Tom Ketchum
Encyclopedia
Thomas Everard Ketchum known as Black Jack, was a cowboy
who later turned to a life of crime. He was hanged in 1901 for attempted train robbery
.
. He left Texas in 1890, possibly after committing a crime. He worked as a cowboy in the Pecos River
Valley of New Mexico
, where by 1894, his older brother, Sam Ketchum, had joined him. Black Jack and a group of others were named as the robbers of an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
train that was en route to Deming
, New Mexico Territory
in 1892 with a large payroll aboard. The gang supposedly robbed the train just outside of Nutt, New Mexico Territory, a water station twenty miles north of Deming. Black Jack and his gang would often visit the ranch of Herb Bassett, near Brown's Park, Colorado, who was known to have done business with several outlaws of the day, having supplied them with beef and fresh horses. Herb Bassett was the father of female outlaws Josie Bassett
and Ann Bassett
, who were girlfriends to several members of Butch Cassidy
's Wild Bunch
gang. One of Ann Bassett's boyfriends and future Wild Bunch gang member, Ben Kilpatrick
, began riding with Black Jack's gang about that time. Outlaw "Bronco Bill" Walters
, later noted for the legend of his "hidden loot" near Solomonville
, Arizona
, is also believed to have begun riding with the gang at this time.
The second major crime attributed to Tom was the murder of a neighbor, John N. "Jap" Powers, in Tom Green County, Texas, on December 12, 1895. However, information at the Sutton Historical Society in Texas, says that Will Carver
and Sam Ketchum were the ones actually accused of killing Powers in Knickerbocker
, Texas. Fearing the law, they closed their joint saloon and gambling venture in San Angelo
, and hit the outlaw trail. Within six months, Mrs. Powers and her lover, J. E. Wright, were arrested for the murder, but it was too late for Carver and the Ketchums.
By late 1895, outlaw Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan
and his brother Lonnie Curry were members of Black Jack's gang. However, in early 1896, a dispute concerning their share of robbery loot prompted the Currys to leave the gang.
It is alleged that Ketchum was involved with the February 1, 1896, disappearance and presumed murders of Albert Jennings Fountain
and his son Henry Fountain of Las Cruces
, New Mexico. In early June 1896, after working for the famed Bell Ranch
in New Mexico, Tom and Sam Ketchum, and possibly others, robbed a combined store and post office at Liberty, New Mexico, northwest of present-day Tucumcari
. According to contemporary accounts, the Ketchums rode into Liberty on June 12 and purchased supplies. That evening, a thunderstorm began, and they returned to the store, owned by Morris and Levi Herzstein, who invited them to take shelter.
Returning the next morning to open his store, Levi Herzstein found that both the store and post office had been burglarized. After gathering a posse
, Herzstein set out on the outlaws' trail. The posse, composed of just four men, took the two outlaws by surprise in the Plaza Largo arroyo
, where a shootout immediately began. Seconds later both Levi Herzstein and Hermenejildo Gallegos lay dead. Seeing his comrades fall, Anastacio Borgue turned his horse and rode out of the arroyo. Placido Gurulé, the fourth member of the posse, also survived to give an account. Gurulé said he had been struck by a .30-30 bullet that knocked him off of his horse. He landed on the ground with a blow that knocked the wind out of him. He lay in a semiconscious state as Black Jack Ketcham emptied his rifle into the bodies of Levi Herzstein and Hermenejildo Gallegos. Describing the event to his children and grandchildren, Gurulé would add, "I knew if I moved a muscle I would be a dead man." Tom and Sam Ketchum were never tried for the killings at the Plaza Largo arroyo, but Morris Herzstein reportedly was present in Clayton, New Mexico Territory to witness the hanging of Black Jack Ketchum in 1901.
