Was Adolph Ruth really seeking the Lost Dutchman mine or another?

[PotBelly Jim]

Good point. That pokes a hole in my theory, then.

What do you think happened?

I have no idea Just pointing out what I saw in the photos of Tex gathering up what was left of Ruth's bones and stuff. Could've happened like SH said? Or perhaps Ruth dropped right where they found most of him? I'm skeptical of "Ruth stories" that originated with Dutch Hunters, tho, as it seems their stories of Ruth's disappearance and later discovery, fit right nicely with their own theory of where the LDM is. I think all the old timers had their own version of events, the "Gassler Manuscript" and "Cox Notes" being just two.

For example, the Gassler story doesn't make much sense to me, as we're to believe that Tex moved Ruth's body from Peter's Mesa to keep Dutch Hunters from scattering cattle...so he moves it to...an even more valuable piece of his range, one that has good water nearby and is essentially where many trails converge in the western Supes (most trails in those mts went to/by reliable water). A place where his cattle are likely to stay comfy and relatively easy to round up? Then what does he supposedly do? After all that trouble of moving Ruth's body to keep dutch hunters off Peters Mesa, he turns around and tells a dutch hunter to go look for the LDM on: Peter's Mesa.

Not that I know what happened, of course

 

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[markmar]

Me , on my part, I'm convinced Ruth was searching for treasure ( gold bars ) using maybe an old Spanish map. And I say old Spanish because he wrote in his " Eagle head " map the word " varas " which was not commonly used in the Mexican era.
So IMHO, whatever Mexican mine he was looking for, would been a secondary target in his research.
There is also something depicted and written in his " Eagle head " map, a specific landmark which has written below " 39 steps to agua, 69 steps to mine ", clues which belong and fit only to a single spot, the treasure cave which was mentioned in the Sterling legend book written by Estee Conatser.
The Laurel grove that Ruth was looking for is just at the base of that landmark and on the trail. Of course there are many Laurel groves in the Superstitions and this should not be taken as a standard clue unless in the region exist and another clues which fit the map or the directions which were given. I found the place using a different map, but every map maker always has his own landmarks and clues selected. The right place is that which fits with different clues used in different maps and stories.
l will show you in some aerial images of how these clues from Ruth's map work. First,to post the fragment from the Ruth's map with the landmark and the words:



And now the explanation: While you are walking on the trail, at some point the trail goes through a Laurel grove, at the same point,if you are looking to the side of the mountain, you will see a cicle/round shape embeded on the mountainside. in that circle , about the centre, is a small boulder which looks like a straigh line with a round(?) shape at its base. From its base , if you measure to the water , are 39 steps ( red line ), and if you measure another 69 steps ( yellow line ) up and opposite the other direction, you will find the entrance to the mine/cave.
And the aerial images which show these descriptions are:

View attachment map.bmp View attachment Trmap.bmp

 

[deducer]

I have no idea Just pointing out what I saw in the photos of Tex gathering up what was left of Ruth's bones and stuff. Could've happened like SH said? Or perhaps Ruth dropped right where they found most of him? I'm skeptical of "Ruth stories" that originated with Dutch Hunters, tho, as it seems their stories of Ruth's disappearance and later discovery, fit right nicely with their own theory of where the LDM is. I think all the old timers had their own version of events, the "Gassler Manuscript" and "Cox Notes" being just two.

For example, the Gassler story doesn't make much sense to me, as we're to believe that Tex moved Ruth's body from Peter's Mesa to keep Dutch Hunters from scattering cattle...so he moves it to...an even more valuable piece of his range, one that has good water nearby and is essentially where many trails converge in the western Supes (most trails in those mts went to/by reliable water). A place where his cattle are likely to stay comfy and relatively easy to round up? Then what does he supposedly do? After all that trouble of moving Ruth's body to keep dutch hunters off Peters Mesa, he turns around and tells a dutch hunter to go look for the LDM on: Peter's Mesa.

Not that I know what happened, of course

I would question that the body was intended to be moved towards Marsh Valley, as I think you are suggesting. It was found on the little flat just before you drop down into Marsh Valley coming from 1st water on the trail, on the NE side of Black Top Mesa which is scarcely hospitable- certainly no cattle or water up there.

And as for Ruth's body being originally found at Peter's Mesa. Mathew Roberts raises an important point in another thread- he mentioned that when Cal Morse first called the sheriff to report Ruth missing, he called the Maricopa county sheriff, not the Pinal County sheriff.

