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Already convicted of murdering a sheriff and having just slain two more lawmen during his escape, Billy the Kid now had a $500 bounty on his head, but he remained on the run for months.
In July, Garrett and two of his deputies traveled from Lincoln to Fort Sumner in search of the outlaw and spoke with Pete Maxwell, son of wealthy land owner Lucien Maxwell. Garrett and Maxwell waited in the latter’s bedroom in the dark for Billy the Kid to return. When he arrived, Billy the Kid could not make out who awaited him in the dark and reportedly asked “Quien es?” Garrett fired his Colt twice, one shot striking the Kid near the heart. He traveled to Sante Fe to collect the award, but acting governor William G. Ritch refused to pay him. In response, the local citizenry raised over $7,000 for Garrett as an award along with the gold badge. The territorial legislature also stepped in the following year to award Garrett $500 for killing Billy the Kid.
Like Garrett’s and Bonney’s, A.J. Fountain’s life was dramatic and violent, and he survived plenty of scrapes of his own before meeting his own death under mysterious circumstances after which Pat Garrett attempted to bring his killers to justice. A New Yorker by birth, Fountain spent much of his
time in the West. During the Civil War, he fought
in the 1st California Infantry as a sergeant and
helped re-capture the New Mexico Territory from
the Confederates and continued to serve during the Indian Wars in the Southwest, including being shot in the thigh and taking arrows to his arm and shoulder in a battle with the Apaches during the summer of 1865. After the war, he lived in El Paso, Texas, and held various public offices, including as a Republican state senator and was a key part of the effort to re-establish the Texas Rangers during Reconstruction. As a northern born Republican and veteran of the Union Army, he naturally had enemies in the Lone Star State leading to conflicts, at least one of them deadly.
Benjamin F. Williams was a lawyer in El Paso and had his eye on an appointment to be a judge, but the governor appointed Gaylord Clarke upon Fountain’s recommendation. In December 1870, while drunk in Ben Dowell’s Saloon, Williams was ranting and raving about getting his revenge when Fountain entered. Williams pulled a handgun and shot Fountain twice. One shot reportedly created a serious wound to Fountain’s leg and another luckily deflected by papers and his pocket watch that could have otherwise been fatal. Williams fled to reload, and Fountain gathered up his rifle and a posse, including Judge Clarke, and went after him. During an attempted arrest, Williams emerged with a shotgun and fatally shot Clarke and was then shot down. The period reports indicate he was shot twice by state police captain French, but others say he was fatally shot by Fountain. Given his wounds, some expected Fountain to die as well, but he recovered.
He moved to Mesilla in 1873 and worked as an attorney, judge, court clerk, newspaper editor, and opera house owner. Several years after representing Billy the Kid, Fountain was again elected as a representative, this time of the New Mexico Territorial Legislature in 1888, defeating the later notorious Albert Bacon Fall who was among Fountain’s neighbors. At the beginning of February in 1896, Fountain and his 8-year-old son Henry disappeared on their way back to their home from Lincoln. Fountain, then serving as the chief investigator
and prosecutor for the Southeastern New Mexico Stock Growers Association, was returning from bringing charges against Deputy U.S. Marshal
Oliver M. Lee and William McNew, suspected cattle rustlers. Fountain’s wagon was found near White sands along with cartridge cases, blood, some paperwork, Fountain’s cravat, and a handkerchief soaked in blood and holding two powder burned coins. Precisely what happened and who presumably killed the Fountains remains unknown, and their bodies were never found. Fountain’s old friend Pat Garrett returned to work as a lawman to try to solve the case. He and a posse tracked down McNew and Jim Gililland on suspicion of their involvement, but Deputy Sheriff Kent Kearney was mortally wounded causing the lawmen to retreat and allowing the suspects to escape. After surrendering to authorities, both McNew and Gililland were acquitted, with Fall serving on their defense. Many have suspected Fall’s involvement in the murders.
In 1908, when Pat Garrett was killed under similar circumstances, Fall again served on the defense of the accused killer, Jesse Wayne Brazel and the judge and prosecuting attorney were Fall’s friends. See Lot 89 for Pat Garrett’s presentation Colt Model 1877 Thunderer and more information on Garrett’s life in the early 20th century and his death, but, in short, Garrett and Brazel were involved in a dispute over land leased to Brazel who then grazed a goat herd on the land. Garrett and Carl Adamson were traveling to meet with Brazel to negotiate a sale of the goat herd to resolve the matter when their wagon was met by Brazel on horseback and Garrett was killed. Brazel claimed self-defense and was acquitted. Many have long suspected a conspiracy and suggested others were involved, including potentially Fall’s old friends Oliver Lee and Bill McNew or Adamson’s brother-in- law “Killer Miller.” Brazel later disappeared himself around 1913, and Fall went on to become a U.S. Senator and the Secretary of the Interior. In the latter role, he was involved in the Teapot Dome scandal and was convicted of conspiracy and bribery.
CONDITION: Extremely fine with crisp engraving, markings, and presentation inscription. The case
is very good with some tears and age and storage related wear. This is certainly one of the most valuable and historic badges from the American West: the
gold badge presented to Sheriff Pat Garrett of Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, for bringing the deadly career of outlaw Billy the Kid to a violent end. Provenance: Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett; The Ruidoso River Museum Collection.
Estimate: 100,000 - 180,000
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