Morris Herzstein moved to Clayton shortly after the killing in Liberty, and finally into the "Texas panhandle
" area. This is memorialized by the inscription on a shoe brush: Herzstein's Clayton, New Mexico -- Dalhart, Texas. If it's from Herzstein's it's correct. Morris was the father of Albert Herzstein, who became one of the founders of Big 3 Industries in Houston
, and is the man who helped the museum in Clayton to become a reality years later.
and continued a life of crime, focusing on train robberies, although when not robbing trains they worked for several ranches in New Mexico and Texas. Several other notable outlaws operated out of Hole In The Wall, which was a hideout for numerous outlaw gangs which operated separately. The famous Wild Bunch
gang, led by Butch Cassidy
and Elzy Lay
, operated out of there. One Wild Bunch gang member, Kid Curry, along with his brother Lonny Curry, had previously ridden with Black Jack Ketchum and his gang. He and Ketchum did not like each other, and Ketchum avoided Curry as much as possible, as Curry was well known to be the most dangerous of the Wild Bunch gang, and would kill nine lawmen over the course of the next eight years.
During this time, Tom Ketchum was once identified mistakenly as "Black Jack" Christian, another outlaw, and that became his nickname as well. Three of the train robberies that the gang committed were near the same location, between Folsom and Des Moines, New Mexico Territory. This was at the point where the old Fort Union wagon road crossed the Colorado and Southern Rail Road tracks near Twin Mountain.
On September 3, 1897, they committed their first robbery at Twin Mountain
. Then, on July 11, 1899, the gang, without Black Jack, robbed the train again at Twin Mountain. After the robbery, Sam and several unknown gang members, in addition to Wild Bunch gang members Will Carver and William Ellsworth "Elza" Lay, headed for the mountains southwest of Raton, New Mexico
Territory. The next day, a posse
consisting of Sheriff Ed Farr of Huerfano County, Colorado
, Special Agent W.H. Reno of the Colorado & Southern Railroad, and five deputies found their trail and tracked them into Turkey Creek Canyon near Cimarron
, New Mexico. There, the posse engaged them in a gun battle. Sam Ketchum and two deputies were wounded seriously, and the gang escaped.
Sam Ketchum's wounds slowed the intended escape, and they made it only a short distance from the initial shootout. Several members of the posse cornered the Ketchum gang a few days later, still in the same area of the Territory. Deputy W.H. Love and Sheriff Ed Farr engaged the outlaws in another gun battle, resulting in both Farr and Love being killed, while the posse wounded at least two unknown members of the gang. Sam Ketchum escaped, but was found a few days later by Special Agent Reno at the home of a rancher, where he was arrested.
Sam Ketchum was taken to the Santa Fe Territorial Prison, where he died from his gunshot wounds. He was buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery, now the Fairview Cemetery on Cerrillos Rd. in Santa Fe.
"Elzy" or "Elza" (William Ellsworth) Lay was born November 25, 1868, Mt Pleasant, Ohio. Lay had come out west to Denver, and became an outlaw after mistakenly believing he had killed a man. Jailed for life after the killing of Sheriff Farr after the Folsom robbery, he was released in 1906. He returned to Alma, New Mexico
Territory and lived there for two years. He stayed with Louis and Walter Jones, who in 1904 had built a large merchandise store at Alma. Elzy died aged 65 in Los Angeles
, on November 10, 1934.
On August 16, 1899, Tom Ketchum, supposedly knowing nothing of the July 11 hold-up which ended in the death of his brother Sam, single-handedly attempted to rob the same train again at the same place and in the same way that he and Sam and others had robbed it just a few weeks earlier. The train conductor, Frank Harrington, saw Tom approaching the moving train. He recognized him, grabbed a shotgun, and shot Tom in the arm, knocking him off his horse. The train continued, and the next day a posse came out and found Tom beside the tracks, badly wounded. He was transported to medical facilities at Trinidad
, Colorado
, and his right arm had to be amputated. He was nursed back to health and then sent to Clayton
, New Mexico Territory, for trial.
At the trial, Ketchum was convicted and sentenced to death. He was the only person ever hanged in Union County, New Mexico Territory (now Union County, New Mexico
). He was also the only person who suffered capital punishment for the offense of "felonious assault upon a railway train" in New Mexico Territory (which did not become a state until 1912). Later, the law was found to be unconstitutional.
