Legends of the Old West - OUTLAWS Ep. 5 | Black Jack Ketchum: “Westbound and Down”

Episode Date: February 15, 2023

Tom Ketchum roams some of the same ground as Jim Miller. When Ketchum is suspected of murder in Texas, he flees to New Mexico and Arizona. He returns to Texas for the pivotal point in his criminal career: to rob his first train. After a successful heist, he establishes himself as the leader of an outlaw gang in New Mexico, but his career will be brief and violent. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In April of 1901, Thomas Blackjack Ketchum made history, but it wasn't the kind of history that most people would want to make. For Ketchum, he probably didn't care. Maybe he even reveled in it. He had fully embraced the outlaw lifestyle a few years earlier and fully embraced his role as a notorious train robber. But there were few, if any, outlaws in the Old West who lived into old age and retired peacefully on a farm. With that said, Ketchum's end was unique. He was known to have killed at least seven men, including two sheriff's deputies. He and various members of his gang caused havoc across West Texas before focusing on eastern New Mexico. He worked with

some old friends from Texas and some new friends who were better known for their association with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The various lineups successfully robbed stores, post offices, and trains, and stole the equivalent of millions of dollars in today's money. But Tom Ketchum never went to trial for any of those crimes. Interestingly, the crime that ended his career and his life was the one that failed. New Mexico territory had suffered at the hands of Black Jack Ketchum for four years, and when he was finally caught, the territory wanted to make an example out of him. In late April of 1901, the gallows was ready in the town of Clayton, in the northeast corner of the territory, right along the border of the Texas Panhandle.

The yard that surrounded the platform and the noose was packed with people who wanted to watch Ketchum die. Nearly all of them would regret that decision. Only one photographer was allowed to attend, and he captured all the grisly horror of the event. The end was bad, as people said back then. But it wasn't historic. It happened occasionally that hangings ended the way Ketchum's did. But what made Black Jack Ketchum's story unique and historic was that he was the first person, in New Mexico at least, to face the drop for attempting to commit a crime, and not even murder. The territory was putting an end to Tom Ketchum because he tried to rob a train.

He didn't even pull it off. He failed in the attempt. But lawmen finally caught him, and New Mexico was not about to let him go after he'd spent years getting away with robbery and murder. Black Jack Ketchum had a short career as an outlaw, but he packed a lot of action into that limited amount of time. And each successive milestone was more memorable than the last, right up to the end. From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this season we're telling the stories of three outlaws, California bandit Joaquin Murrieta, Texas killer Jim Miller, and train robber Black Jack Ketchum.

This is Black Jack Ketchum, part one of two, Westbound and Down. Tom Ketchum's life started with an ominous beginning, and it only grew worse. He was born on Halloween in 1863 in San Saba County, Texas. When he was four years old, an uncle on his father's side was killed by Native American warriors. A year later, two more uncles were ambushed and killed by Kickapoo on the way back from selling cattle in El Paso. During the attack, thousands of dollars that were earned from the sale went flying into the wind. Tom's parents were left with the burden of temporarily supporting the families of the murdered uncles. Before that miserable year was out, Tom's father died, leaving Tom's older brothers to support the family. In 1871, when Tom

was eight, his mother died. From that point forward, young Tom Ketchum was on his own a lot. At age 13, Tom and a friend were hauled into court for stealing property worth 75 cents. In March of 1880, when he was 16, Tom was called to court as a witness for some unrecorded crime. He didn't show and earned a contempt of court citation. And so the pattern went until, inevitably, he started committing more serious crimes. A neighbor recalled that Tom and a friend got caught stealing pecans from another neighbor's grove. The owner whipped them both soundly. Tom and his buddy took revenge by stealing dynamite and blowing up the grove of trees. The pair started stealing livestock and gambling,

and at some point before Tom turned 18, he used a gun as a weapon for the first time. and at some point before Tom turned 18, he used a gun as a weapon for the first time. Tom was angry at another boy for some unknown reason, and he couldn't cool down. Tom lay in wait and shot the poor young man with buckshot. Tom must have had bad aim because he only wounded the boy, and the boy recovered. But Tom took great pride in the attack. Over the next few years, Tom and his older brother, Sam, grew more and more restless. Sam was briefly married to a teenage girl and had two children with her, but the union fell apart. Both Tom and Sam became experts with rifles and shotguns,

