Purnell Mine Claim???

[Mike McChesney]

I have been reading through old archived and older posts here all day just reading through all the information.

Lots of stuff.

One thing that jumped out at me was while reading about Purnell and Keenan, someone asked if they had ever filed any claims.

While reading an old thread about Bluff Spring Mountain, I saw this, and it lit match:



Someone had quoted a Nevada Newspaper Article about Purnell which stated that he had three mules "TUFFY, Jack, and Topay"

Think maybe Purnell was naming claims after his mules?

Best-Mike

[novice]

Mike,

Put your match away before you catch something afire.

From the BLM site - The TUFFY#2 was filed by Monte Edwards and Al Reser in Pinal County on November 7, 1983. (You will recognize the names) Of course this claim is now closed.

Meridian 14
Township 0010 N
Range 0100 E
Section 08
NW

I used to know how to read the above but memory is always questionable. I believe it is Township 1 North, Range 10 E, Section 8, in the Northwest Quarter. The Meridian 14 is the confluence of the Salt and Gila River Meridan.

Garry

[Mike McChesney]

That's what I get for not checking.

For a while, that part of the BLM Webservice was not working. I guess its back up now. lol

Best-Mike

[zentull]

Mike,

One worked the areas north and the other south. I think Purnell was interested in the areas south. I will check my files, but I know one had some claims. I also remember John Spangler mentioning something about the two showing up in Needle canyon after a year or so passed from finding Ruth. I believe they recognized John and his partner and left the mountains immediately afterwards.

I found the Spangler story interesting as it showed a connection remained between the two long after the Ruth incident. I will double check that when I get a bit of free time.

[Mike McChesney]

Thanks. That association speaks volumes doesn't it?

Best-Mike

[Cubfan64]

Thanks. That association speaks volumes doesn't it?

Best-Mike

Yeah it does!

[Mike McChesney]

I've always thought it was either or both of them that killed Ruth.

That thought was cemented when I read Curt Gentry's "Killer Mountains"

Mike

[Cubfan64]

I've always believed it was one of them as well. I think other folks were involved in one way or another, but I believe it was one of them as well Mike.

[Mike McChesney]

I do have to admit that I also gave some credence to the possibility that Hermann Petrasch caught Ruth up on Peter's Mesa and shot him, then Barkley had to go move the body somewhere that wouldn't mess with his cattle grazing agreement, but who knows.

Mike

[zentull]

Mike,

Please elaborate on that last bit.......you got my attention.

[Mike McChesney]

Well Wayne,

Nothing concrete, but from a whisper here and there. Nothing that anybody would ever put their name to.

Since Barkley rode most of the entire Western Superstitions, he had to have been quite familiar with old Hermann. Hermann had gotten there about ten years before Barkley, so he was well entrenched by the time Barkley bought up his ranches.

If you also put any stock in Walter Gassler's Notes as printed in Helen Corbin's "Bible on the Lost Dutchman", where he describes how Barkley told him of finding Ruth's body on Peter's Mesa and moved it to near Blacktop.

Its no secret where Hermann searched for the DLM, and Peter's Mesa was right there. I also read somewhere that Hermann had claimed to have lost his pistol not long before Ruth disappeared.

I don't say that Hermann Petrasch did it. I only mention it as a possibility because every Dutch Hunter has his special area where he/she thinks the mine is. If they get there and find someone else searching, they tend to get a little territorial. Even in more modern times, how often have you heard stories about people getting pot shots taken at them from nowhere? Imagine how bad it was back in the 1920s and 1930s. After all, I am sure you know how Hermann's Camp came to be where it was? Rhiney could only remember part of the directions Waltz had given him. When he got to the spot in the mountains where Rhiney's Memory ended, he set up camp and searched that particular area the entire rest of the time he was in the Supers. That means he started looking in that area TWENTY-NINE (29) YEARS before Ruth got there. Just imagine if your search in a very restricted area had been going on for that long and some stranger with a map just waltzed right in and claimed to know just where it was. After all, we know from the others at the U Ranch that Ruth had no qualms telling everybody he met that he had a map that would lead him straight to the mine. The only thing I can be certain of is THAT is what got him killed!

Best-Mike

[Mike McChesney]

oh and...........


I still say it is more likely to me that one or both of Purnell and Keenan murdered Ruth. More circumstantial evidence for that than anything else. After all, they could have killed him on Peter's Mesa just as easily as Blacktop.

Best-Mike

[Mike McChesney]

I hate not being able to edit!

When I said that Hermann had been in the mountains for 29 years, I meant 39 years (1931-1892=39)

Sorry Mike

[Troybass]

I was hiking the east ridge of Bluff Spring Mountain yesterday and I found the "Tuffy #3 South East" claim maker.

[Troybass]

Here are some pictures of the Tuffy #3 marker.