Click here for Part One of The Lost Dutchman Mine
What really happened on the night of October 25, 1891, remains a matter of debate among historians and Dutch Hunters. We know the Dutchman, Jacob Waltz, died that night in the home of Julia Thomas, leaving behind forty-eight pounds of rich gold ore that ended up in the possession of Dick Holmes. Beyond that, the facts are murky. Both Thomas and Holmes claim to have received clues and directions to find the mine, though the legitimacy of their claims has been fiercely debated ever since. What is not in dispute, however, is that Julia Thomas led the first expedition to find the Dutchman’s mine.
After Waltz’s passing, Julia and Rhinehart Petrasch agreed to become partners, inviting Rhinehart’s brother Herman to join them in their hunt for Waltz’s mine. At the time, Julia Thomas was twenty-nine and going through a divorce. She owned and operated a bakery and confectionary shop in Phoenix, which was her only source of income. In a bold and difficult decision, she sold her business to finance their expedition.
They bought a wagon, team, pack animals, camping gear, and supplies before setting out from Phoenix on August 11, 1892. Modern Dutch Hunters criticize the expedition, and rightfully so. August is probably the most brutal and unforgiving time to venture into the Superstitions. Potable water is scarce, and daytime temperatures often soar above 100 degrees. By the time they reached the iconic western face of the mountains, they were faced with another harsh reality, their wagon was completely useless. They abandoned the wagon and packed the team, entering the mountains at the northwest end. The trio made their camp in Needle Canyon, just north of Weavers Needle, one of the Dutchman’s infamous landmarks. For three grueling weeks, they searched under the blistering desert sky until, broken and depleted of supplies, they were forced to return to Phoenix empty-handed and defeated.
Julia Thomas was financially ruined by the adventure and soon parted ways with the Petrasch Brothers, never making another attempt to find the mine. Yet her role in the Dutchman legend was far from over. She seemed to either cultivate publicity or draw it naturally. An account of her expedition into the Superstitions was published in the Arizona Weekly Gazette. Thomas was also known to have sold maps to would-be seekers for the price of $8 each. It’s widely believed that she was the inspiration for Pierpont C. Bicknell’s articles in the San Francisco Chronicle. It was Bicknell’s writing and broad media distribution that first brought national attention to the legend.
Julia remarried in July of 1893 to a man named Albert Schaefer. The two apparently drifted into peculiar cult-like religious practices. They were well known locally for their ritualistic burnt offerings, performed in their front yard in strange fire pits. One news report from 1911 details a psychotic man attacking Albert, claiming that Schaefer had buried his wife alive on the property. Another court document records that Schaefer petitioned for his home to be tax-exempt, because Jehovah willed it so.
View from Gold Field Ghost Town
On December 15, 1917, Julia Thomas died of Bright’s disease at the age of 55, never having found the Dutchman’s gold. In a cruel bit of irony, the path that the Thomas expedition took into the mountains led them straight across two of Arizona’s richest gold deposits, the Mammoth and the Black Queen, both of which would be discovered only a few short months later near what is now the ghost town of Gold Field.
