The Peralta Stone Tablets
N 33° 25.015 W 111° 50.039
12S E 422460 N 3697818
One of many "maps" to the fabled Lost Dutchman Gold Mine on display here.
Waymark Code: WMK7
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 08/27/2005
Views: 188
The Lost Dutchman Gold Mine, in the Superstition Mountains outside the Phoenix area has spawned many strange stories. I might, over time, post a few more of them. For now, this is the story of the Peralta Tablets.
The Peraltas were a family who mined the Superstition Mountains in the 1840's, when the mountains were filled with Apache Indians. According to legend, most of them were killed in a final mining operation in 1848. Jacob Walz, the Dutchman, supposedly found a mine in the Superstition Mountains with his partner in the 1870's, but kept the location a great secret until his dying day. Hundreds of people still try and locate the mine. Their adventures are the stuff of local legends, books and even movies.
In the late 1940's, early 1950's, Jack Tumlinson stumbled across some stone tablets with odd markings on them. Supposedly, the maps were made by a priest from the Church of Spain during his assignment to the Spanish Peralta family who owned some mines in the Superstition Mountains. The tablets depict drawings, words, and what looks like a map. One intriguing aspect is a removable stone heart. Many claim that they are fake, another in a long line of phoney treasure maps. Others claim they are real. The tablets are on display at the Mesa Southwest Museum for any would be treasure hunters to examine.
Be forewarned: The Superstition Mountains is a harsh environment. People often get lost and die wandering around those mountains. It is mainly a wilderness area and no prospecting may take place without the approval of the wilderness agencies.
To claim credit for this waymark: Please take a gps photo of yourself outside the museum entrance, or by the dinosaur statues outside the museum.
Pictures of the stone tablets available at this link.