You know of course, that neither Willow Springs (Ruth's reported "last camp") or where his body was found, are in Maricopa county, but Peter's Mesa is in Maricopa county.

Was that a slip on Cal Morse's part?

 

[Idahodutch]

I would question that the body was intended to be moved towards Marsh Valley, as I think you are suggesting. It was found on the little flat just before you drop down into Marsh Valley coming from 1st water on the trail, on the NE side of Black Top Mesa which is scarcely hospitable- certainly no cattle or water up there.

And as for Ruth's body being originally found at Peter's Mesa. Mathew Roberts raises an important point in another thread- he mentioned that when Cal Morse first called the sheriff to report Ruth missing, he called the Maricopa county sheriff, not the Pinal County sheriff.

You know of course, that neither Willow Springs (Ruth's reported "last camp") or where his body was found, are in Maricopa county, but Peter's Mesa is in Maricopa county.

Was that a slip on Cal Morse's part?

Perhaps it was.
Perhaps Ruth was moved more than once, and by different folk, for different reasons.
Perhaps he was shot right there on NE part of Blacktop Mesa, and animals moved the head.
Sure is mystery. I know it sounds goofy, but if he was moved more than once, it certainly would have confounded things to the point where we are now. Signs that may reveal motives are mixed up. Just thinking out loud, don’t mind me.

 

[PotBelly Jim]

I've seen stories that both counties were contacted, and we know from news reporting that both sheriffs got posse's into the mts. When a guy goes missing from his camp in June, I don't think they split too many hairs over the county line, they just mount up and get after it. Which the evidence seems to indicate they did.

Deducer, I wasn't suggesting the body was moved from Peter's Mesa to where it was found. I was saying that to do so, for the reasons stated, doesn't make much sense to me...especially when Tex turns around and sends a guy up to Peters Mesa after he goes thru so much trouble to get Ruth's body out of there. So in my opinion, Ruth dying right where they found him makes more sense. I wouldn't be surprised if he either 1) died from exposure/thirst, or 2) someone shot him and caved a bank in over him. That his body wasn't found until after the monsoons, indicates it was hidden well enough (either by bad luck or someone covering him up) that it took the rains to wash stuff around enough, to make it possible to find his skull down on the flat, and perhaps his body also (if it was covered by someone).

 

[deducer]

After all that trouble of moving Ruth's body to keep dutch hunters off Peters Mesa, he turns around and tells a dutch hunter to go look for the LDM on: Peter's Mesa.

Can you please elaborate on this? Are you talking about Walter Gassler?

 

[Matthew Roberts]

deducer,

Tex Barkley did not tell Walter Gassler about moving Ruth's body until sometime in 1955, shortly before Barkley died. That was almost 25 years after the Ruth incident. Barkley had advised Gassler to search Peter's Mesa long before he told him about moving Ruth. To understand why Barkley moved Ruth just look at what he did immediately after moving him. With directions found on Ruth he Barkley got Jeff Adam's, Hosea Cline, Gabriel Robles and Ace Gardner to accompany him up to Peter's Mesa to search for a cave in the area. They were so sure they would find the cave and gold they all brought along feed sacks to put the gold in. All this is well documented in Jeff Adam's letters to Carl Hayden, Jim Bark and others. Barkley didnt want others to know the mine or cache Ruth was looking for was on Peters Mesa and have someone else find it before he and his partners did. Adam's even described the directions to this cave on the mesa in a letter which was posted somewhere in this thread.

 

[PotBelly Jim]

Can you please elaborate on this? Are you talking about Walter Gassler?

Yep, I sure was. Sorry if I was confusing in my ramblings

Matthew addressed it so I will only add that a close reading of Walter's "Manuscript" gives me the impression that Tex sent him up to Peter's Mesa very early, in the 1934-35 time frame.

Regarding Jeff Adam's letter to Senator Hayden, IMO it just illustrates that nobody was trying to conceal that they thought Ruth's map/directions led to Peter's Mesa. To expand on this, Jeff Adams and Senator Carl Hayden knew each other very well. Before Hayden was elected to Congress, he himself was Sheriff of Maricopa County. Jeff Adams was his deputy. Adams took over as Maricopa Co. Sheriff when Hayden left for DC.

