by Jocelyn Cross
Gerhard knew when a woman was playing with him and he suspected Leticia was now using her charms to get her way ... but he wondered what it truly was that she wanted. Later he would wonder what had come over him, but he took Leticia in his arms and said, "If we are to travel together, you need to know what a proper kiss is." His strong arms enveloping the young woman, he pulled her tight and placed his lips on hers. He kissed her passionately and was pleased, though somewhat surprised, at the passion she returned in her kiss. They embraced like that for a long moment, before awkwardly breaking hold. Each suddenly felt like a shy teenager.
But in the late 19th Century, even in the Wild West of Territorial Arizona, a woman simply did not let a man, no matter how attractive he was, kiss her. And when that young woman has been raised with a belief that she is of a social status much higher than others, this was particularly true. Still a bit stunned by the kiss and her embarrassingly passionate response, the young Mexican woman reached up and slapped the big blonde German across the face with a force that stunned him.
"Oh? You tease me and lead me on and I get slapped for a little kiss?" Gerhard was partly intrigued by the fire Leticia showed and partly angry at her physically confusing reactions. She had kissed him back and then slapped him for it. They were alone in the night having taken a short walk on the dusty road leading out of Tortilla Flats. The air was warm and there was an inviting breeze that was welcome after a full day of blazing sun and heat.
Heat? That's just what this teasing wench deserves, he thought. The big man picked up the woman and, despite her punching and kicking, carried her to a stump by the side of the road. There he put his left foot on the stump creating a nicely even surface with his left thigh over which he placed Leticia. Pinning her to his thigh she could not escape though she tried to, and all of her kicking and squirming only caused her pants to pull taut across her bottom. She was completely at his mercy as her entire body was suspended across his thigh.
"You wouldn't dare!" seethed the Mexican woman as she recognized the position she was in. Her bottom was well up and vulnerable. She was pinned in place; her only recourse was to talk her way out of what she was worried would be coming.
The reply she got was a pair of hard swats to her backside: one to each of her bottom cheeks. This made her struggle harder, but her struggling only earned her a half dozen more spanks. The swats made loud slapping noises that were crisp and obvious in the dark night air. "Can we be civil and still work together," asked the big blonde German?
"Si!" she replied. "We have much to do."
After a pause, Gerhard lifted her easily from across his thigh and set her gently on her feet. He rubbed his cheek where a bright red slap mark now appeared as she gingerly rubbed her bottom. "Then I would say we are even," he proclaimed.
They parted ways a bit later, each feeling the heat of attraction to the other, but leaving with nothing more than a lingering look ... though each felt that lingering gaze smolder in their hearts. How the immigrant German and the daughter of a Mexican cattle baron came to meet needs to be understood before we can learn if they uncover the truth about the greatest treasure ever found in the American West.
There is a mountain range east of Phoenix, Arizona, known to the locals as 'The Superstitions', but is more formally known as 'The Superstition Mountain Range'. At the forefront of the range is Superstition Mountain, a 3,000 foot high monolith that is often seen in films of the Old West. There are any number of reasons for the name 'Superstition', most of which include allegations of a curse that has led to many strange deaths. Over the years, some of the deaths could be attributed to the Apache Indians, who considered this to be sacred ground and home to their Thunder God.
The Spanish arrived in this area in 1540, led by the conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado who was then searching for the legendary 'Seven (Golden) Cities of Cibola'. Coronado learned from the Apache that the mountain range did, in fact, contain gold, but the Apache refused to help. Determined, the Spaniards began to explore, and immediately men from the party began mysteriously disappearing. Some men were later found, but their heads had been severed from their bodies. The Conquistadors eventually fled in fear and thus began the legends.
Father Kino, a Jesuit priest, returned a century and a half later with hopes of converting the savage Apaches to Christianity, and to try to discover the source of the gold in the mountains. His forays into the territory yielded some evidence of the gold and thus encouraged more expeditions. As you might imagine, the Apache Indians did not receive these trespassers well, and many went missing or were simply found dead.
In 1748 a Mexican cattle-baron, Don Miguel Peralta of Sonora, was given some 3,750 square miles of what is now Arizona and which included the Superstition Mountain Range. This land contained not only a rich gold mine, but several silver mines, too. For the next century, the Peralta family made occasional trips to mine the gold, hoping their infrequency would not anger the Apache tribe.
In 1847 a large party of Peralta's foraged into the Superstitions, returning with wagon loads of rich gold ore. They wouldn't make it out as the Apache attacked viciously, scattering pack mules in all directions, spilling gold everywhere. It would be another 16 years before the Peralta family attempted another foray. In 1864, Enrico Peralta led some 400 laborers into the Superstitions to work the mine. All but one of these miners were killed by the Apache in a horrific ambush. Never again did the Peralta family attempt to even visit the mine, and all maps and knowledge of the mine were supposedly lost.
