The mysterious death of Adolph Ruth

[Treasure_Hunter]

CatcusJumper, mods were not born yesterday, end the innuendo insults or lose the right to post...

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[markmar]

Matthew

I don't know if is the right place , but if you don't mind , can you post a picture of W.Gassler gold ore specimen that he gave you , just because you referred to it and all the people in this forum would like to see it ( include me ) .

 

[EarnieP]

I didn't know Mike was that big, I'll have to be nicer to him.

Dave you know that saying about about ounces make pounds, and pounds make weight.
Those seven pounds seem to grow heavier after awhile.

 

[gollum]

hello Gregory, this is a very good and very complex question. As in most all disappearance and "suspected" murder investigations, the last people to have been with, or seen with or talked with the victim last, are always considered suspects until they can be cleared by a confirmed "alibi". The issue of an alibi was confused in the Ruth investigation because the established time of Mr. Ruth's disappearance was known only to those who were the prime suspects.

The prime suspects in Adolph Ruth's disappearance were: LeRoy Purnell, Jack Keegan and Collins Morse.

As the investigation proceeded and more facts and information were learned, a whole host of persons became what investigators called, "persons of interest".

Those people were, in no special order of importance; Ray Howland, Wm.A. Barkley, Milton Rose, Thomas Dickens, George B. Holmes.

It should be made clear that none of these people were accused of any wrongdoing. Nor were any of them ever charged with anything. They all were, however, questioned repeatedly by the Maricopa County Sheriff's office.

Maricopa Co. Deputy investigator Lon Jordan was the person in charge of the Ruth missing persons investigation. Later that investigation became a cause of death investigation. Sheriff MacFadden had little to do with the investigation because bu October of 1931 he was completely consumed by the Winnie Ruth-Judd double murder case. MacFaddens contribution to the Adolph Ruth matter was mostly photo ops.

A few things that contradict some myths and beliefs about the Adolph Ruth mystery: Adolph Ruth was perfectly able to drive his automobile. He shared expenses and driving time with a man going to the west coast. Ruth could not drive continuously and needed to be spelled because his right leg would eventually cramp up on him. This was due to his breaking his leg in the Anza-Borego desert looking for a lost mine in the 20's. Also Ruth's night vision was not good for driving after dark.

The man's name who accompanied Ruth to Arizona was known only to Adolph Ruth. Ruth's wife and family did not want him to make the trip to Arizona and they did not know the man who was accompanying him on the Journey. Ruth had purchased a new automobile in March 1931 for the trip, a 1930 Essex. Collins Cal Morse remembered meeting the man who accompanied Ruth and was introduced to him but later when pressed could not recall his name. The man waited at Morse's place for the bus then got on and finished his journey to California. Somehow a story got circulated that the man's name was McKnight, but McKnight was Wil McKnight a nephew or cousin of Tex Barkley who was working at the Barkley ranch and was present at Cal Morse Bus Stop and Gas Station when Mr. Ruth arrived there. Tex Barkley's mother was living in Mesa at the time, her maiden name was McKnight.

later on in the investigation, after Ruth's skull was found with what appeared to be a bullet hole through it, more names were added to the Sheriff's list of "persons of interest".

Matthew

Does it mention Ray Howland's age at the time? Wasn't he the packer that eventually worked for Crazy Jake? That name sounds awfully familiar. Maybe a son? I seem to remember that name associated with the Walter Gassler Story. I hate being away from all my crap.

 

[azdave35]

I didn't know Mike was that big, I'll have to be nicer to him.

Dave you know that saying about about ounces make pounds, and pounds make weight.
Those seven pounds seem to grow heavier after awhile.

i know earnie...i usually try to travel as light as possible

 

[nobodie]

At the time of Ruths death, who owned the Quarter Circle U ranch?

 

[gollum]

deducer,

When it came to spinning a yarn, few could equal Ernie Provence, but I believe Gene would have given him a run for his money. Two very interesting men . Lots of other names could be added.

