Chief John Wabasis wandered home many times along the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail without incidences meaning he was never waylaid by drunken Indians who threatened to kill him if he left his homestead. He was good at confusing any individuals who might be watching or trailing him. No self respecting Indian chief walked the beaten path. Often as individuals or groups they'd simply disappear into the forests similar to how the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War of the 1960's simply vanished into the jungle.
Sorry to say too many Americans in these post 911 era days travel the same route to and from work or play each day and this becomes way too convenient for terrorists who study the certain behaviors of individuals when planning terrorism. Going the same way on asphalt every day isn't good. We become predictable. Never go the same way day after day. Every once in a while pull a 'crazy Ivan' to see if anyone follows. If Russian submarine commanders can pull crazy Ivan's why don't you?
Wabasis lived with his own family group comprised of his wife Cononona born in 1813 with his children Chinquana (m) b. 1832, Macadefsequa (m) b. 1833, NowCon (m) b. 1838, Post (m) b. 1845, Shanabaqua (f) b. 1843, Wabindags (m) b. 1840 and John Wabasis born 1807.
Four children were born when he was in isolation on his farm in Oakfield Township and Wabasis' name appears on many things; Wabasis Avenue, Big Wabasis Lake, Little Wabasis Lake, Wabasis Creek and later Wabasis Lake Airport, Wabasis Lake Campground, Chief Wabasis Potato Growers Association, the White Swan Cemetery and White Swan School which up until the 1890's was the best public school in northeastern Kent County.
For such a man described as a scoundrel and thief by Indians the settlers placed him in high regard. John Wabasis was a rich man and not a poor Indian for he owned many of the Flat River islands and land in Ionia County -- deeded land he inherited from his adopted father Chief Wobwindigo and his foster father Chief Cobmoosa all Odawa Indians of the Flat River tribes. Wabasis received his adopted fathers share of treaty monies which angered other tribes who thought he should give them shares the chiefs received.
Mukatasha's tribe lived just northeast of Wabasis and they hounded him hoping he'd show them where he hid their share of the treaty monies which had only been dispersed twice since the treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. on March 28, 1836. When the treaty was signed the Indians and arrangements were made for payment for land north of the Grand River, the remaining Potawatomies were to leave on the Trail of Tears for Missouri, the Odawa's and Chippewa's were given a few years to leave for reservations at Pentwater, Mt. Pleasant and Traverse City. Many Indians never got a chance to leave the Grand River and Flat River areas because of a small pox epidemic, which killed hundreds of Indians around 1837. The epidemic nearly wiped out Wobwindego's tribe. When white settler sickenesses broke out the tribes scattered and in fact Chief Wobwindigo died of small pox in 1837, a year after returning from Washington.
What the Indians didn't know was that although they signed the treaty that guaranteed them an income for 20 years, the legislature attached an amendment which stipulated that the Indians remove themselves within five years. They were being encouraged and later forced to move north to the reservations. Only Wabasis' tribe in Kent County would remain along with Mukatasha's group in Montcalm County. The Indians who signed the treaty never saw this amendment and the last of the Indians moved out around 1864. Chief Mukatasha and Big Chief Ne-ogg-ah-nah planned to murder Chief Wabasis for nearly 25 years and they carried out Wabasis' death sentence when they tricked him into leaving his deeded parcel and attending the Green Corn Festival at Prairie Village (Blythefield Country Club) in Plainfield Township in 1863.
One can only wonder why the Indians couldn't figure out sooner where the man who supposedly robbed them of the tribes treaty monies and inheritance money hid the treasure? Wouldn't you think that after watching Wabasis' comings and goings for years that they'd have found the treasure? They plied the Chief with firewater, drank it with him in excess, but try as they might they couldn't get Wabasis to spill beans where the treasure could be found and they couldn't when he was murdered. Liquor has loosened the tongues of many. If whiskey and rum couldn't loosen his tongue is it possible that none existed or could it be speculative that maybe it didn't exist on his property, but was buried elsewhere. I find it strange that when his supposed Indian brothers got him drunk he refused to say where the kettles of gold and silver were hidden. Wabasis wife and children could leave and return without harm. John lived under the threat of 'death' if he went beyond one mile from his domicile or lake. He was not just banished to his farm as the current legend states.
Currently nobody has ever found the treasure troves of Chief John Wabasis and none will if they concentrate their searches on government property. Nobody has shown any tangible proof to support their claim they've found the kettles of gold and silver. The search area has been expanded and the treasure could lie anywhere within one mile of the entire Wabasis Lake area, which includes 8 other lakes and terrain befitting mountain goats and rattlesnakes. Over the last 138 years local folks had tweaked the legend so much they shrank the containment area down to a fraction of its original size so that it could only be buried along the western shores of Wabasis Lake.
On the contrary this isn't the only possible burial spot!
The Indians were the ones who said Wabasis sold the land north of the Grand River, but that's a misnomer (Indian legend). All he did was help the Federal government and the powers that be in Washington along with President Andrew Jackson procure the sale of Odawa lands for the Treaty of Chicago 1821 and Treaty of 1836. Wabasis was only 14 years old, but wiser than most of his peers in 1821 and was invaluable during the Treaty of 1826 and 1833. He had gained stature within the tribes for his peaceful demeanor. Wabasis was never a treaty signer, but many have confused his name with that of "Wabasuh, a Kaskaskian chief," that inhabited south central Illinois.
U.S. Census records of 1850 showed that Wabasis was born 1807 to 1810. His wife was recorded as three years younger (1813). However according to personal records kept by family members it was 1807, but it makes no difference since John Wabasis name doesn't appear on any treaties. He was born to a French Canadian woman who may have arrived during an Indian War. Unknown is what happened to her but John was adopted by Chief Wobwindigo (WabiWindego means 'white giant) in the early 1820's and was highly respected by the chief's three sons; Shog-wo-ge-no, A-can-go, Ash-kel-be-gosh. Wobwindigos village was comprised of 300 Odawa Indians. After Wobwindigo's death sub-chief "Cobmoosee, the giant walker", under Chief NoonDay of the Grand Rapids tribe, became Wabasis' foster father. Cobmoosa was the son-in-law of Wobwindigo having had married three of his daughters after the deaths of each one. Cobmoosa had six wives total before he confessed his Catholic religion in the 1820's.
When the treaty was signed it was the remaining tribal members who decided that it would be John Wabasis who would make the trip to Grand Rapids for their shares of treaty money and he did that for two years, but he angered the Indians when they didn't get their fair share. That is when they banished Wabasis to live out his remaining years at Wabasis Lake. Wabasis' farm was deeded to him by the Federal government as half-breed compensation for keeping Indians like Mexicini and Saubo from starting an Indian uprising or war with Washington. This is why the U.S. Army was dispatched into Michigan hauling two four-pound cannons that fell thru Grand River ice in 1836 in Ionia County when the Twin Sister cannons were headed down the Mississippi River to Sam Houston waiting in Texas to win the Battle of San Jacinto and beat Santiana back into Mexico liberating Texas. Back to our main story.
Half-breeds received greater sums, but for shorter years. Still those who trusted Wabasis to bring them their share had not left a forwarding address and he wasn't going to go looking for them. Many of them died during the small pox epidemic up and down the Grand River. The government wasn't in the habit of giving Chief Wabasis the shares of other Indians. The different chiefs were supposed to have appeared for payment and not a proxy.
Well its getting late and I'm tired so tune in next time for the early life and times of Chief John Wabasis. Once you get the real picture then you can decide where to look for Wabasis' lost treasure.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure - 114
Chief John Wabasis treasure is still waiting for a smart treasure hunter to find it. The Greenville groups discovery in the 1880's lacked any physical proof it was found so keep on looking for it. Never dismiss any legends until you find what you seek. Heresay evidence is poppycock.
Actually the "Murder of Little White Swan" happened in May 1863 towards the end of the Civil War. This swan had no feathers, but was tall and muscular comprised of flesh and bones of the half-breed Potawatomie Indian named Chief John Wabesis (Wab-ah-see). That's his real Indian name and not the American version of spelling. He was born in 1807 and murdered in 1863 by fellow Indians who tricked Wabesis into going to a corn festival at Plainfield and then killed him just off the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail as he was returning home. He acutally left his banishment property and returned safely for 27 years. Wabesis was 54 years old and lived in Oakfield Township with his wife and five siblings.
Wabesis lived on the western shore of Wabasis Lake. A band of Mukatasha blackskins lived in a tiny village northeast of Wabesis farm near Greenville. They stayed in the area to make sure that Wabesis never stepped off his property. Since 1834 the Blackskin tribe (Odowa) accused Wabesis of selling their lands north of the Grand River for approximately $50,000 in gold and silver coinage and never dispersing the treaty monie. Wabesis never sold anything. Hopefully in this mystery you'll get a clearer picture whether the legend is real or legend.
The search area for Wabesis' treasure has for the last 125 years or so been centered in the vicinity of Wabasis Lake Park and Campground, a northeast Kent County recreational area. The legend of Chief John Wabesis has him confined to the western shore. To go beyond his 40-acre garden plot meant certain death and he flirted with death frequently by picking up his treaty monies each year in Grand Rapids, but this containment area is incorrect. Wabesis was given the deeded property by the Federal government in 1838 for half-breed compensation. He was an educated man and helped quash an Indian uprising in the Grand River basin in the late 182o's to mid 1830's.
Wabesis was confined to his own parcel by the Indians, but he couldn't travel farther than one mile from Wabasis Lake as a whole. Now that's a large containment area with plenty of caves and it wasn't just the county park's caves that were sealed to prevent curious spelunkers from exploring them looking for the Chief's treasure. Many other caves exist within the target area. The chief had plenty of haunts were he could have stashed the treasure, but the bulk of the treasure is buried outside the containment area. He always had little money when he left and returned with less so where is all the treat monies?
