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

5. Bring in the Pinkertons

36฀ Shortly฀ after฀ Pat฀ Garrett฀ began฀ his฀ work฀ on฀ the฀ case,฀ Governor฀ Thornton฀brought฀in฀additional฀help.฀Garrett฀was฀a฀man฀of฀action,฀ a฀man฀who฀could฀round฀up฀the฀suspected฀parties.฀What฀Thornton฀ sought฀ next฀ was฀ a฀ professional฀ investigator.฀ He฀ called฀ in฀ the฀ Pinkertons. ฀ The฀Pinkerton฀National฀Detective฀Agency฀had฀been฀founded฀in฀ 1850฀by฀Scottish฀immigrant฀Allan฀Pinkerton.฀For฀years,฀Pinkerton฀ men฀served฀as฀ruthless฀strikebreakers฀and฀bodyguards,฀most฀notably ฀for฀President฀Lincoln.฀Pinkerton฀private฀detectives฀also฀pursued฀ some฀of฀the฀most฀wanted฀men฀in฀the฀West,฀among฀them฀the฀James฀ and฀Younger฀gangs,฀the฀Hole-in-the-Wall฀gang,฀Butch฀Cassidy฀and฀ the฀Sundance฀Kid,฀and฀the฀Wild฀Bunch.1 Thornton฀contacted฀the฀Pinkertons฀towards฀the฀end฀of฀February.฀ It฀had฀been฀worked฀out฀ahead฀of฀time฀with฀James฀Cree฀that฀their฀ investigation฀would฀be฀paid฀for฀by฀the฀Southeastern฀New฀Mexico฀ Stock฀Growers’฀Association.฀Cree฀also฀sent฀Thornton฀the฀letter฀he฀ received฀from฀Colonel฀Fountain,฀dated฀October฀3,฀1895,฀showing฀ Fountain฀was฀aware฀of฀threats฀against฀his฀life.2 ฀ On฀February฀28฀James฀McParland,฀head฀of฀the฀Denver฀office฀of฀ the฀Pinkertons,฀wrote฀Governor฀Thornton฀that฀he฀would฀send฀out฀ two฀men:฀one฀at฀that฀time,฀who฀would฀make฀an฀open฀investigation,฀ and฀after฀him,฀another฀man฀known฀only฀to฀Thornton.3 ฀The฀first฀ man฀McParland฀sent฀was฀his฀assistant,฀John฀C.฀Fraser.฀Fraser฀was฀ five Bring in the Pinkertons Bring฀in฀the฀Pinkertons฀—฀37฀ born฀to฀Scottish฀parents฀in฀Chicago,฀Illinois,฀on฀March฀31,฀1860.฀ After฀working฀variously฀as฀a฀clerk,฀a฀plumber,฀and฀a฀printer,฀Fraser฀ was฀hired฀by฀the฀Pinkerton฀National฀Detective฀Agency฀on฀June฀28,฀ 1880.฀He฀began฀working฀from฀the฀Chicago฀office,฀but฀eventually฀ moved฀west฀to฀the฀Denver฀office.฀The฀married฀detective’s฀employment ฀ records฀ describe฀ his฀ physical฀ appearance฀ as฀ five-foot฀ nine฀ inches฀tall,฀with฀a฀slight฀build฀and฀dark฀complexion. Fraser฀left฀Denver฀for฀Santa฀Fe฀on฀March฀2฀and฀arrived฀at฀1:10฀ a.m.฀the฀morning฀of฀the฀fourth.4 ฀He฀went฀to฀the฀governor’s฀office฀ early฀that฀morning.฀Thornton฀was฀not฀feeling฀well฀so฀he฀did฀not฀arrive ฀when฀expected,฀but฀when฀he฀did฀arrive,฀he฀and฀Fraser฀discussed฀ the฀Fountain฀case. ฀ Fraser฀learned฀from฀Governor฀Thornton฀that฀Colonel฀Fountain฀ was฀last฀seen฀by฀the฀mail฀driver฀Saturnino฀Barela฀on฀February฀1,฀ 1896,฀between฀3:00฀and฀4:00฀p.m.฀about฀forty฀miles฀north฀of฀Las฀ Cruces.฀Thornton฀told฀Fraser฀that฀Barela฀saw฀three฀mounted฀men฀ too฀far฀from฀the฀road฀to฀recognize.฀Thornton฀drew฀a฀map฀of฀the฀ area฀where฀Fountain’s฀buckboard฀left฀the฀road.฀Fraser฀wrote฀in฀his฀ report: ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ I฀was฀also฀informed฀that฀Col.฀Fountain฀had฀disappeared ฀once฀before฀in฀very฀mysterious฀manner฀for฀ fifteen฀days฀and฀then฀showed฀up฀again.฀He฀is฀said฀to฀ be฀of฀sensational฀disposition฀but฀in฀this฀case฀there฀ was฀every฀reason฀to฀believe฀that฀he฀and฀son,฀seven฀ or฀eight฀years฀of฀age,฀were฀both฀dead.฀He฀had฀many฀ enemies,฀owing฀to฀his฀position฀as฀attorney฀for฀[the]฀ stock฀growers฀association,฀he฀had฀always฀been฀a฀bitter ฀ prosecutor฀ of฀ cattle฀ thieves฀ and฀ was฀ a฀ fearless฀ man฀.฀.฀.฀The฀parties฀who฀are฀suspected฀of฀this฀crime฀ are,฀ Oliver฀ Lee,฀ William฀ McNew,฀ James฀ Gilliland฀ [Gililland],฀or฀Jack฀Tucker,฀all฀cattlemen.฀The฀men฀ for฀me฀to฀meet฀at฀Las฀Cruces฀who฀are฀interested฀in฀ 38 ฀ —฀Murder฀on฀the฀White฀Sands this฀case฀are฀Major฀W.฀H.฀H.฀Lewellyn฀[Llewellyn],฀ S.฀ B.฀ Newcomb,฀ and฀ A.฀ L.฀ Christie฀ [Christy];฀ all฀ these฀men฀are฀Masons฀and฀are฀interested฀in฀running฀ this฀matter฀down. After฀lunch,฀Thornton฀and฀Fraser฀met฀again฀and฀Fraser฀was฀given฀ letters฀of฀introduction฀to฀Llewellyn,฀Christy,฀and฀District฀Attorney฀ Young.฀Fraser฀wrote฀of฀Young:฀“The฀latter฀is฀not฀to฀be฀trusted฀but฀ I฀will฀call฀on฀him฀and฀learn฀what฀I฀can.”5 ฀ John฀Fraser฀arrived฀in฀Las฀Cruces฀the฀morning฀of฀Thursday,฀ March฀5,฀1896.฀He฀went฀directly฀to฀the฀Rio฀Grande฀Hotel,฀which฀ he฀noted฀was฀the฀only฀one฀in฀town.฀Fraser฀first฀sought฀out฀Major฀ Llewellyn,฀but฀learned฀that฀he฀was฀not฀in฀town.฀Fraser’s฀next฀stop฀ was฀the฀law฀office฀of฀Albert฀L.฀Christy,฀where฀he฀spoke฀to฀Christy฀ and฀a฀man฀named฀Curran. ฀ After฀discussing฀Fountain’s฀trip฀from฀Lincoln฀until฀his฀disappearance ,฀Fraser฀was฀told฀of฀Joe฀Morgan,฀a฀deputy฀U.฀S.฀marshal,฀ “who฀is฀said฀to฀be฀closely฀connected฀with฀Ex...