Good luck,

Joe

Hey Joe,

I don't know if it was Magill or Gene, but somebody modified that Ruth map of the Gonzalez Mine in Anza Borrego to show it on the side of Borrego Mountain. I thought it must have been Gene, because there is a 25 foot deep prospect there. A mine in sandstone and fractured granite would have been dug at about eight feet per year. The Lost Gonzalez Mine was worked for many years, and would have been much deeper than 25 feet. I have posted pics before of the mine that Gene claimed was the Lost Gonzalez.

 

[deducer]

Does it mention Ray Howland's age at the time? Wasn't he the packer that eventually worked for Crazy Jake? That name sounds awfully familiar. Maybe a son? I seem to remember that name associated with the Walter Gassler Story. I hate being away from all my crap.

From Greg Davis:

Milton Rose knew Ray Howland very well for he, along with Milt's father, various friends like, John D. Mitchell, Irwin, and other's would sit around the old pot belley stove at the Mesa Tribune in the evening after Milt's father would put the paper to bed and swap Lost Mine Stories long into the night. Just like Dutch Hunters do today. Milt told me that Ray was a car painter and would earn a living by applying his trade between lost mine hunting trips. Milt also mentioned that Ray moved to a small shack on the Agua Frie (Spelling? Sorry, don't have my dictionary with me today), River to the West of Phoenix. Ray had all of his notes, letters, maps, including the map Liz said came from her Uncle, and a manuscript he has written about the Lost Dutchman Mine to publish in a trunk. Here is the bad news. His shack and all his belongings including the trunk were washed away and lost in a flood. Milt said that after Ray lost all his things in the flood, he kind of lost interest in everything.

He was 35 in 1918, which makes him 48 in 1931.

 

[deducer]

At the time of Ruths death, who owned the Quarter Circle U ranch?

Tex Barkley.

 

[nobodie]

Erwin said his father stayed at Barkleys Ranch.

 

[Matthew Roberts]

Erwin said his father stayed at Barkleys Ranch.

nobodie,

This is where you need to become a detective and weigh what you are reading against the whole of everything that was known and reported during the Ruth disappearance.

If you take what Erwin Ruth wrote and take it without question, 100% literally you would come to the conclusion that his father Adolph stayed at the Barkley Ranch May 13 — June 13.

But this statement flies in the face of every newspaper article that was published, every witness statement made under oath and the actual timeline of what occurred.
There is no doubt Adolph Ruth talked with Tex Barkley and his family, spent time at the Quarter Circle U ranch and may even have spent a night or two there between May 13 — June 13. But the timeline of what actually happened does not support in any way what Erwin Ruth wrote.

The old accepted story is that Adolph Ruth stayed at the QCU Ranch and two of Tex Barkley’s wranglers took him into the mountains on June 13. Tex was away for three (3) days selling cattle and when he returned (June 16) he immediately went in to check on Ruth and couldn’t find him so he came right back out and called the Maricopa Sheriff and reported Ruth missing.


The only problem with this story is, none of it happened.

The actual timeline supported by both newspaper accounts and the sworn statements of everyone involved is as follows:

May 13, 1931 Adolph Ruth arrives in Arizona at Cal Morse ranch.

June 13, 1931 LeRoy Purnell and Jack Keegan, two of Cal Morse employees take Ruth into a camp in West Boulder Canyon.

June 23, 1931 (10 days after Ruth was packed into his camp) Jack Keenan discovers Adolph Ruth is missing from his camp. Keegan comes back out of the mountains and informs Cal Morse that Ruth cannot be located.

June 24, 1931 Cal Morse telephones Maricopa Co. Sheriff James MacFadden and informs him Adolph Ruth has gone missing in Maricopa County in the Superstition Mountains. Cal Morse then travels into Phoenix to confer with Sheriff MacFadden about Ruth’s activities, his disappearance and possible whereabouts.

