The Fountain Murder Site

In 1896, a notable incident occurred involving Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight year old son, both of whom were reported missing on February 1, 1896. This disappearance transpired while they traversed an area of the White Sands in New Mexico. Subsequent investigations indicated that Attorney and prosecutor Albert Jennings Fountain had become a target following a corruption purge. Evidence collected included a blood stained wagon, alongside other forensic traces indicative of foul play, although the bodies were never located. In response, New Mexico Governor William T. Thornton offered a $2,000 reward, which was supplemented by a $10,000 reward from the Masonic Lodge of New Mexico. Furthermore, Thornton deployed Apache scouts, Pinkerton Agents, and noted lawman Pat Garrett to assist in the inquiry. Despite the absence of corpses, sufficient circumstantial evidence was gathered over two years leading to the issuance of warrants for suspects Oliver Lee, William McNew, Bill Carr, and James Gilliland. Notable actions ensued with the arrest of McNew and Carr on the same day.

However, a significant challenge arose in the prosecution due to the lack of physical evidence in the form of bodies. Additional evidence suggested the potential involvement of Albert Fall, (a brilliant attorney) who may have orchestrated the killings. During the trial, Fall’s presence as a defense attorney of the accused raised questions regarding the trial’s integrity, especially considering the intimidation tactics employed by a packed courtroom full of armed supporters of the defendants, as well as the conspicuous absence of certain witnesses. The outcome culminated in a verdict of not guilty.
However in 1910 there is speculation that the bodies were buried on the Gilliland property and the remains of burnt bones were found. The case did not go forth allegedly because the brother in law of James Gilliland., the man suspected of murdering Fountain and son, was the sheriff. But in more recent

THE FOUNTAIN MURDER SITE by Joe Ben Sanders 2020 In early May of 1994, I was asked by Karl Laumbach, of Human Systems Research, Inc., to take an HSR crew, and begin supervising and documenting New Mexico’s most famous murder site. We did, most gladly. This is my interpretation of the site. My opinion, if you will, based on my familiarity with massacre sites, mostly on old wagon roads and mostly involving Apaches lying in wait but occasionally white outlaws killed from ambush, too. Hence, the word-bushwhackers. This particular site, the Fountain Murder Site, I had six weeks to form an educated opinion on how it happened and little else- just how. That was the underlying archaeological perspective when here doing our diligent work. On February 1, 1896, Judge Fountain was likely shot from ambush by a lone assassin hiding behind the horizontally large Koeberlina Spinoza bush in photos. There occurs a larger vertical creosote bush in the horizontal and the murderer lay in a small indentation behind the horizontal bush just right of the tall creosote growing from the midst of the Christ Thorn Bush as we locals refer to this Koeberlina bush. It is old. It is mentioned specifically in the crime reports of that time. It is an evergreen. The wagon ruts are two, parellel, and as one comes up the east side of Chalk Hill the assassins rifle is pointing directly at approaching travelers- this time the judge. A rifle shot range out and the judge began bleeding profusely in his Prince Albert coat. It was a cold February day, and they had left Dave Sutherland, of La Luz, NM that morning expecting to arrive at home in Mesilla, NM that evening. The wagon ruts are seen on extreme right of photos and mesquite occur in the ruts still visible. That made the job of finding the best place to assassinate and I chose this spot. A small depression, just body size occurs here. I laid down in it and I pretended I had a rifle and I pointed it down the wagon trail. I could plug anyone from here without being seen. A perfect spot for the activity proposed- a bushwhacking. Little has changed at this site. Excepting the new highway that cuts through Chalk Hill, and the military encroachments, the site setting and integrity is basically-unchanged. Silence and space and seclusion still reign supreme here in this gypsum wasteland. But only if we can somehow forget, momentarily, the passing motorists as they speed past the now largely forgotten murder site We four archaeologists spent six weeks at this site and recorded the wagon road and it’s elevations and ruts about a quarter mile each way. We did instrument mapping of the site and drew contour lines on our maps to make sense of the terrain and how each feature contributed to the success of the assassins mission. The bodies were never found or the murderers ever brought to justice. Countless folks hereabouts still argue about who done the murders and forever speculate the location of the bodies. These bushes in the photos are visible from the historical marker on the highway and Chalk Hill is one mile east at exactly MP 289. The site is fenced off, occurs on White Sands Missile Range, and cameras and sensors are placed to protect the site. Don’t cross the fence- just look across the fence and appreciate the location and the history of the place. The murderer had to shoot Judge Fountain before the judge could gain the crest of Chalk Hill for there were two other horsemen hidden in the depression west of Chalk Hill seen in foreground. These horsemen evidently caught the buggy team and that was when the judge fell out of the wagon and made a blood splatter that John Meadows later found. John Meadows lived until 1934 in TULAROSA and my dad often told me stories of John Meadows while John still operated his hotel in TULAROSA. My grandfather had a store from 1919, until John died, that butted up to John Meadows hotel that Pat Coghlan had built about 1875. Today, we archaeologists and historians still look for the bodies and try to solve New Mexico’s most famous murder. Hopefully, someday we will have all the answers and the bodies found and reunited with their family members. Only time will tell. God bless all and please don’t accuse anyone of this murder without first spending years researching the facts. I hope we can enjoy the site and the history of the place, the events of the day 124 years ago today and always have an open and an inquiring mind and never judge others or their motives from another time. Strangely, as a post script, I might add, the Laboratory of Anthropology Site number for this double homicide site, (the judges eight year old son, Henry, was also likely murdered