Historical Marker

Disappearance of Albert J. Fountain and his son Henry

Albert Jennings Fountain was a Civil War veteran, New Mexico legislator and prominent lawyer. On February 1, 1896, Fountain and his eight-year-old son, Henry, were traveling home to Mesilla from Lincoln. They carried grand jury indictments against cattle rustlers. Both disappeared at Chalk Hill, and their bodies were never found. In 1899 Oliver Lee and James Gililland were tried for their murder. Both were acquitted. .