The American Spectator : Man-Child in the Promised Land

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Man-Child in the Promised Land

By Bill Croke on 5.22.09 @ 6:07AM

Everett Ruess disappeared Utah's canyon country in 1934 -- and after 75 years the mystery of what happened to this 20-year-old romantic has apparently been solved.

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Within days Ruess left Escalante with his burros packed with the usual provender and poetry. He proceeded along the rough "Hole-in-the-Rock" Trail, which after 60 hard miles leads to the Colorado River in the vicinity of Glen Canyon (now submerged under Lake Powell). About 50 miles out he met two friendly sheepherders and camped with them for a couple of days. It was long assumed that these two nameless men were the last to see Ruess alive.

For three quarters of a century the Western parlor game noted above has it that Ruess died the result of a mishap. He was an enthusiastic cliff climber, so one theory was that he died in a fall. Others speculate a drowning in the Colorado River or a rattlesnake bite. There was also the improbable theory that he crossed the Colorado and entered the Navajo Reservation, where he married a native woman and fathered children. A story like this always spawns rumors and tales of odd sightings.

But the discovery of the impromptu grave and resulting DNA evidence point to the fact that Ruess was murdered, and three anonymous Ute Indians were the killers. A large rock striking the young artist's head was probably the death blow. Enter our friend Aneth Nez, who observed the murder from a distance at place called Chinle Wash. After witnessing the Utes chase Ruess down the wash and quickly dispatching him, stealing his burros and belongings, and waiting for them to leave, Aneth Nez approached the site. Ruess was dead. The young Navajo, probably perplexed as to what to do, eventually elected to simply bury him. The ground in the wash was rocky so it would have been difficult to dig a hole. So Aneth Nez packed the body onto his horse and led it up to Comb Ridge, where he found the deep crevice. After putting Ruess in the crude crypt, he added his saddle because it was covered with blood. When it comes to death, the Navajos are a superstitious lot.

The Navajos and the Utes are traditional enemies, and to some extent remain so in modern reservation times. So Aneth Nez kept quiet for years. Denny Bellson eventually found the remains based on a second hand story that came down from the old man to other family members. Aneth Nez died around 1980.

In March 1935, at the instigation of Christopher and Stella Ruess, an official search was conducted to try to find their missing son. The search party began in the area where the two sheepherders had last seen Ruess, and in nearby Davis Gulch they found the two burros grazing contentedly in a crude corral. There was no sign of Ruess's personal belongings. The search party also found two instances of graffito scratched into sandstone (and both long submerged by Lake Powell now). Both read "Nemo 1934." Captain Nemo is a character from Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, an adventure novel that was Everett Ruess's favorite childhood reading. And the Latin translation of "Nemo" is "No one."

"When I go, I leave no trace," Everett Ruess once wrote.

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About the Author

Bill Croke, formerly of Cody, Wyoming, is a writer in Salmon, Idaho.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (38) | Leave a comment

Kitty| 5.22.09 @ 7:42AM

Seventy-five years later the truth is learned. Thank God for forensics.

...

Kitty| 5.22.09 @ 7:48AM

You may want to check this out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blownaway/299533334/

...

Michael L. Hauschild| 5.22.09 @ 8:01AM

Good Lord, what a horrible way to die, reality providing a exclamation point to a vivid imagination.

Sam| 5.22.09 @ 12:13PM

Evil exists wherever man is, whether the wild or the city.

Thinking about the firearms in national parks debate, I wonder if the carried any weapons.

David Govett| 5.22.09 @ 12:42PM

It's hard not to harshly judge Aneth Nez for not reporting the murder. Family and friends must have suffered for decades.

Tim| 5.22.09 @ 12:46PM

He was young and innocent, may God have mercy on him. Did his murderers, examining a cache of poetry books, regret their crime?

Stay out of the long grass children: it's full of snakes.

Bob Wire| 5.22.09 @ 1:24PM

Ruess' story is strikingly similar to that of Christopher McCandless, chronicled in Jon Krakauer's 'Into the Wild.' A young idealist rejecting the confines and mundane constructs of society to pursue the beauty and power of nature, gets swallowed up by the object of his desire.
Well, in the case of Ruess, with the help of some Utes who brained him with a rock.
Great job relating this story, Bill. Very compelling.

Larry M. Southwick| 5.22.09 @ 5:47PM

This story makes me think of Lee Marvin's comment "there are 8 million stories in the naked desert, this is one of them". Well, maybe not 8 million, but equally as futile.

This guy Ruess appears to reflect a dreaminess and mysticism with the "wilderness" that certainly does not reflect the survival techniques of the less socially revered desert rat prospector. To have suffered from poison ivy (not once, but TWICE per year) is taking romanticism more toward the Penitente's flagellation.

