Thursday, 16 Nov 2006:

Logging into my web mail server I notice some new messages, one from
my friend Greg Davis. He only sends e-mails when it is something
important, so I was a little excited to see what he has to say this
time. It read as follows:

Randy; I am thinking of trying to hike to Willow Springs in West
Boulder Canyon this Saturday.  Would you like to go along?  If so we
will have to leave the First Water Trail Head at first light.  Greg

Would I?!! Of course I would, Id be a fool not to. You see, we are
going to be hiking in the exact path that Jack Keenan and Leroy Purnell
used to guide Ruth to his final camp destination. For me, following in
the footsteps of one of the most historically significant treks into
that Thunder God governed mountain range is almost a spiritual
experience. It is something you have to experience for yourself as
words can not describe the sensations felt, the thoughts running
through ones mind, and the overall joy of it all. I can say without a
doubt it is an honor.

  I awoke that morning, getting dressed for the day while warming up
with a couple cups of coffee. I always get my pack in order the night
before, checking all my supplies, water quantity, and emergency
provisions to make sure I dont forget anything the morning of the
hike. You live, you learn, and that mountain range is absurdly
unforgiving. I woke the wife around 5:30 AM so she can deliver me to
the rendezvous point. Greg had not arrived yet, so I waited, thinking
how early it is and how lazy Ive gotten over the years.

A view of Tim's Saddle

Greg arrives shortly, then we hop into his vehicle of choice after a
short pit stop, and off we went. Traveling up Hwy 88 before sunrise I
can almost feel the presence of the Thunder God. Its an odd, quite
creepy feeling, like something is warning you to stay away. Something
is telling me to go home, that I dont belong here. The small, dim
beady headlights on the 2 lane road contribute to the emotion. Of
course I just brush it off, I'm just being silly. We pull into the
trail head and park. First light has crept over the terrain, giving us
a small glimpse of the nightmare through which we are about to hike.

Its a well worn path from the First Water trailhead to Parker Pass.
This place is one of the most used trailheads in the entire
Superstition Wilderness. Thousands of hikers and campers, young and
old, large and small alike, scurry into the inner sanctum of the
mountains every year from this very location. The evidence is presented
before you like a slap in the face as the ground is beaten into a
smooth, wide trail, year after year. This morning we join the many,
taking a right at the split, heading South East towards Parker Pass to
visit a place that only a handful will see during any given year. You
see, West Boulder Canyon is a sparsely traveled canyon, and soon we
will find out why.  

Adolph Ruth was an old treasure hunter. Like many treasure hunters, he
was easily excitable. Unlike most treasure hunters, Ruth was trusting,
open and kind, almost to a fault. Understandably treasure and lost mine
hunters are a funny bunch. One mention of a secret map, or hidden clues
to anything, can land you full of lead, sniffing dirt, 40 miles from
the nearest human. Just the whisper seems to bring all hell down on
you, like raining bombs from the US Military. For some reason Adolph in
all his years never learned this or he just never cared. He had found
treasure before arriving in Arizona. He was experienced in finding lost
mines utilizing maps as a guide; and one of these was responsible for
the plate in his hip. This time Adolph Ruth hunted something far
greater than he had ever hunted before. This time, it was one of the
famous lost Peralta Mines. Ruth received maps and directions from his
son, Erwin Ruth. Erwin was not a treasure hunter at all, and really
didnt approve of his fathers trampling the desert like a mad man in
search of gold and other precious metals. You see, to Erwin it was just
metals, nothing to fuss about. His father felt quite differently. He
had the stars in his eyes. He was hooked, and nothing would stop him,
not even 120 degree summer temperatures in one of the most rugged
mountain terrains known to modern man. Adolph Ruth could not have
picked a more desolate place to look for lost mines.

Willow Spring- An oasis in the desert

The Superstition Mountain range is very remote, very dry, and
extremely rugged. The canyons are hundreds of feet deep with steep
cliffs, razor sharp rocks; and death at every turn for the careless.
Some of the most beautiful views will be afforded any man who dares
risk his life to travel into this place. There is a vast range of
animal life, including the smallest lizards to large bears and Mountain
Lions.  We must not forget the awe inspiring Saguaros that stand over
you, shading you like a father who is hiding the sun from your pale
skin.

It is in this terrain that Greg and I being our quest and search of
the final camping place of Adolph Ruth. We are headed to one of the few
year round springs know to exist in the entire mountain range. It is
aptly named Willow Springs. We are traveling South East on a trail
called The Dutchmans Trail, named after the world famous Lost
Dutchman. This trail winds from First Water Trailhead, through the
mountains, to the Peralta Trailhead on the South side of the range. The
Dutchmans Trail is heavily traveled, probably the most traversed of
all the trails in the Superstition Mountain Range.

