Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty & Wilderness Journals

by W.L. Rusho, Paul Kingsnorth (Introduction)

INTRODUCED BY PAUL KINGSNORTH, Booker-shortlisted author of The Wake

'I thought that there were two rules in life - never count the cost, and never do anything unless you can do it wholeheartedly. Now is the time to live.'

Artist and wanderer Everett Ruess left home at the age of sixteen to immerse himself in the harsh desert landscapes of the American Southwest. With only his donkeys for company, driven by an insatiable longing for beauty and experience, he ventured ever further from civilisation and into the wilderness of Navajo country.

In 1934, at the age of twenty, he vanished without trace in Utah, a disappearance that remains unsolved to this day. Through letters, diary excerpts and poems - charting not only his rugged adventures and his exquisite nature writing but his progression as a writer, and into adulthood - and with commentary by W. L. Rusho, A Vagabond for Beauty tells his remarkable story.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Nature, Adventure, Biography, Memoir, Biography Memoir

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1973

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up "Into the Wild" thinking that Christopher McCandless might have something in common with Everett Ruess, the subject of this book. The two couldn't be more different. McCandless and his journey both lack sincerity and commitment and as a result his death was more pathetic than poetic or tragic. Ruess, on the other hand was a graceful genius and an artist who really meant it. He was driven by some kind of spiritual pursuit deeper than I can even comprehend. The kid vanished in the desert near the four corners in the 1930s, but not before leaving the trail of profound letters included in this book. Excellent read, especially if you have spent any time in the landscape where he died.

[desertmolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was/is almost too good to be true...I found a reference to it while reading Krakauer's Into the Wild. "In the mid-Depression year of 1934, Everett Ruess disappeared. His last known camp was in the Escalante River region of southern Utah, a place of bare rock, vertical cliffs, plunging canyons, and soaring mesas." Most of the book is made up of letters he wrote to his freinds and family, while pursuing his dream of oneness with nature. This guy wasn't even 18 when he decided to buy a burro and take off into the wilderness of Utah. A dreamer, an adventurer, an artist and a poet who paints a landscape with words so beautiful..so he disappers without a trace in Davis Gulch (now flooded by Lake Powell), and the only thing that search troops find are his burros and an inscription he made - NEMO 1934.

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

11/3/09--New update reversing the new findings reported in April on Everett's disappearance. Go to www.startribune.com/nation/65337832.h...

LOVERS OF EVERETT RUESS, TAKE NOTE: If you have read this book, part of the mystery has been solved regarding his dissappearance. For details go to http://adventure.nationalgeographic.c...
Be careful--if you haven't finished the book, you may not want to check out this news story.

Must read. Great biography, travelogue and story of a budding conservationist.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is exciting I may actually finally have an opinion about a book!

I have a respect for Everett, but also a slight disrespect. His "life" as he called it, consisted of spending months at a time in the wild, at the mercy of the good people around him. He would meet people in the wild, and get invited to meals. Or trade paintings for meals or try working for food. He would also get money from Home, 15 dollars allowance here and there. He lived for months at a time in the national forest, or the Arizona strip.

I do respect this individualist spirit. The idea of living "deliberately" ala HD Thoreau. I like the thought of being in the woods removed from society and depending on yourself. I understand it. I know what the draw feels like. I've done it. I spent 4 summers in the Tushar mt's, building my own log cabin, making my own soap, sewing my own shirts and climbing spar trees to top them for cabin shingles. I can relate and respect the contribution of Everett, yet something in the back of my head keeps nagging at me about these kids, particularly Everett and Chris McCandless (Into the wild) and even Aaron One-Arm Ralston. It's this idea of I am going to make it on my own and no one else can come into my wilderness. I want the wilderness to be there as much as the next Abbey or Muir, but we all live here. It doesn't just belong to one guy with a backpack, or especially one guy with an ATV. And I'm sorry Mr. Rancher, your cattle ranch isn't the original owner either. If the American Indians had merely had a better immigration policy you'd still be in Wales or Germany. You can't keep me out, and you can't claim complete independence, especially when you rely on everything you take with you into the back country. Sort of a dichotomy i suppose, you're never really "off the grid". Even Thoreau lived in a loaner cabin from his buddy.

But I digress. I did have one major serious criticism of this book. I love the mystery of the disappearance of Everett, and I somewhat enjoyed the wilderness journals he left us behind. But the one thing I cannot tolerate is the fact that his mother prior to allowing his journals get published, sanitized them! You will be reading along and as it gets interesting, you see [21 lines erased:]... What!? What do you mean x number of lines erased! What happened? How am I supposed to get any insight into the mind of this kid when you have censored out the thought process!? Unfathomable and very aggravating. This was the one major detraction in the book. I would totally recommend the "Vagabond for Beauty" and NOT recommend you waste your time on the "Wilderness Journals". "I rode the mules along the trail today and fished... Rain"

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a fantastic first-person look into the life of a true wanderer. Reading Everett's letters was a joy. I would like to have known him.

[River James · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I have been to the lands of enchantment and almost died of the overwhelming beauty of it all."