Over the passing years the fortune Wabesis reportedly horded in specie from government annual payments is what treasure hunters have sought for 145 plus years by torchlight, lantern lights or sunlight. Nightime searches happened in Grand Rapids in the 1870's, too, and men who dug ditches for sewers found Indian treasures and returned to digging at night to find treasures. As a result, the work done by day was undone by amateur treasure hunters at night and it made Wright L. Coffinberry angry. These were trinkets to be saved and he was responsible for creation of the Kent Institute later called the Grand Rapids Museum and of late changed to the Van Andel Museum. Mr. Coffinberry was the lead archaeologist of Indian treasures in the 1870's. By trade he was a jeweler and he had never seen any recovered items from Wabesis treasure. No true kettles and pots of treaty monies have ever been recovered. Heresay evidence by the Greenville group who said that they found the treasure never proved it to newspaper writers or the general public. Many speculate they say they found it to keep others from looking.
Each year someone dreams about striking it rich at Wabasis Lake, but Chief Wabasis' spirit protects its burial spot on dark nights. Nighttime walkers in the park say cold spots give them shivers. Others have reported creepy feelings as if Wabesis' ghost his huffing his cold breath upon them from behind as they walk in the darkness smooching. Maybe its time to snap some infrared photos of the park's dark night terrain hoping to catch Wabesis ghostly spirit hovering above a hidden pot of gold and silver along the wild shoreline or anywhere within one mile of the lake. Remember Wabesis died a horrible death so it is reasonable to think he might not approve of treasure hunters searching for his lost treasure. Do you believe in ghosts?
With the use of Kodak infrared film of the 21st century the chances of capturing night ghosts is greater than 69%. Here's your chance to shine and become the newest treasure or ghost hunter seeking local fame that's if you aren't squeamish about finding ghosts. Wabesis spirit haunts the living and its enough to make anyone's bones rattle. Wabesis died a violent death hence his ghostly spirit might be watching as people search for his kettles and pokes of buried treasures.
The same individuals who say they found the treasure never said how much they found just as their is no exact sum of how much Wabesis received from the government, inheritances and personal business dealings. Wabesis was a well educated man of wealth and stood tall among early pioneers as a man met with firm handshakes. He was jovial and friendly to all he met.
Wabesis was a half-breed Indian, but what many other Indians did not understand was that they were paid more than chiefs, because of their educated abilities to negotiate treaties amongst the Ottawa and Chippewa nations without bloodshed. President Andrew Jackson according to the Article Sixth distributed treaty monies to the Indians upon their signatures on the Treaty of 1836 (March 28). They deeded all Indian lands north of the Grand River. Half-breeds who helped prevent Indian uprisings were often treated better than chiefs, but the Mukatasha tribe was maddened by the loss of their hunting grounds and were told they had to purchase their own land back to stay on their property near Greenville. This angered them further.
The Blackskins were half-breeds, too, but uneducated. This the result of a Negro slave child from Virginia who was captured during an Indian war and traded to Indians who later intermarried with Grand River Indians. Mukatasha's tribe always claimed that Wabesis refused to pay them government money for 24 years. Isn't it strange that during those many years nobody ever saw Wabesis visit his large cache of reputed hidden treasure. Even though Wabesis lived with death threats he showed no fear from his Indian brothers. When he did leave and return he carried less than when his trip started. Why then would Indians think the pot of treasure was hidden on the farm? Why threaten him with "death" if he left his garden plot?
Wabesis had eluded the Mukatasha's for nearly 25 years. He made the pilgrimage to Grand Rapids for more than 20 years to get his yearly annuity payment and return to his Wabasis Lake home. It took him 2 days to walk to Grand Rapids in good weather, but his return trips took 2-4 days, because he stopped to visit amongst his white friends and associates in Plainfield in the vicinity of Plainfield village (where Blythefield Country Club is today).
That's all for today. Please keep reading. I've been getting some good feedback.
Actually the "Murder of Little White Swan" happened in May 1863 towards the end of the Civil War. This swan had no feathers, but was tall and muscular comprised of flesh and bones of the half-breed Potawatomie Indian named Chief John Wabesis (Wab-ah-see). That's his real Indian name and not the American version of spelling. He was born in 1807 and murdered in 1863 by fellow Indians who tricked Wabesis into going to a corn festival at Plainfield and then killed him just off the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail as he was returning home. He acutally left his banishment property and returned safely for 27 years. Wabesis was 54 years old and lived in Oakfield Township with his wife and five siblings.
Wabesis lived on the western shore of Wabasis Lake. A band of Mukatasha blackskins lived in a tiny village northeast of Wabesis farm near Greenville. They stayed in the area to make sure that Wabesis never stepped off his property. Since 1834 the Blackskin tribe (Odowa) accused Wabesis of selling their lands north of the Grand River for approximately $50,000 in gold and silver coinage and never dispersing the treaty monie. Wabesis never sold anything. Hopefully in this mystery you'll get a clearer picture whether the legend is real or legend.
The search area for Wabesis' treasure has for the last 125 years or so been centered in the vicinity of Wabasis Lake Park and Campground, a northeast Kent County recreational area. The legend of Chief John Wabesis has him confined to the western shore. To go beyond his 40-acre garden plot meant certain death and he flirted with death frequently by picking up his treaty monies each year in Grand Rapids, but this containment area is incorrect. Wabesis was given the deeded property by the Federal government in 1838 for half-breed compensation. He was an educated man and helped quash an Indian uprising in the Grand River basin in the late 182o's to mid 1830's.
Wabesis was confined to his own parcel by the Indians, but he couldn't travel farther than one mile from Wabasis Lake as a whole. Now that's a large containment area with plenty of caves and it wasn't just the county park's caves that were sealed to prevent curious spelunkers from exploring them looking for the Chief's treasure. Many other caves exist within the target area. The chief had plenty of haunts were he could have stashed the treasure, but the bulk of the treasure is buried outside the containment area. He always had little money when he left and returned with less so where is all the treat monies?
Over the passing years the fortune Wabesis reportedly horded in specie from government annual payments is what treasure hunters have sought for 145 plus years by torchlight, lantern lights or sunlight. Nightime searches happened in Grand Rapids in the 1870's, too, and men who dug ditches for sewers found Indian treasures and returned to digging at night to find treasures. As a result, the work done by day was undone by amateur treasure hunters at night and it made Wright L. Coffinberry angry. These were trinkets to be saved and he was responsible for creation of the Kent Institute later called the Grand Rapids Museum and of late changed to the Van Andel Museum. Mr. Coffinberry was the lead archaeologist of Indian treasures in the 1870's. By trade he was a jeweler and he had never seen any recovered items from Wabesis treasure. No true kettles and pots of treaty monies have ever been recovered. Heresay evidence by the Greenville group who said that they found the treasure never proved it to newspaper writers or the general public. Many speculate they say they found it to keep others from looking.
Each year someone dreams about striking it rich at Wabasis Lake, but Chief Wabasis' spirit protects its burial spot on dark nights. Nighttime walkers in the park say cold spots give them shivers. Others have reported creepy feelings as if Wabesis' ghost his huffing his cold breath upon them from behind as they walk in the darkness smooching. Maybe its time to snap some infrared photos of the park's dark night terrain hoping to catch Wabesis ghostly spirit hovering above a hidden pot of gold and silver along the wild shoreline or anywhere within one mile of the lake. Remember Wabesis died a horrible death so it is reasonable to think he might not approve of treasure hunters searching for his lost treasure. Do you believe in ghosts?
With the use of Kodak infrared film of the 21st century the chances of capturing night ghosts is greater than 69%. Here's your chance to shine and become the newest treasure or ghost hunter seeking local fame that's if you aren't squeamish about finding ghosts. Wabesis spirit haunts the living and its enough to make anyone's bones rattle. Wabesis died a violent death hence his ghostly spirit might be watching as people search for his kettles and pokes of buried treasures.
The same individuals who say they found the treasure never said how much they found just as their is no exact sum of how much Wabesis received from the government, inheritances and personal business dealings. Wabesis was a well educated man of wealth and stood tall among early pioneers as a man met with firm handshakes. He was jovial and friendly to all he met.
Wabesis was a half-breed Indian, but what many other Indians did not understand was that they were paid more than chiefs, because of their educated abilities to negotiate treaties amongst the Ottawa and Chippewa nations without bloodshed. President Andrew Jackson according to the Article Sixth distributed treaty monies to the Indians upon their signatures on the Treaty of 1836 (March 28). They deeded all Indian lands north of the Grand River. Half-breeds who helped prevent Indian uprisings were often treated better than chiefs, but the Mukatasha tribe was maddened by the loss of their hunting grounds and were told they had to purchase their own land back to stay on their property near Greenville. This angered them further.
The Blackskins were half-breeds, too, but uneducated. This the result of a Negro slave child from Virginia who was captured during an Indian war and traded to Indians who later intermarried with Grand River Indians. Mukatasha's tribe always claimed that Wabesis refused to pay them government money for 24 years. Isn't it strange that during those many years nobody ever saw Wabesis visit his large cache of reputed hidden treasure. Even though Wabesis lived with death threats he showed no fear from his Indian brothers. When he did leave and return he carried less than when his trip started. Why then would Indians think the pot of treasure was hidden on the farm? Why threaten him with "death" if he left his garden plot?
Wabesis had eluded the Mukatasha's for nearly 25 years. He made the pilgrimage to Grand Rapids for more than 20 years to get his yearly annuity payment and return to his Wabasis Lake home. It took him 2 days to walk to Grand Rapids in good weather, but his return trips took 2-4 days, because he stopped to visit amongst his white friends and associates in Plainfield in the vicinity of Plainfield village (where Blythefield Country Club is today).
That's all for today. Please keep reading. I've been getting some good feedback.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure - 113
Someone killed a "little White Swan."
Who would kill an innocent White Swan? When and where did they kill it and by what means did they so viciously attack it?
How could anyone be so infuriated to so brutally kill it. Surely such a swan would never foul a dock or lawn at one of Michigan's most picturesque waterfronts. Most people if they saw it would simply scare such a magnificent bird away should it foul an area, but as reason would have it man and white swans don't always see eye-to-eye on who lives, owns or co-habits a scenic spot.
This white swan had lived under the penalty of death for approximately 28 years until it fell prey to several drunk individuals. Had this white swan done something so callous it needed to be eradicated from this earth? Its lifeless body was found lying on the blood-splattered grass beside Rum Creek in northern Cannon Township and the death of white swan is what caused another treasure mystery in Cannon Township, a community with a rich historical heritage. It's another ultimate treasure mystery where you can escape the perils of our crumbling economy and for a few moments dream about searhing for lost Indian treasure.
