"Dead Man Who Walks Away" Author Herbert Ely on the Sunbury Press Books Show

Legend, fiction, and reality collide in the Dead Man Who Walks Away series, brought to the Milford House imprint of Sunbury Press Books. Author Herbert Dean Ely tells of the Peralta Mining Expedition in the mid-19th century and its annihilation, verified by the bones of men, horses, and mules in a place called "Massacre Ground." The story goes, however, that there was one survivor, who was assisted in a bar fight by Jacob Waltz. In gratitude, Waltz is shown what became known as the "Lost Dutchman Mine." 

While fiction, Ely follows the trail and has determined that the above legend is the only one that makes sense, regarding the origin of the gold that came out of the mine. Ely examines the Peralta expedition, as well as the point of view of the Yavapai and Apache tribes. 

Ely served in the US Air Force, including time within the Strategic Air Command--Underground. He later worked in management and executive positions in the cement and armored car/ATM industries. For the past 40 years, he has lived in Arizona near Superstition Mountain. This has resulted in his keen interest in legends of the Southwest US, and he is also one of the few who has located and indeed seen the Lost Dutchman Mine.