Hello this is Larry Hedrick with Mysteries of the Superstition Mountains where we bring the past
into the present for you and our future viewers today we have an incredible story by Mr Clay Worst
well the Dutchman ended up filing a homestead near what is now the present site of phoenix
is along what was called Henshaw road at that time nothing but a dirt
track but he filed on a quarter section of land built a pretty decent adobe home
planted a big garden got himself up a bunch of chickens even planted this a small field of barley
and when the census taker came by he gave himself in as a farmer well in the ensuing years he
discovered the lost Dutchman mine apparently while he was searching for the lost Doc Thorne mine
but he was living in his adobe in February of 1891 when the salt river flooded and even before
the waters of the salt river got to his home there was a ditch called the dutch ditch that
crossed his property big irrigation ditch from the northeast to the southwest that ditch overflowed
washed away his adobe some claim that he spent two days and two nights up a cottonwood tree
before Reiney Patrasch got the sheriff in a boat came rescued the Dutchman took him to the home of
Julia Thomas a young black woman that she may have only been mulatto but lived in phoenix
and it was interesting how she came to know the Dutchman
because the Dutchman Julia had married a man named Emil Thomas up in Denver had moved down to Phoenix
and with them brought this young lad Reinhardt they called him Reiney Petrasch
the Thomas family and the Petrasch family had become good friends when they lived in Denver
and Julia, Emil brought Reiney with them down to Phoenix
rented a adobe on Jackson street and set up a bakery in a confectionery on Washington street
and Reiney as a young lad helped there with the bakery
well one day the Dutchman walked into Julia's bakery and without thinking
simply addressed her as v gates and was astounded when she started a conversation in perfect German
her father was named calm he was evidently German but they is also a story that Julia grew up in a
family where her parents were domestic servants in a German-speaking household
that at any rate for whatever reason Julia spoke fluent German and Reiney were not dead sure if
he was actually born in Germany born in transit to the United States are born in this country
but at any rate Reiney grew up in a learned talk in a German-speaking household
and Reiney was fluent in German and this was the bond that formed between Julia Thomas, Reiney
Petrasch and Jacob Waltz the Dutchman whenever they were together they always spoke German well
in the months between February of 1891 and October of that year when the Dutchman died
he lived Julia and Julia was his caretaker
and a number of times she asked him grandpa she called him grandpa she said you know you're not
well he'd contracted pneumonia as for the result of his exposure when he was trapped in the flood
he said you're not really well and you're not getting any younger don't you think it's time
you told Reiney and me how to go to the wine well I'm getting ahead of my story
Julia's husband Emil abandoned her and left her in phoenix with this bakery
owing about three thousand dollars worth of unpaid bills no way whatever of paying for them
and she broke down in front of the Dutchman
and was amazed when he told her not to worry but all of this would be taken care of
she was more amazed when he showed up a few days later with about 30 pounds of extremely high-grade
gold ore and all of Julia's bills all of her debts around Phoenix were paid with high grade gold ore
the Dutchman also drew a draft on Wells Fargo for twenty five hundred dollars
to an outfit I'm not sure it may have been in Chicago
for an ebony and marble soda fountain that Julia had installed in her confectionery and bakery
that's when Julia finally realizing that the Dutchman had a a source of gold asked
him don't you think it's time that you told Reiney and me how to go to the mine
because the Dutchman by them was was quite indisposed
he was not at the least bit offended by the question he thought it was perfectly natural
that someone should know where this or this gold of his was coming from
and he said in the spring when the weather's warm and there's still water in the canyons
he'll get it we'll get a light wagon and a team and a camp outfit
and we'll go out to the board house and he said we'll have to leave the wagon there
he said I'll ride one of the horses we'll pack the other one and you and Reiney wear your
old heavy clothing because we've got to pack back into some terribly rough brushy country
and he said if I'm not able to travel I'll have to stay there at the board house with the woman
and the three children and I'll point the way and direct you as best i can
you'll have to go over the ridge north of the board house
now the board house with the old cavernous place Matt Cavanus was the first
rancher to actually settle in the superstition mountain area but he was initially a freighter
he had a freight contract run uh hauling Silver king ore with the 20 new locks team over land
to fort Yuma where it was shipped by sea around the baja peninsula to a smelter in San Francisco
this was before the mill was built there at panel
and on one of his back halls rather than deadheading back empty he brought back
a load of east coast lumber that had been shipped around cape horn
and built the first board house in this part of the country there wasn't a sawmill built
in Arizona until one was built up at flagstaff it was a few years after that but at that time
at least there were no no Mill cut lumber here available in the salt river valley the people
then built with what they had it was either stone or adobe and because the board house was unique
it was usually referred to simply as the board house rather than the cavernous place well
Matt and avenues Matt and Alice Cavaness were divorced and in the divorce settlement she got
the ranch and he got the freighting outfit and she lived there at the ranch with their
three children Albert Aaron and Anson Albert was the first white child born in Phoenix
so when the Dutchman talked about going out to the board house
and that if he was not able to travel he'd have to stay at the board house with the woman and the
three children there's absolutely no question but what the Dutchman's point of departure
to take Julia, Reiney to the mine was the Cavaness ranch this is unquestionable
now in later years stories came out that the dutchman mine was
right here at goldfield usually by someone that had mining properties for sale at goldfield
wanting to present them was the lost Dutchman mine the lost judgment mine is not here at Goldfield
if it were here at Goldfield they could have driven right up to it with a bulk board
why this talk about going 15 miles past goldfield to the board house and then talk
saying you have to go up over the ridge north of the border back into the Superstition Mountains
no the lost Dutchman mine is not here at goldfield it's back in the superstitions somewhere
somewhere out there thank you for watching this episode of Mysteries of the Superstition Mountains