This story reminds me of James Thom's "Sign Talker", a biography of George Druillard, fur trader who went west with Lewis and Clark. He too got stuck between two worlds. A dreamer, his mind immobilized with flights of mysticism, who could not recognize the danger of the Blackfeet, natural enemies to other Indians and fur traders alike. And so they killed him.

I'm sure the Blackfeet valued Drouillard's scalp far more than any writings he might have left behind. Similarly, the Utes likely found no use in Ruess' poetic ramblings. Further, the Navaho who saw the Ruess killing probably feared more being blamed for it than seeing any value in reporting it.

Likely too, a Navaho, whose relatives had been hounded into a dismal reservation and were still being treated as second class (third class?) citizens had little sympathy for the death of a strange white man.

By the way, Thom also got Sacagawea's role in the L&C expedition right - critical but not indispensible.

Riddle me this - how many "whits" did the life of Ruess amount to? In answer, let Everett Ruess' own words suffice - "When I go, I leave no trace." And "Nemo". Was he not more perceptive than many romanticists? Perhaps that is why he chose to live, and die, in the wilderness??

Andrew G. Smith| 5.22.09 @ 6:17PM

I enjoyed this story of Everett Ruess. I had never heard of him before, but it is a great tale of a sprited American who loved adventure and the American West. It was a great diversion from the generally somber news of today's politics and our limp wristed president. I would like to see AS publish more interesting human interest stories about the American Spirit like this!
AGS

Wilfred Bodden| 5.22.09 @ 9:42PM

Why would the murderers themselves not try to conceal the body? And why would a poor Navajo abandon something as valuable as a saddle?

Nez probably didn't report the murder because he thought he would himself fall under suspicion. And for good reason.

CH| 5.23.09 @ 1:55AM

Gotta keep your wits about you--no matter where you go. RIP young man.

Catherine| 5.23.09 @ 3:04AM

The Navajo did not want the saddle because it was covered with blood; it says so in the story.

Nature's a bitch to worship.

Bill| 5.23.09 @ 7:34AM

Our Naturalists and wonderer's, in their stories ,have always had the great predators as a large part of their experiance . The Lion of Africa , Tigers of India , Bears of Alaska , and Man of the Southwest . Man being the most dangerous of the lot has killed more wayfarers than all of the other preditors combined . A sad but logical end for the explorer of the untamed west .

Pete| 5.23.09 @ 1:43PM

To tailgate on Bob Wire's comment, Jon Krakauer, in his excellent book, "Into the Wild" does briefly examine the mysterious tale of Everett Ruess and others of his adventurous ilk and their similarities to the subject of his work, Christopher McCandless (and to the author himself). There have been a handful of these somewhat misanthropic, nature-lovers who preferred the solace and majesty of nature to the constraints and conveniences of modern civilization. For a few, it was their demise. A riveting work, highly recommended.

Wilfred Bodden| 5.23.09 @ 3:43PM

Catharine: Of course Nez didn't want the saddle because it was covered with blood.

My point is, how do we know Nez himself wasn't the killer, and the tale about the Utes was something he concocted?

Maybe someone would abandon his own saddle worth, I don't know, a month's wages, because it became ritually contaminated. But he would certainly abandon it if it would cause him to be convicted of murder.

Part of this story remains a mystery.

Catherine| 5.23.09 @ 6:01PM

Wilfred:

Well you should have made that more clear in your first comment.

Catherine| 5.23.09 @ 6:05PM

Wilfred:

On second reading, I concede you have a point.

I wonder whose "corral" it was where they found the two burros grazing?

American Bossman| 5.24.09 @ 12:34AM

Haha, so he was both a man child (republican) and a romantic (democrat) at the same time? A morman? That would just bust your paper to shreds.

Fuck your treaties| 5.24.09 @ 12:41AM

"But the discovery of the impromptu grave and resulting DNA evidence point to the fact that Ruess was murdered, and three anonymous Ute Indians were the killers. "

Yay for the home team!

Johnny Apple| 5.24.09 @ 12:58AM

Just admit it. "This last is interesting. Poison ivy is common in the lush river and creek bottoms of the Southwest, but Ruess would have to have been extremely careless to get it. "

You cant forgive him this, cause you hate his fucking liberal guts. Just admit it. Youre glad he got poison ivy. I bet you cackle still.