Ketchum was executed by hanging in Clayton. Facing his fate with bravado, he is reported to have dashed up the steps at the gallows, announcing "I'll be in hell before you start breakfast, boys". After the hood was draped over his face, he gamely ordered "Let her rip!". By freak coincidence, the rope was too long, and since Ketchum had gained a significant amount of weight during his time in jail, and nobody in Clayton had any experience in conducting hangings, Ketchum was decapitated when he dropped through the trap door.
His last words were reported by the San Francisco Chronicle as: "Good-bye. Please dig my grave very deep. All right; hurry up."
A popular postcard was made showing the body. Afterwards his head was sewn back onto the body for viewing, and he was interred at the Clayton Cemetery.
Western actor
Jack Elam
portrayed Ketchum in an episode of the 1954-1955 syndicated
television series Stories of the Century
, tales of the American West starring and narrated by Jim Davis
.
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
who later turned to a life of crime. He was hanged in 1901 for attempted train robbery
Train robbery
Train robbery is a type of robbery, in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables being carried aboard trains.-History:Train robberies were more common in the past than today, and often occurred in the American Old West. Trains carrying payroll shipments were a major target...
.
First train robberies and murders
Tom Ketchum was born in San Saba County, TexasSan Saba County, Texas
San Saba County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Western Central Texas. In 2010, its population was 6,131. Its county seat is San Saba. It is named for the San Saba River, which flows through the county.-History:...
. He left Texas in 1890, possibly after committing a crime. He worked as a cowboy in the Pecos River
Pecos River
The headwaters of the Pecos River are located north of Pecos, New Mexico, United States, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County. The river flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it...
Valley of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, where by 1894, his older brother, Sam Ketchum, had joined him. Black Jack and a group of others were named as the robbers of an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
train that was en route to Deming
Deming, New Mexico
Deming is a city in Luna County, New Mexico, United States, located 60 miles west of Las Cruces. The population was 14,116 at the 2000 census. Deming is the county seat and principal town of Luna County.-History:...
, New Mexico Territory
New Mexico Territory
thumb|right|240px|Proposed boundaries for State of New Mexico, 1850The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of...
in 1892 with a large payroll aboard. The gang supposedly robbed the train just outside of Nutt, New Mexico Territory, a water station twenty miles north of Deming. Black Jack and his gang would often visit the ranch of Herb Bassett, near Brown's Park, Colorado, who was known to have done business with several outlaws of the day, having supplied them with beef and fresh horses. Herb Bassett was the father of female outlaws Josie Bassett
Josie Bassett
Josie Bassett was a female rancher. She and her sister "Queen" Ann Bassett are known for their love affairs and associations with well-known outlaws, particularly Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch.-Early life:...
and Ann Bassett
Ann Bassett
Ann Bassett , also known as Queen Ann Bassett, was a prominent female rancher of the Old West, and with her sister Josie Bassett, was an associate of outlaws, particularly Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch.-Early life:...
, who were girlfriends to several members of Butch Cassidy
Butch Cassidy
Robert LeRoy Parker , better known as Butch Cassidy, was a notorious American train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang in the American Old West...
's Wild Bunch
Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch, also known as the Doolin–Dalton Gang or the Oklahombres, was a gang of outlaws based in the Indian Territory that terrorized Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Territory during the 1890s—robbing banks and stores, holding up trains, and killing lawmen. They were...
gang. One of Ann Bassett's boyfriends and future Wild Bunch gang member, Ben Kilpatrick
Ben Kilpatrick
Ben Kilpatrick was an American outlaw during the closing days of the American Old West. He was a member of the Wild Bunch gang led by Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay. He was arrested for robbery and served about 10 years of his 15 year sentence...
, began riding with Black Jack's gang about that time. Outlaw "Bronco Bill" Walters
William Walters (outlaw)
William Walters, also known as "Bronco Bill" was an outlaw during the closing days of the Old West. He is best known for the legend of his "lost treasure", allegedly located in the area of Solomonville, Arizona....
, later noted for the legend of his "hidden loot" near Solomonville
Solomonville, Arizona
Solomonville is a small unincorporated community in Graham County, Arizona, United States. It is part of the Safford Micropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, is also believed to have begun riding with the gang at this time.
