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

19. In Conclusion

188฀ Who฀killed฀Colonel฀Albert฀Jennings฀Fountain฀and฀Henry฀Fountain?฀ In฀telling฀this฀story,฀I’ve฀attempted฀to฀lay฀out฀all฀of฀the฀surviving฀ evidence. ฀ Over฀the฀years,฀the฀more฀people฀spoke฀of฀this฀mystery,฀the฀more฀ names฀ have฀ been฀ added฀ to฀ the฀ list฀ of฀ suspects.฀ The฀ following฀ is฀ a฀ list฀ of฀ the฀ men฀ who฀ have฀ been฀ mentioned฀ as฀ suspects฀ or฀ possible ฀conspirators฀in฀this฀crime฀at฀one฀time฀or฀another:฀Oliver฀Lee,฀ James฀Gililland,฀William฀McNew,฀Ed฀Brown,฀Green฀Scott,฀Emerald฀ James,฀ William฀ Carr,฀ Tom฀ Tucker,฀ Jack฀ Tucker,฀ Albert฀ B.฀ Fall,฀ Hiram฀Yost,฀John฀Yost,฀Frank฀Hill,฀Frank฀Chatfield,฀---฀Thergood,฀ José฀Chavez฀y฀Chavez,฀Tom฀“Black฀Jack”฀Ketchum,฀Sam฀Ketchum,฀ Joe฀Morgan,฀William฀Gililland,฀Print฀Rhodes,฀Charles฀Jones,฀Jim฀ Miller,฀ Randolph฀ Reynolds,฀ ---฀ Brady,฀ William฀ Johnson,฀ Fred฀ Pellman,฀---฀Stiles,฀Bob฀Raley,฀Tom฀Priedemore,฀John฀Lynch,฀Jim฀ Lynch,฀---฀Johnson฀(William?),฀---฀Grady,฀Gene฀---,฀Len฀Watts,฀Luis฀ Herrera,฀and฀---฀Lillaret.1 ฀ Many฀of฀these฀men฀where฀not฀mentioned฀as฀suspects฀until฀years฀ after฀the฀murders,฀because฀at฀the฀time฀no฀evidence฀was฀found฀linking ฀them฀to฀the฀crime,฀and฀in฀some฀cases฀they฀even฀had฀an฀airtight฀ alibi.฀Take฀José฀Chavez฀y฀Chavez,฀who฀has฀been฀cited฀by฀many฀over฀ the฀years฀as฀one฀of฀the฀men฀believed฀to฀have฀killed฀the฀Fountains.฀ Former฀ Sheriff฀ and฀ Governor฀ George฀ Curry฀ put฀ this฀ suspect฀ in฀ everyone’s฀ minds฀ when฀ he฀ wrote฀ in฀ his฀ autobiography,฀ many฀ nineteen In Conclusion In฀Conclusion฀—฀189฀ years฀ after฀ the฀ disappearance,฀ that฀ Chavez฀ y฀ Chavez฀ was฀ among฀ those฀Fountain฀prosecuted฀during฀the฀January฀1896฀court฀session฀ in฀ Lincoln.฀ Curry฀ added฀ that฀ he฀ believed฀ Chavez฀ y฀ Chavez฀ was฀ wrongly฀prosecuted฀and฀that฀he฀was฀acquitted.฀ ฀ Curry฀claimed฀that฀a฀day฀or฀two฀before฀Colonel฀Fountain฀left฀ Lincoln,฀Chavez฀y฀Chavez฀called฀him฀into฀the฀saloon฀opposite฀the฀ courthouse,฀inviting฀him฀to฀have฀a฀drink.