Oliver Lee (New Mexico) - Early New Mexico Life

Early New Mexico Life

Lee moved into the area from Texas with his half brother Perry Altman. They planned to raise and sell horses as well as to acquire land. C.L Sonnichsen relates that Oliver and Perry soon met Cherokee Bill. He suggested that they buy out "Frenchy" who had a place in Dog Canyon where he was raising fruit trees. He told them the area had a reliable water source. Perry is quoted as saying, "Well, Oliver this country is so damn sorry I think we can stay here a long time and never be bothered by anybody else." Lee's fair play ethics did not set well with the local powerbrokers. The local power brokers at the time were Albert Fountain, John Good and others, mostly Republican.

Lee later became friends with Albert Fall. The alliance would last for decades. It also put him on the side of the Democrats, who were at odds with the Republican faction led by Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain. Fountain was a powerful rival to land owners Lee and Fall. The struggle between them was characterized in the book "The Two Alberts - Fountain and Fall" (ISBN 1-881325-20-2). The political party in the majority in the area was the Republican, and these were an extension of the Santa Fe Ring, a secret coalition of lawmakers determined to control public offices in the New Mexico Territory.