The "Little White Swans" murder spot happened a short distance off the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail near a rum colored small trout stream that crosses Kies Avenue west of Myers Lake Road. Death came swiftly for the swan two miles north/northeast of Leach Swamp in Cannon Township on Rum Creek. The water was diluted blood, but actually it was diluted with decaying vegetation; leaves, grass and wood that made its coloration from early fall to early spring rains flushed it out.
To the south Barkley Creek flows northwest from the foot of the present Lake Bella Vista (formerly Grass Lake) just east of Blakely Road and meanders through Leach swamp. It enters the Rogue River near the old ghost town of Gibralter nestled in the valley below the Jericho Mountains. Directly across the river one can see the rise of the Rockford Mountains and to the west the Childsdale Mountains. These mountains never existed in little white swan's day, but for political correctness this is what geographers call the steep elevational rises above the Rogue River's glacial canyons. All are the geographical features of Rockford (formerly Laphamville) until 1866. If no roads existed in present day could you find your homestead? Most people couldn't because they don't study topography of their surroundings.
Several miles east and south Rum Creek's headwaters originate from Silver Lake, the jewel of Cannon Township. The rum stained ice water flows northeast and enters the Rogue River just above Rockford. It passes beneath the present day Wolverine World Wide's pigskin procurement plant and complex and spills into mainstream Rogue River dam impoundment. This entire river front complex is being demolished and the ghost that inhabits the WWW shoe factory is going to be ousted to take up residence elsewhere or find the oldest structure in town - maybe the Corner Bar. I hope it is not going to upset you that some dastardly persons murdered the little white swan?
I'm not talking about a Mute Swan, those magnificent large white birds that inhabit the Rockford Dam impoundment or the mated pairs that dot area lakes, but white swans aren't docile. They can be mean and nasty all the time and if you meet them you should never turn your back or challenge them near water. They hiss, spit and pinch bent over human butts when man turns his back side to them. Swans that challenge a mated pairs territory are viciously attacked, practically beat to death in a flurry of huge wings, then jumped upon and using its powerful beak it'll push the victims head down into the water and drown it. The challenging victim's only defense is to dive underwater.
Now the little white swan I'm talking about is Chief John Waba(e)sis (wab-ah-see), a half breed Indian Chief who walked among white settlers on two legs in Kent and Ionia County for 63 years. To pioneer settlers he was an honest man and nowhere near a savage. He was educated. He was quite the opposite for a revengeful crocodile named Chief Ne-ogg-ah-nah and his murderous white companion. White settlers trusted and respected Chief Wabasis, but not so for Wabasis' own tribal Potawatomi and Ottawa Indian brothers. They viewed Wabasis as a scoundrel and thief, a traitor to their own kind.
Wherever Chief Wabasis walked he introduced himself with firm handshakes and welcomed white settlers pouring into the wilds of Michigan to harvest lumber and plant crops. He himself was an accomplished farmer. He was banished into exile for 28 years and purchased a 40-acre garden plot on the western shore of Wabasis Lake (part of present day Wabasis Lake Park and Campground) from the Federal government in 1838. He lived here with his wife and children. Never did he ever have a cross argument with his white neighbors, but Wabasis sure raised the dander of certain Ottawa Indians (Blackskins) living near Greenville, who accused Wabasis of stealing their Indian payment funds and keeping it for himself, which according to Wabasis was false representation. The other Grand and Flat River Indian chiefs voted to have Wabasis pick up the Indian payment funds and disburse it, but many that left never left a forwarding address and he sure wasn't going to go hunting for them not when so many threatened to kill him if he left his garden plot. That'd be stupid!
Wabasis was killed near the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail. It was a gruesome murder committed under bad circumstances. It was senseless. Blood stained campfire rocks, broken glass bottles of whiteman firewater (rum and whisky) and Chief Neoggahmah's bloody and flesh covered firebrand were left beside little White Swan's body. Marshal Albert Pickett of Laphamville and a Justice of the Peace from Cannonsburg both received a tip about the discovery of Wabasis' body by area farmers. The campfire embers still glowed and smoldered, the bluish smoke rising gently on a warm spring day. It was the most brutal murder that these two white pioneer Constables had ever seen, since the days previous of Chief Kewaygooschcum's murder in 1839 at the mouth of Coldwater Creek north of Grand Rapids. He was known as "Long nose". Drunken Indians killed him while he drank firewater. His crime - signing the Treaty of 1821 in Washington, D.C. for land south of the Grand River.
Historically speaking the discovery of Wabasis' body was found by those passing by who reported the gruesome murder to area farmers. News about the murder was already thrice old and both Constables didn't want to go investigate, because they felt the crime was none of their business. They had heard about the Indian squabble over Indian payment funds and felt it was a sanctioned killing by Indians. They went and saw, but never investigated the incidence. It was a crime of retribution from years of pent up Blackskin Indian anger towards the "Little White Swan" that stood tall amongst white pioneers, but short against Indians who felt they were dealt a raw deal by an educated Indian. The real scoundrels who killed Wabasis were met with disfavor amongst their own kind.
The lost funds would never be found and this is where the Legend of John Wabasis' Lost Treasure begins. It is still 'out' there waiting for discovery and its still a treasure worth finding.
It's what dreams are made of kid. See it!
Until next time I'll sign off with PBS "Red Green's" diddy. "Keep your stick on the ice. I'm pullin' for you!"
Who would kill an innocent White Swan? When and where did they kill it and by what means did they so viciously attack it?
How could anyone be so infuriated to so brutally kill it. Surely such a swan would never foul a dock or lawn at one of Michigan's most picturesque waterfronts. Most people if they saw it would simply scare such a magnificent bird away should it foul an area, but as reason would have it man and white swans don't always see eye-to-eye on who lives, owns or co-habits a scenic spot.
This white swan had lived under the penalty of death for approximately 28 years until it fell prey to several drunk individuals. Had this white swan done something so callous it needed to be eradicated from this earth? Its lifeless body was found lying on the blood-splattered grass beside Rum Creek in northern Cannon Township and the death of white swan is what caused another treasure mystery in Cannon Township, a community with a rich historical heritage. It's another ultimate treasure mystery where you can escape the perils of our crumbling economy and for a few moments dream about searhing for lost Indian treasure.
The "Little White Swans" murder spot happened a short distance off the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail near a rum colored small trout stream that crosses Kies Avenue west of Myers Lake Road. Death came swiftly for the swan two miles north/northeast of Leach Swamp in Cannon Township on Rum Creek. The water was diluted blood, but actually it was diluted with decaying vegetation; leaves, grass and wood that made its coloration from early fall to early spring rains flushed it out.
To the south Barkley Creek flows northwest from the foot of the present Lake Bella Vista (formerly Grass Lake) just east of Blakely Road and meanders through Leach swamp. It enters the Rogue River near the old ghost town of Gibralter nestled in the valley below the Jericho Mountains. Directly across the river one can see the rise of the Rockford Mountains and to the west the Childsdale Mountains. These mountains never existed in little white swan's day, but for political correctness this is what geographers call the steep elevational rises above the Rogue River's glacial canyons. All are the geographical features of Rockford (formerly Laphamville) until 1866. If no roads existed in present day could you find your homestead? Most people couldn't because they don't study topography of their surroundings.
Several miles east and south Rum Creek's headwaters originate from Silver Lake, the jewel of Cannon Township. The rum stained ice water flows northeast and enters the Rogue River just above Rockford. It passes beneath the present day Wolverine World Wide's pigskin procurement plant and complex and spills into mainstream Rogue River dam impoundment. This entire river front complex is being demolished and the ghost that inhabits the WWW shoe factory is going to be ousted to take up residence elsewhere or find the oldest structure in town - maybe the Corner Bar. I hope it is not going to upset you that some dastardly persons murdered the little white swan?
I'm not talking about a Mute Swan, those magnificent large white birds that inhabit the Rockford Dam impoundment or the mated pairs that dot area lakes, but white swans aren't docile. They can be mean and nasty all the time and if you meet them you should never turn your back or challenge them near water. They hiss, spit and pinch bent over human butts when man turns his back side to them. Swans that challenge a mated pairs territory are viciously attacked, practically beat to death in a flurry of huge wings, then jumped upon and using its powerful beak it'll push the victims head down into the water and drown it. The challenging victim's only defense is to dive underwater.
Now the little white swan I'm talking about is Chief John Waba(e)sis (wab-ah-see), a half breed Indian Chief who walked among white settlers on two legs in Kent and Ionia County for 63 years. To pioneer settlers he was an honest man and nowhere near a savage. He was educated. He was quite the opposite for a revengeful crocodile named Chief Ne-ogg-ah-nah and his murderous white companion. White settlers trusted and respected Chief Wabasis, but not so for Wabasis' own tribal Potawatomi and Ottawa Indian brothers. They viewed Wabasis as a scoundrel and thief, a traitor to their own kind.
Wherever Chief Wabasis walked he introduced himself with firm handshakes and welcomed white settlers pouring into the wilds of Michigan to harvest lumber and plant crops. He himself was an accomplished farmer. He was banished into exile for 28 years and purchased a 40-acre garden plot on the western shore of Wabasis Lake (part of present day Wabasis Lake Park and Campground) from the Federal government in 1838. He lived here with his wife and children. Never did he ever have a cross argument with his white neighbors, but Wabasis sure raised the dander of certain Ottawa Indians (Blackskins) living near Greenville, who accused Wabasis of stealing their Indian payment funds and keeping it for himself, which according to Wabasis was false representation. The other Grand and Flat River Indian chiefs voted to have Wabasis pick up the Indian payment funds and disburse it, but many that left never left a forwarding address and he sure wasn't going to go hunting for them not when so many threatened to kill him if he left his garden plot. That'd be stupid!
