps. Some of these are very important; for now, there are at least six that are extremely relevant.
• 3.  The Peralta Stones and their importance will be one of the biggest shockers.

What I would like to do now is share some of the clues that are present at our land–site; this has never been done. First, I will list them, and then I will show some images from our site. Some of our high-tech images are proprietary and cannot be shown at this time, others are exclusive to our book and others, again for security reasons, cannot be shown at this time. I am going to start with written and recorded clues from second and third-hand recorded sources.

Everything below matches what we have found on the ground, and most importantly, it is all in one generalized location.

The Clues:  If the glove fits …

Jacob Waltz said:
1.    If you climb some distance above my mine you can see to the south a sharp peak (Weavers Needle).  This is true, but there is something most people do not realize about this clue! Yes!

2.    Waltz said that from up above my mine you cannot climb straight down, that you have to go a little way along the top of the mountain, then climb down and then backtrack toward the mine and climb back up to get back to the mine. This again is correct, but you have to see the place to understand what he meant. Yes!

3.   He said the mine lies in a north trending canyon that is shaded most of the day. True!

4.   From the mine you can see four peaks, but it looks like one peak. True!

5.   Waltz said that when he traveled there, he camped the night below the fort in a stand of Cottonwoods. Yes!  This makes sense, but there is also a time line here.

6.   The next day he crossed at the gravel bar and then he traveled to first water and then on to second water. Yes!

7.    Waltz said … Then I went to the spring and followed the old Indian Trail up to the mine. Yes! There is a spring and an old trail.

8.   He continued by saying that just below the mine is a tunnel the Mexicans dug, trying to come at the mine from below. Waltz said he built a rock wall in the opening to hide it. Yes!

9.   Waltz said he camped up above where the Mexicans camped on the Horse’s Saddle. Yes! He also said he hid his tools there when he left. It would be a safe place if you are alone—you have the high ground.

10.   Waltz said his mine-opening faces toward the northwest and late in the day the sun shines in the opening into the mine and on gold. Yes! We took a compass reading, and when looking directly out of the mine opening, it reads 220 degrees, and late in the day the sun does shine into the mine.

11.   Waltz said the Mexicans dug another tunnel from down below the mine trying to come in farther down into the vein because the pit mine was getting too hard to mine. He said that he too tried to dig a mine just above them, but as the Mexicans had said, the rock in this section was too hard, so he gave up as well. He also said his shaft and the Mexican’s shaft were very close together, but when you stood at either shaft you cannot see the other shaft. – Yes!  This is true and makes sense when you see them.

12.   He said you can be twenty feet from my mine and you will not have any idea where it is. True!  It is in a place that is hard to find. Even though we were on site, it took us until our third trip to locate the entrance.

13.   He said before his partner was killed, they stayed in a cave above and across from the mine either 200 feet or 200 yards. (Actually, I believe he most likely said we stayed in a cave that looked down on the mine.) I believe other people who most likely were there said 200 feet or 200 yards? Nevertheless, it is there. Yes!  Actually, it is probably about 80 to 100 yards. We need to bring a golf range finder on our fifth trip, to record distances. Our Trek watches will not measure “as the crow flies”. I am not sure of the original source, but it has been said that below the cave is a water tank. Yes!  There is a slow running spring that feeds into a hard rock pocket pool. In the desert these are called water tanks. You can see it from the cave, along with the mine. You cannot see the tank from the mine. The first time we saw the tank was with one of our drones.*  The cave Waltz and his partner most likely stayed in is above the mine and to the side. It looks down on the mine.

14.   Waltz said there is trick to his trail and no miner will ever find his mine. Yes!  There is a trick in the directions on how to get there. Yes!

15.   Waltz said that at the head of a north-trending canyon you will find the ruins of an ancient Spanish house that sits hidden on a ledge, and that the climb up to it is so steep that you will not see it until you scale up onto the ledge that it sits on, as its stone walls lay before you. He said if you find this house at the head of a steep north-trending canyon you are not far from the mine. Yes! We have some great video of this canyon in 4k with the drone, but it is proprietary to our book and for now we cannot share it. Our guys made two attempts to get up to the house but were stymied. Hence the drone.  The stone house exists—amazing.

16.   He said he had to slide in through a small opening, and that he chiseled it a bit so he could get in and out of the mine. Yes!  And, there are some chisel marks. Yes!

*After our third trip we learned that you can no longer fly drones in the Superstition Mountains; the Tonto National Forest does not allow it. Luckily for us, we no longer have to fly them; we already have what we need and knowingly follow all rules and regulations and do our very best to do things by the book. We do only what is permitted which includes not mining for gold. You are permitted to pick up small quantities of loose pieces of quartz matrix that contains gold.

Arcana: Dedicated, Competent, Driven

After our second expedition in the spring of 2016, the pieces of the puzzle was starting to come together, we were matching clues to the land – site. Most of our time on this trip was spent exploring around the mine site. Our team did make two attempts to reach the stone house at the head of the north trending canyon, but they were repelled.

Late one night

We had the correct location, we had the mine site, and if the legend was correct there had to be a stone house at the head of the north trending canyon. I knew where it was supposed to be. I had been looking for months, I could not find it.  It had to be up there. If there was no stone house … then, dammit it, it had to be … but if I couldn’t find. I knew where it had to be.

Then late one night (2am) sitting at my desk alone in a darkened office there it was. I am usually not an emotional person. It was best I was alone.

On our next trip in October of 2016 we got one of the drones up the canyon and have some great 4k images, but they are proprietary for now and will be used in our book.

Watch for new clues.