Title: Rancher
Birthdate: June 14, 1878
Death Date: December 18, 1905
Plot Location: Section 125, Lot 23

Of all the thousands of burials in this cemetery, this must be the only one of a well-to-do Philadelphian who dropped out of the University of Pennsylvania to buy a ranch “out West” and be a cowboy. Then at the age of just 27 years old, he was murdered in Mexico.
The young man’s father, Robert Sr., came to Philadelphia from Ireland, married, and had Robert Jr. (known as Bob) and Anna. Three others followed but each of them died as infants. Robert’s career was in sales for National Essence of Coffee Company, moving up to vice-president, and serving on the board of a number of banks. One of them was First Penny Savings Bank, started by Bethany Presbyterian Church, where the Rutherfords were very active.
The family moved up in social standing, moving from Southwest Center City to a much nicer home at 4411 Pine Street in the Spruce Hill neighborhood. Bob grew up not knowing what it was like to not have servants in the home. The parents were occasionally mentioned in the society pages, especially spending their summers each year at Ocean City, New Jersey.
Bob tried out for the football team several times while he was at the University of Pennsylvania but didn’t make the cut. He was big and strong but just not quick enough. Outside of school he was a member of several yacht clubs.
One account said he had occasion to travel west, possibly to visit his uncle, a Texas banker who unsuccessfully ran for governor. He became enamored with owning a ranch, so he bought one near El Paso and had a house built. Then he bought a cowboy hat, as shown above.
Shown here is part of a newspaper account of his sudden wedding to former debutante Sarah Jewett Orne Benson. It was not the elaborate social affair that would be expected, however, and with good reason. They married on December 16, 1903 and she delivered Alyce Benson Rutherford on July 18, 1904 in El Paso.
As a belated wedding present, Bob’s father bought him a bigger ranch in Mexico sometime in 1904. Robert Sr. had some connections since he had been to Mexico City on several occasions related to the coffee and spice business. It was located about 350 miles south of El Paso on the Mexican Central Railway in the state of Chihuahua. Bob began raising hogs in early 1905 but it was originally a small alfalfa farm of about 1000 acres (five times the size of Mount Moriah Cemetery).
By comparison, the cattle ranch next door was 53,000 acres and owned by the other central character of this story. His name was Ole Finstad, a Norwegian from Los Angeles who made it big in the Klondike. He arrived a year or two before Bob with his wife’s brother, Charles McMurray, who was ranch manager. They hired a short fellow named Louis “Shorty” Coughener who tended the horses.
Rounding out the cast of characters was Bob’s partner and lifelong friend, Billy Gluckett. He left for Philadelphia in October, 1905 to bring Bob’s wife, daughter, and sister to stay at the ranch for a while. The drama begins when Ole rode to the Rutherford ranch on December 18th with bad news.
He explained that a band of outlaws attacked his ranch house while Bob was there, shooting both Bob and Charles and injuring Shorty. Upon hearing that, both ladies promptly fainted. Billy called for a physician to go back with him and Ole. Bob had been hit by a bullet in the ribs but the doctor said the cause of death may have been from a deep cut in the back of the head, apparently made with a hatchet.
The Mexican authorities held Ole for questioning while the news was carried by wire services and reported (and exaggerated) across the U.S. Ole’s wife and daughter came to his defense from California. Robert telegraphed his business associate to take care of his son’s body.
Fortunately, the El Paso newspaper stayed with the story to sort truth from fiction and the sensational headlines. The police heard from Mrs. Finstad and even detained Mrs. Rutherford to hear her say that she never heard of any sort of gangs and always felt perfectly safe. All of this took place over the Christmas holiday, followed by Ole’s arrest.
Shorty was released from the hospital but arrested December 28. Ole had one good thing going for him. Despite the days upon days of questioning, Shorty’s story never varied from Ole’s, and all kinds of pressure was applied to make him crack.
The Rutherford ladies complained later of some rude treatment during their interviews, that telegrams they sent were never received, and that the body wasn’t released for transport until Christmas Day. On the day of the funeral, January 2, 1906, Robert told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the Mexican authorities located a box of 44-caliber bullets on Ole’s property, the same type used in the shooting, and a bloody hatchet was found under straw in a corral on his ranch.
That same day, the San Francisco Examiner published this quote from the El Paso sheriff who refuted those findings. (He was hired by Ole to work on the case.) It was later learned that nothing had been taken after the attack, to which Ole’s wife claimed that anything of value was in his safe, and the desperados gave up when they couldn’t open it.
Press coverage of this incident seemed to feed the public’s perception of foreign governments at the time. A few years earlier, “yellow journalism” was partly responsible for the patriotic fervor behind the Spanish-American War,
followed by the Philippine-American War from 1899 to 1902.
But, despite this headline, the case didn’t trigger an international affair. There were many in El Paso like the sheriff who voiced suspicions that Mexican law enforcement would rather place the blame on the Americans than have dispersions cast on their reputation or inability to locate the perpetrators. The two men who were first on the scene, Billy Gluckett and the physician, publicly opined that the outlaws were responsible, based on what they saw there, including the fresh tracks of horses.
Bob’s father publicly vowed to avenge his son’s murder, whatever the cost. Meanwhile the United States Consul in Chihuahua looked into the matter and filed a report with the State Department on January 14, but the contents were not released. The two men faced a jury trial in March where they were convicted and a 12 year sentence was handed down for each of them.
An assistant from the American Embassy in Mexico City observed the proceedings, as did friends and family of the defendants. He filed his report with the Secretary of State who advised President Theodore Roosevelt on the outcome, according to the El Paso Times.
The report said there was no denial of justice and that Ole’s Norwegian citizenship disqualified him from any assistance from the U.S. government. The two men filed an appeal, which was granted in May. At this point the Rutherford family made the trip to Chihuahua to testify and present their conclusion in the matter.
Shorty told a friend that someone offered cash and a train ticket to California if he would squeal. He refused, stood firm, and said Ole never hurt anyone. His supporters suspected the Rutherfords made the bribe.
In another plot twist, someone heard someone say that the Rutherfords intended to bring legal action against Ole for damages in the death of their son. That person told Ole, and that prompted him to sell his ranch and avoid the civil suit.
This is what Robert told local reporters after his return home. Did he have evidence to support his position? More likely, it was the result of the emotions that make family members want to find a reason, to place blame, to grasp at some justification for a senseless murder. Random acts that remain unresolved don’t offer a grieving family the kind of closure they desperately want.
The outcome remained the same when the state court handed down its verdict. The men appealed their fate to the Supreme Court of Mexico, but the wheels of justice move slowly, perhaps more slowly than in this country.
Newspapers in El Paso mentioned an appeal was pending in late 1907, then this final story was published May 25, 1909, when the Supreme Court settled the matter and released them, as reported here.
Bob was buried in the family plot already occupied by his three infant siblings and his father’s mother. Bob’s mother died in 1915 and his father lived only 34 days after that.
The sole surviving family member, Anna, married and had her own family. She had this monument placed to honor her parents. It is flanked by small stones for the others and a final stone for her and her husband. Bob’s wife and daughter would both marry and move away, putting their “wild west” adventure behind them.

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