Mountains of Superstition in the USA: photo, description, history, myths

Those who think that places full of mysteries and mysticism are only in science fiction films are very much mistaken. In fact, there are many of them, and the mountains of Superstition, located in North America, in the state of Arizona, are irrefutable proof of this. Once, at the dawn of civilization, these harsh, arid territories were turned by Indian tribes into fertile lands by creating a perfect irrigation system that stretched for hundreds of kilometers.

Made to last, the canals still serve local residents who are surprised at the high level of development of the Hohokama Indians. But not only this is famous in history, these tribes, who left their lands in the mountains under the pressure of the Europeans who occupied America in the 16th century. The stay of the Indians in the mountains gave rise to many legends associated with gold deposits.

Legends and myths

The times of the Indians have sunk into oblivion, and legends and myths about countless gold treasures from the 18th century to the present day continue to excite the minds and hearts of Americans. One of the legends, telling about the seven cities, standing on a gold mine, marked the beginning of a real “gold rush” among the Spaniards who settled in the present mountains of Superstition.

Numerous expeditions were undertaken, the search efforts of which ended unsuccessfully. But when the Franciscan monk put forward the idea of ​​finding gold from the Indians, in 1540 the Spanish army of Francis de Coronado raided the mountains, where there were then still numerous Indian tribes. However, the army could not find anything, while suffering considerable losses of soldiers after the battle with dexterous and hardy Indians, selflessly fighting for their mountains. Francis withdrew the troops with nothing, but the claims of the Spaniards did not end there.

According to another legend, they took the Indians by cunning, ingratiating themselves with them and finding out the location of the mysterious gold mines. For decades, the Spaniards mined the precious metal and shipped it to Spain, strictly forbidding the Indians to show the location of the mines to anyone else. One of the legends tells of a sacred grotto in the mountains of Superstition, the entrance of which serves as a gate to the other world, where the spirits of the Indians live, guarding gold and killing anyone who dares to approach it.

Despite fatal circumstances, people continued to stubbornly search for the yellow metal. It is known about one adventurer who emigrated from Germany in search of coveted gold, Jacob Wels. Together with the same fanatical treasure hunter, fellow countryman and namesake all rolled into one, Jacob Weisner, in 1846 he went to the mountains of Arizona, covered with unkind legends. According to the rumor of the third legend, after a long absence, he returned alone, loaded with gold, and told about his miraculous escape from the evil spirits that killed his companion.

The fourth legend already tells about the gold digger Julia, who learned about the gold mines from Weiss and after his death made an attempt to find them (the mines) and get rich. According to rumors, her company managed to do this, as they were guided by a map drawn by the late Weiss. But Julia returned alone, empty-handed, because everyone else had been killed. The shocked lady allegedly told about a meeting with the ghosts of previously dead gold hunters, who “guard” it too zealously, killing everyone who gets there. According to her, it is impossible to resist them: no bullets can take them.

Julia was declared crazy, many did not take her chilling story seriously, and extreme hikes continued. And each of them ended tragically: the participants died under strange circumstances, being tormented and beheaded. Mountains overgrown with terrible rumors, littered with bones and watered with blood, began to be called the mountains of Superstition, and the flow of those who want to find Jacob's gold does not stop.

The Reality of the Mountains Superstition

More recently, in 2010, when three young Americans – residents of Utah went to the mountains in the hope of finding a mine and disappeared. The undertaken searches, organized by relatives, did not give any result: only an empty car was found, left at the foot. And only in 2011, quite by accident, the bodies of the dead seekers were discovered in one of the gorges. Their death became a mystery, it only remained to guess what happened: either they themselves fell there by negligence, or some unknown force pushed the guys into the gorge.

But not only gold diggers are attracted by these mountains; scientists, geologists, researchers are seriously engaged in the study of canyons and peaks of mystical mountains, where they continue to conduct archaeological research, get acquainted with the flora and fauna of these places, find ancient artifacts. According to them, it was concluded that the first Apache Indians appeared here almost 9,000 years ago, with tireless work transforming the wilderness into habitable settlements and cities.

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Mastering and development

The active development of the mountains by tourists began in the late 90s, in connection with which the Superstition Mountains Museum was opened, which presents exhibits illustrating the history and life of the natives of America. Here you can also hear the stories of the guides about the unsuccessful search for fatal gold in the past centuries, which have become legends.

Now almost all mountain trails are trodden by inquisitive tourists, who look around with interest, the history of which is filled with scary stories. But this no longer frightens anyone, but, on the contrary, arouses even greater interest and a desire to wander around the mysterious, ghostly Indian settlement cities that still hold many secrets; look into the mysterious depths of canyons and gorges.

The tourist infrastructure is being developed: a chic comfortable hotel has been built, a sports complex with golf, tennis and basketball courts has been built. The mystical mountains have been declared a nature reserve protected by the state, because rare wild animals live here: cougars, brown bears, foxes. In addition, they store in their bowels not only ancient rarities, but, perhaps, indeed, they have countless gold reserves.