Wabasis was killed near the Plainfield-Sheridan Indian Trail. It was a gruesome murder committed under bad circumstances. It was senseless. Blood stained campfire rocks, broken glass bottles of whiteman firewater (rum and whisky) and Chief Neoggahmah's bloody and flesh covered firebrand were left beside little White Swan's body. Marshal Albert Pickett of Laphamville and a Justice of the Peace from Cannonsburg both received a tip about the discovery of Wabasis' body by area farmers. The campfire embers still glowed and smoldered, the bluish smoke rising gently on a warm spring day. It was the most brutal murder that these two white pioneer Constables had ever seen, since the days previous of Chief Kewaygooschcum's murder in 1839 at the mouth of Coldwater Creek north of Grand Rapids. He was known as "Long nose". Drunken Indians killed him while he drank firewater. His crime - signing the Treaty of 1821 in Washington, D.C. for land south of the Grand River.
Historically speaking the discovery of Wabasis' body was found by those passing by who reported the gruesome murder to area farmers. News about the murder was already thrice old and both Constables didn't want to go investigate, because they felt the crime was none of their business. They had heard about the Indian squabble over Indian payment funds and felt it was a sanctioned killing by Indians. They went and saw, but never investigated the incidence. It was a crime of retribution from years of pent up Blackskin Indian anger towards the "Little White Swan" that stood tall amongst white pioneers, but short against Indians who felt they were dealt a raw deal by an educated Indian. The real scoundrels who killed Wabasis were met with disfavor amongst their own kind.
The lost funds would never be found and this is where the Legend of John Wabasis' Lost Treasure begins. It is still 'out' there waiting for discovery and its still a treasure worth finding.
It's what dreams are made of kid. See it!
Until next time I'll sign off with PBS "Red Green's" diddy. "Keep your stick on the ice. I'm pullin' for you!"
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure - 112
Treasure hunters don't come so much anymore to hunt for the lost treasures of Chief John Wabasis in the vicinity of Big Wabasis Lake in northeastern Kent County some 25 miles northeast of Grand Rapids, Michigan, the second largest city in Michigan. Most don't actively search for the lost silver and gold coinage along the shores of the biggest lake in Kent County, but they still dream about where the treasure lies still lost and waiting for discovery. Every year a few people still ask me "Has anyone ever found Wabasis' treasure?"
The answer is "Yes and No!" Wait just a minute! How can this treasure be both found or lost?
I must declare that it is possible the treasure has been found, but that's what some treasure hunters hope you to believe. Like the legends surrounding the Lost Dutchman's Mine in Arizona there are those throughout the pages of past history who for some reason decide to claim the treasure as found, but offer no tangible proof of its existence. If they actually found it why have they never shown where and what they've found or are they just trying to keep other treasure hunters away or as some suggest trying to keep the IRS from finding out they've skipped on paying taxes. I believe Wabasis' treasure is still LOST!
Both of these Indian treasure legends originated around the Civil War, but the active searching for these lost treasures has been in existence for about 150 years. Now back in the late 1860's to early twentieth century everyone with a lantern, pick and shovel became late night hobby treasure hunters seeking the lost fortunes of gold and silver supposedly buried by Chief Wabasis. Where could Chief John Wabasis have hid a fortune in gold and silver along the shore of Wabasis Lake?
Was it buried in a secret hole beneath some landmark; stones, roots of trees, submerged crevices or did the old man hide the treasure in the numerous mini-copper outcropping crevices or sandstone caves that overlook this picturesque deep body of water?
If the treasure was found today it'd fetch thousands of dollars more per ounce than it did when it was lost. Many have heard the story about Wabasis treasure being buried in an iron pot and many people with dollar signs in their eyes have stomped around Wabasis Lake Park and Campground searching for this treasure.
The park property was where Chief John Wabasis was banished to live upon between 1836-1863, because other Potawatomie and Ottawa (Blackskins) Indians who also owned land in the upper Flat River area believed he stole their annual payments and kept it for himself and buried it on that 40 acre parcel of property. They tried to keep him on his garden plot hoping he'd soon reveal its secret burial spot.
Wabasis lived with a Indian sanctioned death threat for 27 years if he left the property. He left that property more than 25 times to pick up his share of the treaty money and that of the Flat River tribes share of money as decreed by the Flat River and Grand River tribal chiefs. The sad part about this is that repeatedly telling the story of Wabasis and his lost treasure has falsified where to look. No Indian especially Chief Wabasis would keep all that money buried on his property, because he never left with money or returned with the money. He hid it somewhere else or was it buried in the sandstone caves outside of his banishment property?
According to a Greenville paper and a subsequent short snipit of community news in the old Rockford Register dated in the mid 1880's, several men reported to the newspaper in Greenville that nobody need look for Wabasis' treasure because they found it. Trouble is, it was all verbal, but no proof of what or where it was found was ever revealed. It was all circumstancial evidence, based not upon fact, but fiction. When you've been searching you don't want others looking for the same treasure. Treasure hunting is about secrets not shared, but as time passes and as each story is repeated the legend becomes more polished and tales embellished until it is far from the truth.
What I knew about "The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure" has changed since a story was written by Jim Mencarelli about my search for the treasure 25 years ago. Time changes what you once believed and time passage with more creative research reveals how the treasure's legend is askew. The treasure is still LOST!
This is the introduction to "The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure."
The answer is "Yes and No!" Wait just a minute! How can this treasure be both found or lost?
I must declare that it is possible the treasure has been found, but that's what some treasure hunters hope you to believe. Like the legends surrounding the Lost Dutchman's Mine in Arizona there are those throughout the pages of past history who for some reason decide to claim the treasure as found, but offer no tangible proof of its existence. If they actually found it why have they never shown where and what they've found or are they just trying to keep other treasure hunters away or as some suggest trying to keep the IRS from finding out they've skipped on paying taxes. I believe Wabasis' treasure is still LOST!
Both of these Indian treasure legends originated around the Civil War, but the active searching for these lost treasures has been in existence for about 150 years. Now back in the late 1860's to early twentieth century everyone with a lantern, pick and shovel became late night hobby treasure hunters seeking the lost fortunes of gold and silver supposedly buried by Chief Wabasis. Where could Chief John Wabasis have hid a fortune in gold and silver along the shore of Wabasis Lake?
Was it buried in a secret hole beneath some landmark; stones, roots of trees, submerged crevices or did the old man hide the treasure in the numerous mini-copper outcropping crevices or sandstone caves that overlook this picturesque deep body of water?
If the treasure was found today it'd fetch thousands of dollars more per ounce than it did when it was lost. Many have heard the story about Wabasis treasure being buried in an iron pot and many people with dollar signs in their eyes have stomped around Wabasis Lake Park and Campground searching for this treasure.
The park property was where Chief John Wabasis was banished to live upon between 1836-1863, because other Potawatomie and Ottawa (Blackskins) Indians who also owned land in the upper Flat River area believed he stole their annual payments and kept it for himself and buried it on that 40 acre parcel of property. They tried to keep him on his garden plot hoping he'd soon reveal its secret burial spot.
Wabasis lived with a Indian sanctioned death threat for 27 years if he left the property. He left that property more than 25 times to pick up his share of the treaty money and that of the Flat River tribes share of money as decreed by the Flat River and Grand River tribal chiefs. The sad part about this is that repeatedly telling the story of Wabasis and his lost treasure has falsified where to look. No Indian especially Chief Wabasis would keep all that money buried on his property, because he never left with money or returned with the money. He hid it somewhere else or was it buried in the sandstone caves outside of his banishment property?
According to a Greenville paper and a subsequent short snipit of community news in the old Rockford Register dated in the mid 1880's, several men reported to the newspaper in Greenville that nobody need look for Wabasis' treasure because they found it. Trouble is, it was all verbal, but no proof of what or where it was found was ever revealed. It was all circumstancial evidence, based not upon fact, but fiction. When you've been searching you don't want others looking for the same treasure. Treasure hunting is about secrets not shared, but as time passes and as each story is repeated the legend becomes more polished and tales embellished until it is far from the truth.
What I knew about "The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure" has changed since a story was written by Jim Mencarelli about my search for the treasure 25 years ago. Time changes what you once believed and time passage with more creative research reveals how the treasure's legend is askew. The treasure is still LOST!
This is the introduction to "The Legend of Chief Wabasis' Lost Treasure."
Thursday, September 16, 2010
The Lost Dutchman Mine: Indian Treasures Lost or Found - 111
Nearly all of us at some time or another are like a teabag. We really aren't worth much until we've been rinsed through some hot water. We learn from failures, too, the trick is to get stung once or twice, but never a third time, however those who search for The Lost Dutchman Mine seem to disappear the second time by accident or design of scrupulous others.
Take Jacob Waltz and Jacob Weiser for example. Both men arrived from Spain, but were European (Spain, France and Germany) and trained as mining surveyors and prospectors before they arrived in America around 1845 and remained until the 1880's. These men had heard tales of vast Peralta treasures hidden in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. One lone survivor named Carlos Peralta and his brother Don Peralta escaped to Mexico in 1848.
Carlos told Waltz about the families Lost Dutchman Mine via a map carved in stone at the base of the eastern Superstition Mountains. Could these carved Peralta Stones be the same Spanish stones found when the Jesuits fled the Superstition Mountains some 30 miles above the Gila-Salt River junction?
Carlos became the silent partner, but he and Weiser were involved in an Apache ambush in 1874. Both men were killed, but Waltz survived. Some people and descendants of Weiser speculate Weiser wasn't killed by the Apaches, but by Waltz, however nobody could prove it. Greed changes the heart of treasure hunting partnerships. What they do know is that Weiser removed nearly 7 million dollars worth of gold and sent a map of the Peralta Stones with carved legends back to his sister in Germany. All three men reported wandered around the Superstition Mountains from 1864-1871, about 8 years until they reportedly found the Lost Dutchman Mine and began extracting the rich minerals, while constantly evading Apache detection.
A year earlier (1863) a miner and prospector named Henry Wickenburg threw a stone at a stubborn burro, but noticed it contained a trace of raw gold ore. Camping in the desert without a broom to whisk away the dirt, he shot a vulture hovering overhead and hoped to use a wing as a broom. The vulture fell out of the sky right onto an outcropping of gold encased in white quartz. In Michigan you find placer gold in black sand and Lake Superior quartz. Gold in quartz shimmers and can be seen up to 10 miles distant in bright sunlight. In Arizona, Wickenburg discovered the Vulture Mine which produced 200 million dollars in gold and it was this mine that significantly sparked the development of Phoenix, AZ and the State of Arizona, which became the 48th State of the Union in 1912.