In the 1870's a German immigrant named Jacob Waltz befriended one of the Peralta heirs who allegedly relayed the location of the mine to Waltz. Jacob owned a homestead on the northern side of Superstition Mountain, and was a miner and prospector by trade. Waltz also took up with an Apache girl named Ken-tee who became his mistress. Allegedly, Ken-tee also revealed the location of the mine to Waltz as the Apache knew where it was located. Upset with this revelation, the Apache tribe attacked Jacob and Ken-tee.
After a harrowing escape, Jacob Waltz opened a saloon in nearby Tortilla Flats. Over the next ten years or so, he would disappear for considerable periods of time, only to return with his saddle bags filled with the richest gold the area had ever seen. Asked about the source of the gold, Jacob would give conflicting stories and directions, and when people inevitably tried to follow him out of town, he would invariably give them the slip.
The Superstition Mountain homestead of Jacob Waltz was flooded in the spring of 1891. Two of Jacob's friends managed to save him, but in the process he caught a chill that turned to pneumonia. His friends and a woman named Julia Thomas tried to nurse him back to health, but Jacob died on October 25, 1891. Based on descriptions from Jacob, Julia and the two friends made an expedition into the Superstitions to find the mine and after five weeks they returned empty handed. Unfortunately, the descriptions the three obtained from Jacob were garbled as he had suffered a stroke by that time and was barely able to speak.
After that unsuccessful trek after Jacob's death, the legend of the mine continued to grow and was quickly dubbed 'The Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine'. At the time, many Americans confused Germans with Dutch, probably due to the German description of the old country as Deutschland. The mine wasn't Dutch, but it was most certainly lost.
Aside from Superstition Mountain, the most well-known landmark in the mountain range is Weaver's Needle. It is a 1,000 foot high column of rock that can be seen for miles around. It has a large split in the side that makes it look like it has two tops, not one, but this can be seen from only one side. Elevation at the summit of Weaver's Needle is 4,555 feet.
Sonoran Beginnings
Leticia Peralta could argue with anyone even when no-one was around. She was the 20-year-old granddaughter of Enrico Peralta who had been the leader of the last Peralta family expedition into the Superstition Mountains to mine gold on their property. Their property claims in that area, of course, were no longer valid after the Mexican-American War and the Gadsden Purchase. But, Leticia had something that no-one else had: the last map to the fabulously wealthy gold mine in the Superstitions. This was the source of her current conflict.
Her father had told everyone that the map was lost when his father, Enrico, had been brutally murdered by the Apache. He kept the existence of the map a secret, even from Leticia's brother who inherited the vast Peralta estates upon their father's death. Leticia's father fervently believed that the gold mine was cursed, but he had seen a certain practicality and determination in his daughter that was not evident in her brother. Rather than consign the treasured map to dust, he gave it to Leticia with the strict proviso that she tell no-one of its existence, and to be very careful with the information on the map.
She kept her word, and as a result was now engaged in a heated argument with both her brother and mother about her desire to ride north to the Arizona territory. She claimed to them that she needed to see the general area where the 400 members of the last Peralta gold mining expedition had died. She said she wanted to honor her father's last wish for her to place a lily in honor of his brother, Enrico, and had made her promise with his last breath to do so. She could not be dissuaded. Try as they might, both brother and mother knew that once Leticia had set her mind on something, there was nothing they were going to do to stop her, short of shackling her to her bed.
Of course, she had made up the story about her father's wish, but since she alone was in the room when he finally passed, there was no-one to refute what may have been said. It made a convenient story for her to go to Arizona and search for the mine. People of all sorts came to speak with her father about his recollections on the fateful trip, and he had purposefully confused his stories, often contradicting himself. As a result, he died with everyone believing he was a crazy old man. Everyone, that is, except his devoted daughter.
The arguing now a distant memory, the family prepared Leticia for her trip north as best they could ... and as much as Leticia would allow. Her brother continued to insist that one of the rancheros escort her for her own safety, but Leticia refused. She did not want any unnecessary attention and a body guard would create exactly that. Leticia knew the risks of a woman traveling alone, but she was an excellent rider and an even better shot with a pistol.
When necessary, she could be beguiling as well. She was tall, athletic, and beautiful with dark eyes that beckoned when she batted her eyelashes. At one glance she could seem aristocratic, and in another glance she would appear to be feline and graceful. Her luxurious mane of jet black hair was usually tied back in a ponytail, but when brushed out gave her the appearance of the second coming of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Her family had witnessed firsthand how she could mesmerize suitors and leave them tongue-tied with just a glance and a smile.
And so, on one fine spring day in 1893, Leticia Peralta gracefully mounted her horse, grasped the lead reins for a second horse loaded with supplies and left the Estancia de Peralta, promising her fearful mother that she would, one day soon, return to the Estancia.
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