Oliver Lee, accused of murder, 1896

On January 31, 1896, Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain and his nine-year-old son, Henry, mysteriously disappeared from the road leading from Lincoln to Las Cruces. Colonel Fountain was carrying indictments from the district court in Lincoln accusing Oliver Lee, among others, of cattle rustling. Despite massive search efforts, the bodies of the Colonel and his son were never found.

Pat Garrett, now Sheriff of Lincoln County, obtained warrants for the arrest of Oliver Lee, and others. Albert Bacon Fall, of Las Cruces, agreed to handle Lee's case. So that Lee would not have to surrender to Pat Garrett, Attorney Fall convinced the Legislature to create a new county, Otero County. Oliver Lee then appeared before a judge in Las Cruces, was jailed in Socorro, and in May, 1899, after an 18-day trial, was declared "not guilty".