Excellent post and questions by old pueblo I have posted my thoughts and opinions to some of them :
oldpueblo wrote:
A Few Thoughts....
Everyone,
Many valid questions have been asked and good observations have been made. I’ll try not to go over ground that has already been covered. Either those involved in the search and investigation was completely inept or it was done by design. I believe it was the latter. Complete deception from the start.
I agree it was by design. Something more than just an old man missing in the mountains was involved. The deception went all the way up the ladder to the top of the investigation.
If I were a betting man, I would put my money on Tex Barkley and Jeff Adams being the perpetrators of the crime. They would have the means, motive, and opportunity. I’ll go into more depth on my theory if need be. However, my theory is based on nothing more than intuition, speculation, and perhaps a bit of an overactive imagination.
Barkley and Adams did have means, motive and opportunity but because they both had alabai’s backed up by others they were never considered “suspects.”
A couple of good questions have been asked about the location of the actual crime. If Ruth was found on Peters Mesa, why would Barkley move the body, and why would he admit to it? I would think that if any circumstantial or physical evidence were found it could easily be written off as a result of moving the body.
This is one of the most perplexing questions of the Ruth mystery. There is no doubt Ruth died on Peters Mesa. Maricopa County took authority of the search and investigation, gathered all the evidence, took possession of the remains and prepared and signed the death certificate. When Collins Morse sounded the first alarm that Ruth was missing he went to Maricopa Sheriff MacFadden and told him, ….“ Adolph Ruth is missing in the Superstition Mountains in Maricopa County”. Morse did not contact Pinal County Sheriff Walter Laveen even though Ruth’s Willow Spring camp was clearly in Pinal County. Why did he go to Sheriff MacFadden? Because he knew the last place Ruth was seen alive wasn’t in Pinal County and very well knew where to start MacFadden looking for Ruth.
If all they did was move the body, there are very serious and multiple charges that should have been brought against them. Why weren't they charged with anything? If you believe this was about scattered cattle, then I’ve got some ocean front property in Arizona I’d like to sell you.
You are exactly right. Moving a dead body from its place of death when the death was a homicide was a felony. But since Ruth’s death was never officially ruled a homicide Adams and Barkley were only guilty of hindering an investigation. Since Adams was working at the bequest of Sheriff MacFadden the moving of Ruth was not prosecuted and in fact was actually covered up, hidden from the press and used as a key piece of evidence to catch anyone who might have known the fact of where Ruth actually met his end.
If Ruth’s body was not found on Peters Mesa, why would they lie about it? To mislead and deceive, a good way to muddy the waters. If anyone outside the circle of corruption was interested in this case, why not send them on a wild goose chase. I imagine they would send them a good distance away from their actual area of interest. A little sleight of hand could go a long way.
Jeff Adams slipped up when on July 17, 1931 he talked casually with several people and told the story of finding one of Ruth’s maps whereby he, Barkley and three friends followed the map/directions for two days of hard labor through the roughest place he had ever seen in the Superstitions. He told of a cave that they were able to locate on that map but said they were unable to find the mine. No mention was made of finding that map on Ruth’s remains when Adams told this story on July 17. Then, 6 months later in January 1932, Adams told this EXACT SAME STORY to Phoenix reporters. The only difference was this time Adams and Barkley had just found the remains of Ruth and that is when they took the map from Ruth’s body and followed it. Adams had been completely unaware that his July 17 story had been told by someone to the press and had been printed in a Phoenix newspaper. At this point Sheriff MacFadden and everyone who had been paying attention realized Adams and Barkley had actually found Ruth NOT in January of 1932 but in July of 1931.
I’d like to ask a few questions that I do not know the answer to. Did Jim Bark know Adolf Ruth? Did Jim Bark know Walt Gassler? In his letter to Sims Ely he came to the area quickly. In that letter he seems more interested in the investigation and those involved than the LDM. He also seems to show some genuine concern for Ruth’s family. Why would he suggest that Northcutt Ely gain power of attorney for them? He also wrote that if it came to a show down that there may be something in it for the family. What did he mean by this statement? Prosecution, justice, or a monetary benefit? I don’t know. Why were Tex Barkley, his wife, and Jeff Adams so evasive of Jim Bark? It sounds like they didn’t want Jim Bark involved in any way in the investigation.
It’s highly unlikely Bark and Adolph Ruth ever met. Also not likely Bark and Gassler ever met either. Jim Bark and others at the time (1932) actually believed a mine had been located and Bark was concerned the Ruth family would be cut out of it. While Jim Bark was a friend of the Barkley’s and Adams, they were involved in something bigger than Ruth and if they told Bark everything they couldn’t be sure if he would keep their confidence or break the whole thing wide open. This is why they needed to keep Bark at arm’s length.
I also find Walt Gassler’s arrival on the scene interesting. Possibly just another coincidence. Yeah, right. Another plot of ocean front property just opened up. Why did Walt Gassler go to Tennessee? From what I can tell, he was around the Lookout Mountain area. Interesting, that location is also close to Dahlonega and Auraria, Georgia. Did those involved with the search and investigation play Bark and Gassler for fools, or was it the other way around?
There is no doubt Walter Gassler knew more, much more about the Ruth mystery than what Tex had told him about finding Ruth on Peters Mesa.
Matthew that was an honorable gesture trying to give Roland Gassler that ore sample even if the meeting wasn’t successful.
Walter had several pieces of ore that I knew of. I wanted to offer this particular piece to Roland because it was a special piece Walter believed came from the LDM. Walter had told me on more than occasion that his wife and children did not want him looking for the LDM and discouraged him at every opportunity. I have come to believe that Roland simply does not care about his father’s interest in the LDM and would rather not be reminded of it.
One thing I do find curious, Walt Gassler spent many years in the Superstitions supposedly looking for the LDM. From the outside that sounds like a man that is very determined and fixated on that goal. Why would he give away specific specimens of ore that might help him in his search? Maybe it was his way of passing out clues to things that he already knew the exact location of. All done without saying a word, if so it’s brilliant really.
In the fall of 1983 Walter asked me to go into the mountains and do something for him. He was planning a trip to his old camp on Peters Mesa and wanted me to set some things up for him. He was making final plans to file claim on the LDM. I of course told him I would be glad to help and that is when he gave me the piece of ore and his map. I also have Walter’s map with his notations on it that Walter gave me. Not a copy of his map, his actual topographic map he used when in the mountains. Walter gave me specific instructions and his map had directions written on it to show me where he wanted me to go. I also wanted to show that map to Roland that day because it had Walter’s handwriting and notes all over it and where he had marked the location of Ruth’s body and where Walter believed the mine was located.
This statement is about the death of Adolph Ruth as a whole. Say someone is looking out at a relatively calm surface of the sea. We never know the depth, intensity, or turbulent undercurrents that flow just beneath that surface.
My feelings exactly. The Ruth mystery involves so much that is hidden below the surface, like an iceberg with only the tip showing out of the water.
P.S. Wasn’t Jeff Adams known to carry a large caliber handgun? Just another coincidence I suppose.
Jeff Adams was twice Sheriff of Maricopa County. He was 70 and in retirement in 1931 when Sheriff MacFadden asked him to spearhead the search for the missing Adolph Ruth. Adams had ranched the northern parts of the Superstition Mountains and knew the Superstitions better than anyone. Adams had a wide collections of firearms and knew how to use every one of them.
Old Pueblo