We come through Transmission Gap, a small flat area filled with tall
grass and a few mesquite trees. The place acquired its name from a
vehicle someone abandoned on the North end of the field. At one point
in time, a person could actually drive all the way to Parker Pass. Not
anymore. We press on, making our way through the maze of canyons and
boulders. There are some ups and downs, but overall the hike is
relatively flat and uneventful to this point. On the East side of the
Gap, you head down into a ravine and around the South end of it, then
back up to what is called Parker Pass.

Its a bit of a climb up to the Pass, but we wont be going that far
today. The turn off to West Boulder, our intended route, comes at the
pass just before Parker Pass. I once knew the name of this pass, but
today it escapes me. For now I will call it Turn Off Pass. Turn Off
Pass is a great place to take a rest as youre about 3 miles into the
range. We sat down on some rocks and Greg pulls out his maps looking
for the turn off point. Seems weve taken a rest at the right place, as
this is where we head south into West Boulder Canyon. There is a small
trail to follow, blink and youll miss it. Here I begin to think about
Ruth, Purnell, and Keenan, all on horses or mules, turning off the
beaten path, headed into dangerous territory, all in the name of
finding lost treasure. I wonder what they talked about, what was said.
I wonder if Ruth felt the heat at all, I wonder if Ruth contemplated
that he had made a bad choice. At some point one would be inclined to
believe that he has to say to himself; What the hell am I doing?

As we came over a small saddle, I got the first glimpse of the journey
ahead. To the left the sun glimmers from behind Weavers Needle as the
morning shadows begin to fade, Greg said it was going to be a rough
hike, but I never expected this. An arrow on the cactus points our way,
and the trail is easily followed. Greg heads downhill first. Adolph
Ruth wrote a letter to his family the night he arrived in camp. He
described the trip into the spring, saying we went up, down, up, down,
then up and down again. Tims Saddle is the 3rd up and down. It was
just as Adolph had wrote, thus proving he was not spinning yarn, not
this time.

Tex Barkley had repeatedly cautioned Ruth to stay at the ranch until
he got back from conducting cattle business in town. The remoteness of
the ranch meant Tex would be gone for some time. Business had to come
first. Who would expect a rancher to put his financial gains on hold to
haul some crazy treasure hunter into the mountains in the middle of
summer, even if he had a map? Tex had to go, and so Ruth had to wait.
Waiting was not Ruths forte, and sooner than later he found a pair of
cow pokes to haul him into that place with the spring close to the
Needle. This is where Ruth wanted to be. This was close to his maps
destination. Ruth knew he would find this mine, as he had found the
mine in Southern California that cost him a plate in his hip. Confident
and naive, he traveled on with his guides, entirely unaware of the
danger laid before him. It is not always the mountain terrain, or the
heat, or the animals that gets to you. Sometimes it is the people. The
gold crazed people. Little did he know, he was being guided to his
death.

Willow Spring Streambed

We finally arrived! Willow Springs is in sight, and a wonderful sight
it is. Rounding the bend my excitement grows. At last we get to see the
camp site of the famous Adolph Ruth, and hopefully to get a small
glimpse into those final days that were his life. From here we see what
Ruth might have seen that evening, rounding the bend, realizing their
journey was over, the spring had come into sight. I imagine he felt
more relieved than we were to discover that place of solitude. The pool
of water was large enough that a small man could swim in it if he so
desired. I must be frank; it would be a cold day in hell before I
jumped into a pool of water that green, full of moss and muck. One
might come out looking like Swamp Thing. Who wants that? The intense
heat of a summers day undoubtedly pounded those men to pieces, and a
splash of cold, fresh, spring water on the face would have felt like
heaven. Greg and I took our lunch break, resting from the beating
afforded us by what is known as West Boulder Canyon. Personally, Id
like to call it other things, but in the interest of your reading
pleasure, I will refrain from such expletives. Greg munches on the bits
of food he packed in, replenishing much needed nutrients. I do the same
for a short time, and then we branch out for photos. Greg sends me
further down the canyon seeking a rock corral. Typical of my luck, I
cant find it. Asking Greg later, I discover I turned back too soon. We
wander around the spring area some more, taking pictures and
justifiably enjoying the break. After a half hour or so it is time to
head home, but we must first find something.