Ned| 5.24.09 @ 11:14AM

I was wondering how the blood got all over the saddle if his head was smashed in with a rock. Then I thought perhaps he was sleeping using the saddle as a pillow, you know like in the cowboy movies, and whoever killed him sneaked up on him and bashed his brains in.
It would also be interesting to know if any sign of clothing was found with body. My guess he was killed for his property and everything not traceable to him was taken and used by his killer or killers.
Utah has a lot of big open country in it and not all the rattlers have rattles and give warning. Like Porter Rockwell he should have had a little doggy to listen and look out for him. Then again burros are pretty cagey and should have woke him up also, unless he turned them loose at night to graze. The questions never end.

Ned| 5.24.09 @ 11:47AM

Chasing and catching a couple of pain in the ass burros every morning might explain the trips through the poison ivy.

Catherine| 5.24.09 @ 6:40PM

Just thinking... if the Navajo is the actual culprit, as some propose, why would he have even bothered telling the story to his family? Clearly he got away with it, so why bring it up?

Daisy| 5.24.09 @ 8:49PM

Guilty conscience?

macdaddy| 5.24.09 @ 11:32PM

He liked to roam around and explore. What's to criticize? He should have gone with a partner? At least he went with transportation and provisions. The irony is that despite his attempt to flee the discontent of the city, he got struck down by the discontent of the country.

Mike Marine| 5.25.09 @ 7:26AM

Life is a walking dream a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more...

MarkJ| 5.25.09 @ 9:20AM

F*** Your Treaties,

"Yay for the home team!"

Question: When did murder, in any culture, become just a "game"?

Were you born ignorant, or did you need special training to get that way?

Eugene Podrazik| 5.25.09 @ 9:21AM

Let me guess. No firearm?

Yes, we should all have the right to walk peaceable upon this earth. But, there's still a need to have the means of self preservation. And, if you regard your life and personal gifts and talents as gifts from God, a duty to protect the same.

JS Ragmann| 5.25.09 @ 12:32PM

Re blood on the saddle; my guess would be that after having his skull crushed with a rock, there might be some blood. Too, leaving the saddle because it had blood and the Navajo's were suspicious is an easy out, but in 1934 (depression, anyone) to leave a saddle behind doesn't make sense.
As an avid watcher of Forensic Files, let's look at this case from a forensic's point. If Ruess was hanging crossway over the horse, wouldn't all of the blood from a head wound drip on the ground? Then again, shouldn't the blood have been dried by the time Nez arrived? The only way the blood would get all over the saddle is if it was a fresh wound; remember, the story is that he watched the murder from a distance, waited until the Utes left, then made his way over to the body. The distance isn't mentioned, but seems to indicate in the story it was some distance. Also, a dead body doesn't bleed, there's no heart to keep pumping the blood. So how was the saddle covered with blood unless Ruess was still alive?
Another point..Nez would ride home bareback, which is no fun at anytime, much less in the rocky desert. Also why wait until you're an old man to tell about a body you buried 75 years ago? Did it just slip his mind to tell the authorities even a few years later, or was it that in his old age, he needed to get something off of his chest before he was to meet his maker? I agree there is more to this story.

Mike| 5.25.09 @ 1:36PM

So the Navajo blames it on the Utes. Kinda like Susan Smith blamed it on black intruders. There's nothing like stirring up deep seated resentments in order to deflect blame.

But why leave the most valuable object behind? The blood stains don't explain it. Maybe it could be easily traced to the owner?

mike| 5.25.09 @ 11:38PM

Say What? What are Utes?

Catherine| 5.26.09 @ 3:58AM

I don't think the Navajo did it.

If he did it just to steal Ruess' belongings, then why leave the saddle behind?

An innocent man would not want to take the saddle because it could lead suspicion to himself.

And if he truly felt a need to "confess", then why make up the story about the Utes to his progeny? That's no confession; that's an outright lie.

No, I don't think Nez did it.

PKane| 5.26.09 @ 6:25AM

I gathered that the Navajo kept quiet because of the rivalry with the Utes. Had his account lead to the arrest of the murderers he and his family - or even a random member of his tribe - could have been in danger.

And, frankly, we're talking about the 1930s here. For a poor Indian to show up in town with a bloody saddle and news that some "other" Indians murdered an innocent white boy I doubt he'd expect a heroes welcome.

The same holds for the saddle. Superstition need not explain why he buried it. As mentioned, the bloody saddle could have caste suspicion onto himself. Oh, and we're talking about an Indian living in a remote canyon! I doubt the economics of the Depression had much effect on his thinking.

JS Ragman does, however, make a good point about blood on the saddle. Did this detail got muddled in transmission? Perhaps Navajo lore says something about a dead man riding in one's saddle? I'm sure this last point can be easily clarified in the title of a bad spaghetti western somewhere.

Catherine| 5.26.09 @ 9:44PM

PKane:

Points well taken.

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