Murder on the White Sands: The Disappearance of Albert and Henry Fountainvolume 5

by Corey Recko

Book Overview

Winner of the Best Book Award from the Wild West History Association, 2008. On a cold February evening in 1896, prominent attorney Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 157441254X
• ISBN13: 9781574412543
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: University of North Texas Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Must read

For anyone who studies the history of the Southwest, this is a "must read". Undoubtedly, this is the most definitive study I have ever read on this mystery. The characters in this real-life drama are brought to life in great detail and allow the reader to become a part of the story as well as a part of the "study".

THE COWBOY MAFIA

"Murder on the White Sands" by Corey Recko is an extremely well documented inquest into the mysterious disappearance of Albert Jennings Fountain, and his 8 year old son, Henry. In February of 1896, Albert Fountain (a high-profile attorney), and Southwest hero was coming back from Northern New Mexico after obtaining numerous indictments on some very powerful cattle rustlers, and dark politicians. Albert and his son were closing the gap on their three day trip back to Las Cruces, New Mexico but...never made it home. An extensive search located the abandoned buckboard in the White Sands area of New Mexico but, the bodies of the presumed murder victims were never located... even to this day! The follow up investigation included the famous sheriff, Pat Garrett, and numerous agents of the Pinkerton Agency, yet their most diligent attempts to bring justice to the lawless Southwest and three indicted suspects met with defeat and court acquittal. The defense attorney was none other than Albert Fall (later identified with the infamous "Tea Pot Dome Scandal). Mr. Fall was by the way, well acquainted with the three individuals who had been arrested for the heinous murders. There is a plethora of characters in this book that was somewhat difficult for me to follow at times. Names of politicians, rustlers, and gunfighters rushed through the pages like a flash flood down dry desert arroyos. Sometimes, it was like reading a western version of "Don Corrleone's" Godfather style of business. Corey Recko has done a superb job in his investigation, and gives the reader a very plausible scenario of who the culprits were, and how they simply... "got away with murder." A great book to have, especially, for anyone having an interest in the real Southwest and the men who made it.

An absorbing contribution to western and New Mexico state history shelves.

Written by avid Old West historian Corey Recko, Murder on the White Sands: The Disappearance of Albert and Henry Fountain is the true story of murder and scandal that plagued the New Mexico territory in 1896, sparking outrage and delaying its advance toward statehood. When prominent attorney Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry disappeared from the White Sands of New Mexico, the cattle thieves they were progressing were presumed the most likely suspects. Evidence pointed toward three sheriff's deputies who had close ties to powerful ex-judge, lawyer, and politician Albert B. Fall. Governor Thornton, desperate for results, appointed Pat Garrett - the man made famous for killing Billy the Kidd fifteen years earlier - as the new sheriff. The hunt to bring justice to Albert and Henry Fountain's alleged killers would span years, and culminate in a bloody shootout followed by a trial rife with intimidation and missing witnesses, and a "not guilty" verdict. Murder on the White Sands delves into the story of the Fountain case and its aftermath, reconstructing what happened to the Fountains and who their killers most likely were. An absorbing contribution to western and New Mexico state history shelves.