Jacob Waltz – Additional Clues

Pierpont C. Bicknell

Many Dutchman scholars believe that the source for many of the most important and credible clues come from an early authority, that being newspaper man and author, Pierpont C Bicknell, who interviewed, in person, several of Jacob Waltz’s friends and acquaintances.

One of the most significant people Bicknell interviewed was none other than Julia Thomas, Waltz’s longtime friend and caretaker.  Julia Thomas had been married to another German before knowing Waltz; her German husband was from an Austrian–German section in Bavaria that spoke a unique form of German; Waltz was also from this region and spoke the same dialect. It is believed that Julia’s husband had abandoned her and had left Phoenix several years before Waltz met her. It is not known if her husband and Waltz ever knew each other. Because Julia was fluid in this unique form of German and an attractive lady, Waltz was captivated by her and was often seen at her ice-cream parlor. At the time that Jacob and Julia first met, Phoenix had a population of about 500 people. What would the odds be that two unrelated people who spoke an uncommon German dialect would be living in the same tiny frontier town in the 1860s?

Arcana Exploration

Rodger and Webb loading the GoPro’s:

Waltz became Julia’s guardian angel and several times payed off her debts in gold. She was with Waltz, sitting by his bed, when he died. I will discuss more about them later on. The important point is that many of the most accepted clues from Julia to Bicknell were first person.

It is believed that most of the people that Bicknell interviewed had known Jacob Waltz personally and that Waltz had given them some clues about his mine. Waltz gave hints to them on to how to get to his mine along with some physical descriptions of the mine itself. Years later when Bicknell interviewed many of these people, their stories had a common and coherent thread.

It had been thirty years since the Civil War had ended and America needed to move on—it was focused on a new United States and Western expansion. When Bicknell’s syndicated article on “The Lost Dutchman Gold Mine” was published in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1895, the time was perfect. America was fascinated with anything and everything about the American West, and along came Bicknell writing the Dutchman’s story; this was the icing on the cake, and the American public ate it up. Jacob Waltz and his story had officially been born.

The Superstition Mountains’
Early Dutch-Hunters

When I think of all the great Dutch Hunters over the last 125+ years, it is humbling to think that 5 regular guys from central Ohio, should be the ones to find, Jacob Waltz’s mine.

Major newspapers from across the country along with their readership could not get enough. Bicknell’s articles were especially popular east of the Mississippi River. Thousands of men and women began entering the Superstation Mountains, obtaining grub stakes, procuring their outfits, fitted with supplies of equipment including guns, pack animals and partners. Some Dutch Hunters worked alone, many of whom simply vanished, never to be found, this only added to the lore and intrigue of the appropriately named the “Superstition Mountains”

The Old Military Trail

Clue 16 – Miliary Map

Jacob Waltz said, “From the RIDGE ABOVE my mine you can see the Military Trail, but from the trail you cannot see my mine”. True.  Some sources of this clue say only from my mine and leave out THE RIDGE ABOVE. This is very interesting and both are true. The reason you can see Weavers Needle to the south is the same reason you can see the Military trail to the south. The thing is, there is no official military trail. There are known area’s the Military traveled within the mountains, many of which are not on any maps, yet could have been described by Waltz as the Military passing below his mine. The military trail maps that most people are looking at, in relation to the Superstition Mountains have a flaw when trying to connect them to the Waltz’s mine. I will share this later in our book. I am biting my tongue here; I want to explain this, but for now I cannot.  Yes.

The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing!

Clue 17 – Jacob’s Doodle

Early on I said this was scribble scrabble and could have been done by a five year-old. Even though Waltz did it, I said it was useless, that it was the most worthless of all the Dutchman clues. I said it was a dog. Bow wow. Boy was I wrong. Much to the contrary this drawing done by a man who was close to death after fighting pneumonia for six months, is actually quite remarkable. When you split-screen it with our drone film, imaged from the same vantage point that Waltz’s mind’s eye remembered it, and then drew it, it gives you chills.

