Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1896-02-18

tho main road where Fountain
was held up. The wheel tracks Of
tho blackboard show that the team
swerved first TO one side then Il
the other, as If Fountain had ei.
Their dropped the lines to seize
his weapons OF had tried TO run
the gauntlet between enemies who
jumped up on both sides. IL wat
a large party that attacked Foun.
tain-not less than eight men aud
perhaps more. He was taken OF
Jumped from the blackboard when
1t was stopped and was shot down
then and there. There is a large
pool Of blood on the ground and
several empty rife shells we're
picked mp close by. Two Of the
shells were Of 80 calibre, new
model smokeless. It is believed
that Colonel Fountain had one Of
the new rifles and il is not likely
that his assailants had any such
weapon. Whether Fountain had
a chance to use his rife and made
q fight or was shot with his own
weapon cannot be determined.
Nowhere is there any sign that
more than n person was killed,
and the fate of the boy is, there
fore, a mystery still. He may
have been taken away into the
mountains or disposed Of else
where. Six of the attacking party
went with the blackboard from the
scene of the murder, which is at
the little Chalk hills about forty
miles from Las Cruces. Those
six kept together through the
pass of the Jarillas, but about ff-
tsen miles this side of the Sacra-
mentos, one turned off and went to
Wilde'swell evidentlyfor water, and
the other FIVE turned due north to-
ward TulurOsa or La Luz. None Of
the tracks led to Dog canon, as
was reported by some of the pos
Sc.
PARA and Gamboa believe that
the body of Colonel Fountain was
brought west by others of the par
ty and disposed of in the sands or
possibly in some prospect hole.
They watched the buzzards and
coyotes in the hope of discovering
through their movements some IN
dication of the burial spot, but
to get any clue hat way.
PARA and Gsmboa declare that
there is nothing in the way of
or tracks to direct suspicion
against any particular man or
band of men, and they cannot
even make a plausible guess at the
identity of the murderers. They
know that there is not the slight
est ground upon which to base
such accusations as have been
made in Las Cruces by excited
partisans.
PARA and Gamboa met persons
who were camping on the Tuluro-
ga road the night of the murder,
and learned some significant facts
from them. These persons belong
to a surveying party and are i'm
witnesses, wholly above
suspicion. They heard the shots
but attributed no special signif-
canoe to them at the time. At
that night, however, they
heard two horsemen approaching
their camp, and surprising them
to be members of their own party,
them as they approached.
The two men did not answer the
hail, but swerved out Of the road
and passed the camp silently and
then put spurs to their horses and
toward Tularosa. A de-
scription of the horses ridden by
these men has been given, but it
is not considered wise to make it
yet.
PARA and Gamboa met Van
Patterns posse, told what they had
found and showed Van Patten the
pool of blood near the road. Van
Patten is nOw searching for the
body in the direction indicated by
The other posse are, or
we're at last accounts, over IN the
and some Of them seem
10 be working upon preconceived
and baseless theories to fasten the
crime upon certain men PERSONAL
y Objectionable to members Of
The posse.
The action of some of these
persons has put a perilous strain
upon the situation here. They