The second major crime attributed to Tom was the murder of a neighbor, John N. "Jap" Powers, in Tom Green County, Texas, on December 12, 1895. However, information at the Sutton Historical Society in Texas, says that Will Carver
William Carver (Wild Bunch)
William "News" Carver was an American outlaw and a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch during the closing years of the American Old West. His nickname "News" was given to him because he enjoyed seeing his name in newspaper stories of his gang's exploits...
and Sam Ketchum were the ones actually accused of killing Powers in Knickerbocker
Knickerbocker, Texas
Knickerbocker is an unincorporated community in southwestern Tom Green County, Texas, United States. It lies along FM 2335 southwest of the city of San Angelo, the county seat of Tom Green County. Its elevation is 2,051 feet...
, Texas. Fearing the law, they closed their joint saloon and gambling venture in San Angelo
San Angelo, Texas
San Angelo is a city in the state of Texas. Located in West Central Texas it is the county seat of Tom Green County. As of 2010 according to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total population of 93,200...
, and hit the outlaw trail. Within six months, Mrs. Powers and her lover, J. E. Wright, were arrested for the murder, but it was too late for Carver and the Ketchums.
Harvey Logan
Harvey Alexander Logan , also known as Kid Curry, was an American outlaw and gunman who rode with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's infamous Wild Bunch gang. Despite being less well known than his counterparts, he has since been referred to as "the wildest of the Wild Bunch"...
and his brother Lonnie Curry were members of Black Jack's gang. However, in early 1896, a dispute concerning their share of robbery loot prompted the Currys to leave the gang.
It is alleged that Ketchum was involved with the February 1, 1896, disappearance and presumed murders of Albert Jennings Fountain
Albert Jennings Fountain
Albert Jennings Fountain was a lawyer, Indian fighter, and Republican politician in Texas and New Mexico.-Biography:...
and his son Henry Fountain of Las Cruces
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Las Cruces, also known as "The City of the Crosses", is the county seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 97,618 in 2010 according to the 2010 Census, making it the second largest city in the state....
, New Mexico. In early June 1896, after working for the famed Bell Ranch
Bell Ranch, New Mexico
The Bell Ranch originated with two Spanish land grants to Don Pablo Montoya in 1824. Lying along La Cinta Creek near the Canadian River, the historic Bell Ranch is bordered by present day Conchas Lake in San Miguel County, New Mexico about 30 miles from Tucumcari...
in New Mexico, Tom and Sam Ketchum, and possibly others, robbed a combined store and post office at Liberty, New Mexico, northwest of present-day Tucumcari
Tucumcari, New Mexico
Tucumcari is a city in and the county seat of Quay County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 5,989 at the 2000 census. Tucumcari was founded in 1901, two years before Quay County was founded.-History:...
. According to contemporary accounts, the Ketchums rode into Liberty on June 12 and purchased supplies. That evening, a thunderstorm began, and they returned to the store, owned by Morris and Levi Herzstein, who invited them to take shelter.
Returning the next morning to open his store, Levi Herzstein found that both the store and post office had been burglarized. After gathering a posse
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
, Herzstein set out on the outlaws' trail. The posse, composed of just four men, took the two outlaws by surprise in the Plaza Largo arroyo
Arroyo (creek)
An arroyo , a Spanish word translated as brook, and also called a wash is usually a dry creek or stream bed—gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Wadi is a similar term in Africa. In Spain, a rambla has a similar meaning to arroyo.-Types and processes:Arroyos...
, where a shootout immediately began. Seconds later both Levi Herzstein and Hermenejildo Gallegos lay dead. Seeing his comrades fall, Anastacio Borgue turned his horse and rode out of the arroyo. Placido Gurulé, the fourth member of the posse, also survived to give an account. Gurulé said he had been struck by a .30-30 bullet that knocked him off of his horse. He landed on the ground with a blow that knocked the wind out of him. He lay in a semiconscious state as Black Jack Ketcham emptied his rifle into the bodies of Levi Herzstein and Hermenejildo Gallegos. Describing the event to his children and grandchildren, Gurulé would add, "I knew if I moved a muscle I would be a dead man." Tom and Sam Ketchum were never tried for the killings at the Plaza Largo arroyo, but Morris Herzstein reportedly was present in Clayton, New Mexico Territory to witness the hanging of Black Jack Ketchum in 1901.
