On this day in New Mexico history February 1, 1896 – One of the most enduring mysteries of New Mexico occurred on this date. Albert Fountain and his eight year old son Henry disappeared on a trip from Alamogordo to Las Cruces in a buckboard wagon. They were never found. Fountain had gone to Lincoln New Mexico to testify against cattle rustlers and was returning home. He brought his son along in the mistaken thought that no one would harm the boy. It is widely accepted by historians they were killed on the trip and their bodies disposed of without record. Fountain was both loved and hated, equally, his friends were legend and his enemies numerous. As an aside, he was the attorney assigned to defend Billy the Kid when he was tried in Mesilla and then sentenced to hanging when found guilty. That was fifteen years earlier. Famous lawman Pat Garret was brought in to solve the mystery as were the Pinkerton detectives, to no avail. There are a number of websites and books about this subject that are worthy of your interest. I have posted a couple websites to get started on what happened to Albert Fountain and his son Henry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Jennings_FountainThe good people of New Mexico were outraged at this murder and it was one of the moments that delayed statehood until 1912. The lawlessness of the territory in those times knew no bounds.
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1 comments:
In my opinion, Fountain was killed by cattle rancher, Oliver Lee. Fountain and his son were on their way home from Lincoln County where Fountain had obtained cattle rustling indictments against Oliver Lee. At that time, cattle rustling was a serious crime in New Mexico. Lee was also accused of other notorious crimes, though he was never convicted. Now there's a state park in Otero County named after Oliver Lee. How ironic is that? Despite yet to be proven allegations, maybe some day Bill Richardson will also have a state parked named after him.
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