By the time the Ruth affair was in full swing, Hayden had gotten elected to the Senate (He was in the House before the Senate), where he went on to become the longest serving Senator of his day, and was one of the most powerful and influential in Washington. At this early date, tho, he was just another democrat Senator from a backwater state, and Earl Ruth shows up in his DC office with Northcut Ely, who as we know was very tight with Herbert Hoover and a republican. Earl Ruth and Ely wanted Hayden to press the local authorities to open an inquest into Adolph's death, as Dr. Hrdlicka had given his opinion that Ruth's skull showed evidence of a gunshot wound.

Problem was, as we know, that the Maricopa Co. authorities never got to consider Ruth's skull as evidence. Odd Halseth had sent it off to Dr. Hrdlicka (they were friends and colleagues that shared an interest in archeology in the southwest). All they had to go on was what was left of his skeleton and his clothes, possessions, etc. They could see no evidence of wrongdoing with what they had.

I'm hashing over old stuff here that everyone knows, but my point is this: Jeff Adams was with Barkley when they discovered Ruth's remains on the slope of BTM. They made no secret to either Hayden or Jim Bark that they scrambled off to find the LDM in the area of Peter’s Mesa once they found Ruth’s body. Nor does Tex hide much from Gassler in 1934/35. Sends him right up to Peter’s Mesa. So, I don’t buy that Tex moved Ruth’s body to hide the location of the mine.

As I’ve already said and in the interest of thoroughly flogging the dead horse, the other reason we’re given is that Tex didn’t want a bunch of Dutch Hunters in there running his cattle off. Problem is, Tex had 20 square miles of range encompassing the entire western Supes, so moving the body a mile or two is not going to solve his problem. It would be like a farmer moving the body from his potato patch so it wouldn’t get trampled, but he’s dumb enough to put it in the middle of his cornfield. Wouldn’t have mattered to Tex if Ruth was on Peter’s Mesa or BTM, the Dutch Hunters would still be traipsing through his entire range.


EDIT: Was just looking at my map and realized Tex had much more than 20 sq. miles of range. Not really relevant to the topic, but does anyone know (generally) how much range he had? For some reason I'm remembering it was like 10 square sections or something like that...around 100 sq miles? Just guessing tho and not sure where I heard/saw 10 square sections. Thx

 

[deducer]

deducer,

Tex Barkley did not tell Walter Gassler about moving Ruth's body until sometime in 1955, shortly before Barkley died. That was almost 25 years after the Ruth incident. Barkley had advised Gassler to search Peter's Mesa long before he told him about moving Ruth. To understand why Barkley moved Ruth just look at what he did immediately after moving him. With directions found on Ruth he Barkley got Jeff Adam's, Hosea Cline, Gabriel Robles and Ace Gardner to accompany him up to Peter's Mesa to search for a cave in the area. They were so sure they would find the cave and gold they all brought along feed sacks to put the gold in. All this is well documented in Jeff Adam's letters to Carl Hayden, Jim Bark and others. Barkley didnt want others to know the mine or cache Ruth was looking for was on Peters Mesa and have someone else find it before he and his partners did. Adam's even described the directions to this cave on the mesa in a letter which was posted somewhere in this thread.

Matthew,

Good to see you posting again. Hope all is well with you.

 

[Matthew Roberts]

deducer

I am well but have been in Los Angeles and Playa Dorada baja California since January. Will be in baja Mexico until the end of October when I hope to make it to Arizona.

Gassler said, and wrote in his manuscript, Tex
and a cow hand named Tom Dickens moved Ruth's body. They were the only two involved. Tex showed Walter exactly where he found Ruth on the west side of the north dome of Peters Mesa near a Grove of mountain Laurel. Walter marked the spot on his map and showed me the place.

Each time the newspaper printed finding some sort of clue or hunch to Ruths whereabouts the area would be swarmed by Dutch hunters and hopeful treasure seekers. That is why Barkley moved Ruth. Tex felt the mine or cache had to be close to where he found Ruth and didn't want a gold rush to the spot. Until his death Tex believed Walter might find the mine and knew Walter would share it with him.

Ruths body on the Mesa was in such an obvious and open spot that Tex knew it would be seen from the planes circling the mountains. He took Ruth to a place a few miles away where he thought someone would surely find it in a few days. It was a few yards off a well used trail.