Cochise and Geronimo were Indian warriors no white treasure hunter wanted to meet from the 1860-1880's. The Southwest was running in blood from renegades who refused to be shipped to reservations where the Apaches were mistreated and left to starve to death on barren lands. These indians used the military trails in the Superstition Mountains to evade the U.S. Cavalry.
Waltz it is said knew where his gold ore samples were found and mined it exclusively. He wasn't interested in gold candelabras, goblets, gold plating or gold crucifix's inlaid with precious gems (the treasured items of Jesuit priests who hid them in a secret place). Some historians think that the Apaches reburied the treasures in the caves where adult Indians were buried. Only ocean pirates might collect these items, but not miner's on dry land. Trying to sell these rich objects would insight suspicion and it'd draw attention to himself. Somebody would always be prying or spying on him hoping he'd lead them to his hidden treasure cache. Some might assume he robbed a church. No self respecting treasure hunter would risk his own privacy with such minial treasure. The hidden treasure he'd keep secret.
Gold crucifix's with rich mineral gems were found buried when sewer lines were installed below the streets in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the 1870's and 1880's. Such items were found buried near the Norton Indian Mounds near Grandville. Gold crucifix's were trading items among Native American Indians, those Christianized by Jesuit priests who roamed most of North America between the 1600's and early 1800's. Legends of the Superstition Mountains say the Jesuits squirreled away huge amounts of gold and silver treasures before they left. The raw gold ore from the Lost Dutchman Mine has its own special color signature and easily recognized from other mines in the Superstition Mountains.
Some believe the Peralta Stones will lead them to the Lost Dutchman Mine, while others contend they show the trails leading from Mexico to the Superstition Mountains. In an old story that appeared in a Michigan newspaper in the 1880's, the fabled mine is outside the boundary areas of the Superstition Mountains - not in the mountainous wilderness of the Lost Dutchman State Park. Accordingly Waltz, Weiser and Peralta found the mine again in 1871. The three men reportedly returned to the site twice, but Weiser and Peralta were killed by the Apache.
Jacob Waltz never returned to the Lost Dutchman Mine. In fact his health declined and in early 1891 he started telling his caregiver, Julia Thomas and associates clues to where his mine was located. She strained her ears to hear the particulars as he approached the end of his life and death was imminent. Greed took over Julia Thomas' brain and she filed for divorce from her husband, Emil W. Thomas in Maricopa County on Oct. 9, 1891. Waltz was hoping to take Julia to his mine, but Waltz died October 26, 1891. He was destitute and broke according to them, but Waltz didn't reveal his own secret below his bed for fear he'd be found out.
Waltz left clues for Julia Thomas and in fact said his mine was a ledge he found that was only 18 inches wide of pure gold high above a gulch well concealed by a Manzanita thicket. Manzanita in Arizona or California is a close relative of Arbutus in Michigan. Its a member of the Arctostaphylos densiflora (bearberry) or its evergreen species that grow from six inches to 5 feet tall depending on the species They have ornamental bark; colors purple, red or orange, but the plant requires full sun to partial shade in fertile moist sand. Waltz left Thomas a multitude of clues to finding his Lost Dutchman Mine and she was hunting for his mine on September 1, 1892. Waltz told her nobody would ever find his mine unless they could understand the clues.
They must pass the cowbarn, but from my mine anyone could see the military trail and Weaver's Needle to the South and from the trail find the rock-face. Nobody can see my mine 250 feet above the canyon floor trail. The rays of a setting sun shine upon the entrance through a Manzanita thicket. Beware of the false trick, but my mine is located in a north trending canyon. The mine has a small two foot diameter entrance that leads 20 feet down to the cavern. How claustrophobic would you be going head first into such a narrow entrance? If you are don't become a treasure hunter. Upon entering my mine it has 40-50 foot ceilings with stalagmites (floor) 9-15 feet tall with stalactites 10 feet long (ceiling).
Additional clues: mine lies within a 2.5 mile radius whose center is marked by Weaver's Needle. See Weaver's needle to the south and four peaks that look like one peak. The setting sun shines thru a break in the mountains and glitters upon the outcropping of gold ore and shaft. Don't pass the three red hills. You must climb a shortways up from a steep ravine in order to see Weaver's Needle to the south from above my mine. Then you will have found the Lost Dutchman Mine. Time and time again over the last 120 years treasure hunters have said they found this mine, but time and time again once they've found it they can never find it again or perish in the Superstition Mountains. Many people wander around in the Lost Dutchman State Park wilderness areas and although I've never been to Arizona and from clues Waltz left to Julia Thomas I suspect the mine never existed here, but it is located outside of the Superstition wilderness area or it is located to the north. Julia Thomas searched but never found the Lost Dutchman Mine as have many other treasure hunters. It was reportedly found in 1920 and 1940, but without proof.
What is more intriguing upon Waltz' death was the fact that under his death bed was a small box of gold. The gold inside isn't from the Lost Dutchman Mine, but it is from the Vulture Mine. Could it be that the Lost Dutchman Mine doesn't really exist -- its just a fictious treasure legend?
One could only wonder why he had gold in the box from the Vulture Mine? Why didn't he use it to pay his bills? Why die destitute and broke? He either worked for the Vulture Mine company or he was a high-grader. High-grading was the theft of high grade ore and it was a common occurence at this mine. If anyone was caught high grading it was a hanging offense and more than 18 men during the early years dangled on the Vulture City hanging tree. High-grading was done by freighters - miners and people employed to haul the gold nuggets for processing. As soon as wagons were loaded they disappeared fast when they stopped to sift and steal the biggest and best nuggets for themselves. Freighting from the Vulture Mine was more profitable than mining it.
Want to find the Lost Dutchman Mine? Set up a game spy camera or infrared video unit and chart from where bats appear at night. Bat's live in caves. Find the Manzanita thickets. The entrance is hidden by stones. It shouldn't be too hard to find the mine (north canyon facing west) - its within 2.5 mile radius of Weaver's Needle. This concludes my diatribe on the Lost Dutchman Mine. Next time I start talking about Chief John Wabesis and his lost or found treasure (Michigan Native American Indian legend. Lost or Found?
Take Jacob Waltz and Jacob Weiser for example. Both men arrived from Spain, but were European (Spain, France and Germany) and trained as mining surveyors and prospectors before they arrived in America around 1845 and remained until the 1880's. These men had heard tales of vast Peralta treasures hidden in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. One lone survivor named Carlos Peralta and his brother Don Peralta escaped to Mexico in 1848.
Carlos told Waltz about the families Lost Dutchman Mine via a map carved in stone at the base of the eastern Superstition Mountains. Could these carved Peralta Stones be the same Spanish stones found when the Jesuits fled the Superstition Mountains some 30 miles above the Gila-Salt River junction?
Carlos became the silent partner, but he and Weiser were involved in an Apache ambush in 1874. Both men were killed, but Waltz survived. Some people and descendants of Weiser speculate Weiser wasn't killed by the Apaches, but by Waltz, however nobody could prove it. Greed changes the heart of treasure hunting partnerships. What they do know is that Weiser removed nearly 7 million dollars worth of gold and sent a map of the Peralta Stones with carved legends back to his sister in Germany. All three men reported wandered around the Superstition Mountains from 1864-1871, about 8 years until they reportedly found the Lost Dutchman Mine and began extracting the rich minerals, while constantly evading Apache detection.
A year earlier (1863) a miner and prospector named Henry Wickenburg threw a stone at a stubborn burro, but noticed it contained a trace of raw gold ore. Camping in the desert without a broom to whisk away the dirt, he shot a vulture hovering overhead and hoped to use a wing as a broom. The vulture fell out of the sky right onto an outcropping of gold encased in white quartz. In Michigan you find placer gold in black sand and Lake Superior quartz. Gold in quartz shimmers and can be seen up to 10 miles distant in bright sunlight. In Arizona, Wickenburg discovered the Vulture Mine which produced 200 million dollars in gold and it was this mine that significantly sparked the development of Phoenix, AZ and the State of Arizona, which became the 48th State of the Union in 1912.
Cochise and Geronimo were Indian warriors no white treasure hunter wanted to meet from the 1860-1880's. The Southwest was running in blood from renegades who refused to be shipped to reservations where the Apaches were mistreated and left to starve to death on barren lands. These indians used the military trails in the Superstition Mountains to evade the U.S. Cavalry.
Waltz it is said knew where his gold ore samples were found and mined it exclusively. He wasn't interested in gold candelabras, goblets, gold plating or gold crucifix's inlaid with precious gems (the treasured items of Jesuit priests who hid them in a secret place). Some historians think that the Apaches reburied the treasures in the caves where adult Indians were buried. Only ocean pirates might collect these items, but not miner's on dry land. Trying to sell these rich objects would insight suspicion and it'd draw attention to himself. Somebody would always be prying or spying on him hoping he'd lead them to his hidden treasure cache. Some might assume he robbed a church. No self respecting treasure hunter would risk his own privacy with such minial treasure. The hidden treasure he'd keep secret.
Gold crucifix's with rich mineral gems were found buried when sewer lines were installed below the streets in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the 1870's and 1880's. Such items were found buried near the Norton Indian Mounds near Grandville. Gold crucifix's were trading items among Native American Indians, those Christianized by Jesuit priests who roamed most of North America between the 1600's and early 1800's. Legends of the Superstition Mountains say the Jesuits squirreled away huge amounts of gold and silver treasures before they left. The raw gold ore from the Lost Dutchman Mine has its own special color signature and easily recognized from other mines in the Superstition Mountains.
Some believe the Peralta Stones will lead them to the Lost Dutchman Mine, while others contend they show the trails leading from Mexico to the Superstition Mountains. In an old story that appeared in a Michigan newspaper in the 1880's, the fabled mine is outside the boundary areas of the Superstition Mountains - not in the mountainous wilderness of the Lost Dutchman State Park. Accordingly Waltz, Weiser and Peralta found the mine again in 1871. The three men reportedly returned to the site twice, but Weiser and Peralta were killed by the Apache.
