Finding Everett Ruess, David Roberts

. If you know adventure, solo exploration, and mystery, you know the story of Ruess. He vanished without a trace in 1934 leaving thousands of pages of journals, letters, poems, watercolor paintings, and blockprint engravings. There were supposed sightings of him for decades which only built the mystery. During the next 7 decades, four theories emerged on Ruess’s fate – the possibility he had been murdered; the possibility that he was still alive, but had chosen to stay indefinitely in hiding; that Ruess had chosen to end his life; that he might have drowned in the Colorado or fallen from a cliff due to his flirtation with death. This book lays out all the theories and any skeptic could take any of the four theories. After finding a body in a crevice in Davis Gulch area – Comb Ridge by a Native American brought there by a story from his grandfather who says he saw a white man murdered by cattle rustlers. The proof was given through bone excavation and DNA analysis that it was Ruess. Stories were written, news media went berserk, and naysayers abounded on the doubt of the body had finally been found. So, mystery solved? Nope. Further DNA study definitely stated it was a Native American. Mystery lives once again. The mystery of his disappearance and fate doesn’t make Ruess so interesting – rather his achievements by the age of twenty… his meteoric path across the American landscape. His wild quests captivate the minds and hearts of admirers. Life is story.. and Ruess’s is one damn good one.