Albert Jennings Fountain
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Albert Jennings Fountain (23 October 1838–c. 1 February 1896) was a lawyer, Indian fighter, and Republican politician in Texas.
Fountain was born on Staten Island, New York on 23 October 1838 and served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He settled in El Paso, Texas, after the war and was chosen for the Texas Senate in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Texas Legislatures. Fountain was elected as President pro tempore (also serving as Lieutenant Governor ex officio, since that office was vacant) during the second session of the Twelfth Legislature.
Fountain’s Radical Republican views angered Texas Democrats, and he was challenged to several duels — killing at least one man — because of them. These same views also more than likely lead to his disappearance and presumed murder.
On 1 February 1896, Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry disappeared near Las Cruces, New Mexico. All that was discovered of Fountain and his son were Fountain’s buckboard, empty cartridge casings, his cravat and papers, and two pools of blood.
Tracks had been wiped out by a herd of cattle belonging to a political enemy of Fountain named Oliver M. Lee. About a year after the killings, New Mexico Lawman Pat Garrett took up the trial. During the investigation one of his Deputies, Kent Kearney, was killed 12 July 1898 [link]. In 1899, Lee and two other men stood trial. One man accused of the Fountain’s death was never brought to trial. Lee and the third man were accused of Henry Fountain's death and the Deputy's death as well. Lee was defended by another political enemy of Foutain named Albert Fall. The accused were acquitted. Lee became a New Mexico State Senator and died in 1941. [#endnote_note1]
Notes
- ↑ Ollie Reed, Jr. of the Albuquerque Tribune in an article on 25 May 2001 refers to the fact that in 1900, charred bones were found in an unmarked grave in the Sacramento Mountains. The killings may have been carried out by outlaw Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum. Reed quotes Tribune reporter Howard Bryan as saying if Ketchum did the killings he did it for hire, but does not say who may have hired him. Mr. Reed's source for the Ketchum connection is Bryan and Bryan’s book "True Tales of the American Southwest" 1998, Clear Light Publishers. Mr. Bryan mentions the bones in an 22 April 1965 Albuquerque Tribune column in which he writes about A.M. Gibson's book "The Life and Death of Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain." 1965 University of Oklahoma Press.
External links
- [Albert Jennings Fountain] from the Handbook of Texas Online
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