฀Chavez฀y฀Chavez฀talked฀ to฀him฀about฀the฀case฀and฀protested฀his฀innocence,฀which฀Curry฀ believed. ฀ “George,”฀he฀said,฀“I฀will฀do฀anything฀for฀you฀and฀as฀I฀have฀ promised฀you,฀I฀will฀do฀nothing฀here,฀but฀I฀will฀get฀that฀scoundrel฀ Fountain฀if฀I฀have฀to฀hang฀for฀it.” ฀ Curry฀wrote,฀“I฀have฀never฀seen฀Chavez฀y฀Chavez฀since,฀but฀ learned฀later฀that฀he฀was฀at฀Luna’s฀wells฀near฀the฀White฀Sands฀the฀ night฀before฀Colonel฀Fountain฀was฀killed฀in฀the฀‘Chalk฀Hills’฀a฀few฀ miles฀away.” ฀ Curry฀added฀that฀years฀later฀he฀asked฀Ed฀Brown฀who฀participated ฀in฀the฀Fountain฀murders. ฀ “George,”฀Brown฀replied,฀“I฀am฀sworn฀to฀secrecy.฀I฀know฀the฀ names฀of฀all฀the฀participants฀but฀I฀will฀never฀tell.฀I฀will฀do฀this;฀if฀you฀ ask฀me,฀I฀will฀tell฀you฀who฀was฀not฀there.” ฀ Curry฀asked,฀“Was฀Oliver฀Lee฀there?”฀ ฀ “No,฀Oliver฀Lee฀was฀too฀chicken฀hearted,”฀Brown฀said. ฀ “Was฀Billy฀McNew฀there?” ฀ Brown฀did฀not฀answer. ฀ “Was฀Jim฀Gililland฀there?” ฀ Again฀no฀answer. ฀ “Was฀Randolph฀Reynolds฀there?” ฀ No฀answer. ฀ “Was฀José฀Chavez฀y฀Chavez฀there?” ฀ No฀answer.2 ฀ So,฀ José฀ Chavez฀ y฀ Chavez฀ became฀ a฀ much-accused฀ suspect.฀ One฀problem฀was฀that฀José฀Chavez฀y฀Chavez฀was฀in฀jail฀at฀the฀time฀ 190฀฀ —฀Murder฀on฀the฀White฀Sands of฀the฀Fountain฀disappearance.฀He฀was฀awaiting฀trial฀for฀another฀ murder.3 ฀ ฀ Other฀men฀who฀had฀no฀evidence฀found฀against฀them฀in฀the฀ investigation฀from฀1896฀to฀1900฀are฀Tom฀Ketchum,฀Sam฀Ketchum,฀ William฀Gililland,฀John฀Yost,฀Jim฀Miller,฀Randolph฀Reynolds,฀Print฀ Rhodes,฀Fred฀Pellman,฀any฀man฀named฀Brady,฀Stiles,฀Cleavers,฀or฀ Grady,฀Bob฀Raley,฀Tom฀Priedemore,฀John฀Lynch,฀or฀Jim฀Lynch.฀ The฀only฀information฀against฀any฀of฀these฀men฀was฀some฀old-timer’s฀ story฀told฀many฀years฀after฀the฀fact. ฀ Luis฀ Herrera,฀ Lillaret,฀ and฀ Len฀ Watts฀ were฀ all฀ mentioned฀ to฀ Garrett฀in฀letters,฀the฀information฀in฀each฀case฀coming฀from฀someone ฀who฀heard฀it฀from฀someone฀else฀who฀heard฀it฀from฀someone฀ else.฀Further฀investigation฀into฀these฀men฀led฀to฀nothing.฀ ฀ Johnson’s฀only฀connection฀was฀that฀he฀told฀Governor฀Otero฀ that฀he฀was฀at฀Sunol฀at฀the฀time฀of฀the฀murder฀and฀said฀that฀he฀ could฀locate฀the฀bodies.฀No฀record฀exists฀of฀him฀being฀a฀suspect฀or฀ being฀near฀Chalk฀Hill฀at฀the฀time฀of฀the฀murder. ฀ Hiram฀Yost,฀Frank฀Hill,฀and฀Charles฀Jones฀had฀been฀at฀Fall’s฀ Sunol฀property฀as฀late฀as฀January฀30,฀1896.฀Nothing฀links฀them฀to฀ the฀murders,฀nor฀was฀there฀physical฀evidence฀that฀the฀killers฀came฀ from฀Sunol. ฀ That฀leaves฀us฀with฀the฀most฀likely฀participants.฀Was฀it฀a...