The Mountains
The Superstition Mountains in Arizona are a place of mystery and wonder. Rising just shy of a mile in the air at 5,059 feet and sprawling across 160,000 acres of desolate, mountainous terrain, they are believed to hold the richest gold mine in America — the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. The mine is notorious, a legend carried throughout the centuries. Prospectors and seekers have vanished and died chasing it. Hundreds of books have been written. Maps drawn. The U.S. government even claimed the entire mountain as their own, taking all mineral rights.
That hasn't stopped the Dutchman Hunters, as they're called. The person who discovers the mine would have their name go down in history. This story touches the Apache Indians, Spanish conquistadors, Jesuit priests — and a 21st-century Dutchman Hunter from Colorado who vanished.
His name was Jesse Capen.
Jesse Capen
A Denver bellhop, Jesse's interest in the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine was sparked in his mid-twenties — at that time, nothing more than a cool idea that a gold mine existed in a place with harsh, underdeveloped landscapes, protected by indigenous people for centuries. As his interest grew, he read more. During slow hours at the Sheridan Denver Downtown Hotel, he'd have a Dutchman book open at the desk. His interest slowly progressed over the years. Interest became passion.
He studied over 100 books, looking for patterns and overlapping maps. Like many before him, he looked for the gaps — where books didn't say exactly the same thing, but said similar things, as if specific details had been deliberately obscured. He cross-referenced documented searches and deselected locations where others had already looked and recorded their results. He was methodical. He was serious. And he was convinced.
Jesse even made a couple of trips to the area beforehand — talking with locals, checking out places to stay and camp, building a feel for the terrain. He continued preparing right up until he took the entire month of December off work, leaving Denver's freezing temperatures for the 60-degree warmth of the Arizona desert.
Before the Conquistadors
The Apache tribes had looked to the Superstition Mountains as sacred ground long before any modern man set foot there — the home of their Thunder God. When the Spanish arrived in 1540, led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, the conquistadors cared little about Apache customs or beliefs. On horseback, they pushed into Apache territory and slaughtered many, seeking the legendary Seven Golden Cities of Cíbola. They followed trails marked with petroglyphs from centuries before. They found nothing.
Two centuries passed. Then came the Peraltas.
The Peralta Family
Don Miguel Peralta of Sonora, a Mexican cattle baron, received the Superstitions as part of a land grant in 1740 — along with 3,750 square miles of what is now Arizona. The area held not just one rich gold mine, but multiple silver mines. The first official mine on record was the Peralta Silver Mine. Over the following century, the Peralta family made sporadic journeys into Arizona, returning with cargos of ore, taking care not to stir the Apaches. For a time, the caution worked.
Eventually, the lure of more gold outweighed the risk. In 1846, Enrico, Pedro, Ramon, and Manuel Peralta made their journey — and returned laden with gold, already planning another trip. Maps were drawn with a cipher only the family could read. But Pedro Peralta wanted more. Against family wishes, he returned to Arizona the following year and found even more gold. This time, the Apaches were ready. Pedro Peralta and his entire caravan were attacked, their blood and gold spilled across the desert landscape. They never returned home. Those trails are still marked today as the Peralta Trail.
The land became part of the American territories in 1864. On October 3rd, 1905, the Superstition Mountain became Tonto National Forest. All the land — and whatever gold lay beneath it — belonged to the government.
December 4, 2009
Now 35 years old, a decade of study behind him and books in hand, Jesse packed his car. The formidable man — standing six foot four — climbed in and began the drive from Denver to the Superstition Mountains. This wasn't just a trip. It was a quest.
On December 3rd, 2009, he turned into an Apache Junction motel parking lot, just southwest of the mountains. He told the proprietor he planned to return each week to restock and had enough supplies for a month. The folks in AJ — as locals call it — keep to themselves. They obliged, and agreed to hold his belongings. A returning guest is always welcome, and Jesse's decade in hospitality had given him the kind of smile people remember.
The next day, he made his way to Tortilla Flats. He had his backpack, GPS, map, food, and water. Before heading into the wilderness, he stopped at an informal trail sign-in sheet and wrote his name in the tin container:
Colorado — Jesse Capen — December 4, 2009.
Then he continued on.
The Wilderness
The Superstition Wilderness is one of the most inhospitable places on earth. It is home to black bears and mountain lions. Dozens of other creatures can cause debilitating harm or death — from Gila monsters, whose venomous bite has no antidote and sends the body into shock, to rattlesnakes, black widows, centipedes, and multiple species of scorpions. Any one of these can cause excruciating pain, cardiac complications, and hysteria. The terrain itself is punishing: sheer rock faces, exposed ridgelines, and near-zero infrastructure once you leave the marked trails behind.
And yet the Apache and Yavapai peoples called it home for centuries. Dutchman Hunters have walked those trails for generations, drawn by the same pull that drove Jesse. Most came back. Jesse did not.
The Search
When Jesse failed to return, search teams faced a daunting task. He hadn't told his mother or anyone else where specifically he was looking. It was a solo trip with no itinerary. The Superstition Wilderness is 160,000 acres. Jesse was simply gone.
Four years passed.
Then a hiker found some belongings scattered across the landscape — Jesse Capen's backpack, his camera, map, and GPS. An unrolled sleeping bag. Other items. The discovery prompted search teams to resume, but it would be another year before Jesse himself was found.
The treasure hunter fell victim to the mountains. His skeletal remains were located at the bottom of a 180-foot cliff. Given the distance from his name in that tin container and the location of his remains, investigators believe he died the same day he entered the wilderness — December 4, 2009.
Jesse, may you rest in peace. And the secrets of the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine — perhaps they are now with you.