First of all I told you the maps my cousin Cec had, long ago had been lost in a fire. So you probably think I'm a lying to you. It is hard to prove I ever seen the maps much less been to the mine.  The maps were not important unless you had someone like Ed who had been in the Superstitions for twenty five years to read them for you.  Cec spent three or for years almost every week end and his vacations looking with the maps and found nothing. It wasnt til he showed the maps to Ed that anyone made heads or tails of them.

    I wrote this part of the story a while back, so it will over lap some of what I have already told you

As time passed, I started spending most nights at Cec's house.  His job took him from Portland to Roseburg Oregon. Cec spent the night in Roseburg then a night at home. So every other day I was at his place. We looked over: maps, aerial photographs, read books and articles, and he told me all he could about the Dutchman Mine and Ed Piper.
 
 

    Cec said: Me an Ed decided to go see if we could find the mine shown on the maps. Showing me one of the maps.  the map showed a skyline, he said Ed knew and showed him. It showed a cactus with varus markings on it, a kidney vein.
Ed took him to a place in the Superstitions about an hours walk from Ed's camp. Ed pointed to the mountains an said do they look like the skyline drawing? Cec Said Exactly.  Then they walked up a canyon and finally Ed showed Cec the cactus. The Cactus was about twenty or more feet tall, with an arrow deeply etched in it.  Cec showed me a picture of the cactus and the mark looked very old, you could see it was about four inches deep looked black and the edges were withered.  The map showed the mine to have two shafts, one high the other down the canyon near the bottom.

    In the mountains the indians kept an army, Cec told me. Not always the same me, A Indian we called Little Foot because Cec said he left little foot prints. Little foot smoked white filter cigarettes. Cec said: Little foot was the chief of the army and their job was to guard the sacred burial grounds, where the ancient great chiefs from hundreds of years ago are laid.  the army had about thirty five warriors in it. Cec told me Little Foots real name, but i can't remember it.  His name was spanish. Little foots Mother was a Mexican woman, his Father Indian.

    Cecil told me about other people who lived in the mountains. A opera singer. This opera singer had a map and had hired a crew of Mexicans to help her look for the Lost Dutchman.  The opera singer was from Chicago. for some reason her an Ed had a feud going. Mostly over water I think. Ed lived in the only place in that part of the mountains that had any water all year.  At night someone would shoot into Ed's camp and Ed would return fire. this went on many nights Cec said.  Someone want to chase Ed away from the water and keep him from looking for the mine. Finally Ed killed a man who worked for the Opera singer. Ed got off on self defense.  A strange thing, the man pulled a gun on Ed but the firing pin had been filled off an the gun wouldn't fire.  Cec figured someone had sent him to kill Ed but filed down the firing pin so Ed would kill the man instead and go to prison. That way no Ed, an no questions about who murdered who. Well Ed didn't get charged with murder  and not long after the opera singer left.

    Chuck lived in the superstions also an old prospector who had been there for many years. Him an his wife use to visit at Ed's camp a lot. Cec said Chuck would throw cans in the air and shoot them first with one hand the the other. Chuck had said if anyone finds the mine it's mine because I have been here longer than anyone else.  Chuck finally died of natural causes and his wife moved to Apache Junction.

    Others hung out in the Superstitions. Some running form the law that would kill a camper for his food.
 
 

In the area where a lot of people believed the mine to be, was a stand off in the 1960's  any one thought to be getting close would surly get a few shots fired at them or into them.