Lozen Little Sister Historical Marker, Otero County

Lozen Little Sister, "A Shield To Her People," is part of the newer Historic Women Marker Initiative, which was founded in 2005. The initiative sought to recognize women's contributions to the state of New Mexico, and I always look forward to finding one, because nine times out of ten, it's a piece of history I've never encountered before.

The text of this marker reads as follows:

Lozen, a warrior and sister of the famous Warm Springs Apache chief Victorio, fought alongside her brother until his death in 1880 and later his successors, Nana and Geronimo. Lozen also was a medicine woman and healer and, it was said, with outstretched hands she could determine the location of an ememy. She died a prisoner at Mt. Vernon Barracks in Alabama.

At the time of Lozen's birth, the area of New Mexico / Arizona / North Mexico that she was born in was known as Apacheria. The exact location of her birth was known to be within sight of the Sacred Mountain near Ojo Caliente where her People began (Apache Indian Leaders).

Lozen was known in her village as a warrior. She refused to fulfill traditional female roles, and instead chose the warrior path from an early age.

Growing up in the Chiricahua, Lozen learned to fight and defend her people at a tumultuous time full of imperialist atrocities by the ever expanding United States of America. Her brother, Chief Victorio, famously said, "Lozen is my right hand ... strong as a man, braver than most, and cunning in strategy. Lozen is a shield to her people." In 1880, Victorio's band was entirely wiped out at Tres Castillos in a brutal defeat to the Mexican's, who didn't only kill the warriors, but shot the elderly, women, and children. After her brothers death, Lozen rode out of Mescalero land into the Sierra Madre's of northern Chihuahua, Mexico. Here, she fought alongside tribal patriarch Nana in a trail of vengeance with the decimated and famished remainders of her warrior tribe.

She also fought alongside Geronimo in the last campaign of the Apache Wars. She surrendered along with the last of the great Apache warriors in 1886, and was taken into US custody.

Lozen died in 1889 of tuberculosis at the age of 50 while in custody at the Mount Vernon Barracks in Alabama, in what basically amounted to a concentration camp. 

On a personal note, it's very difficult to read the stories of these great Native American leaders, and to think that they met their demises at the hands of the United States government. We look back on such horrific atrocities as the Jewish Holocaust and shake our heads at the wonton evil destruction that man can inflict on his brother. Yet, right here in New Mexico, we bore witness to the same thing. It's forever a part of our history, something we shouldn't gloss over. Lozen gained fame in part by fighting against the United States, in defense of her people. Lozen Little Sister remains a revered figure in the Apache history, and stands as a strong example of the power of women in our world, and the resolve people have when fighting for the lives of their people and culture. 

The photo you see of Lozen was taken after her surrender en route to Alabama. 

My sources for this post are as follows:

• Apache Indian Leaders: My primary source for the story of Lozen's birth and travels.
• The Story of Lozen: This is on Facebook, and goes a little deeper and spiritual, it's a good piece.
• Chiricahua entry on Wikipedia: I found some information on the ancestral homelands of Lozen here. 
• Once They Moved Like the Wind, by David Roberts: Some in depth information on not just Lozen, but many great Apache warriors. 
• Warrior Woman Lozen on Cheyenne Gathering: Another primary source of information. The article for her on Wikipedia is basically lifted verbatim from this source. 
• Dahteste: I recommend this as a starting place to find more information on the background and the aftermath of much of what I wrote about here. Dahteste was another Apache woman and warrior companion of Lozen. Dahteste survived her incarceration in Flordida, and lived into the mid-1900s, but was always thought to have mourned her friend deeply for many years. Dahteste was a central figure in helping negotiate Geronimo's surrender, and lived her later years on the Mescalero Reservation.
• Complete List of Women Historical Markers

Sierra Blanca Historical Marker: Otero County

The Sierra Blanca historical marker is placed in the perfect location for a stunning view of the mountain. The text of the marker says it all:

Sierra Blanca, a complex ancient volcano, rises more than 7,300 feet above Tularosa Basin to peak at 12,003 feet. Vertical geologic movement between ranges and basin is about 2 miles. San Andres Mountains on the west side of Tularosa Basin are uplifted on east side and tilted westward. Elevation 4,670 feet.

As non-poetic as that is, it really does tell the story of Sierra Blanca. The Tularosa Basin that lies to the west is part of the larger Rio Grande Rift, which formed many millions of years ago as the land in what is now central New Mexico was ripped apart along a fault line. The Sacramento Mountains, of which Sierra Blanca is the highest peak, make up the eastern uplifting of the Tularosa Basin, with the San Andres Mountain range making up the western uplifting about 50 miles away. The mountain itself is a heavily eroded volcano that was active up to about 26 million years ago.

