History comes to life at the Hillsboro Community Center on Saturday, Aug. 24, when the Friends of Pat Garrett - a Las Cruces-based organization dedicated to preserving the history of Southern New Mexico – presents an evening of music and drama.
It all kicks off at 4 p.m with a live musical presentation called Sing the Legend, by Dan Crow and Karla Steen, featuring original western songs echoing the essence of the Wild West.
Following immediately after will be the Colonel Albert J. Fountain Murder Trial, a dramatic reenactment of the criminal trial against the person charged with killing Colonel Fountain and his eight-year-old son.
"This reenactment is a must-see for history buffs and true crime enthusiasts alike," David G. Thomas, one of the event organizers, stated in a news release.
The abduction and apparent murder of Colonel Albert J. and eight-year-old Henry Fountain on Feb. 1, 1896, shocked and outraged the citizens of New Mexico.
The Fountain murder trial was held in Hillsboro’s Sierra County Courthouse. It lasted three weeks and involved some of the most well-known men in New Mexico history. The trial judge was Frank W. Parker, who would later become chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court. One of prosecution lawyers was Thomas Catron and one of the defense lawyers was Albert Bacon Fall. These two men would be New Mexico’s first two Senators in 1912. Fall would later be named Secretary of the Interior and, after the Teapot Dome Scandal in the 1920s, would be the first cabinet member sent to prison. Sheriff Pat Garrett was a prosecution witness.
The defendant in this re-enactment is rancher Oliver Lee, who later became a state senator and whose Dog Canyon home is now the Oliver Lee Memorial State Park near Alamogordo.
Entry is by a recommended donation of $10 for adults and $5 for youth.
The Colonel Albert J. Fountain Murder Trial takes a step back in time at the Hillsboro Community Center, 316 Elenora Street, Hillsboro. Doors open at 3:00 PM. Info: David G. Thomas at doc@doc45.com.
