Gold. It’s shiny, it’s valuable, and it has a bad habit of making people lose their ever-loving minds. Legends of hidden treasure have fueled obsessions, ruined lives, and probably inspired more than a few bad tattoos. But few lost fortunes have captured imaginations quite like the Lost Dutchman’s Mine—a hidden gold stash so rich it could set you up for several lifetimes… if you could ever find it.
This week, we’re diving deep into the sun-scorched mysteries of Arizona’s Superstition Mountains, where one prospector supposedly struck it big and then took the secret to his grave. From cryptic maps and stone-carved clues to murder, curses, and possibly even supernatural guardians, this tale has all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster—except this one just might be real. So grab your shovels, keep an eye out for vengeful spirits, and join us as we mine for the truth behind one of America’s greatest lost treasures on Hysteria 51!
Special thanks to this week’s research sources:
Books
Bicknell, P. "A Mythical Mine–Story of a Lost Claim in the Superstition Mountains–Dutch Jacob’s
Secret–Phoenix People Hunting for the Treasure with Prospects of Success." Saturday Review. 17 Nov. 1894: 1. Print.
Bicknell, P. "One of Arizona's Lost El Dorados - A Mine in the Superstition Mountains - The Half-told Tale of an Old Miser." San Francisco Chronicle. 13 Jan. 1895, Newspaper: 12.
Blair, R. Tales of the Superstitions: The Origins of the Lost Dutchman Legend. Tempe: Arizona
Historical Foundation, 1975.
Gentry, Curt. The Killer Mountains, A Search for the Legendary Lost Dutchman Mine. New York: New American Library, 1968.
Mell, Eleanor. Hunting Old Snowbeard’s Gold: Searches for and Seekers of the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace, 2012.
Kincaid, Matt. Superstition Mountains: The Mountains of Legend, Gold, Mystery, and Death.
Maplewood Publishing, 2018.
Arnold, Oren. Ghost Gold. San Antonio: The Naylor Company, 1954.
Websites
https://www.ajpl.org/the-ghost-of-the-dutchmans-gold-refuses-to-die/
Taylor, T., 2008. The Lost Dutchman Mine. [Online]
Available at: https://www.prairieghosts.com/dutchman.html
Legends of America, 2016. The Lost Dutchman Mine. [Online]
Available at: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/az-lostdutchman
Willis, B., 2005. Has the Lost Dutchman Mine Been Found?. [Online]
Available at: http://www.truewestmagazine.com/has-the-lost-dutchman-mine-been-found/
http://superstitionmountaintomkollenborn.blogspot.com/2013/12/dont-blame-thunder-god.html
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore72.html
https://apachejunctionindependent.com/history/military-trail-of-jacob-waltz/
http://superstitionmountaintomkollenborn.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-peralta-stone-maps.html
http://superstitionmountainmuseum.org/
Email us your favorite WEIRD news stories:
[email protected]
Support the Show
Get exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience
at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1
Shop
Be the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!
https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Österreich