Morris Herzstein moved to Clayton shortly after the killing in Liberty, and finally into the "Texas panhandle
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...
" area. This is memorialized by the inscription on a shoe brush: Herzstein's Clayton, New Mexico -- Dalhart, Texas. If it's from Herzstein's it's correct. Morris was the father of Albert Herzstein, who became one of the founders of Big 3 Industries in Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, and is the man who helped the museum in Clayton to become a reality years later.
Joining the Hole-In-The-Wall gang
Following this event, Thomas Ketchum joined other outlaws of the Hole in the Wall GangHole in the Wall Gang
The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang was a gang in the American Wild West, which took its name from the Hole-in-the-Wall Pass in Johnson County, Wyoming, where several outlaw gangs had their hideouts. The Gang was not simply one large organized gang of outlaws, but rather was made up of several separate...
and continued a life of crime, focusing on train robberies, although when not robbing trains they worked for several ranches in New Mexico and Texas. Several other notable outlaws operated out of Hole In The Wall, which was a hideout for numerous outlaw gangs which operated separately. The famous Wild Bunch
Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch, also known as the Doolin–Dalton Gang or the Oklahombres, was a gang of outlaws based in the Indian Territory that terrorized Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Territory during the 1890s—robbing banks and stores, holding up trains, and killing lawmen. They were...
gang, led by Butch Cassidy
Butch Cassidy
Robert LeRoy Parker , better known as Butch Cassidy, was a notorious American train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang in the American Old West...
and Elzy Lay
Elzy Lay
William Ellsworth "Elzy" Lay was an outlaw of the Old West best known as being a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, gang, operating out of the Hole-in-the-Wall Pass in Johnson County, Wyoming...
, operated out of there. One Wild Bunch gang member, Kid Curry, along with his brother Lonny Curry, had previously ridden with Black Jack Ketchum and his gang. He and Ketchum did not like each other, and Ketchum avoided Curry as much as possible, as Curry was well known to be the most dangerous of the Wild Bunch gang, and would kill nine lawmen over the course of the next eight years.
During this time, Tom Ketchum was once identified mistakenly as "Black Jack" Christian, another outlaw, and that became his nickname as well. Three of the train robberies that the gang committed were near the same location, between Folsom and Des Moines, New Mexico Territory. This was at the point where the old Fort Union wagon road crossed the Colorado and Southern Rail Road tracks near Twin Mountain.
On September 3, 1897, they committed their first robbery at Twin Mountain
Twin Mountain
Twin Mountain may refer to a location in the United States:*Twin Mountain, New Hampshire, a village in Grafton County*The Twin Mountains, a pair of summits in the White Mountains:**South Twin Mountain **North Twin Mountain...
. Then, on July 11, 1899, the gang, without Black Jack, robbed the train again at Twin Mountain. After the robbery, Sam and several unknown gang members, in addition to Wild Bunch gang members Will Carver and William Ellsworth "Elza" Lay, headed for the mountains southwest of Raton, New Mexico
Raton, New Mexico
Raton is a city in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 7,282 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Colfax County. The city is located just south of Raton Pass.-Name:...
Territory. The next day, a posse
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
consisting of Sheriff Ed Farr of Huerfano County, Colorado
Huerfano County, Colorado
Huerfano County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county was named for the Huerfano Butte, a local landmark. The county population was 7,862 at U.S. Census 2000...
, Special Agent W.H. Reno of the Colorado & Southern Railroad, and five deputies found their trail and tracked them into Turkey Creek Canyon near Cimarron
Cimarron, New Mexico
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 917 people, 382 households, and 255 families residing in the village. The population density was 479.5 people per square mile . There were 449 housing units at an average density of 234.8 per square mile...