June 24, 1931 Sheriff MacFadden informs both Jeff Adams and Tex Barkley that Adolph Ruth is missing in the Superstition Mountains. Tex Barkley is completely unaware that Ruth had even gone into the mountains 11 days earlier.

June 25, 1931 The search for Adolph Ruth begins, Jeff Adams, Chester McGee and Tex Barkley are the first to arrive at Ruth’s camp in West Boulder Canyon.

Erwin Ruth also perpetuated the story of Tex Barkley going in and finding Ruth missing from his camp, coming out and calling the Sheriff. According to the story this would have been 3 days after Ruth was packed into his camp (June 16, 1931). However, the actual truth is that Ruth was not reported missing until June 24, 1931 and by Cal Morse, not Tex Barkley.

Why this story of Tex Barkley being gone selling cattle for three days then going in to find Ruth missing and calling the Sheriff was started and spread is one of the true mysteries of the Ruth disappearance.

Matthew

 

[nobodie]

I'm not very good at this, but you would think that Erwin kept in touch with his father by at least a written letter. With the mystery surrounding Area Ruths death, including the moving of his body. Any information fed to the newspaper could be wrong.

 

[Matthew Roberts]

I'm not very good at this, but you would think that Erwin kept in touch with his father by at least a written letter. With the mystery surrounding Area Ruths death, including the moving of his body. Any information fed to the newspaper could be wrong.

nobodie,

The more you look into the details of the Ruth mystery, the deeper you dig, you soon realize there was a very extensive cover up of the true facts. Why this happened is not clear but it seems someone(s) were being covered for.
The newspapers got a lot wrong, even Tex Barkley was called Tex Walker in one article. But they also got a lot right. A lot of the newspaper articles came straight from the Sheriff's briefing of reporters.
To make sense of what happened one has to read everything, the factual as well as the things that got reported backwards.

To believe Adolph Ruth stayed with Tex Barkley you would also have to also believe that Ruth was taken into the Superstitions on the 13th of June and Tex Barkley didn't even know anything about it until the 24th of June when Sheriff MacFadden informed him Ruth was missing.
I think Tex would have missed the old man sometime during those 11 days if Ruth had been staying with him.

Matthew

 

[nobodie]

What I am getting from everything that I've been reading on this thread and other things, and just my opinion, it seems the murder was being pulled away from Tex Barkley, his ranch everything that was his.

 

[Cubfan64]

Just a quick comment - one of the men who reportedly packed A Ruth into the mountains was Jack Keenan, not Jack Keegan. Not really that big of a deal, but if anyone wants to dig deeper into researching the person just wanted you to have the right name.

 

[motel6.5]

The attached map is a copy from the original Gonzales map. I cannot say if modifications were made. According to B. Storm , Gonzaless showed the map to Charles M. Clark , who was the telegrapher at Maricopa.

 

[azdave35]

The attached map is a copy from the original Gonzales map. I cannot say if modifications were made. According to B. Storm , Gonzaless showed the map to Charles M. Clark , who was the telegrapher at Maricopa.

the name b. storm should raise a red flag

 

[motel6.5]

A red flag is better than a white flag,and maybe a lot closer to X marks the Golden Fleece.

 

[cactusjumper]

The attached map is a copy from the original Gonzales map. I cannot say if modifications were made. According to B. Storm , Gonzaless showed the map to Charles M. Clark , who was the telegrapher at Maricopa.

motel,

The picture you have posted is an exact tracing of the map that Erie Schaffer had. The tracing was done by my uncle, Chuck Ribaudo. If you use the picture in the future, please give my uncle the credit. It was first posted by me.

Good luck,

Joe Ribaudo

 

[markmar]

motel6.5

The map you posted , was not a copy from the map which Gonzales showed to Charles Clark . That map , has depicted a line which connects the Weavers Needle with Four Peaks .