The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-05-26
His Mummied Wives.


His name was Nils Ritter, and for nine
years he made his home in tiny adobe
cabin on the side of Mount Darwin, IN
Inyo county. The exact location OF MS
house was on the southwestern shore OF
Dry Lake, not far from Panamint-
For the last eight years Ritter had mad
in his room close beside his bed the DEAD
bodies Of his two wives, desiceated by
the hot, dry air that blew from Death
Valley. He was Mormon and sought
the solitude of the desert, that he might
live in polygamy without having TO ar
que the point with the civil authorities.
Just when Ritter died is not known,
but he was found dead a fortnight ago
by a couple Of prospectors, one OF wnom,
T. r. Wilson, is al present in the city.
Il had known Ritter for a long time,
said Mr.. Wilson, land always considered
him the strangest freak of humanity that
I ever ran across.
When he first came TO the Death VAL
ley country, about nine years ago, ne
brought TWO women with him. These, he
told a few prospectors, were his wives
Neither of the women could speak Eng
iish and the whole crowd spent nearly
all the day and all night singing weird
songs.
'Ritter's story was to the effect that
he was born in Sweden and lived a life
of sin until he was IS years old. Then
some missionaries OF the Mormon church
at Salt Lake City came TO Sweden ana
made him a convert and also the two
women whom he afterward married Sc
cretly, each in different town.
For several years all were very happy,
until somebody become suspicious OF his
actions, and the trio fed TO Salt Lake
City. But changes had taken place there
and polygamy could not be practiced as
openly as it had been in years gone
by.
I'm order to have perfect freedom, Rit-
ter and his wives came to the Death VAL
ley country and went into camp in the
cabin or Mount Darwin. But the women
didn't live very long. The alkali water
of a mean spring near the house knocked
them both out in the same day, after
they had been there about two months.
"Of course, nobody knew this at the
time, as the few of us down there looked
upon the whole crowd as a gang Of
cranks, and seldom went near them. Even
that tough old Indian, Panamint Tom,
never went to the house but once. He
said he was afraid of them and the big
pile of provisions in the corner Of the
room had no temptation for him.
about year after Ritter took up his
abode in that desolate part of the world,
I made a call on him. AS I approached
the house I was a little surprised at not
seeing anybody moving about the place.
For a moment I thought perhaps the
gang had moved. But one look in the door
was enough to let me know to the con-
trary.
Stretched out on a cot was Ritter him
self Dirty and unkempt he was his
scraggy gray hair falling in tangled mas
ses over his shoulders. And on either
side of the bed, standing bolt upright in
a rough coffin, was the dried-up body OF
q woman. The sight almost took my
breath away.
'9Those are my wives" said the old
man, pointing to the two horrid looking
mummies. '"Thev passed away to the 9TH
er side last year, but they come back
here every day. They were both here
this morning
THE old fellow then went on to ex-
plain to me all about his strange creed,
his ideas of spirit unity and the everlast-
ing life. He read the strangest stuff about
Spritualism and Mornonism out of a big
book that ever heard.
Ritter was about 70 years old at that
time, and scarcely took anything to eat.
Once a day he went out to the miserable
spring and brought In a bucket of alkali
water Then he went back and lay on the
cot reading and listening to voices as
he used to say.
Whenever I happened to be near the
old mans cabin ] always went in TO see
him. But one visit was just like the
other The old man and the mummies of
the dead women only got a little dryer
as the years went by. His appearance
changed very little except that his gray
hair got longer and longer. and his person
dirtier and ditrier always used TO go
to see the old man out of curiosity.
don't believe that any of the old pros
pectors in the neighborhood ever went
near him, From the first nobody liked
him. and they didn't care whether ne
lived or died. And old Ritter didn't care
whether they came TO see him or not. But
he always seemed glad to see me.
about two weeks ago I happened to
be in Ritter's neighborhood with my part
ner, and decided to go and pay the old
man a visit. My partner was all curios-
fly when I told him what a queer freak
the old man was.
1.-The idea that anything might be wrong
never entered my head. even up TIL the
moment we stood before the door. But
: one look inside was enough.
There was the firm of the old man ~
ing on the bed. but he looked almost as
dry and shriveled as his mummied wives.
What a sight II wasi For want of atten-
tion the skeletons in the coffin had slip
ped down and nearly fallen out Of their
places.
Nothing would induce my friend TO go
inside, but I went in and saw that the big
book the old man used to read had been
taken away, as well as every househId
utensil and all the provisions. Whether
this was done before the old man died or
not 1 am unable to say. but I think it
was done afterward. The dead body was
lying straight out, as if the man had
died peacefully.
II wanted my partner to help me bury
the old Mormon and his two wives, but
ne positively refused TO go near them.
Such job wss too much for me to IN
dertake alone. 50 I simply closed the
doors and windows that had remained
| open for years and came away. IF no
| body disturbs them the dead bodies will
remain there for years and years, so dry
IS the climate And. after all, I suppose
that is what would suit the old man best
/ il he could have the chance Of expressing
a wish in the matter"