The Superstitions

In late 1931, the Arizona Republic-Phoenix Archeological Commission sponsored an expedition into the Superstition Mountains. The guide for the 5 member team was George “Brownie” Holmes. The team also included: E. D. Newcomer and Harvey Mott from local newspapers; Richie Lewis; and Odd S Halseth, archeologist. Richie Lewis who had been a rodeo star and ran the Tempe Riding Academy provided the horses. The horses were led by Holmes and Lewis for two days to get from Tempe to the Superstition Mountains. Other members of the group drove the two hours from Phoenix to the base camp at the foot of the Superstitions that was described by Harvey Mott as “…the slag dumps of hell.” Holmes led the group into the Superstitions. At the end of 1931, Holmes was considered the leading expert of the Superstitions since he had guided trips into the wilderness for more than 22 years. Holmes led the group through rugged mountains to an area known as Garden Valley which was an abandoned Indian community. The remnants of a stone community house were obvious. The house measured 192 feet long, 97 feet wide and 20 feet tall. Since being abandoned, the house had collapsed upon itself. Pottery fragments could be found everywhere. As the group looked closer, they could easily see the remnants of other houses surrounding the community house. The group estimated there were at least 50 or 60 houses circling the community house. Scattered around the village, they observed at least a dozen metates with manos still in them. Many were worn very deeply by years of grinding grains before the village was abandoned. Throughout the area, rocks had been placed to form a series of check dams to store and divert runoff from storms that swept through the area. The dams stored some water and may have diverted water to small storage ponds. Nearby, the explorers found a garden consisting of a dense growth of cholla cacti along with many prickly pear and other cacti. Around the orchard there were mortars and pestles that must have been used to crush cactus fruit for liquid. The expedition continued on and visited and explored other abandoned ruins. Along the trail, one of the dogs with the expedition found a skull under a Palo Verde tree. Since the expedition was only a few months after the disappearance of Adolph Ruth who was searching for the Lost Dutchman Mine, team members felt they had found his skull. The skull was brought back to Phoenix and examined. Some felt the skull clearly showed signs of a gunshot wound. Several local anthropologists felt the skull resembled distinctive features that were shown in pictures of Ruth. The skull was then sent to the world’s foremost anthropologist at the National Museum in Washington D. C. He reported that the skull was “undoubtedly that of an aged white man.” He concluded that death could have been from a gunshot. Local law enforcement returned to the area. Other remains of Adolph Ruth were soon discovered near the site the skull was found. Since the National Museum experts were not forensic anthropologists, their conclusions were discounted locally. The final finding was that Adolph Ruth died of natural causes. “Brownie” Holmes continued exploring the Superstition Mountains along with mining. In the 1940’s he was injured in a mining accident. Allegedly, he wrote an account of the Lost Dutchman’s mine from information he had collected along with stories his father, Dick, had told him. The Holmes family were pioneers in Arizona and claimed to know the Lost Dutchman, Jacob Waltz.