 

[deducer]

Yep, I sure was. Sorry if I was confusing in my ramblings

Matthew addressed it so I will only add that a close reading of Walter's "Manuscript" gives me the impression that Tex sent him up to Peter's Mesa very early, in the 1934-35 time frame.

Regarding Jeff Adam's letter to Senator Hayden, IMO it just illustrates that nobody was trying to conceal that they thought Ruth's map/directions led to Peter's Mesa. To expand on this, Jeff Adams and Senator Carl Hayden knew each other very well. Before Hayden was elected to Congress, he himself was Sheriff of Maricopa County. Jeff Adams was his deputy. Adams took over as Maricopa Co. Sheriff when Hayden left for DC.

By the time the Ruth affair was in full swing, Hayden had gotten elected to the Senate (He was in the House before the Senate), where he went on to become the longest serving Senator of his day, and was one of the most powerful and influential in Washington. At this early date, tho, he was just another democrat Senator from a backwater state, and Earl Ruth shows up in his DC office with Northcut Ely, who as we know was very tight with Herbert Hoover and a republican. Earl Ruth and Ely wanted Hayden to press the local authorities to open an inquest into Adolph's death, as Dr. Hrdlicka had given his opinion that Ruth's skull showed evidence of a gunshot wound.

Problem was, as we know, that the Maricopa Co. authorities never got to consider Ruth's skull as evidence. Odd Halseth had sent it off to Dr. Hrdlicka (they were friends and colleagues that shared an interest in archeology in the southwest). All they had to go on was what was left of his skeleton and his clothes, possessions, etc. They could see no evidence of wrongdoing with what they had.

I'm hashing over old stuff here that everyone knows, but my point is this: Jeff Adams was with Barkley when they discovered Ruth's remains on the slope of BTM. They made no secret to either Hayden or Jim Bark that they scrambled off to find the LDM in the area of Peter’s Mesa once they found Ruth’s body. Nor does Tex hide much from Gassler in 1934/35. Sends him right up to Peter’s Mesa. So, I don’t buy that Tex moved Ruth’s body to hide the location of the mine.

[FONT=&]As I’ve already said and in the interest of thoroughly flogging the dead horse, the other reason we’re given is that Tex didn’t want a bunch of Dutch Hunters in there running his cattle off. Problem is, Tex had 20 square miles of range encompassing the entire western Supes, so moving the body a mile or two is not going to solve his problem. It would be like a farmer moving the body from his potato patch so it wouldn’t get trampled, but he’s dumb enough to put it in the middle of his cornfield. Wouldn’t have mattered to Tex if Ruth was on Peter’s Mesa or BTM, the Dutch Hunters would still be traipsing through his entire range.


EDIT: Was just looking at my map and realized Tex had much more than 20 sq. miles of range. Not really relevant to the topic, but does anyone know (generally) how much range he had? For some reason I'm remembering it was like 10 square sections or something like that...around 100 sq miles? Just guessing tho and not sure where I heard/saw 10 square sections. Thx
[/FONT]

Thanks for continuing this discussion- it's always good to have an intelligent discussion, and I continue this, not in the spirit of a right or wrong argument, but to test and retest my theories, and the best thing I can do as far as that is to talk to someone with a different point of view.

I do know that we are rehashing the same old things that have been hashed ad infinitum since the days of the original LDM forum, but I see nothing wrong in doing that. Sometimes when we turn the ore over and over again, a surprise nugget pops up.

And as for Ruth's body- I would like to argue that first, Ruth's body at the second location, on the NE side of BTM was still on high ground- and the cattle would be far off, in the basin of LaBarge canyon, a.k.a., Marsh Valley. Furthermore, on the other side of BTM is East Boulder Canyon, named that way for a reason. Definitely not a place for cattle. His body may have technically still be on QCUR territory, as far as their grazing rights of which they had several hundred acres, IIRC, but still wouldn't be anywhere near cattle. As Matthew points out, it was place near a popular trail (Bull Pass) ostensibly to be quickly discovered and dispensed of.

Why did Tex then tell Walt? A few things to note about that- even if he had told Walt as early as 1934/35, that's still a handful of years after Tex had the opportunity to roam all over Peter's Mesa with Adams, etc. trying to figure out the maps/directions that Ruth had on his body. He would furthermore have known that Walt was a loner and hardly in a position to spook any cattle on Peter's Mesa, or be the sort of person who gossiped.

So why did Tex move the body? Because of the cattle? Because the LDM was potentially near there?

