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we're here at the Superstition Mountain Museum and over here to my right behind
me is what is known as the massacre grounds at the Superstition Mountain now
now did it happen, when exactly did it happen, why did it happen there's many different
versions of the story right now we're going to talk to Larry Hedrick
who is the co-founder of the Superstition Mountain Museum and get one
take on the Peralta massacre.
the Peralta family were they really mining up in the
superstitions well I don't know if I can answer that in completeness this is part
of the legend
and you just can't you can't disprove a legend by not finding something!
[laughter]
that the Spanish were in there I have no doubt there's evidence
of Spanish workings in the Goldfield area these guys when they dug a tunnel
I would be claustrophobic to go into such a thing because they only burrowed
enough to get in there themselves they didn't make huge... and they usually fill
them in when they were done some of those type of mines have been found in
the Goldfield area particularly up around government wells but uh..
the massacre is uh....
I had a friend who owned that gold ore that we were talking about
he said in 1863 a troop of Calvary were camped at a ranch that that was right across
the road from where the new museum is right now on State Route 88 and they had
scouts out I don't remember what he tell me they were doing but they up on the
sides of the of Superstitions they found some bones and they've been there so
long that there was no clothing or anything left at just just human bones
but it wasn't where the massacre was supposed to take
it was way around the corner to the south more close to the Buckhorn mines
and so something happened up there but was it that was it the Peralta's was it
the Apaches. I don't think anybody can prove that one way or another it's just part
of the legend
so when you say bones you're saying that
there was more than one set of remains there. yes human bones just scattered all
over the place
it would be hard to determine how many were involved
So as far as the massacre there's no real documentation that had happened
No hardcore evidence
what about the two guys that found the saddlebags full of gold.
Oh.. yeah well, I'm not going to bring up any names but yes that supposedly
occurred because the... Mexicans or supposedly up on top of bluff Springs
mountain is their headquarters and I have seen back in the 70s to Erastus at
the base of bluff Springs Mountain so they were bringing as supposedly
bringing or in from various areas to these Erastus now you wouldn't build an
arrest unless you had something and the spanish rings were up on top of bluff
Springs mountain who are they supposedly tethered their animals
bluff Springs had straight up cliffs and stuff it was an ideal place for defense you know but
supposedly the Indians was after them and they were loaded up and they
had their pack animals with there arrested ore and they were heading out of
the mountains supposedly to the south over towards miners needle and the
Apaches were there so they came out first water and were trapped and battled
up against the pillars there where the massacre grounds are supposed to be and
the Apaches had no use for that roundup ore you know and some of the mules got
away and... and the backpacks eventually fell off of them or they died or
whatever happened to them and somebody did find one of those backpacks and we
had a sample of that in the old museum when we were up at go field
and it disappeared somebody tried to get at one time claimed it was there as I
wouldn't give it to them because I was running the museum I said there's no way
I'm going to give it to you you can't prove to me that it's yours and I didn't
know him from Adams off fox you know but eventually it did disappear
Ok well if these two found the gold in the area of the massarce grounds wouldn't that
prove that there was a massacre
I should say a pannier
Pack pannier
that hung on the mule rather than a backpack well it stands the reason if
they found the gold in that area then something must have happened there well
that's what they said they found but there's no that's what they said they found
okay now over the years people have found all
sorts of artifacts up there pieces of saddle nuggets of gold ore what have you
that proved that something did happen in that area we're just not certain when,
we're just not certain how, or what but it all leads to something happening
right there in those grounds known as the Peralta massacre grounds another one
of the mysteries of the Superstition Mountains
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you