The Sterling Legend: The Facts Behind the Lost Dutchman Mine

by Estee Conatser

The legend of Jacob Walzer's famed Lost Dutchman Mine has been tantalizing gold seekers since the 1870s. Thousands have ventured into the formidable desert surrounding the Superstition Mountains to solve the riddle that has eluded solving and many may have paid the ultimate price for their quest. Using a well-researched, analytical approach, Estee Conatser has reached a remarkable analysis of this famous puzzle, clearning the air of hundreds of confusing segments of history. Here the legend, the myth, the rumors and the known facts are given proportion and an adventurous perspective. Read it and re-read it. Whether you are a fledgling Lost Dutchman enthusiast or a scholar, you will discover new insights and ingeniously concealed figments of information hidden within the pages of The Sterling Legend.

94 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

Reviews

[Marieta Grissom · Rating 3 out of 5]

The copyright of 1972 helps to explain why I found this book both interesting and challenging, but it didn’t challenge me to try to find the mine. The first thing that bothered me is that Jacob Walzer was a German immigrant. She never explains that Germany is known as Deutschland, and it is likely that this was confused with Dutchman, to end up calling him a Dutchman. Second, I would have appreciated better documentation for the few known “facts” of his life including the supposed verified $250,000 of gold that he shipped to the U. S. Mint between 1880 and 1889, and I feel that Arizona Territory should have more than one Territorial Census, that should have mentioned Jacob.

However, I feel that she did considerable in-depth research, included the stories of many legends, tested many theories, and presented the rationale for her conclusions in a very understandable way.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book came recommended as one of, if not, the best Lost Dutchman Mine fact books. It didn't dissappoint. The author cuts through much of the nonsense, and gets to the known facts of the case. She qualifies the parts that are supposition. It is a well written book on the subject.