, New Mexico. There, the posse engaged them in a gun battle. Sam Ketchum and two deputies were wounded seriously, and the gang escaped.
Sam Ketchum's wounds slowed the intended escape, and they made it only a short distance from the initial shootout. Several members of the posse cornered the Ketchum gang a few days later, still in the same area of the Territory. Deputy W.H. Love and Sheriff Ed Farr engaged the outlaws in another gun battle, resulting in both Farr and Love being killed, while the posse wounded at least two unknown members of the gang. Sam Ketchum escaped, but was found a few days later by Special Agent Reno at the home of a rancher, where he was arrested.
Sam Ketchum was taken to the Santa Fe Territorial Prison, where he died from his gunshot wounds. He was buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery, now the Fairview Cemetery on Cerrillos Rd. in Santa Fe.
"Elzy" or "Elza" (William Ellsworth) Lay was born November 25, 1868, Mt Pleasant, Ohio. Lay had come out west to Denver, and became an outlaw after mistakenly believing he had killed a man. Jailed for life after the killing of Sheriff Farr after the Folsom robbery, he was released in 1906. He returned to Alma, New Mexico
Alma, New Mexico
Alma is an unincorporated community in Catron County, New Mexico, United States, north of Glenwood and south of Reserve.-History:Sergeant James C. Cooney laid out a town on site of Alma in the early 1870s, but left it undeveloped. The town was bought by a Captain Birney, who named it "Alma" for his...
Territory and lived there for two years. He stayed with Louis and Walter Jones, who in 1904 had built a large merchandise store at Alma. Elzy died aged 65 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, on November 10, 1934.
Capture and death
Trinidad, Colorado
The historic City of Trinidad is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, and his right arm had to be amputated. He was nursed back to health and then sent to Clayton
Clayton, New Mexico
Clayton is a town in Union County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,524 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Union County. Tourists heading from Texas to Colorado often pass through Clayton, which is located in the northeast corner of New Mexico.Clayton is named for a son of...
, New Mexico Territory, for trial.
At the trial, Ketchum was convicted and sentenced to death. He was the only person ever hanged in Union County, New Mexico Territory (now Union County, New Mexico
Union County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*81.7% White*1.8% Black*2.0% Native American*0.5% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*2.3% Two or more races*11.7% Other races*39.7% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
). He was also the only person who suffered capital punishment for the offense of "felonious assault upon a railway train" in New Mexico Territory (which did not become a state until 1912). Later, the law was found to be unconstitutional.
Ketchum was executed by hanging in Clayton. Facing his fate with bravado, he is reported to have dashed up the steps at the gallows, announcing "I'll be in hell before you start breakfast, boys". After the hood was draped over his face, he gamely ordered "Let her rip!". By freak coincidence, the rope was too long, and since Ketchum had gained a significant amount of weight during his time in jail, and nobody in Clayton had any experience in conducting hangings, Ketchum was decapitated when he dropped through the trap door.
His last words were reported by the San Francisco Chronicle as: "Good-bye. Please dig my grave very deep. All right; hurry up."
A popular postcard was made showing the body. Afterwards his head was sewn back onto the body for viewing, and he was interred at the Clayton Cemetery.
Western actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Jack Elam
Jack Elam
William Scott "Jack" Elam was an American film actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies .-Early life:...
portrayed Ketchum in an episode of the 1954-1955 syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
television series Stories of the Century
Stories of the Century
Stories of the Century is a Western television series that ran in syndication through Republic Pictures between January 23, 1954, and March 11, 1955.-Synopsis:...
, tales of the American West starring and narrated by Jim Davis
Jim Davis (actor)
Jim Davis was an American actor, best known for his role as Jock Ewing in the CBS prime-time soap Dallas, a role which he held up until his death in April 1981.-Biography:...
.
See also
Jeff Burton, Dynamite and Six-Shooter: The Story of Thomas E. 'Black Jack' Ketchum, Sunstone Press, Box 2321, Santa Fe, NM 87504-2321, 2007External links
- The Spradley's Home Page at www.hal-pc.org
- Biography
- Clayton, New Mexico