[Charlotte Mylifeinbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in January I was privileged enough to take part in a book tour for The Vagabond Mother by @authortrace and I absolutely adored it. It was a tale of a Mother who retraces her sons steps by living the vagabond lifestyle across the globe. A Vagabond For Beauty was mentioned a few times in The Vagabond Mother and so I really wanted to read it.

Everett Ruess was a young artist who disappeared into the Canyonlands of Utah at the age of 20. A Vagabond For Beauty is a collection of extensive letters, artwork and diary excerpts that Ruess left behind. They are all that remains of his legacy. His fate still remains unknown. Through the letters and scriptures we see Ruess strive for freedom and for a need to appreciate the beauty that nature has to offer. Painting the picturesque landscapes of North America.

Back in the 1930’s when Ruess left to find himself I can imagine it was really easy to disappear without a trace. The book gives us a glimpse of Ruess living the life that liberated him. Surviving on the bare minimum in order to gain a higher perspective of our life on this planet. I loved reading about him integrating into other societies too, including Native American’s and a Mormon family.

I adore these kinds of books. There’s a huge part of me that would love to do a similar thing, though I know my health would not let me. The descriptions in this book are lyrical and delicate, I could feel how humbled Ruess felt amongst The Gran Canyon and the spectacular scenery he witnessed on his travels. It’s a beautiful read and I really recommend giving it a read.

[Erika F · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a song Nat King Cole made popular called "Nature Boy." This is that boy. Ever since reading this book, he's haunted me. An artist, a truly free spirit, at one with nature, he disappeared into the wild never to be seen again. His story is often seen as tragic. I see magic in it. I imagine him always in wonder, never dying, always young at heart. This is a book to hold close, to read and reread. In it you might a way to live a life unfettered by convention, or raddled by possessions, or tormented by useless ambition. I've just written a review of another book I love. I said I was giving it out for Christmas. I shall add this one to it.

[Peter Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who, like Everett Ruess, is a vagabond of sorts that finds wondering the wilderness not just enjoyable but a form of life. Everett Ruess's story is a strange and fascinating story to read. In this book you get to learn much of his wanderings from his letters and journal entries. His story is sad and tragic yet fascinating and motivating. His story is a motivation for many others that have followed him, to include Edward Abbey who also wrote many stories of the same places Everett wondered.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book. If you like people that go against the norm then you will love this book. Synopsis Everett Ruess, a bold teenage adventurer, artist, and writer - studied and lived with Edward Weston, Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange. He traded prints with Ansel Adams. He tramped around the Sierra Nevada, the California coast, and the desert wilderness of the Southwest pursuing his dream of ultimate beauty and oneness with nature.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many I also felt curious about this book after having read Into the Wild.

I found it difficult to engage seriously with Ruess' letters at times because of the distance I felt with the landscape, having little personal experience of the American west. But I did find a kinship with E in his sublime love for beauty and the love of the road. He was so devoted to artistic expression of the wildness he encountered. Had I been on such a trip I would have huddled more closely to comfort but this is what sets E apart. While many of us dream of escaping into the wild, he actually pursued and lived it and it cost him his life.

When we say someone lived for their art and convictions, I think we can say it truly of Everett Ruess and this alone sets him apart from the mass of men who lead lives of quiet desperation.

Our love for comfort gets in the way of our desire to live closer to ourselves and to nature.

I also wonder about the strain of individualism that demands personal fulfilment as the main goal in a mans life. I do not think such fulfilment is possible and attachment to this notion is a cause for suffering and unhappiness.

Perhaps the modern world cannot accomodate people like Ruess, whose idealism and purity cannot be reconciled with the reality of the world. Ruess died with his purity mostly intact, his notions of the world and his pursuit for beauty as the main aim of his life. Had he lived longer he would have had to become more extreme in this pursuit or he would have had to find some middle ground as he saw the horrors of the world. It might have led him to a strain of cynicism or depression. Maybe his purity would have found a sincere expression that addresses and synthesizes the beauty and ugliness of the place we inhabit. Unfortunately, we will never know, but the life of Ruess and the man himself, at such a young age, is a true marvel, for few of us ever live according to our convictions as Ruess did.

[Bourdon Maxence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been one who loved the wilderness
Swaggered and softly crept among the mountain peaks
I have listened long to the seas brave music,
I have sung my songs above the shriek of desert winds.
On canyon trails when warm nights winds were blowing,
Blowing and sighing through the star tipped pines,
Musing, I walked behind my placid burro,
While water rushed and broke on pointed rocks below.
I have known a green seas heaving,
I have loved red rocks and twisted trees and cloudless turquoise skies,
Slow sunny clouds and red sand blowing.
I have felt the rain and slept behind the waterfall.
In cool sweet grasses I have lain and heard the ghostly murmur of regretful winds,
In aspen glades where rustling silver leaves whisper wild sorrows to the green gold solitude’s,
I have watched the shadowed clouds pile high.
Singing, I rode to meet the splendid shouting storm,
And fought it’s fury until the hidden sun foundered in darkness,
And the lightning heard my song.
Say that I was tired and weary,
Burned and blinded by the desert sun,
Footsore, thirsty sick with strange diseases, lonely
And wet and cold,
But that I kept my dream.
Always I shall be one who loves the wilderness.
Swaggers and softly creeps among the mountain peaks.
I shall listen long to the seas brave music.
I shall sing my songs above the shriek of desert winds.

