howdy folks I'm Hank Sheffer and welcome to another true life story right here with
Larry Hedrick on Mysteries of the Superstition Mountains in the late 1950s there was a man in
Apache Junction by the name of Bill Creighton he was promoting Apache Junction from a lazy sleepy
city to a going concern and he was busy promoting the town when a Apacheland movie ranch was built
and when the Superstition Ho hotel was built where the movie stars stayed while they were filming
and when the Colt 45 baseball field was built things like that but he was not satisfied
with what he had accomplished and he was seeking to get national and even international fame
for Apache Junction Arizona in 1960 a National committee was established consisting of eight
different states and he called and talked to each governor of each of these states
to establish highway 70 as the Lost Dutchman gold route claiming that that was the route
that many people took when the California gold rush occurred it was very successful and in 1961
uh a monument was built where the Lost Dutchman monument is in Apache junction today
to put this plaque up this plaque was 22 inches wide and 27 inches high and weighed about 30
pounds 5 000 people attended this dedication including dignitaries from all eight states
coast to coast from North Carolina through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico,
Arizona and California even consul members from Germany came over for this dedication
it was hugely successful end of story right uh wrong the plaque was stolen it was rumored
that it was between a feud between a private citizen and the sheriff's office
it was also rumored that this plaque served as a hatch cover on a Trap steamer
on a trip around the world and then taken off the steamer not necessarily by the same person
and hidden in the superstition mountains well in 1988
a member of the historical society received information disclosing the location of the
hidden plaque in the superstition mountains the historical society then wrote a letter to the
sheriff's office and received an answer that the sheriff was no longer concerned about pursuing
this episode so the plaque was recovered by Ron Feldman and Tom Collinborn, Ron Feldman was the
owner of the okay corral who rents horses and takes trips through the superstition
and Tom of course was the co-founder of the Superstition Mountain Historical Society
in the story right it's on display at this museum end of story right? no not the end of the story
in 1991 a group of people called Evitus Klampus which was formed in during the Mexican war in 1846
and claimed that Ulysses S Grant himself was one of the founders of the organization
they had a meeting out at the don's camp at upon Peralta road which is the eastern entrance into
the superstition mountains and the members of the dons club suggested that I bring the plaque out to
to display it because the Evitus Klampus was going to raise money to install this reinstall
the plaque one of the members of the Evitus Klampus was just absolutely amazed when he
saw the plaque because he had one he found it in a storage unit in California at near Santa Barbara
which would be the coastal place where the plaque was supposed to be placed in the first place
it was still in its original crate and undamaged and he acquired it had it in his possession
and my son was there and when he first saw the plaque he said a friend of his had one hanging on
his wall at the house so I went out and talked to him and after a bunch of breast beating he finally
surrendered the plaque which was found in the back room of the Superstition Inn when it caught fire
and there was an auction and that's how he got hold of it well he released it to us and
end the story right? well not quite so in 1991 October 100 years exactly after the death of the
Dutchman the monument was rededicated with Evitus Klampus on the property that belonged to the
Don's club where the Dons club monument is today there was a discussion that the other two plaques
the one found in Santa Barbara and the one found here in Apache Junction the back room at the end
which evidently was remade to replace the one that was stolen but never put back up or was
just there in case and it was decided but I'm not sure that it ever happened that they were
going to take the two plaques that were found and put them at the border of California and Arizona
and New Mexico and Arizona i don't think that ever happened but then that's just another mystery of
the superstition now thank you for watching this episode of Mysteries of the Superstition Mountains
you