b'By Bob Roloff,The Arizona DuuudeI understand is that the gold have never written any stories about prospecting or gold mining, not even about the well-knownis not always up on the bank, Lost Dutchman Mine in the Superstitionit can be in the creek itself." Mountains. Not that I don\'t like reading stories of found then lost gold mines and of course the LostWoody has his own unique Dutchman Mine being the most popular of those.way of panning for gold. I love the stories, but I\'m not interested in actuallyWhile I watched him he going out into the mountains prospecting.explained his way of finding the tiny gold flakes called flour One of the most popular reality shows on TV is gold. This gold will float and about prospecting and panning for gold. It seems what makes it float is the tension on top of the water,you find it like the gold rush is still going on. Certainly, there not the muddy water. People see the muddy waterand they is still gold in them there hills its just harder to and wash it out and then they lose all their gold. I sawcome upon find. Gold panning is a very popular attraction about five flakes of gold in the pan he was workingyou, what are at western events.with. That\'s a small amount, but it all adds up.your chances of you getting out of there? Are they going to mug you or rob you? You\'re not even Woody is the caretaker for the Fain property neargoing to give them a chance. Prescott on the lower end of Lynx Creek. This is a no trespassing area. Woody says My pay is theOkay, so I asked Woody where he thought the Lost privilege of using that creek to teach, and thatsDutchman Mine was. This is the one I believe," he worth amillion bucks to me."said. "Jacob Waltz had three claims in the Prescott area, and they all got taken away from him. One way Panning for gold is legal in Arizona. There is stillor another he got swindled out of them. So he did not a lot of gold here and that makes it one of thewant to file a claim. So you have to stop and think, best states for gold prospecting. Its also legal toabout what was going thru his mind at that time. He gold pan in the national forests but rememberthought this is good, but if I file a claim they\'ll come all land is owned by someone. Get permissionand take it away like they did up yonder. So no matter before entering anyone\'s property especially ifwho it was, even the Peraltas, or anybody that had a you are going to prospect it. There are manyclaim up there, they had to have access to water for private claims in Arizona, and many are ownedall the mules and horses. So they wouldn\'t be too by the GPAA, Gold Prospectors Association offar from water." It\'s Woody\'s opinion that the Lost America. If you are new to this hobby, a guidedDutchman Mine is buried under one of the lakes that gold prospecting adventure is the way to go.were created after damns were put in on the rivers, There are many prospecting/gold panning clubslike Saguaro Lake, Roosevelt Lake, or even Apache around Arizona. Go online or ask a local in your areaLake. All of these are near the Superstition Mountains So, in addition to going online to get information,to help you find one near you. and a lot of gold came down the Salt River.I found someone I could visit with that has been a lifelong prospector. Woody Wampler has been aI couldn\'t resist getting Woody\'s views on the Lost respected member of Arizona\'s gold prospectingDutchman Gold Mine. What about all those stories community for many years, teaching hundreds ofof the adventurers going into the Superstition students, young and old alike, how to find gold.Mountains, looking around, and never coming back. Woody explains the proper use of gold prospectingSome that did return told tales of being shot at and equipment at public events and out in the field.some skeletons were found with bullet holes in their He lives in Dewey-Humbolt where he assists theheads. After listening to Woody, I got to thinking local historical society in keeping the history ofabout what I\'d heard about the California Gold Rush prospecting available for all to learn. Woody is alsoof 1849, and some folks that got the gold fever" bad. a member of several prospecting clubs, and a goldIt brought to mind the 1948 movie The Treasure of claim owner himself. the Sierra Madre, starring Humphrey Bogart, that showed how three men while searching for this for According to Woody, Its a great family thing.sure gold mine would turn against each and the result I know that families that play together staywas deadly. I began to understand what goes thru the together. You\'d be amazed at how many kids andmind of someone thats put a lot of time and effort grandchildren come out with their grandparentsinto their search for the Dutchman\'s gold. According and enjoy the outdoors while prospecting for gold. Ito Woody, If you spent your whole life trying to find teach them how to read the creek. The gold kind ofthis Lost Dutchman Mine. You know you\'re going to goes back and forth. Gold is very heavy so it alwaysfind it, today, tomorrow, you\'re really close. You look goes downstream, the only way it goes upstreamoff and you see a couple of people wandering around, is if its being pushed up by the force of the water.snooping around. You think to yourself, they\'re going It mostly goes up at an angle and ends up on ato find it and I\'m going to miss out, it\'s mine. What bench or something like that. What people don\'tare their chances of even getting out of there? Or if 10 April 2022'