The Legend of Lydian Perrine "Cave of Gold Bars"

Welcome to Mysteries of the Superstition  Mountains I'm Larry Hedrick where we bring   the past into the present for our future viewers  today we have another great story by Hank Sheffer.   The depression of the 1930s was devastating  to an awful lot of people in this country   and because of it stories like Jacob  Waltz and the lost Dutchman gold   uh the lost Jesuit treasures that were supposed  to be in catches all over the mountains here   and the lost caves of gold bullion and gold  bars that were supposed to be buried here   in the Superstitions of Arizona were all  over the place and people were looking   for free gold somewhere all this unclaimed  all these unclaimed riches that people could   find they were going to look for that and the  depression was driving that in in great measure   well the people in Apache Junction weren't  all that much different than anybody else   they had a neat place to gather  here at the Apache Junction Inn   that was at the main intersection of the Apache  trail and the highway was down where the first   zoo in Arizona was first located and they'd  gather in there and they'd tell their stories   about gold, lost gold and lost treasure and then  they'd go out and they'd try and find this stuff   well the first guy credited or blamed for I guess   looking for the first couple of caves of gold  bars was a fellow by the name John Hallenburg   now he he said that he had a map of  course everybody had a map to somewhere   but he had a map and it took him out  to bluff springs mountain and he found   this ledge and he was walking along on this  ledge and he come across a hole in the ground   and the first thing that he said himself  was I got to crawl down in that hole   that wouldn't be the first thing I  said to myself but that's what he did   and he crawled down in that hole and lo and  behold he saw all these writings on the wall   he knew they weren't petroglyphs but he said  they must have been hebrew or something like   that it was some foreign language you didn't  know what it was well he come back up out of   that hole and he come back and he was telling  these cohorts stories about that gold of course   he could never find that hole in the ground again  and this was one of those stories that our friend   Tom Kollenborn used to call a one-man story it  was told by one man and it was only one man who'd   ever seen it and so it was a little tough to to  confirm whether it was true or not true because   nobody could ever find it again well that's the  way it went for all John halliger, Hallenberg   then there was another fella there was another  fella by the name of James Baxter and James Baxter   now he was here's a fellows up there running  around up uh between the superstition mountain   and garden valley and he said he found his  entrance to a place because there was a blue light   that emanated from the entrance of that  mine or whatever it was and he went in there   and he discovered all these gold bars  worth millions and millions of dollars   and he came out and he come down and told  his friends about it in fact bob ward one   of the old-time mountain men that lived here  for years he confirmed that story was true   of course he also confirmed that he'd  never seen the mind and he confirmed that   he'd never seen the gold bars either didn't  sound like much of a confirmation to me but   that's what they said that's what they  was all talking about these gold bars   well old James went back out there looking for  that money and you know what he never could find   it apparently they turned the blue light off so  he never found the entrance again and he wandered   around in the desert for a couple more years until  finally he just made his way back to his home   state of Washington and we never heard any more  from him and that was the end of James Baxter.   well then well now there's some other fellas now  these fellas they they were avid believers in the   lost Jesuit catches of treasure that were  supposed to be in the mountains and over   the years many many archaeologists and historians  have proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that that   just wasn't true but they believed it and there  was Ernie Province a fellow by the name of Carl,   Carl Howard and Tracy Hawkins and they'd gone  up in that area and they found some gold bars   that were actually part of this Jesuit treasure  that was part of this catch that they found well   by golly they each got a bar they each had  one and they had pictures taken once again   Bob Ward said it was true he saw it it must  have been so and they took pictures of this   and they had all of this evidence per se  and they come down and they were telling   everybody about these gold bars that they had of  course they didn't have the gold bars with them   and somehow or another they were never  able to find that hole in the ground again. and somehow or another all the pictures  got burned up in one of the fella's huts   so the pictures disappeared too so we  really don't know what happened with that   well that was bad enough and it gets us around to  one of the more elaborate stories talking about   gold bars you can never leave out crazy Jake  because crazy Jake I'm here to tell you Robert   Jacob was his name and he didn't do anything  halfway and he had this this place this mine or   hole in the wall that he talked about