Arizona republican., 1899-05-23
COLONEL FOUNTAINS FATE
Will Oliver Lee Be Hanged as d
 furdereF

The great cause of excitement iE
 Ncw Mexico just TOW is the trial Of several prominent citizens for the
 murder of Colonel Fountain of Las
 Cruces in February, 1896. Oliver Lee.
 picturesque and eccentric character,
 ere of the wealthiest ranchmen in New Mexico, whcI has seven or eight ranches between here aald the Mexican
 border. and 1000 900 scee-s. and his bTother-in-law, a desperate character
 named GilTiland. are the principal de- feilidnts McNew, another relative, was also indicted for the crime, but his case was 'n0lle pros'd'' last week by
 the district attorney because the eyi- daEca against him was net very strong an,i it was feared his acquittal would weaken the case against the rest of them Besides this. Pat Garrett, the famous sheriff of Las Cruces. who has been working up the case, does not tj.nk il good policy to disclose the evil dTEce of the prosecution until the principal defendants are on trial.
 Fer years there was a great deal CT cattle stealing in this territory. The iustlers, as cattle thieves are called. seemed. to be well organized and to have means Of disp0sins of their booty sc convenient and complete that it was almost impossible to trace them. Whole herds of stock would nysteri- ously disappear, and every effort to trace tn nm or detect their capt0r5 fai.ed. Finally the Cattle Grower@' association employed Colonel Albert J. Fountain Of Las Cruces, who was per h8ps the most eminent lawyer in ths territory. a man of high character and a prominent republican leader. He had always been a puOl3c spirited citi- zen and had the reputation Of carrying ouI successfully any work he under took FearleSsness, determination and persistence were his most notable characteristics.
 Colonel Fountain took up the duty Of suppressing the cattle thieves with his usual energy, and devoted his en- tire time to it. Just what means he employed is nct definitely known The facts will net come out until the trial, but il is tha popular belief thac he brought detectives from Utah and Montana and had them find employ ment among the men who were sus- Fected Of compliciJy with the rustlers. l. IS also said his secret agents partlci- pated extensively in the raids and brought him unmistakabIe evidence, part Oi W-lcn ne pfG16ASeu ID S1lS grand jury Cf Lincoln county in F'ebfu- aTy. 1896. The result was he indict- ment of Oliver lice, who. as have said is one of the>-iclest ranchmen il the territory, and several of his rsla- tives: and it was asserted that some If the missing cattle had been discovered in Lees herd If this was true T solved the mystery of their disappear aEce, for nobody thought of looking there fer them.
 Of course the indictments caused 2 profound sensation because of Lees previous prominence in the Cattle Growers association and territorial af- fairs. and his friends endeavored to break the force of the blow by attrib- utirg political motives to CO1cneI Fountain, for Lee was as prominent ill democratic politics as he in the repUll- Ecan party. Lee and his relatives came over to Lincoln and gave bail and then with a great show of indig nation demanded an immediate trial.
 A few days later Colonel Fountain left Lincoln in a blackboard drawn by two horses for his home at Las Cruces. He was accompanied by his little son. 3 years ed. and is supposed to have