When I first seriously began to look at the Adolph Ruth mystery I was like so many others had been, overwhelmed by the mountain of contradicting news reports, rumors and stories that have circulated for the past 80 years. None of it made sense and reading the many books and articles that were published on the subject just repeated the same conflicting and confusing story over and over again.
It took a long time of putting together all the newspaper articles, personal accounts and Sheriff's reports to finally make some sense of it all. The only way to cut through the fog of misinformation that had stood for years was to try to establish a timeline of all the events from the time Ruth left Washington D.C. to the time the Ruth investigation finally closed. This included an accurate account of the names of everyone who was involved and their involvement with Ruth and each other. Had it not been for B. David Russell, a Phoenix Businessman, Historian and Preservationist, this would never have been possible.
To begin to understand the Ruth mystery you have to start with the man who was responsible for Adolph Ruth coming to Arizona, Cal Morse.
Who was Cal Morse and how/why was he involved with Adolph Ruth ?
Collins R. “Cal” Morse was the youngest son of Joseph R. Morse. It was Joseph Morse along with Collins Hakes and the Merrill brothers, Oren and Orlando, who in 1892 discovered the Goldfield mines on the west side Superstition Mountain.
Joseph Morse was a Mesa pioneer. A successful prospector, land owner and was involved in developing some of the most successful mines in Pinal, Maricopa and Gila Counties. His son “Cal” Morse followed in his father’s footsteps prospecting and locating mining claims until a hunting accident ended his days in the mountains.
Cal Morse was a successful Mesa businessman. He operated two gas/service stations, a grocery outlet, fruit orchard, cotton fields, restaurant, a rural mail drop and a bus stop for the Motor Transport Bus Line of America.
Cal Morse never lost his appetite for prospecting. He was known to grubstake many enterprising men ready to search the mountains and swing a pick. Morse was well known to everyone in the Mesa community. He was active in the Mormon Church and influential in the politics of Mesa in the early 1900’s. His close friends included Sharlot Hall, Arizona’s first woman State representative, and Arizona Governor George W.P. Hunt.
Cal Morse employed many men over the years as mechanics, farm labor, fruit pickers, cooks and odd jobs for his various business enterprises. Two of the men in Morse employ in 1931 when Adolph Ruth came to Arizona were LeRoy Purnell and Jack Keenan. Both men had worked for Morse for several years at a variety of jobs. Keenan lived in a little shack he rented from Morse behind one of Morse’s gas stations. LeRoy Purnell also occasionally rented living quarters from Morse. Cal Morse had a ranch and large comfortable ranch home along the “Apache Trail” some 15 miles east of Mesa.
Morse regularly grubstaked a few prospectors who were more or less in partnership with him on mining enterprises. These people were close personal friends of Morse. Some had worked and done odd jobs for him and one in particular had prospected with Morse in the days before Morse’s accident. These people had more than just a passing relationship with Cal Morse.
The people involved in prospecting with Morse in 1931 when Adolph Ruth came to Arizona were:
Charles Knickerbocker, an auto painter by trade who often prospected the Superstition Mountains while grubstaked by Morse. Morse and Knickerbocker were deeply involved with a prospecting discovery in early 1931 and it was this discovery that led to Adolph Ruth coming to Arizona in May 1931.
John Sellars, a construction worker by trade, Sellars and Charles Knickerbocker had prospected together many times and both men were grubstaked by Morse. Sellars was a large strong man capable of hard back breaking work.
George Bashford, a longtime personal friend of Cal Morse. Bashford had known and prospected with Morse’s father. Bashford himself was a successful prospector around the Prescott and Mayer areas around the turn of the century (1900). In 1931 Bashford was at Mesa prospecting the Superstition and Mazatzal Mountains and being grubstaked by his friend Cal Morse. Bashford was down and out at this point in his life (1931) having lost almost everything in the depression of 1929. He divided his time between living out in the mountains and on Morse’s ranch east of Mesa. Bashford was an old Arizona pioneer, a hard, rugged man who had fought in the Spanish American war and was known by many to be a dangerous man to trifle with.
When Adolph Ruth came to Arizona in May 1931 to search for the Peralta/Dutchman mines he came at the request of Cal Morse and stayed with Morse at his ranch east of Mesa. These are the men, for better or worse, Adolph Ruth became involved with upon his arrival:
Cal Morse, Charles Knickerbocker, Jack Keenan, LeRoy Purnell, John Sellars and George Bashford.
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