Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine

Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine

The Lost Dutchman Gold Mine (also known by many similar names) is, according to legend, a very rich gold mine hidden in the southwestern United States. The location is generally believed to be in the Superstition Mountains, near Apache Junction, east of Phoenix, Arizona. There are also theories that the mine lies a considerable distance beyond the Superstition Mountains, in Mexico. There have been many opinions about how to find it, and each year people search for it. Some have died on the search.

The mine is named for German immigrant Jacob Waltz, who purportedly discovered it in the 19th century and kept its location a secret. ("Dutchman" was a common, though inaccurate, American slang term for "German," derived from the German word for "German" – "Deutsch").

The Lost Dutchman is perhaps the most famous lost mine in American history. Arizona place-name expert Byrd Granger notes that, as of 1977, the Lost Dutchman story had been printed or cited at least six times more often than two other fairly well-known tales, the story of Captain Kidd's lost treasure, and the story of the Lost Pegleg mine in California. Robert Blair notes that people have been seeking the Lost Dutchman mine since at least 1892, while Granger writes that according to one estimate, 8,000 people annually made some effort to locate the Lost Dutchman's mine. Former Arizona Attorney General Bob Corbin is among those who have looked for the mine. Others have argued the existence of the mine has little or no basis in fact. But as noted below, Blair argues that all the main components of the story have at least some basis in fact.

According to many versions of the tale, the mine is either cursed, or protected by enigmatic guardians who wish to keep the mine's location a secret.