Sierra Blanca is the highest mountain in southern New Mexico and the highest mountain in the state not located in the Sangre de Cristos. Sierra Blanca does have the highest prominence in the state. Prominence is the distance from the lowest point around the mountain to its highest peak. Its name means "White Mountain," and it is home to a popular ski destination known as "Ski Apache" which is run by the Mescalero Tribe.

I grew up 5 miles north of Carlsbad, and could see Sierra Blanca off in the distance from my front yard, although it was a 150 mile drive away (not as the bird flies of course).

I didn't have to refer to any sources outside of Wikipedia (to get a few statistics and other facts). 

Disappearances of Albert J. Fountain and his son Henry Historical Marker: Otero County

The mysterious disappearance of Colonel Albert Fountain and his son Henry is one of the most intriguing stories to come out of Southern New Mexico during the tumultuous late 19th century. First, let's start off with a little back history on Colonel Fountain.

The text on a now defunct historical marker about Colonel Albert J. Fountain once read:

Albert Jennings Fountain was a Civil War veteran, New Mexico legislator and prominent lawyer. Colonel Fountain and his young son were presumed murdered near this spot while traveling between Lincoln and Las Cruces on February 1, 1896. Their bodies have never been found. Oliver Lee and James Gilliland were tried for their murder in 1898. Both were acquitted. 

That marker has now been replaced with the current one that focuses on the murder mystery (more on that in a bit).

Albert Jennings Fountain was born in New York, and moved to El Paso, Texas after the Civil War. During the Civil War, he helped retake the New Mexico Territory for the Union. In El Paso, Fountain worked his way up to the Texas Senate. His right leaning Republican views didn't make him very popular in the area. Eventually he decided it was too dangerous to live in El Paso and moved back to his wife's hometown, Mesilla, New Mexico. In Mesilla, Fountain became a lawyer, and founded the Mesilla Valley Independent, a newspaper in Mesilla. 

At the time, cattle rustling and rustler gangs were rampant in the area, particularly along the eastern and western slopes of the Organ Mountains, located approximately 10 miles to the east of Mesilla. 

 Fountain was involved in the prosecution of alleged cattle rustlers and local ranchers Oliver Lee and William McNew. The court hearings were taking place in Lincoln, site of the Grand Jury. Fountain made the trip in a horse drawn carriage along with his nine-year-old son, Henry.

On their return, it is said that there were men, three riders, like specters in the distance, that seemed to be awaiting something. Numerous passers by claimed to witness the men in the distance.

The rest is history. Fountain and his son were never seen again.

The next morning, an anxious Saturnino Barela, at the Chalk Hill crossing on his return trip to Las Cruces and Mesilla, discovered the tracks of Fountain’s waylaid buckboard.  He found the hoof prints of strange horses.  He saw no sign of the carriage, the horses, or Fountain and his son.  He rushed across San Augustine Pass and down the mountain slope to Fountain’s home in Mesilla to alert the family. 

Two search parties, one of them led by Fountain’s son, rushed through the darkness of the icy night to the murder site.  Helped by two Mescalero Apache scouts, they began piecing together the evidence as the sun rose over the Sacramento Mountains, on the eastern horizon.  They found where a man had knelt and fired from behind a growth of shrubs, leaving shell casings on the ground.  They discovered the site where two men had tended three horses.  They followed wagon tracks and discovered a pool of blood.  One man discovered a blood-soaked handkerchief with a nickel and a dime tied carefully in its corner.  They followed the wagon tracks of the buckboard and the hoof tracks of six horses east for some 12 miles, into  sand dunes west of a small and isolated mountain range called the Jarillas.  There, they discovered the carriage, which had been plundered and abandoned.  They tried to follow the tracks of the killers.  One trail led toward one of Oliver Lee’s ranches, where trackers found a threatening reception 

In the days to come, new posses joined the search, hoping the find the bodies of Fountain and his son.  Rumors swirled throughout the desert and across the country.  Newspapers covered the story in detail.  The governor of New Mexico offered a reward for the capture of the killers.  The Republican Party and the regional cattlemen mourned Fountain’s passing. 

 (quoted text taken verbatim from http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/mar/murder.html , written by Jay W. Sharp)

So all that was ever found was a blood-soaked handkerchief, some tracks, and tracker based evidence of a gunfight, or massacre.

The legacy of the Fountain family lives on. The Fountain Theater, founded in 1905, is New Mexico's oldest theater building and current home of the Mesilla Valley Film Society, of which my wife is a board member. The theater was begun by Albert Fountain Jr., who purchased the building and turned it into a theater. Murals inside the building painted in 1914 (or 1917, the history is unreliable) by Fountain Jr. depict Colonel Fountain's arrival in the Mesilla Valley.


I referred to the following websites for information on this article:

• Albert Jennings Fountain Wikipedia
• Albert Jennings Fountain: The Infamous Fountain Murders; by, Jay W. Sharp
• Mesilla Valley Film Society: The Fountain Theater