Jacob Waltz never returned to the Lost Dutchman Mine. In fact his health declined and in early 1891 he started telling his caregiver, Julia Thomas and associates clues to where his mine was located. She strained her ears to hear the particulars as he approached the end of his life and death was imminent. Greed took over Julia Thomas' brain and she filed for divorce from her husband, Emil W. Thomas in Maricopa County on Oct. 9, 1891. Waltz was hoping to take Julia to his mine, but Waltz died October 26, 1891. He was destitute and broke according to them, but Waltz didn't reveal his own secret below his bed for fear he'd be found out.
Waltz left clues for Julia Thomas and in fact said his mine was a ledge he found that was only 18 inches wide of pure gold high above a gulch well concealed by a Manzanita thicket. Manzanita in Arizona or California is a close relative of Arbutus in Michigan. Its a member of the Arctostaphylos densiflora (bearberry) or its evergreen species that grow from six inches to 5 feet tall depending on the species They have ornamental bark; colors purple, red or orange, but the plant requires full sun to partial shade in fertile moist sand. Waltz left Thomas a multitude of clues to finding his Lost Dutchman Mine and she was hunting for his mine on September 1, 1892. Waltz told her nobody would ever find his mine unless they could understand the clues.
They must pass the cowbarn, but from my mine anyone could see the military trail and Weaver's Needle to the South and from the trail find the rock-face. Nobody can see my mine 250 feet above the canyon floor trail. The rays of a setting sun shine upon the entrance through a Manzanita thicket. Beware of the false trick, but my mine is located in a north trending canyon. The mine has a small two foot diameter entrance that leads 20 feet down to the cavern. How claustrophobic would you be going head first into such a narrow entrance? If you are don't become a treasure hunter. Upon entering my mine it has 40-50 foot ceilings with stalagmites (floor) 9-15 feet tall with stalactites 10 feet long (ceiling).
Additional clues: mine lies within a 2.5 mile radius whose center is marked by Weaver's Needle. See Weaver's needle to the south and four peaks that look like one peak. The setting sun shines thru a break in the mountains and glitters upon the outcropping of gold ore and shaft. Don't pass the three red hills. You must climb a shortways up from a steep ravine in order to see Weaver's Needle to the south from above my mine. Then you will have found the Lost Dutchman Mine. Time and time again over the last 120 years treasure hunters have said they found this mine, but time and time again once they've found it they can never find it again or perish in the Superstition Mountains. Many people wander around in the Lost Dutchman State Park wilderness areas and although I've never been to Arizona and from clues Waltz left to Julia Thomas I suspect the mine never existed here, but it is located outside of the Superstition wilderness area or it is located to the north. Julia Thomas searched but never found the Lost Dutchman Mine as have many other treasure hunters. It was reportedly found in 1920 and 1940, but without proof.
What is more intriguing upon Waltz' death was the fact that under his death bed was a small box of gold. The gold inside isn't from the Lost Dutchman Mine, but it is from the Vulture Mine. Could it be that the Lost Dutchman Mine doesn't really exist -- its just a fictious treasure legend?
One could only wonder why he had gold in the box from the Vulture Mine? Why didn't he use it to pay his bills? Why die destitute and broke? He either worked for the Vulture Mine company or he was a high-grader. High-grading was the theft of high grade ore and it was a common occurence at this mine. If anyone was caught high grading it was a hanging offense and more than 18 men during the early years dangled on the Vulture City hanging tree. High-grading was done by freighters - miners and people employed to haul the gold nuggets for processing. As soon as wagons were loaded they disappeared fast when they stopped to sift and steal the biggest and best nuggets for themselves. Freighting from the Vulture Mine was more profitable than mining it.
Want to find the Lost Dutchman Mine? Set up a game spy camera or infrared video unit and chart from where bats appear at night. Bat's live in caves. Find the Manzanita thickets. The entrance is hidden by stones. It shouldn't be too hard to find the mine (north canyon facing west) - its within 2.5 mile radius of Weaver's Needle. This concludes my diatribe on the Lost Dutchman Mine. Next time I start talking about Chief John Wabesis and his lost or found treasure (Michigan Native American Indian legend. Lost or Found?
Monday, September 6, 2010
The Lost Dutchman Mine: Indian Treasures Lost or Found - 110
"Those who don't take chances don't make advances. Even a turtle doesn't get ahead unless he sticks his neck out." That's what business dreamers say about not 'waiting for your ship to come in...swim out to meet it.' Just try something or nothing. Failure to do anything will nag you the rest of your life, because you were afraid to take a chance. Sticking your neck out is what life is all about and treasure hunters must be absolutely sure of themselves before they venture out to find any treasure like the fabled Lost Dutchman Mine.
Warning: Legends about the Lost Dutchman Mine say many of the past have met with foul play searching the Superstition Mountains up from the Sonoran Desert just east of Apache Junction, Arizona. Those who have reported to have found the mine never do so again or suffered some disastrous calamity before they could file a claim. Some have hid what they've found only to never find it again. This is what keeps the mine a secret lost mine. Some dreamers have said they've found the lost gold mine, but many of the minerals found have been assayed, but the minerals are from the Vultur mine or unknowns and not the Lost Dutchman. Most precious metals leave their own unique fingerprint of its origin. Purity numbers dictate location.
Seeking lost treasure is for many a fantasy adventure destined for a video game as based upon an exciting authors book like the Adventures of Indiana Jones and National Treasure. The intrigue here kept viewers riveted to their seats wondering if the treasures were found or who lost their lives searching for the mother lode of riches. The Superstition Mountains have seen lots of treasure seekers visiting the Lost Dutchman State Park and walking the old military trails searching for anything of value that might lead them towards discovering the real mine. Truth is you don't go searching for treasure during the hottest times of the year. You can't carry enough water to sustain life for longer than three days.
Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio and his deputy's rescued Curtis Merworth (one of three Utah men who went missing the first time) who used his cell phone to call for help in May 2009. Cell phones are good if you can get a signal, but they won't do most any good inside a deep mine or cave, but I suppose it would be a foolhardy gesture to place a GPS outside a mine or cave so rescuers could find them perish the thought they met with foul play. For now I'll leave these men alone and concentrate on the legend of all lost legends in America. I should mention that Joe Arpaio is the Sheriff that is picking up so much flak from the Federal government who claims his department is profiling illegal aliens for deportation back to Mexico. Arpaio does what the Federal government doesn't do - enforce immigation laws. Arpaio doesn't like the aliens from Mexico who illegally profit from our expense. Law enforcement personnel shouldn't have to put up with the law breaking politicians in Washington.
As previously stated from 1500 to the late 1700's, the Spainards tried to force a conquest culture destined to civilize the Indians through Christianity backed up by a military force. They instituted a system of forced Indian tribute to labor as servants, farmers, miners and turned into slaves for silver production mines in Mexico. The Spainards brutality increased so vigorously that the Peublos rose up in revolt around 1680 and they drove the Spanish out of the Rio Grande region, but only for a short time. The Spanish returned with avengence and tried to stomp out native cultures and beliefs, but they never conquered the Apaches. The Indians had had enough of the New Spain under Mexican authorities from the mid 1700's to about 1848. To stay living meant you kept out of sight of Indians. Renegade bands of Apaches and Navajos roamed the entire regions of Arizona and New Mexico. There were no big tribes of renegades. The renegades were those who wouldn't be shuffled off to reservations to die on worthless lands.
Around the 1830's it was evident that the U.S. government was going to expand. The Native Americans of the Great Plains and Southwest felt pressured by pioneer movements. The West was going to open up and the U.S. Cavalry were beginning frequent patrols westward to calm settlers and thwart the Indian raiding parties. Settlements were appearing in California, Oregon and Washington regions and tempers were flaring between Indians, farmers and pioneers. The Indians knew it wouldn't be long before they were forced to sign peace treaties; sign or be forced out.
In the unrest a Spanish family named the Peralta's from Mexico had learned about a fabulous treasure mine hidden in the Superstition Mountains and decided to investigate. They managed to escape predation by the Apaches and Navajos and mined gold and silver from 1840-1848. Some say 1852, but the story found in a Michigan newspaper of the times said it ended around 1848 when this family of miners was attacked in the desert after leaving the mine. Only one family member named Miguel Peralta survived. All the rest were killed.
Three years earlier a man named Jacob Waltz arrived in America from Germany in 1845. He remained along the East coast and filed a Declaration of Intent to become a U.S. citizen in 1848. He had heard that gold had been discovered in California (1847) and he made plans to go west and on his southern trek met Don Peralta and his Mexican wife near Nopal & Armstrong in Black Creek Canyon Placer Sept. 7-21, 1864. Not much is known about Waltz from 1850-1864, but it was presumed he didn't want to become involved in the Civil War nor at the time was he looking for a fight with the Apaches.
According to the Lost Dutchman legend Jacob Waltz was told the mines location by the lone surviving member of the Peralta family in 1848. Jacob Waltz became a dreamer, too, of being a 'strike it rich' treasure hunter, but he knew that to explore the Superstition Mountain range meant he needed help and formed a partnership with Jacob Weiser, another man from Germany and they set out to find the famous mine.
When the U.S. government annexed the Navajo territories in 1849 it was noted they were feared for good reason as a warring and raiding group of Indians to be wary of. Spanish influence hadn't changed any dispositions and no matter how the U.S. government tried to stop the raiding parties they wouldn't stop, because they couldn't. Mexican slave traders kept ravishing the small independent bands. Slave traders kept the Indians in a state of constant aggitation to make capturing Navajos for their illicit trade easier and the warfare of Indian upon Indian or Indian upon pioneers continue. Not only did the Indians have to escape predation by slave traders, but by the renegade bands, too.
At the same time the U.S. government sought peace with the Indians before the Civil War started, because they wanted to keep Arizona and New Mexico territories for the Union and an insurance policy that the Indians would keep lines of communication to California open. The government had to stop the Apaches, the Navajos and eventually the Mescalaro Apaches from raiding each other and Union cavalry attachments. Time to stop for today.
Warning: Legends about the Lost Dutchman Mine say many of the past have met with foul play searching the Superstition Mountains up from the Sonoran Desert just east of Apache Junction, Arizona. Those who have reported to have found the mine never do so again or suffered some disastrous calamity before they could file a claim. Some have hid what they've found only to never find it again. This is what keeps the mine a secret lost mine. Some dreamers have said they've found the lost gold mine, but many of the minerals found have been assayed, but the minerals are from the Vultur mine or unknowns and not the Lost Dutchman. Most precious metals leave their own unique fingerprint of its origin. Purity numbers dictate location.
