Murder on the White Sands: The Disappearance of Albert and Henry Fountain

16. The Prosecution Closes

154฀ Captain฀Thomas฀Branigan฀led฀off฀the฀next฀morning’s฀testimony.฀ He฀said฀that฀he฀knew฀Lee฀and฀McNew฀but฀was฀not฀well฀acquainted฀ with฀Gililland,฀then฀described฀trailing฀Fountain’s฀buckboard,฀the฀ Cruces฀and฀Tularosa฀road,฀and฀the฀area฀around฀Chalk฀Hill.฀He฀testi fied฀to฀trailing฀the฀buckboard฀to฀the฀spot฀where฀it฀was฀abandoned,฀ and฀from฀there฀to฀trailing฀horse฀tracks฀that฀left฀that฀spot.฀He฀talked฀ about฀finding฀an฀impression฀on฀the฀ground฀where฀a฀blanket฀had฀ been฀laid฀down฀with฀something฀heavy฀on฀it.฀ ฀ He฀went฀on฀to฀describe฀the฀remnants฀of฀a฀dry฀campfire฀that฀ was฀five฀miles฀from฀where฀they฀had฀found฀the฀buckboard.฀There฀ were฀boot฀tracks฀surrounding฀it.฀Branigan฀saw฀the฀tracks฀of฀a฀child฀ leading฀away฀from฀the฀fire฀about฀six฀feet.฀“I฀do฀not฀know฀how฀it฀ got฀there฀nor฀where฀it฀went,฀as฀I฀could฀not฀trail฀it฀any฀further฀nor฀ back฀to฀the฀fire.฀My฀conclusion฀was฀that฀one฀of฀the฀men฀had฀taken฀ the฀child’s฀shoe฀in฀his฀hand฀or฀on฀a฀stick฀and฀made฀the฀impressions฀ with฀it.฀There฀were฀only฀four฀tracks฀and฀all฀were฀made฀by฀the฀shoe฀ belonging฀to฀the฀child’s฀right฀foot.฀.฀.฀.” ฀ “I฀measured฀the฀tracks฀of฀three฀men฀about฀the฀camp฀and฀at฀ other฀camps฀along฀the฀trail฀of฀seven฀horses฀from฀this฀point,฀and฀the฀ next฀day฀found฀tracks฀on฀Lee’s฀dirt฀roof฀exactly฀like฀the฀one฀having฀ a฀heel฀run฀over฀that฀I฀found฀in฀the฀camps.฀When฀McNew฀came฀to฀ Las฀Cruces฀a฀short฀time฀later฀I฀waited฀for฀a฀chance฀and฀measured฀ his฀tracks.฀These฀gave฀the฀same฀measurements฀as฀the฀others฀about฀ sixteen The Prosecution Closes The฀Prosecution฀Closes฀—฀155฀ the฀camp.฀The฀track฀of฀Lee’s฀horse฀also฀corresponded฀with฀those฀ of฀the฀largest฀horse฀on฀the฀trail฀from฀the฀camp.”฀Branigan฀testified฀ that฀he฀had฀measured฀the฀tracks฀carefully฀from฀the฀heel฀to฀the฀toe,฀ across฀the฀heel,฀across฀the฀toe,฀and฀across฀the฀ball฀of฀the฀foot.฀The฀ measurements฀ to฀ be฀ used฀ as฀ evidence฀ had฀ disappeared฀ from฀ the฀ district฀attorney’s฀office. ฀ Branigan฀ told฀ of฀ following฀ the฀ trail฀ of฀ the฀ horsemen฀ toward฀ Lee’s฀ranch฀until฀a฀herd฀of฀cattle,฀traveling฀the฀direction฀of฀the฀trail,฀ passed฀by฀and฀obliterated฀it.฀The฀men฀in฀charge฀of฀the฀herd฀said฀ they฀were฀taking฀the฀cattle฀to฀Lee’s฀well. ฀ Fall฀cross-examined฀the฀witness.฀ ฀ “How฀long฀have฀you฀been฀a฀scout฀and฀trailer?” ฀ “Eighteen฀years.” ฀ “Don’t฀ you฀ know฀ that฀ it฀ would฀ be฀ impossible฀ to฀ measure฀ a฀ track฀in฀a฀sandy฀soil฀after฀it฀had฀been฀made?” ฀ “Well,฀ some฀ of฀ them฀ were฀ almost฀ perfect฀ and฀ others฀ were฀ deeper.฀Sand฀had฀fallen฀in฀on฀these฀and฀partly฀obliterated฀them.” ฀ Fall’s฀questioning฀became฀tedious฀as฀he฀attempted฀to฀show฀that฀ Branigan฀was฀intent฀on฀proving฀that฀the฀trail฀led฀to฀Lee’s฀ranch,฀and฀ that฀what฀he฀wanted฀was฀to฀implicate฀Lee฀and฀no฀one฀else.฀On฀a฀few฀ points,฀Branigan฀was฀harassed฀unmercifully฀and฀seemed฀somewhat฀ confused฀at฀times,฀but฀stuck฀to฀his฀main฀narrative.1 ฀ The฀next฀witness฀was฀W.฀T.฀White.฀In฀January฀1896,฀he฀was฀ helping฀Dan฀Fitchett฀hold฀a฀herd฀of฀cattle฀that฀were฀to฀be฀delivered฀ to฀Lee’s฀ranch.฀On฀the฀way฀there,฀a฀party฀came฀to฀them฀and฀asked฀ whose฀cattle฀they฀were฀and฀other฀questions.฀He฀said฀that฀when฀they฀ reached฀Lee’s฀ranch฀Gililland,฀McNew,฀Blevins,฀and฀Lee฀were฀there.฀ “McNew฀went฀to฀the฀house฀and฀got฀his฀gun฀as฀we฀came฀up.” ฀ “Mr.฀White,”฀Fall฀asked฀during฀the฀cross-examination,฀“in฀driving ฀cattle฀from฀Dog฀Canyon฀to฀Lee’s฀well฀which฀is฀the฀best฀route?” ฀ “The฀one฀we฀took.” ฀ “As฀you฀were฀going฀down,฀which฀side฀of฀you฀was฀the฀posse฀on฀ when฀you฀met฀it?” 156฀฀ —฀Murder฀on฀the฀White฀Sands ฀ “On฀the฀right.” ฀ “Then฀the฀posse฀went฀on฀around฀the฀herd฀and฀preceded฀you฀to฀ Lee’s฀well?” ฀ “Yes฀sir.”2 ฀ Irving฀Wright฀testified฀to฀finding฀Fountain’s฀mare. ฀ After฀Wright,฀the฀jury฀was฀told฀to฀retire.฀The฀attorneys฀then฀ proceeded฀ to฀ argue฀ about฀ the฀ admissibility฀ of฀ the฀ testimony฀ of฀ Charles฀ Lusk฀ regarding฀ McNew’s฀ statement฀ that฀ Fountain฀ was฀ only฀prosecuting฀them฀to฀break฀them฀apart.฀Childers฀argued฀that฀ circumstantial฀evidence฀had฀demonstrated฀a฀conspiracy฀between฀the฀ defendants฀and฀urged฀that฀the฀evidence฀of฀Lusk฀be฀allowed. ฀ Fall฀alleged฀that฀the฀corpus...