The Coolidge Examiner – The Search for Ruth Still Futile

The Coolidge Examiner of July 17, 1931 headlines the “Search for Ruth Still Futile” as he is lost looking for the Lost Dutchman Goldmine.

Adolph Ruth was a seasoned treasure hunter whose pursuit of the legendary Lost Dutchman Mine led to his mysterious disappearance in the Superstition Mountains in 1931. Ruth, a 66-year-old man from Washington, D.C., was drawn to the mine after receiving a set of maps allegedly showing its location. Despite warnings about the dangers of the rugged terrain and the mine’s deadly reputation, Ruth ventured into the Superstitions alone in June 1931. When he failed to return, a massive search ensued, involving local authorities, volunteers, and even aircraft. Ruth’s remains were discovered six months later, deep within the Superstitions, with his skull showing signs of a gunshot wound, sparking rumors of foul play.

The search for Adolph Ruth and the circumstances of his death only added to the mystique of the Lost Dutchman Mine, fueling speculation that the mine was cursed or guarded by violent forces. His disappearance and the discovery of his skull intensified public interest in the mine, drawing even more treasure hunters to the perilous mountains. Despite exhaustive investigations, the exact details of Ruth’s fate remain shrouded in mystery, and the Lost Dutchman Mine continues to elude those who seek it, keeping its secrets hidden within the treacherous landscape of the Superstition Mountains.

THE SEARCH EOR RUTH STILL FUTILE

Airplane Combs Recesses Of Superstition To No Avail

Hope of finding Adolph Ruth, 66-y’ear old prospector lost in the Superstition mountain range for a month waned Wednesday after a combination air search and the efforts of men on foot and on horses failed to reveal new trace of the missing man.

For two hours Wednesday morning an air plane piloted by Charley Goldtrap and carrying E. D. Newcomer, Arizona Republic – Phoenix Gazette staff photographer, soared over the treacherous pinnacles and deep canyons of the Superstition range, making pictures and keeping a sharp lookout for any sign of Ruth. The air search was sponsored by the Phoenix Gazette.

Searchers hold three theories in regard to the possible fate of Ruth: that he met death in a fall into one of the canyons; that he met with foul play, and his body was disposed of; that he suffered loss of memory and wandered out of the mountains and probably still is wandering.

Ruth, it is believed, might have been slain for maps he possessed. The airplane trip over the mountains Wednesday was accompanied by numerous dangers. Several times wind conditions endangered the plane’s flight, and the two men reported several row escapes.

Dr. Erwin E Ruth, son of the missing prospector, is convinced that his father never will be found alive, but he said he is determined to continue the search in the hope of finding his father’s body.—Arizona Republic. No man could have gone more -surely to his death than Ruth, the aged man whose life was lost in a search for the Lost Dutchman mine, He has been described as the “aged prospector, ” He was not a prospector at all but an aged man whose life had been spent in a clerical position in Washington. He had been curiously obsessed by a purpose te find the mine for which prospectors and others had been hunting nearly a half century ago. He had studied official maps. He had learned what he could find from a study of the character of the country.

He knew nothing of prospecting and nothing at first hand of the perils of the desert which he invaded at a time of the year when actual prospectors were getting ready to retire for the summer. There could be but one end for such an adventure into one of the most forbidding sections of Arizona.

The Coolidge Examiner Articles About Disappearance of Adolph Ruth

References

• The Coolidge examiner. [volume] (Coolidge, Ariz.), 17 July 1931. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn94050542/1931-07-17/ed-1/seq-1/>