I know some critics will say we are just trying to make it fit. It is understandable that those people who have not seen what we have recorded on film would feel that way. Anyone who has seen the split screen, including those who were either early-on sceptics or those who are a couple of brain cells short say, “Oh my God, that’s it. Will you look at that?”

This is a very important point: All of the on-ground clues that we have discussed, plus others we have not yet talked about, are all contained within an area that is clearly depicted by Waltz’s sketch.

October 2017 – 104 degrees Arcana Exploration

Waltz’s – Doodle

From Helen Corbin’s book, “The Curse of the Lost Dutchman”

One of the Biggest Surprises: Clue 17

This clue is one of the most important clues out of hundreds of clues. It is in the top 10, and the top 10 are all very significant. This clue was drawn with Jacob Waltz’s own hand on his death bed, and was witnessed doing so personally, by three people.

For a couple of years I was a huge critic of this clue; having taken two and three-dimensional drawing at Columbus State, I was not impressed. I was very negative on one of the Dutchman forum sites, calling it joke and that it could be rocks piled anywhere in the Superstition Mountains, or the curb rocks outside a Seven-Eleven. I said it was a joke, a dead end or a dead duck and Waltz could not pass a kindergarten art class. Boy was I wrong.

When first viewed, the doodle appears to be the poster boy for the term, “chicken scratching”. In fact, it is anything but that. Drawn by Waltz’s own hand, it is the glue that binds many of the most significant clues together. It is the stone cold- killer of clues, the wolf that sinks its teeth in and won’t let go!

One night I was looking at one of our drone flights, but it was not where we usually flew the drone; it was about a quarter mile down canyon.  As the dust swirled around on my computer screen, slowly our

Arcana Exploration and Discovery

Planning the next day’s climb: Captain Dave, with Rodger and Webb

Phantom drone climbed off the parched canyon floor, climbing to several hundred feet. For the first time in three years I was seeing our site from this view, a picture you simply can get from down below. My eyebrows rose up; are you kidding me? l was looking straight on at Waltz’s Doodle. l could not believe it, but it was absolutely his doodle. I was seeing what a man on his death bed, a man in declining health, a miner who had not been to his mine in over ten years, was remembering. He had drawn a picture of what his mind’s inner eye remembered of the place. Waltz didn’t need a Phantom drone to know the overall view because, unlike us and others, he had most likely crisscrossed north, south, east and west while traversing every square foot of the place from top to bottom. It had been ten years from the time Waltz had last been to his mine.

A few weeks before his death, in his small adobe house on the banks of the Salt River, with Julia Thomas and his friends Rhinehart Petrasch and Petrasch’s son by his side, Waltz took out a small tablet used for the collection of German stamps.  Jacob Waltz opened his stamp collection book to a blank page and drew a picture of his mine site.

Later, Julia and Petrasch and Petrasch’s brother Hermann would become partners and try to find the mine from the drawing. They never could locate it because they could never see from down on the dusty boulder strewn canyon floor what Waltz could see in his memory, only Waltz knew what it looked like from top to bottom, and bottom to top. Our Phantom drone let us see something that Waltz’s mind’s eye could remember, top to bottom and bottom to top, it let us see Waltz’s Doodle. Julia Thomas and her partners went broke trying to find the mine. It just hit me the model of our DJI drone is the Phantom model, a little ironic that it has helped us to find a mine that has often been described as a Phantom mine.   Yes.

Backtracking a quarter mile on the canyon floor from our drone’s launch spot and then climbing back up to the mine, you lose the doodle angle, and you lose sight of Waltz’s image. Howard, our editor, and l have analyzed the doodle drawing at some length and I feel confident that our conclusions confirm that the doodle is more than representative in likeness to what we have on the ground. l will have to hold those shared thoughts for a later date.

Jeff.

Watch for more in the upcoming weeks.

Comments (22)

    • MI Picker

      Reply

      What is the name of your book and where can I drop some gold coin to purchase it?