Seeking lost treasure is for many a fantasy adventure destined for a video game as based upon an exciting authors book like the Adventures of Indiana Jones and National Treasure. The intrigue here kept viewers riveted to their seats wondering if the treasures were found or who lost their lives searching for the mother lode of riches. The Superstition Mountains have seen lots of treasure seekers visiting the Lost Dutchman State Park and walking the old military trails searching for anything of value that might lead them towards discovering the real mine. Truth is you don't go searching for treasure during the hottest times of the year. You can't carry enough water to sustain life for longer than three days.
Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio and his deputy's rescued Curtis Merworth (one of three Utah men who went missing the first time) who used his cell phone to call for help in May 2009. Cell phones are good if you can get a signal, but they won't do most any good inside a deep mine or cave, but I suppose it would be a foolhardy gesture to place a GPS outside a mine or cave so rescuers could find them perish the thought they met with foul play. For now I'll leave these men alone and concentrate on the legend of all lost legends in America. I should mention that Joe Arpaio is the Sheriff that is picking up so much flak from the Federal government who claims his department is profiling illegal aliens for deportation back to Mexico. Arpaio does what the Federal government doesn't do - enforce immigation laws. Arpaio doesn't like the aliens from Mexico who illegally profit from our expense. Law enforcement personnel shouldn't have to put up with the law breaking politicians in Washington.
As previously stated from 1500 to the late 1700's, the Spainards tried to force a conquest culture destined to civilize the Indians through Christianity backed up by a military force. They instituted a system of forced Indian tribute to labor as servants, farmers, miners and turned into slaves for silver production mines in Mexico. The Spainards brutality increased so vigorously that the Peublos rose up in revolt around 1680 and they drove the Spanish out of the Rio Grande region, but only for a short time. The Spanish returned with avengence and tried to stomp out native cultures and beliefs, but they never conquered the Apaches. The Indians had had enough of the New Spain under Mexican authorities from the mid 1700's to about 1848. To stay living meant you kept out of sight of Indians. Renegade bands of Apaches and Navajos roamed the entire regions of Arizona and New Mexico. There were no big tribes of renegades. The renegades were those who wouldn't be shuffled off to reservations to die on worthless lands.
Around the 1830's it was evident that the U.S. government was going to expand. The Native Americans of the Great Plains and Southwest felt pressured by pioneer movements. The West was going to open up and the U.S. Cavalry were beginning frequent patrols westward to calm settlers and thwart the Indian raiding parties. Settlements were appearing in California, Oregon and Washington regions and tempers were flaring between Indians, farmers and pioneers. The Indians knew it wouldn't be long before they were forced to sign peace treaties; sign or be forced out.
In the unrest a Spanish family named the Peralta's from Mexico had learned about a fabulous treasure mine hidden in the Superstition Mountains and decided to investigate. They managed to escape predation by the Apaches and Navajos and mined gold and silver from 1840-1848. Some say 1852, but the story found in a Michigan newspaper of the times said it ended around 1848 when this family of miners was attacked in the desert after leaving the mine. Only one family member named Miguel Peralta survived. All the rest were killed.
Three years earlier a man named Jacob Waltz arrived in America from Germany in 1845. He remained along the East coast and filed a Declaration of Intent to become a U.S. citizen in 1848. He had heard that gold had been discovered in California (1847) and he made plans to go west and on his southern trek met Don Peralta and his Mexican wife near Nopal & Armstrong in Black Creek Canyon Placer Sept. 7-21, 1864. Not much is known about Waltz from 1850-1864, but it was presumed he didn't want to become involved in the Civil War nor at the time was he looking for a fight with the Apaches.
According to the Lost Dutchman legend Jacob Waltz was told the mines location by the lone surviving member of the Peralta family in 1848. Jacob Waltz became a dreamer, too, of being a 'strike it rich' treasure hunter, but he knew that to explore the Superstition Mountain range meant he needed help and formed a partnership with Jacob Weiser, another man from Germany and they set out to find the famous mine.
When the U.S. government annexed the Navajo territories in 1849 it was noted they were feared for good reason as a warring and raiding group of Indians to be wary of. Spanish influence hadn't changed any dispositions and no matter how the U.S. government tried to stop the raiding parties they wouldn't stop, because they couldn't. Mexican slave traders kept ravishing the small independent bands. Slave traders kept the Indians in a state of constant aggitation to make capturing Navajos for their illicit trade easier and the warfare of Indian upon Indian or Indian upon pioneers continue. Not only did the Indians have to escape predation by slave traders, but by the renegade bands, too.
At the same time the U.S. government sought peace with the Indians before the Civil War started, because they wanted to keep Arizona and New Mexico territories for the Union and an insurance policy that the Indians would keep lines of communication to California open. The government had to stop the Apaches, the Navajos and eventually the Mescalaro Apaches from raiding each other and Union cavalry attachments. Time to stop for today.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Lost Dutchman Mine: Indian Treasures Lost or Found - 109
Legends about who has or hasn't found the Lost Dutchman Mine have been in existence for nearly 120 years since the deaths of Jacob Waltz, his partner Jacob Weiser and associate Manuel Peralta. It is perhaps one of North Americas most famous lost mine and the whereabouts have infected the hearts, minds and souls of treasure seekers worldwide, but it continues to draw its fame from those who have gone searching, but turn up missing or presumed dead by forces of mother nature or greedy men who really don't want to share its mineral wealth.
The Lost Dutchman Mine of Arizona continues to draw prospectors and dreamers hoping to strike it rich. You could say it is on par with the El Dorado Mines of South America. Human eyes sparkle when someone mentions the lost treasures haven't been found in the Superstition Mountains. Many amateur treasure seekers have not heeded the warnings about the Apache Curse. It is said the Indian spirits protect the sacred burial grounds of the Apache Indians and the mineral treasures of the Superstitions. Many adult Indians were entombed in caves, but it was the Jesuit missionaries and traveling priests who ventured in among the Southwest Indians who told them to protect the mineral treasures from the eyes of white settlers otherwise they'd be doomed.
Sometime the Superstition Mountains about 40 mile East of Phoenix are shrouded in eeries mists and low misty clouds. Temperatures rise and fall according to the seasons, but the summer is terribly hot with ground temperatures nearing 120 degrees and winter temperatures near freezing. Its a hostile environment when you aren't prepared and don't carry enough water. The Superstitions seems to have swallowed them and nobody has found any trace of them. The Superstition Mountains have spectacular scenery, but is fraught with unimaginable danger or is the Apache Curse just an attempt to scare away the tenderfoots to keep the treasure safe from outsiders.
The curse can actually be traced back to the early 1500's when the five Kings of Spain (Philip) encouraged the Jesuit missionaries and priests to explore the Superstitions and bring religion to the Indians in Arizona and New Mexico. The priests tried to force religion on the Indians and used them to mine gold and silver for their services and Kings of Spain for over 200 years. The priests tried to impress upon the Indians that they should never let settlers mine for gold, because much harm would come to them. The Jesuits were in business for themselves and sent some gold back to King Philip between 1700-1746. Jesuit reported back to the Kings that before the early 1600 approximately 15,000 Apache were roaming the Southwest most in loose family bands and no big tribes. The Spaniards were called "Apaches de Navajos."
Hollywood movies always depicted the Apaches as tribal warriors, but in actuality most Apache units were comprised of thirty or less, but larger families up to fifty. The Apaches were not the bloodthirsty scalpers, but were raiders of other Indian villages like the Pimas, The Puebloans and Apaches fought the Comanches and Kiowas of the Great Plains, but no matter what tribe was fighting they didn't appreciate the white settlers streaming across their land in pursuit of gold and silver treasures of the desert Southwest and those later in the 1840's trying to get the goldfields of California. The Jesuit priests tried using Bible teachings to stop the Apaches from raiding Pueblo villages, but alas the Puebloans moved the higher ground and became cliff-dewllers out of reach of Apache warriors.
To counter Apache attacks the Pimans built stockades around their communities with permanent guards and from 1500-1750 the Apaches kept their communities mobile because of their raids into Mexico that caused other tribes to abandon the area who then retaliated against the Apache. Apache raids were being done not by tribes, but local groups. The Apaches were skilled at guerilla warfare until about 1884. The primary goal was not to kill, but seize food supplies - not the Hollywood depictions in the 1900's. This is the rain of terror the Jesuit priests tried to halt Indians killing Indians. They preached "Thou shalt not steal," but they themselves had helped themselves to the Indian treasures of the Superstition Mountains for nearly 200 years.
Under the priests, the Indian natives of the Southwest, especially in the vicinity of the Superstition Mountains, were vassals of the Kings of Spain. They were treated harshly by Spanish civil and military authorities. The priests became overzealous to establish their religion and forced it upon the Indians who were repressing native beliefs and practices. The priests used religion on the fuedal tenants turning them into slaves for the purpose of extracting Indian wealth. Repression of Indian cultures caused resentment against priests and Kings of Spain and it started the Indian Rebellion of 1680. Heads of Peublo tribes sent runners to each and decreed an appointed day in which all whites should be killed. The priests were given full warning, but when they tried civilian authorities threats it cause the Indians to attack immediately. Hundreds of Spainards with priests were killed and the Governor of New Mexico fled to El Paso.
Five years passed before Father Eusebio Francisco Kino arrived at a Pima Indian village along the Gila River, Arizona, some thirty miles above the junction with the Salt River on November 27, 1697. His travels took him along the Gila River from 1687-1710. He was accompanied by Juan Mateo Mange, who wrote Kino's journal of his travels and it was evident by the strange carvings on the rock walls of the Eastern Superstition Mountains, which foretold the effects of European goods and Spanish influences. The carvings showed that at first the Spainards were friendly, but as time passed they felt dissatisfaction with the steady stream of treasure seekers and other whites penetrating their country.