it was out  by the squall box and he maintained that there was   20 million dollars worth of gold bullion bars  that he had he even told the newspaper people   that he'd take him to this place and he would  guarantee that he would show you these bars   and he had all these people that he talked to and  he got them to invest in this gold that he would   he would pay them back on their investment down  the road somewhere between 90 and 120 days later   somehow or another that never really came to pass  the payback part and even taking the the news   reporters up there it got to a point where it was  so difficult to get to this place that by the time   they got to the last stretch of the trail they  were climbing up this hill that was kind of like   I won't say it was steep but your toes would  hit the ground the same time your nose did   so it was pretty steep stuff and they were all  tuckered out by this time and they just said   we're not going up there anymore so crazy  Jake didn't have to worry about showing them   nothing they'd leave he'd take them back and  they'd write the stories well as it went on   crazy Jake actually swindled I've heard  everywhere from 7 million to 30 million dollars   I think he went to jail over seven it may have  been a little less than that but from all the   swindling that he did of these people by golly  he went to jail and that's where he wound up well I've told you these stories so you can see  that there's people been chasing after gold bars   and treasure all these years but my favorite  story is the one about Lydian Perenne now   Lydian Perenne is one of those legends that has  all the things that you'd love to have in a legend   you have an Indian girl who lived in the mountain   you have an Indian girl who knew where  there was a treasure trough of gold bars   there was an underground river that flowed under  the mountain and went up to the canyon lake   and then we had we had all these Indians that  were around them so you had all of these elements   in the story that were just grand for sitting  around a campfire and tell them well it turned out   that Jim Hatt was the fellow that did  the interview in 2010 for a magazine   and he was interviewing Walter Perrine who was  Lydian's grandson and he told the story about his   grandmother who had been born in 1860 out around  the weaver's natal and blacktop mesa area that   doesn't really pinpoint that but you'll be able  to see on our map where she was actually born   now as the story goes she lived out there for the  first 10 years of her life before moving out of   state getting married and all that good stuff  but she heard these stories from the tribesmen   about this cave that was full of gold bars  and that they were guarded by the Apaches   she was chericawa Apache and the Apaches were in  charge of guarding all of this gold that was down   in this mine well it finally got around to the  point she was 10 years old and she finally was   able to get down and see it the tribes people came  to her and asked her if she'd like to actually see   what these stories were actually all about  well of course she jumped at the opportunity   and as she told her grandson  he was 12 years old at the time   as she told him they lowered her down into  this place and she was in this big open room   and in that room she was walking down this aisle  of gold bars that were as high as her shoulders   now bear in mind she's 10 years old but if it's  that tall on both sides of her as far as she   could see in that room into the darkness stacked  with gold bars uh that's a pretty smart amount of   gold that's down in that hole she also said that  there was another chamber that had joined that   one and you could walk through that and there  was this beautiful lake that was down there   and it was a deep clear water lake but on  the left side of the of the chamber there   was a ledge there's always ledges if you hadn't  noticed already but there was a ledge and you   could walk on this ledge because it was only about  a foot deep there where the water was on top of it   and you could walk on that ledge all the way  to the back of this chamber and on the wall   was this large geode that was embedded in  the rock and that was some sort of an omen   or it guarded the Apache is what it did  and it was embedded in the rock right there   well she came back out and they pulled her  back up out of that hole and she finally left   well as she was telling the story to her grandson  Walter she told him that it was his destiny his   destiny to go and find that gold and at that same  time she gave to Walter the other half of that   gorgeous geode that was embedded in rock and told  him that it was his obligation his responsibility   that when he put those two geodes back together  he would be able to have all of the Apache tribes   come together under one umbrella if you will and  he would be in control of all of the Apache tribes   and that's the way that went well time flew  by I guess as Walter spent his time growing up   and he finally got to the point where he was a  young man and he had aspirations of his own even   though he knew about this gold mine that could  have made him a multi-multi-trillion billionaire   whatever he didn't bother with that just then  he had some ideas he was going to go to Florida   and open up a karate studio a martial  arts studio and and bodybuilding studio   he had a fella that was