  1. Reply

    Louvenia Thanks for the very nice comment. Our site is custom done in house by Randy Kauffman of Supercool sites. Randy has been doing this a long time and knows how to make a site work, the activity on our site has been amazing. If you do a generic search on Google earth for” Lost Dutchman Gold Mine” we have moved in hierarchy in a very short time to first page and number1 to number 4 on the first page. Also the images page for the last 2 weeks two of our photos have number I number 3 at the top of the page, plus another 5 farther down. Randy has a great eye and really knows to make look fit the subject matter. He knows all tech stuff but he is also an artist. Jeff.

  2. Nathan

    Reply

    Hello,

    I discovered the Lost Dutch Mine close to Tortilla Flats.

    I have aerials of its location with coordinates.

    I am working with a mining geologist.

    I talked with USDA and US Forestry.

    I have not given up data at this point.

    Top guy in Tonto area said it can be claimed if gold discovered.

    Would you guys like to join my partner and I in this discovery?

    Nathan Burgess
    pilotschoice@hotmail.com

    • Reply

      First Nathan, Tonto National forest has not granted a mining permit, since the mid eighties. If you go to their site mining is stickily forbidden. I think somebody was pulling your leg at Tonto National, they get a dozens of calls every month from people telling them they found something on GE, and I think in return, they play with people. What someone was probably saying is the truth, you can file a claim at the lawn in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, but it will not be granted, neither will it in Tonto. Again go to there site. We have no intentions of mining anything, the gold is in the journey to discovery. So have you had boots on the ground? With out that nothing is certain. Thanks Jeff.

  3. Brian McDonough

    Reply

    Jeff.
    Seems like everyone has found the sucker.
    But has everyone had their Lost Dutchman story published in Lost Treasure magazine cover story.
    I have. Google Lost Treasure magazine June 2016.
    On the cover you will see
    “The Lost Dutchman gold mine”
    It is my story.
    Every day you say you found it, is a day wasted of your life. We have begun filming for a series of documentaries. 3 networks are asking for my story.

  4. Brian McDonough

    Reply

    Balogne.
    Google Lost Treasure magazine June 2016.
    Cover story.
    It is mine.
    You boys sure are full of it.

    • Reply

      I looked at June Issue the cover had bunch, of guys in a metal detector club. I did see you on the cover, or see your name listed anywhere, strange? I believe it the issue for 6-21-16 So post one photo (as we have) that will show anything at the nine without giving away the location. .I am waiting for your response? Thank You Jeff.

      • Reply

        Brian I must have been half asleep, when I posted on September 23. I meant to say your name is not least with the guys in the picture? There is no mention of you or the LDM. That magazine you are referring, to went out of business, I guess, where not enough, people that wanted to follow your non-story. Our site by the way, in the last three months had become the uploaded site on The LDM story. WE show some of what we have you show nothing and did not respond. Saying we are full of it really, really like calling the kettle calling the pot black. Finding the LDM is a humbling experience. ( I truly believe we have it, we have something significant, it points to the LDM among other things. we need to get up top and verify, and we will). I always say never say never, I do not know where you are coming from, but I do know humble you are not.

  5. Reply

    Jim, you took down my comments re: this LDM fiasco, that continues to take poor Dutch hunters their lives each year. There never was a Lost Dutchman Mine…..because the the facts of the Jacob Walzer case is….he died broke and destitute. How could this happen if he had a mine worth billions!!! It didn’t happen…..if you have any common sense……or can add 2 + 2 = 4 you will have to at least ask your self: Wait a minute……if the Dutchman had that mine…..how come he died broke ? Why did he have to depend on others to care for him? He was broke! He did have a small amount of gold that everyone states he high graded (stole) from the other mines he worked in here in Az. ~Packy Paulson ~