My answer is, why not both?

Is there any doubt that Ruth died at Peter's Mesa? At this point, I can equivocally say, no. Starting with Cal Morse calling Maricopa county and not Pinal county, and the search being organized by Maricopa county, not Pinal. And with Jeff Adams letting slip what he and the others did with Ruth's maps a full six months before the body was "found," and last but not least, there is the the Maricopa County Sheriff photo with the notation: "Sheet tied on bush in Superstitions to aid aerial search for A. Ruth. Site of his "LAST" camp". J 1931 and the photo is clearly on the type of terrain found on Peter's Mesa.

There's more- but I think at this point that specific question has been more than satisfied.

 

[PotBelly Jim]

Thanks for continuing this discussion- it's always good to have an intelligent discussion, and I continue this, not in the spirit of a right or wrong argument, but to test and retest my theories, and the best thing I can do as far as that is to talk to someone with a different point of view.

I do know that we are rehashing the same old things that have been hashed ad infinitum since the days of the original LDM forum, but I see nothing wrong in doing that. Sometimes when we turn the ore over and over again, a surprise nugget pops up.

Agreed. I think there's so much we DON'T know, it may be impossible in the end to ever arrive at the truth. Not that we shouldn't try and like you I think the best way to do that is to have discussions with people who have differing points of view based on evidence. Here we are almost 100 years after the fact and all we have are some newspaper articles and some manuscripts that aren't always accurate (to be kind), everyone back then had an agenda which may or may not be visible, and some of not most of the pertinent data has been irretrievably lost to history. Not an easy task. I'm not surprised there are many theories that in each case make good use of all the evidence. At this point I still can't point to much of anything and be convinced one way or another "That's the way it happened". So like everyone else I stir the pot, kick it once and awhile, and see what shakes out.

I do have to bow out for a while but will keep checking in and I hope the discussion continues even though we're hashing and re-hashing.

 

[deducer]

One other thing that would be good to do is to determine the size of the coverup, and why it happened, and also who was involved in it.

One thing we can establish is that the Maricopa county investigators were not involved.

I don't think this coverup was premeditated. I think it was improvised on the spot, a matter of greed overriding what should have been a very simple murder investigation.

My sentiment is that this thing became a coverup after June 30, 1931 when Erwin Ruth came to town and completely changed the dynamics of the investigation by publicly offering a sizable reward, holding press conferences, hiring an aviator, and pressuring Adams and Barkley to make another search.

After this, it was no longer possible for the Ruth affair to remain "just another murder."

I speculate it may have been what provoked Barkley to hastily move the body. This would answer why he or someone else didn't simply bury it, throw it over a cliff, or dispose of the body in any other way. He may have been hoping for it to eventually go away- but when it didn't, six months later, he may have decided to just let the body be "discovered."

 

[Matthew Roberts]

deducer,

According to the MCSO file and notes on the Ruth investigation, it was never a murder investigation, it was beginning to end a missing persons investigation. That doesn't mean it was not suspected to be a murder by Sheriff MacFadden, he just did not have enough evidence to open a full blown murder inquiry. MacFadden purposely withheld certain information from the public. His only hope of catching those responsible for Ruth's disappearance and possible murder was to have them reveal things about the disappearance that was not publically known. MacFadden interest centered on one particular individual but he was never able to get enough evidence to charge the man with anything.

Follow the stories in the newspapers about the gold discovered by Charles Knickerbocker, and Knickerbockers mysterious death the evening before he was to meet with Erwin Ruth to tell Ruth where Erwins father was going and who he was with.

 

[deducer]

deducer,

According to the MCSO file and notes on the Ruth investigation, it was never a murder investigation, it was beginning to end a missing persons investigation. That doesn't mean it was not suspected to be a murder by Sheriff MacFadden, he just did not have enough evidence to open a full blown murder inquiry. MacFadden purposely withheld certain information from the public. His only hope of catching those responsible for Ruth's disappearance and possible murder was to have them reveal things about the disappearance that was not publically known. MacFadden interest centered on one particular individual but he was never able to get enough evidence to charge the man with anything.

Follow the stories in the newspapers about the gold discovered by Charles Knickerbocker, and Knickerbockers mysterious death the evening before he was to meet with Erwin Ruth to tell Ruth where Erwins father was going and who he was with.

Noted. Was this individual George Bashford?

I do have the articles concerning Knickerbocker.