going to back him  with all the financial aid that he needed   so that they could open up that  that gym with all these people   kung fu louie in and all that good stuff  well it turns out he wasn't much of a   businessman so he left there as he said he  got out of dodge and he went right up into   of all places Ralston Georgia well he met  a fellow up there that offered him a job   and this job was going to pay pretty good if he  was willing to do it and he said he would because   apparently the pay was pretty good but it turns  out here again he's working for another fellow   who wants him to do something that's really  not all that legal and not going to make him   all the money and rich as he wanted to be as  rich as he wanted to be he's going to be driving   bootleg whiskey he's a runner for pete's sake  makes me want to sing a song about thunder over   thunder road or something but that's what  he was doing and he got to the point there   that he owed this other fellow money because  apparently he was playing little games and   selling stuff on the side that wasn't really  his to sell so now he's got to leave Georgia too   who has to leave Georgia well Walter  did and what he got to thinking was there's got to be a way to make money that's not  going to be quite so detrimental to his life and   limb and it dawned on him when the light went  on how about that gold from his grandmother   out there in Arizona there was all that gold  bullion out there down in a hole in the ground   and he could go out there and find that so he  come back out there and he met a couple other   fellas and they they decided that they would work  with him and help him out with all that good stuff   a fellow by the name of Carl Broderick and John  Combs and apparently they bought hook line and   sinker into this gold bullion thing because they  were willing to help him do just about anything   and one of the first things that that Walter  asked them to do was they needed to get this   v8 ford motor and an 85 gallon compressor up  to the area where this gold was supposed to be   well I just learned recently that they actually  did have some roads back in there such as they   were so they weren't packing this motor  on a horseback or anything silly like that   these guys probably would have done  it though for Walter I'm thinking   but at any rate they got that done and they  were out there looking around and looking around   and they were up there around that blacktop  mesa area and they looked and they looked and   they looked and they couldn't find anything  and old John Combs even got to the point   he went up and he marked on the mountain he put  his initials up there where they were headed and   where that gold was supposed to be and they  came back down and they didn't have any gold   and they went and they looked and they looked and  they went all through the 60s through the 1960s   these guys were up there looking for this gold  there was even one expedition where Walter Perrine   had 12 other guys with him plus these two and they  were out there looking and to give credibility to   this search they actually took an archaeologist  from one of the colleges or whatever was going   on and they took them up there so that would  add credibility their their search for this   gold bullion and gold bars well they  never found it they never found a thing   Walter finally kind of gave up on  it and he he went back to his home   and Walter Perrine was actually a pretty good  inventor he invented a lot of things for handguns   he had quite a few patents with that but we don't  want to get into that right now but at any rate   Jim Hatt now he's he's the one that's doing this  tale he's the one writing the story he asked   him he says well you have the map you guys are up  there he says did you actually ever find anything and Walter wouldn't be real specific but what he  said just kind of tickles me he says well we just   weren't looking in the right place just like we  used to say about x marks the spot either the x is   in the wrong spot or the gold's in the wrong spot  well they never did find it and up until his death   in 2008 Walter never did disclose any of the  real information that he had found out there if   in fact he did find anything because he always  maintained that he was just in the wrong place   and if he went back out there again  he'd probably be able to find it well i don't know about that but what i do  know about is that there are still people   who are really dead sure that there are gold  bars in caves up on this superstition mountain   and I'm also equally sure that there are  lots of people are still out there looking   and as long as they're out there looking  I know there are people like crazy Jake   who will be more than happy to take all  the money you have to help you go find them   as it turns out as far as I'm concerned right  now what we have is just one more mystery of the   superstition mountain thank you for watching this  episode of mysteries of the superstition mountains

Channel: Mysteries of the Superstition Mountains

Views: 28,503

Rating: 4.9322639 out of 5

Keywords: Charlie LeSueur, Superstition Mountains, The Lost Dutchman Mine, Superstition Mountain Museum, Opal Images, Arizona, History, Gold, Treasure, Gold Bars, Lost, Hank Sheffer, Larry Hedrick

Id: _Eq2vbCezSE

Length: 20min 53sec (1253 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 26 2021