  6. Reply

    Hey Steven thanks for your interest. Steven as I understand it , the answer, to most of your Questions is pretty simple. As I have gotten older I realize, more and more everyday, you can not do much without good health. I know my self we drive to the Supers from Mesa in a Tahoe get out and three hike three miles or so, and by the time we get there, Captain Dave and have to wait on the canyon floor until our team comes back down, because it is too strenuous. .If you have never been out were the pavement ends, you just will not understand. .When Waltz was young man he was very fit, but by he time he started working the mine, with his partner, he was getting up in his years and starting to show signs of health issues. His partner and he supposedly had three stashes off site. His health soon failed. The last ten years of his life his health was very bad, and he never physically could get back to the last stash(the largest). When you are my age you will understand, things you do 6 months before you cannot know do and never will be able to ever do again. The last ten years of his life he needed assistance, just like in an assisted living today, in his day that was Julia Thomas, I do not know what is hard to understand about that needing assistance? In the last few years with the advent, of tech access, to old records, the high – grade issue has been put to bed. So for someone who has never been, imagine its 1865 and you are on foot leading your donkeys’ thru the Desert its 108 degrees, and then you climb up a mountain. So he died rich, he just could not make it to the bank.

  7. Robert Vega

    Reply

    The legend of the Lost Dutchman mine has fascinated me my whole life. I have lived within sight of Superstition mountain for 25 of my 44 years. I’ve heard thousands of stories and claims about the mine. Yours however has me impressed. You sound like you just might have something. I’m looking forward to reading your book. I hope to be able to see this mystery solved one day. Awesome work guys.

  8. Robert B

    Reply

    This is for :Steven..
    I have 10 years dedicated to the LDM hunt..
    It’s funny you could say something like that..
    These people have dedicated their lives to something much bigger then your tiny imagination can even comprehend..
    Have a goodnight

  9. Robert

    Reply

    This is for :Steven..
    I have 10 years dedicated to the LDM hunt..
    It’s funny you could say something like that..
    These people have dedicated their lives to something much bigger then your tiny imagination can even comprehend..
    Have a goodnight

  10. Reply

    I live in Apache Junction and I have lived in those mountains for a long time.. if you did find LDM why can’t you share a pic of the mine itself? It wouldn’t give away the location. Or any other pics then you have here . The couple of pics that got my attention I can’t even make them out there no good.. and you guys have go pros, drones with 1080p HD probably I just don’t get why those few pics just look like crap . Then all the pics with you guys look like they should. Go pro standards. Just wondering what’s going on

    • Reply

      Hey Christopher Thanks for your interest. You are partially correct in that some of the photos, even some of GoPro shots do not show a lot, that is on purpose and by design. It has been a challenge to put on photo’s that do not give away our location. Ironically most of the film that is great also is panoramic and gives away where we are. As far as entrance to the mine, I have been debating showing that, because it would not give away the location. I must be honest here, I have spent 5 years of my life researching and documenting information about our story. All of the Arcana team will share in the book and it’s success, these are friends that I care about. Our book will not be the typical Dutchman Book about mainly clues, it is a modern day reality (but true) adventure story that encompasses our journey of discovery and hoe it unfolds, in real time. Part of the success of our book will be for it one off unto itself. If I show and tell everything before hand, then I have then thrown the baby out with the bath water, and that I will not do. My goal with this site is s to educate newbies to the Dutchman story and history so when the book does come out it will be cohesive and they can make sense of the often very complex nature of what actually transpierced. Most all previously published books, have addressed a very narrow reader base. Where- as our book will appeal to a wider audience. Part of the books success is to make sure that the story stays intake and is exclusive too the book and only the book, Therefore the first time the mine entrance will be shared will be in the book. So that is what is going on. Keep in mind we are still in the process of vetting the site. Thanks Christopher for your interest.
      Jeff. . .

  11. Reply

    I just watched a youtube video named jacobfound the man claims to have found the mine and shows it very plainly…he says he found it several years back and just wants people to know it is real…no name of the man but very interesting..take a look and check it out…it was just published in 2019…..thanks Sharon

  12. Reply

    So, I’m guessing you haven’t located the mine as yet. I’ll keep checking back from time to time.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.