 

[Matthew Roberts]

Noted. Was this individual George Bashford?

I do have the articles concerning Knickerbocker.

deducer,

Yes, the individual was George Bashford.

 

[deducer]

Agreed. I think there's so much we DON'T know, it may be impossible in the end to ever arrive at the truth. Not that we shouldn't try and like you I think the best way to do that is to have discussions with people who have differing points of view based on evidence. Here we are almost 100 years after the fact and all we have are some newspaper articles and some manuscripts that aren't always accurate (to be kind), everyone back then had an agenda which may or may not be visible, and some of not most of the pertinent data has been irretrievably lost to history. Not an easy task. I'm not surprised there are many theories that in each case make good use of all the evidence. At this point I still can't point to much of anything and be convinced one way or another "That's the way it happened". So like everyone else I stir the pot, kick it once and awhile, and see what shakes out.

I do have to bow out for a while but will keep checking in and I hope the discussion continues even though we're hashing and re-hashing.

One point of contention that I'd like to follow up on is that I reviewed the Glover chapter on Ruth and he does make an important distinction regarding Ruth's skull that was found near the Spanish tracks, near where (in today's terms) the Terrapin trail intersects with the Bull Pass trail- he pointed out that the zygomatic arches (the bone behind the eye socket and above the jawbones which jut out) and the fragile nasal bones on the skull are intact, which is unheard of if the skull had been "carried off" by carnivores. He points out that the zygomatic arch is the most available "handle" on the skull by which a carnivore would seize the skull to transport it elsewhere (and it therefore would suffer substantial damage). Also ruled out is the possibility of the skull having "washed down" the slopes of BTM, because if it had done so, the nasal bones would be demolished.

The Bull Pass trail leads to Marsh Valley, where it splits off to either Charlebois Canyon to the south or Old Squaw Canyon to the north. Both are access points to Peter's Mesa.

 

[deducer]

deducer,

Yes, the individual was George Bashford.

I wonder if it was Cal Morse who could have tipped off the killer to the fact that Charles Knickerbocker had planned to meet with Erwin to tell him who killed his father and to take him to where his father died?

 

[PotBelly Jim]

One point of contention that I'd like to follow up on is that I reviewed the Glover chapter on Ruth and he does make an important distinction regarding Ruth's skull that was found near the Spanish tracks, near where (in today's terms) the Terrapin trail intersects with the Bull Pass trail- he pointed out that the zygomatic arches (the bone behind the eye socket and above the jawbones which jut out) and the fragile nasal bones on the skull are intact, which is unheard of if the skull had been "carried off" by carnivores. He points out that the zygomatic arch is the most available "handle" on the skull by which a carnivore would seize the skull to transport it elsewhere (and it therefore would suffer substantial damage). Also ruled out is the possibility of the skull having "washed down" the slopes of BTM, because if it had done so, the nasal bones would be demolished.

The Bull Pass trail leads to Marsh Valley, where it splits off to either Charlebois Canyon to the south or Old Squaw Canyon to the north. Both are access points to Peter's Mesa.

A quick note, I've got some background on the forensics angle. I'll e-mail it to you as I can't post it here. No smoking gun (pun intended) but I think you'll like it. I'm scrambling with work so about all I can do right now.

I never had much doubt Ruth was killed.

 

[Matthew Roberts]

deducer,

Consider this. According to MCSO files and newspaper accounts, Erwin Ruth arrived in Mesa on July 3, 1931 and stayed with Cal Morse at the Morse house in Mesa.

On July 12 at 5:00 pm Erwin and Morse were to meet with Charles Knickerbocker at Morse house in Mesa. Knickerbocker was to tell Erwin where his father was going in the mountains and who he was going with.

But at approximately 1:00 am on the morning of July 12 Knickerbocker was mysteriously killed. He was found dead laying alongside the road near Claypool, Arizona. His truck was parked about 2 miles away in Claypool, the motor had been running and ran out of gas and his dog was asleep on the seat. The coroner's report showed blood all over Knickerbocker but no blood on the highway where he was found.

Erwin Ruth never got to have the meeting with Knickerbocker later that day. The timing of Knickerbockers death was too much of a coincidence. Whoever was responsible for the disappearance of Adolph Ruth most surely was also responsible for the death of Knickerbocker. That person did not want Knickerbocker telling anyone who Adolph Ruth had been with in the mountains.