Film recalls history of 1896 family tragedy

LA MESILLA – History is always close at hand in New Mexico, and that was the case last week with the premiere of a 43-minute film made by two New Mexico State University graduates about one of the most enduring, and troubling, mysteries from the state’s territorial days.

The film “Among the Dust of Thieves” dramatizes the last days of Col. Albert Jennings Fountain before he and his 8-year-old son disappeared on the journey home to Mesilla in 1896. They were returning from Lincoln County where Fountain, a prosecutor, had just obtained the indictments of 23 accused cattle-rustlers.

The Fountains’ bodies were never found.

The movie debuted in the historic adobe Fountain Theatre, an arthouse theater that bears the colonel’s family name. The producers, including La Posta restaurant owner Tom Hutchinson and real estate broker David Ikard, rolled out the red carpet for the event, attended by a number of Fountain’s descendants who have been steeped in the story of the family tragedy.

Both of the young filmmakers, Sean Pilcher, 25, and Matt Wilson, 23, said sitting in the back of the theater and waiting for the reactions of Fountain’s descendants was nerve-racking.

“I was getting more and more nervous as I started meeting more and more Fountain family members,” Pilcher said. The reaction, however, was positive. “That made all of our 22-hour workdays worth it.”

Art Fountain, Col. Fountain’s great-great-grandson, said he was impressed with the treatment of a complex story, and he hopes the film inspires those unfamiliar with the shocking episode to learn more about Fountain and his remarkable life.

“It’s a real family story – the murder was an event that really affected the whole family,” Art Fountain said. “I hope it has the effect of a resurgence of interest in the Colonel and his life and times, and to make people appreciate that less than 150 years ago, this was a pretty wild place to live.”

The bodies of Col. Fountain, who had made numerous enemies cracking down on cattle rustling, and his son, Henry, were never found, and no one was ever charged with the elder Fountain’s death. The two men tried in the child’s death, rancher and alleged cattle rustler Oliver Lee and cowboy Jim Gilliland, were acquitted in a sensational, 18-day trial in Hillsboro after the jury deliberated less than 10 minutes. Lee went on to win election to the state Legislature.

“Among the Dust” does not portray the murders or the controversial trial.

Pilcher and Wilson, who both grew up in Las Cruces, got bachelor’s degrees in film and animation through the Creative Media Institute at NMSU in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Pilcher was director, writer and editor, while Wilson was cinematographer, editor and sound designer.

The film, shot in late 2011 in southern New Mexico and at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, will be screened at the Allen Theaters’ Cineport 10 Theater at the Mesilla Valley Mall through Thursday.

Pilcher and Wilson plan to show the movie at film festivals this year to attract financing so they can expand it to a feature-length version, more than double the current length.

Albert Fall, would go on to become a U.S. senator before going to prison for taking bribes as interior secretary in the Teapot Dome scandal.