The Galapagos Islands' Homesteader Death Showdown

Floreana is a small island in the Galapagos that became home to a few very adventurous people almost 100 years ago. They came a few at a time, each with bizarre stories, beginning with Dr. Frederick Ritter and Dore Strauch, who left their lives in Germany behind in 1928 for what they thought would be an island paradise.

Strauch wrote a memoir about her life on the island, and it’s like Into the Wild written by an old-timey German lady with Stockholm syndrome. She met Ritter, a doctor fifteen years her senior, when he treated her for multiple sclerosis. They bonded over their shared hatred of bourgeois domesticity.
Ritter was a sort of reverse Henry Higgins for Strauch, pushing her to change from a bored city wife into a stateless, toothless hermit. He told her she could overcome her physical ailments through sheer willpower, she believed him, and they left their respective spouses and families to move from Germany to Floreana.
He also held, uh, unorthodox views for a doctor. Ritter preemptively removed his teeth before the trip because he wanted to see if his gums would toughen up in the wilderness. He didn’t bother arranging for Strauch to get her teeth removed, nor did he bring any dentistry tools, so her teeth rotted and had to be yanked out with gardening supplies while they were on the island. Then they shared the one pair of DIY stainless steel false teeth Ritter had made. They also didn’t wear many clothes.

Other people followed, but they didn’t form a community because they didn’t have anything in common. They didn’t even like each other. First came a family with a pregnant mom, then a baroness with two lovers, and occasional visitors who might be shot at. The animosity between the Floreana islanders led to accusations of murder when two of them disappeared. Read the whole sordid story at Gizmodo.