The Southwest Indians felt the pressures as religious slaves to King Philip V (1700-1746). In fact, he got impatient and was tired of supporting Jesuit missionaries, because they hadn't broken the tribal Indian cultures and beliefs and in turn the Indians were getting more angry. King Philip got upset with the priests and ordered all Jesuits out of Mexico and the Indians were livid in the Southwest when the priests with Spaniards loaded up wagons and were attempting to flee with Indian treasures. The Superstition Mountains part of Mexico until 1848 when it became a territory of the U.S. Priests in the Superstition Mountain range were warned to hide mine records and leave stored treasured behind , but greed overcame them and they tried to leave the Superstition Mountains with 200,000 coins (might be silver), 40 bars of gold weighing 2 pounds each and a giant gold cross (curicifix) weighing an estimated 900 pounds. Today this treasure if found would be worth approximately 500 million. There's a mystery here because how does one transport a 900 pound gold cross down the eastside of the Superstition Mountains?
This treasure reportedly got down to the Gila-Salt River, but an Apache raiding party intercepted and killed everyone transporting it. Some treasure was transported west, but Indians intercepted the Spainards and they were massacred in the desert. The southern route to Mexico thru the Sonoran desert was shorter, but more dangerous and anyone seen trying to flee with treasure would be massacred soon. The Apaches and all the Indian tribes were infuriated with the Jesuits and their religion persecution. Rumor has it that the bulk of the Eastern treasure was retrieved from the Gila river country and hidden in a secret hiding place in the 1800's, but a big mystery. It could have been moved back to the mountains or hidden outside the Superstitions. It could have been returned and placed in the Lost Dutchman Mine. The Apaches considered the Superstition Mountains sacred, because so many of their adults are buried within the caves while Pueblo children are buried in the masonry walls of the cliff dwellers and adults buried beneath the floors. Most favored cave burials.
The gold cross of Arizona has its own legend, too, amongst the Odawa and Chippewa Indian tribes of Michigan. Indian runners from the Great Plains were asking for help in returning a stolen large gold cross. Odawas living in the Grand River and Flat River country around the mid 1830's before the Treaty of Washington 1836 was signed, say a large gold cross was seen being transported northeast towards the Gateway to Heaven. The Gateway to Heaven was coined by the Jesuit missionaries that established a mission near Ada in the 1600's. The high hills were Egypt Valley Country Club north of Ada, Michigan is located today was considered by religious priests and Indians as the Gateway to Heaven, because of the high terrain in a rising sun. The mystery here is where did it go? Was it headed to Canada? The cross today is worth 187 million dollars.
Next time I'll discuss what's happened since 1848 to present and what clues have surfaced from my neck of the North Woods. What I know about Arizona is it is a land where things sting, you get stuck, bitten by rattlesnakes, scorpions and things eat meat, blistered by sun or frozen. From my neck of the north woods things sting, you get stuck with Prickly Pears, bitten by rattlesnakes, spiders and things eat meat, blistered by the sun in sand dunes or frozen. Whatever Arizona has Michigan has the same.
The Lost Dutchman Mine of Arizona continues to draw prospectors and dreamers hoping to strike it rich. You could say it is on par with the El Dorado Mines of South America. Human eyes sparkle when someone mentions the lost treasures haven't been found in the Superstition Mountains. Many amateur treasure seekers have not heeded the warnings about the Apache Curse. It is said the Indian spirits protect the sacred burial grounds of the Apache Indians and the mineral treasures of the Superstitions. Many adult Indians were entombed in caves, but it was the Jesuit missionaries and traveling priests who ventured in among the Southwest Indians who told them to protect the mineral treasures from the eyes of white settlers otherwise they'd be doomed.
Sometime the Superstition Mountains about 40 mile East of Phoenix are shrouded in eeries mists and low misty clouds. Temperatures rise and fall according to the seasons, but the summer is terribly hot with ground temperatures nearing 120 degrees and winter temperatures near freezing. Its a hostile environment when you aren't prepared and don't carry enough water. The Superstitions seems to have swallowed them and nobody has found any trace of them. The Superstition Mountains have spectacular scenery, but is fraught with unimaginable danger or is the Apache Curse just an attempt to scare away the tenderfoots to keep the treasure safe from outsiders.
The curse can actually be traced back to the early 1500's when the five Kings of Spain (Philip) encouraged the Jesuit missionaries and priests to explore the Superstitions and bring religion to the Indians in Arizona and New Mexico. The priests tried to force religion on the Indians and used them to mine gold and silver for their services and Kings of Spain for over 200 years. The priests tried to impress upon the Indians that they should never let settlers mine for gold, because much harm would come to them. The Jesuits were in business for themselves and sent some gold back to King Philip between 1700-1746. Jesuit reported back to the Kings that before the early 1600 approximately 15,000 Apache were roaming the Southwest most in loose family bands and no big tribes. The Spaniards were called "Apaches de Navajos."
Hollywood movies always depicted the Apaches as tribal warriors, but in actuality most Apache units were comprised of thirty or less, but larger families up to fifty. The Apaches were not the bloodthirsty scalpers, but were raiders of other Indian villages like the Pimas, The Puebloans and Apaches fought the Comanches and Kiowas of the Great Plains, but no matter what tribe was fighting they didn't appreciate the white settlers streaming across their land in pursuit of gold and silver treasures of the desert Southwest and those later in the 1840's trying to get the goldfields of California. The Jesuit priests tried using Bible teachings to stop the Apaches from raiding Pueblo villages, but alas the Puebloans moved the higher ground and became cliff-dewllers out of reach of Apache warriors.
To counter Apache attacks the Pimans built stockades around their communities with permanent guards and from 1500-1750 the Apaches kept their communities mobile because of their raids into Mexico that caused other tribes to abandon the area who then retaliated against the Apache. Apache raids were being done not by tribes, but local groups. The Apaches were skilled at guerilla warfare until about 1884. The primary goal was not to kill, but seize food supplies - not the Hollywood depictions in the 1900's. This is the rain of terror the Jesuit priests tried to halt Indians killing Indians. They preached "Thou shalt not steal," but they themselves had helped themselves to the Indian treasures of the Superstition Mountains for nearly 200 years.
Under the priests, the Indian natives of the Southwest, especially in the vicinity of the Superstition Mountains, were vassals of the Kings of Spain. They were treated harshly by Spanish civil and military authorities. The priests became overzealous to establish their religion and forced it upon the Indians who were repressing native beliefs and practices. The priests used religion on the fuedal tenants turning them into slaves for the purpose of extracting Indian wealth. Repression of Indian cultures caused resentment against priests and Kings of Spain and it started the Indian Rebellion of 1680. Heads of Peublo tribes sent runners to each and decreed an appointed day in which all whites should be killed. The priests were given full warning, but when they tried civilian authorities threats it cause the Indians to attack immediately. Hundreds of Spainards with priests were killed and the Governor of New Mexico fled to El Paso.
Five years passed before Father Eusebio Francisco Kino arrived at a Pima Indian village along the Gila River, Arizona, some thirty miles above the junction with the Salt River on November 27, 1697. His travels took him along the Gila River from 1687-1710. He was accompanied by Juan Mateo Mange, who wrote Kino's journal of his travels and it was evident by the strange carvings on the rock walls of the Eastern Superstition Mountains, which foretold the effects of European goods and Spanish influences. The carvings showed that at first the Spainards were friendly, but as time passed they felt dissatisfaction with the steady stream of treasure seekers and other whites penetrating their country.
The Southwest Indians felt the pressures as religious slaves to King Philip V (1700-1746). In fact, he got impatient and was tired of supporting Jesuit missionaries, because they hadn't broken the tribal Indian cultures and beliefs and in turn the Indians were getting more angry. King Philip got upset with the priests and ordered all Jesuits out of Mexico and the Indians were livid in the Southwest when the priests with Spaniards loaded up wagons and were attempting to flee with Indian treasures. The Superstition Mountains part of Mexico until 1848 when it became a territory of the U.S. Priests in the Superstition Mountain range were warned to hide mine records and leave stored treasured behind , but greed overcame them and they tried to leave the Superstition Mountains with 200,000 coins (might be silver), 40 bars of gold weighing 2 pounds each and a giant gold cross (curicifix) weighing an estimated 900 pounds. Today this treasure if found would be worth approximately 500 million. There's a mystery here because how does one transport a 900 pound gold cross down the eastside of the Superstition Mountains?
This treasure reportedly got down to the Gila-Salt River, but an Apache raiding party intercepted and killed everyone transporting it. Some treasure was transported west, but Indians intercepted the Spainards and they were massacred in the desert. The southern route to Mexico thru the Sonoran desert was shorter, but more dangerous and anyone seen trying to flee with treasure would be massacred soon. The Apaches and all the Indian tribes were infuriated with the Jesuits and their religion persecution. Rumor has it that the bulk of the Eastern treasure was retrieved from the Gila river country and hidden in a secret hiding place in the 1800's, but a big mystery. It could have been moved back to the mountains or hidden outside the Superstitions. It could have been returned and placed in the Lost Dutchman Mine. The Apaches considered the Superstition Mountains sacred, because so many of their adults are buried within the caves while Pueblo children are buried in the masonry walls of the cliff dwellers and adults buried beneath the floors. Most favored cave burials.
The gold cross of Arizona has its own legend, too, amongst the Odawa and Chippewa Indian tribes of Michigan. Indian runners from the Great Plains were asking for help in returning a stolen large gold cross. Odawas living in the Grand River and Flat River country around the mid 1830's before the Treaty of Washington 1836 was signed, say a large gold cross was seen being transported northeast towards the Gateway to Heaven. The Gateway to Heaven was coined by the Jesuit missionaries that established a mission near Ada in the 1600's. The high hills were Egypt Valley Country Club north of Ada, Michigan is located today was considered by religious priests and Indians as the Gateway to Heaven, because of the high terrain in a rising sun. The mystery here is where did it go? Was it headed to Canada? The cross today is worth 187 million dollars.
Next time I'll discuss what's happened since 1848 to present and what clues have surfaced from my neck of the North Woods. What I know about Arizona is it is a land where things sting, you get stuck, bitten by rattlesnakes, scorpions and things eat meat, blistered by sun or frozen. From my neck of the north woods things sting, you get stuck with Prickly Pears, bitten by rattlesnakes, spiders and things eat meat, blistered by the sun in sand dunes or frozen. Whatever Arizona has Michigan has the same.
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