In the Works

The Trial of Oliver Lee

In 1896 New Mexico Territory, Oliver Lee, rancher, expert with a rifle and pistol, and a democrat was the political enemy of Albert Fountain, newspaper publisher, attorney, and a republican. Within ten days of obtaining a grand jury indictment against Lee and his associates for cattle rustling, Fountain and his eight year old son, Henry, disappeared in the winter desert near White Sands New Mexico Territory, 1 February 1896. They were never found. Within days after Albert and Henry disappeared Oliver Lee was accused of the murders, and newspapers called for his lynching. Under great political pressure, the territorial governor brought Pat Garrett out of retirement in Texas and the Pinkerton Detective Agency in to gather evidence and make arrests. After a two-year investigation, Pat Garrett presented his evidence to a grand jury in Las Cruces, New Mexico on the guilt of Oliver Lee, Bill McNew and Jim Gililland in the murders of Albert and Henry Fountain. The grand jury, citing insufficient evidence, refused to indict Lee, McNew, and Gililland for the murders. Garrett obtained a bench warrant for their arrests. He believed he had enough evidence for their conviction and that the grand jury was biased. He held McNew in solitary confinement for a year while he attempted to arrest Lee and Gililland. In 1899 all three men came to trial; McNew in Silver City, New Mexico for the murder of Albert Fountain, and Lee and Gililland in the small mining town of Hillsboro, New Mexico for the murder of Henry Fountain. They were prosecuted by leading Republicans and defended by leading Democrats. The charges against McNew were dropped. In a trial that lasted over three weeks with over sixty witnesses called to the stand, and proceedings often lasting into the night, Lee and Gililland were declared Not Guilty after the jury deliberated less than eight minutes.

The Trial of Oliver Lee tells the story of one of the most spectacular trials held in the western United States. It is history written as a novel, work used to shed light of one of the great mysteries of the southwest, and a study of the impact of politics on justice.

Camisa Roja, Hombrecito’s Debt

Henry Fountain Grace, Hombrecito, after living fours years in Mexico with the Sierra Madre Apaches believes he owed a debt of gratitude to Doroteo Arango, also known as Pancho Villa. Arango saves his life and that of Yellow Boy in the Sierra Madre. Ten years and a life time later in 1915 Arango calls in Henry’s marker just before Villa’s raid on Columbus, New Mexico. After the Columbus raid, Henry is forced to choose between loyalty to his country and loyalty to the man to whom he owes his debt. The cost of the debt is raised even higher when Henry realizes that to save Villa, he must also save Camisa Roja, the man who killed the only woman he believes he will ever love. It is a hard, almost impossible choice, a choice that will shape Henry for rest of his life.