Lost dutchman mine

Alleged belongings of the dutchman

The legend of the Lost Dutchman mine is a treasure-seeking tale of the old west.  One that still draws people in even today.
People have disappeared or been found dead in the area, causing theories and stories to develop around all the different possibilities of history and what treasure is really out there.  The conflicts to be found in it are the claims to accurate history, the claims to land and mines, and the claims to treasure found.

The legend goes that a German immigrant named Jacob Waltz, the "dutchman", found a wealthy gold mine in the Superstition Mountains in the mid 1800s. He died leaving a drawn map which gave only hints to the mine's location. Since then, treasure hunters have come from all over to search but no one has found anything.  Mixed throughout the legend are details of violence and beheading among those searching for gold

The mining museum of their belongings left behind

Today there are hikers, campers and horseback riders instead of suspicious gold hunters--but they are still out there, too.

The real treasure, though, is probably the mix of fact and fiction in the story of the dutchman's mine, and the hunt--the one for the truth of the characters involved amidst all the legend.

Superstition mountains

Scorpion hunting

 I went scorpion hunting. 
 I didn't know that was a thing people in Arizona do. 

 I also didn't know that if you shine a black light on them, scorpions glow in the dark. 

Cool.

But that's what makes them easier to find...

 and easier to get rid of with a little bit of fire...




....and a hammer, just in case...

Then it's off to hunt for the next one.