[ree · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

highly recommend this. a collection of letters and entries of Everett Ruess, a wanderer who seemingly vanished into thin air in late 1934, aged only 20 years old. his disappearance has never been solved.

his letters from 1930-1934 detail his adventure and search for beauty in America's west, namely Utah and Arizona.

this was a lovely read, super fascinating and thought provoking. if only his disappearance was solved....

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stopped reading in first half. Just couldn’t get into it. Wanted to read it because of its mention in “Into the Wild,” but the letters in this book rarely come off as poetic in my opinion. There are occasional excerpts from essays he wrote, which were what I expected this to read like but they are few and far between. I would love to see those, but the letters just didn’t do it for me.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of letters within a narrative about Ruess is quite fascinating IF one has visited the SW canyonlands he wandered through. Which means visit Utah, northern Arizona, then read this account.

[Dianne Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-4 mixed feelings about this one. I found some of the letters fascinating, ( mostly the lit references and zest for learning) but also an immaturity that matched his youth and an undercurrent that made me uncomfortable. And, of the life lost, it was sad.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I

[Ann Weiler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fav book of all time?? It changed my life that's for sure

[Bill Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after it was referenced in Eric Blehm’s great book The Last Season. There are many people, doubtless thousands, who are not cut out for daily routine of life most of us adjust to and Everett Ruess was one such individual just as Randy Morgenson the back country ranger Eric Blehm wrote about in The Last Season. You could add to that list Willie Unsoeld chronicled in Ascent by Laurence Leamer, and Chris McCandless of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.
Everett Ruess was one of the early ones that bounced from California city life to wandering in the deserts of the Southwest United States making a living by selling pencil drawings and barter. They all seem to have a wanderlust that cannot be tamed and they all come to an untimely demise. The remains of Everett Ruess are still being looked for almost 8o years after he disappeared in Southern Utah. We are able to go on their journeys with them from the comfort of our suburban homes and wonder if we ever passed that fork in the road that would have taken us on a similar journey and in my case, at least, be thankful that I followed a road more traveled. This is good book almost a diary and I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the outdoors or is seeking justification for a suppressed wanderlust.

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This should really have been integrated into one book, rather than this stapled-together version. Vagabond often quotes the journal entries that appear in the second book, and the chronology would have been better established were they combined. Rusho would benefit from third-party editing for typos, of which there were several.

Production complaints aside, Ruess' story is an interesting one. Through his letters, poems, journals, and woodblock prints, we become well-acquainted with him and his character. At the end of Vagabond, Rusho thoroughly examines the possibilities of Ruess' fate. Though all explanations are plausible, the most compelling argument to me is that Ruess was murdered and dumped in the Colorado River. That the majority of his equipment was left behind, along with his burros, does not suggest that he starved to death over a longer period of time. I do not give any credence to the theory that Ruess went to live with the Navajo, or became the Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Southwest. As Rusho explains, Ruess seemed too reliant upon communication with his family and friends, if only to share his experiences, to suddenly drop off the map without a word.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Through this combined volume of letters and personal journal entries, the last few years of Everett Ruess's life http://www.everettruess.net/ is partially revealed. Ruess was a dreamer who reveled in nature, travel, and being outdoors. He was also an artist, writer and adventurer who spent much of his latter teenage years exploring the Sierra Nevada region of California and the desert wilderness of the Southwest. He often traveled alone. In November 1934, the twenty year-old Ruess left Escalante, UT and disappeared into the desert canyon lands to the south leaving behind a campsite, his two burros, and part of his camping gear. He was never seen again. His life echoed his words, "When I go, I leave no trace." (lj)

[Aaron York · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't know if there's anyone I associate with more than this cat. Everett was the pioneer back in the early 1900's who set the tone for the adventurer in all of us. He's the reason Chris McCandless ever set out to Alaska in, "Into The Wild" - A brilliant philosopher, an amazing writer, a great poet, a wonderful human being, an explorer, adventurer, and seeker of life, truth and happiness.

[Ranee · Rating 5 out of 5]

an intriguing figure,with a glimpse of the the early 1920s and 30s. if you think you would enjoy reading about the travels of a young intelligent man, exploring the wilderness, this is a great book for you.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this down. The focus on the letters, diary entries and artwork with only occasional remarks by the editor to fill in the blanks gave this real pace and immediacy. A very thought provoking read on a number of levels.

[Endira77 · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his journals, Everett gets angry and frustrate with people more often than he shows. His mother erased things she didn't like such as smoking and atheism.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Add this book to your essential desert rat book collection....

[Susie]

A Fred Dale Lending Library Book

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everett was a great writer for his age and education. His story is interesting. I didn't, however, like just reading his letters. I wish that there was more to the book.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps my alltime favorite book, a great tale of an adventurer going out and putting together a trip most of us can only dream about.

[jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting take on a mans search for meaning in the wilderness! makes me want to go take a hike!

3.5 stars