I wish to say that the following statements are in no sense fiction; they are a collection of true stories relating to what is probably the richest deposit of gold ever worked by man. I have not included many stories which have come to me from different individuals, who would not or could not offer substantiating proof.

​

The reader's first thoughts will be, "If Jim Bark knows so much about where the mine is located, why doesn't he find it himself," I wish to say, that the vicinity in which I now think the mine must be, I have not nearly exhausted; that I have hunted for the mine on and off for thirty years, and I am more certain than ever that the Superstition mountains of Arizona conceal one of the great gold mines of the world. For many years, I have dreamed of coming on the hidden opening of the mine. All the accounts agree that it is so cunningly concealed that one could walk within a few yards, or even feet, and miss it.

​

It is possible, of-course, that some one may come upon the Dutchman by accident, but I should like to think that the fortunate wanderer who discovers this lost treasure will do so because of the material I am giving him in the following stories. They each contribute their part to the evidence that the mine exists in a definite locality in the Superstition mountains.

​

Old prospectors who sit on the park benches in all our Western towns, and are still filled with hope, exaggeration, specimens and nicotine, must step aside and let the younger generation hunt for the Lost Dutchman--chew their own tobacco, tell their own lies, and buy or steal their own specimens, as hunting for the Lost Dutchmen is not for old men.

​

Some one will fit the parts together more successfully than I have done.

​

Good luck to him.