German Soldier Statue

[senor x2]

I just finished reading Wendell Scotts latest book. In it, he makes mention of a statue of a German soldier in Monument Canyon. The only other reference to this I've seen is in Kollenborn's chronology, where he says that in 1919 a stone statue was supposedly discovered in Monument Canyon.

It sounds to me like a tall tale, maybe published to sell papers. Does anyone know where this story came from? Do they actually mean a real statue, or is this just another interestingly shaped rocks? And if it was a statue, how did they know it of a German soldier? Maybe by reading the inscription on the attached bronze plaque?

[S.C.]

Unfortunately, most of the time I read these postings is when my LDM materials are not handy. So, yet again, I am replying from "memory." So, forgive me if I am wrong.

It seems that the Scott "statue" is something Barry Storm found and is nothing more than a "rock that looks like a man." So, break out those ink-blot test pictures... A "rock that looks like a man" is ALWAYS personal interpretation...

On an interesting side note... if memory serves me correctly... is that Milton Rose in "Rainbow's End" seemed to place importance on a "clue" he gathered in the early days of a rock shaped like a German soldier - supposedly a clue left by Waltz to those at his "deathbed"... The thing is, the people Rose thought were at Waltz's death bed are not the standard individuals associated with said event... Thus, it is likely the "clue" has only "marginal" authority. (As with all LDM events, it "could" have a kernel of truth in its twisted origins - but time has distorted it.) Regardless, Rose placed that edifice NORTH of the Salt River in a canyon near Four Peaks - the place were Rose was absolutely certain the LDM was located.

Variations of this "clue" I believe have filtered down in the "literature" as the "stone face" or "head" clue that many have mentioned but cannot place its origin.

In my opinion, the "rock that looks like a man" clue espoused by Brownie Holmes is as close as we are going to get to what Waltz really said - and that ain't near Superstition Mountain.

[buscar]

In the book True Story of Jacob Walzer and his Famous Hidden Gold Mine by Charles Frederick Higham, is this account found on page 23 of a reprint by the Superstition Mountain Historical Society:

The author writes about Monument Canyon on the Westside of Superstition Mountain: “Across the canyon from the giant cactus pictured, stood the statue of a German soldier. It was first discovered about 1919 but was toppled over by a landslide in 1934. Who made it and for what purpose is not known.”

For those who wish to view the picture of Monument Canyon taken from the book, click HOME at the top of the Forum and then click Member Archive next click buscar.

On page 6, of that same book, the author writes: “Geronimo, the most treacherous of all Apache chieftains, died in a U.S. prison in 1906. He escaped several times but was always recaptured. While in prison and not long before his death, he tried to bribe prison officials with an offer to show them one million dollars in loot hid in a cave in the Superstition Mountains. He said he wanted to die in his beloved mountain. This loot was recovered by the U.S. Government.”

I have heard stories of Geronimo’s bribe but never that is to say, the loot was recovered.

Any comments?

buscar