Ruths actual camp site was not right next to the pool of water that is
Willow Springs. A man would be silly to camp that close to a water
source in the desert. Doing so could put one in danger of attack from
animals, or scare animals away from their source of extremely valuable
water. So Greg heads out looking for some sign of the trail back home.
Coming in all visible clues to the trail were lost miles ago so there
is dim hope of finding it again, but discover the trail, like usual,
Greg does! You see, Ruths camp site was 40-50 yards from the spring on
the trail going north. We found a small open area, showing possible
signs of an old campfire in the middle. This place is surrounded by
small trees and brush, with a rock wall facing West on the East side.
This rock wall could be the wall Ruth wrote about, where his things
were placed on makeshift shelves, set up by one of his guides. I,
personally, couldnt think of a better place to set up a camp if I
wanted to stay near Willow Springs. We investigated the site a bit,
took some photos, and then hurried off, returning to the First Water
Trailhead through the hell that is West Boulder Canyon, with dreams of
recliners and soft beds in our minds.

While hiking back to the trailhead with only the light of the moon as
our guide, I asked myself; so what happened to Ruth? He was
reportedly left at this site by his escorts. Camp was set up, a fire
was started, and everything seemed to be in good order. Purnell and
Keenan gather the horses and headed home, just as Greg and I are
heading home right now, or did they? A man, an elderly man, with a
plate in his hip who walks with a cane, is left in this spot, during
the relentless blistering heat of an Arizona summer, to find treasure?
This man, who spoke loudly back at the ranch about his having maps
leading to great treasure and knowing exactly where he needed to go, is
left there all by himself? What man in his right mind would believe
such nonsense? Purnell and Keenan would be tempted beyond resistance
with greed, knowing the death of Adolph Ruth could be blamed on any
number of things. Why it has happened before in those mountains, so why
not again? They have everything to gain, and nothing to loose, right?
Well one has to account morals into the situation. It takes a certain
kind of man to kill another man, and the question naturally arises;
were Purnell and Keenan those type? That is a question we may never
be able to answer. When Ruths body was finally found, he was miles and
miles from his camp site. Found with his body are his camp shoes, and a
small flask of water. Now, take a moment to consider this, Greg and I
had an incredibly rough time of trekking to this camp site in November,
with gallons of water and proper hiking shoes. We traveled down that
canyon through everything Ruth would have gone through, in a cool month
with very little heat, and it was quite a trip. I'm absolutely
confident that Adolph Ruth NEVER made it out of West Boulder on his own
accord, let alone the other 6 miles to his final resting place. You
see, in the summer, those canyons hold in the heat like an oven. The
rocks absorb the suns rays during the day, and their porous nature
keeps the heat inside, like an oyster holding onto its pearl. During
the night, without any direct sunlight, rocks and canyons will still
remain warm. It never entirely cools off. So how in tar nation are you
going to tell me with a straight face that Adolph Ruth walked, with a
cane, out of that canyon, through the basin, OVER Bull Pass, which is a
mother of a climb it self, and around Black Top Mesa to the place where
his body was found? It is impossible, absolutely 100% impossible. I
challenge anyone who disagrees to make that hike themselves, during a
winter month, and experience the thrill, or is it hell, that is West
Boulder Canyon.

Barrel-Head Cactus

Furthermore, according to Walter Gasslers manuscript, Tex Barkley
admitted to moving Ruths body! This day and age, a man admitting to
moving a dead individual might be brought up on murder charges. Now I'm
not implying Tex is the person who murdered Adolph Ruth, but I will not
exempt Purnell and Keenan from that implication. There are questions to
be answered. How did these 2 acquire Ruths maps? Why did Tex have to
move Ruths body off of Peters Mesa? How did Ruth end up on Peters
Mesa? A hike up Peters Mesa in and of itself would most likely be
impossible for a man in Ruths condition, at his age, during any time
of year. Even if he started at the bottom of the Mesa fully refreshed
he probably would not have made it to the top. Why was Ruths skull
found ¾s of a mile from the rest of his remains? Why was there still
skin attached to his skull, even though it had been months since his
disappearance? I can assure you it wouldnt take long for flesh to rot
back there, especially during the summer months. We also have another
strange occurrence that should be addressed. On pages 308 and 309 of
Helen Corbins book The Bible on the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine and Jacob
Waltz is a letter written by Deputy Jeffrey Adams. Jeff was a great
friend of Tex, and was also was quite instrumental in the search for
Ruth. Jeffrey writes in his letter to Senator Carl Hayden that after
discovering the skeletal remains of our subject with his papers intact,
they gathered the bones, then follow the directions with the map to
what they believed was the Lost Dutchman mine! According to Jeff the
search cost them 2 full days of hard labor. I fail to see the reasoning
behind this expedition. Adolph Ruth had been found, all of his papers
were there, his camp was located, so why the hunt for the mine?

The evidence is all there to imply that Ruth was murdered, and you
dont even have to take into account the baseball sized hole in his
skull. The decision is yours. At the bottom of the note, written to his
family the day he arrived in camp, found in Ruths checkbook, were the
words; "Veni, vidi, vici".   Did he?