which wasn't surprising given the amount of time they spent practicing instead of working. wasn't surprising given the amount of time they spent practicing instead of working. By 1884, Tom and Sam Ketchum were well known in San Samba for rustling cattle. Still, oldest brother Barry felt responsible for their well-being. When Barry bought a ranch in neighboring Tom Green County, he allowed his younger brothers to live with him. But their relationship soon grew strained, with Tom preferring to roughhouse with the ranch hands rather than do honest work. To avoid criticism and supervision,

he often chose to camp in a cave south of Barry's homestead. Tom continued to harass other workers, and Barry only put up with him because he was family. Sometime in the late 1880s, Tom's cruel mischief surfaced more and more often. In one instance, he terrorized a dog until it was mad, and then he drove it into the local church. He chased the animal around the pews and scared everyone out of the building. Because of the dog incident and other annoyances, Barry soon had enough of Tom. Barry was about to make a trip over to San Saba County, and he told Tom to be gone by the time he got back. Tom left the ranch as instructed, but he took one of Barry's prized horses with him. And Tom didn't leave alone. His brother Sam went with him, and they began a long on-and-off partnership in crime.

Sam went with him, and they began a long on-and-off partnership in crime. In the late 1880s, they drifted west to Holbrook, Arizona, and landed right in the middle of the Pleasant Valley War. They worked for the Aztec Cattle Company, whose ranch hands were known as the Hash Knife Cowboys because of the company's brand. Some of them had a reputation for stealing cattle, and the Ketchums probably picked up some skills during their time in Arizona. By 1890, they were on the move again, this time drifting into eastern New Mexico. The brothers drove a herd of cattle north from Roswell to Clayton, about 40 miles south of Colorado, and right along the border of New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle. When the job was done, they had no immediate work. Tom grew bored waiting for his next job, and that led him to more trouble.

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Expand your workforce so you can start doing more and making more. Get the Optics Laser Advantage now and start changing the welding game. This time it was trouble of a different kind. Ketchum began an affair with a married woman somewhere above Amarillo. The girl's husband allegedly knew about the liaisons but was afraid of Ketchum. The husband simmered quietly until she got pregnant, and not by him. Then he persuaded the courts to annul his marriage. The rest of the details are lost to time, so no one knows exactly what happened to the young woman.

But Ketchum didn't stay with her either. Next, he started an on-and-off relationship with a girl near Lincoln County, New Mexico, named Cora. He was still working in the cattle business, so he would only pass through once a year and stay for a little while. Then he would leave for months at a time. The pattern went on for three years, until Cora gave him a dose of his own medicine. Each time Ketchum arrived, he promised Cora he would save up enough money to marry her the next time he saw her. The final time, Cora cried on Ketchum's shoulder. She told him she could never love another, and she would keep waiting for him. For his part, Ketchum told the rest of the cowboys that he meant it this time.

He would come back and marry her. that he meant at this time. He would come back and marry her. A few days later, the herd reached Fort Sumner, the town that was central to the Billy the Kid story more than 10 years earlier. One of the cowboys went to the local post office and gathered their mail. Ketchum was mortified that he had not received a letter from Cora. His mood was dark, and he wrote her a long letter that criticized her for not writing. Less than a week later, when he and the herd reached Clayton, he was thrilled to see an envelope waiting for him at the post office. It was from Cora, but within minutes, his joy turned to fury. He was screaming and cursing and literally pulling out some of his hair.

Cora had turned the tables on him. She informed Ketchum that after he left the last time, she immediately married another man. To rub it in a little deeper, she added that it was Ketchum who taught her how to lie, and she hoped he was enjoying the feeling. Ketchum grew bitterly angry. He allegedly told his friends and family that he was heading to Wyoming. If he did make the trek, there's no evidence about what he did there for several months. But historians have a strong hunch that that was when he met members of Butch and Sundance's outfit known as the Wild Bunch. Members of the gang drift in and out of Ketchum's story as he spent time in New Mexico, so it's not wild speculation that he connected

with them in Wyoming. Whatever the case, Ketchum was back in Tom Green County, Texas by 1894. He and his brother Sam, who had abandoned his wife and children, spent their days driving cattle or doing odd jobs for ranchers. During their years in Tom Green County, the Ketchum brothers became friendly with several men who would become partners in crime. One factored heavily into the next chapter of the Ketchum story, and the other got caught up by association. The one who got caught up was Will Carver. Residents of the county liked Carver, but he was reserved and kind of mysterious. His wife had died six years earlier, and most people knew that he was having an affair with his wife's niece.

That niece was Laura Bullion, who eventually became known as a quasi-outlaw on the fringes of Butch and Sundance's gang. The one who was directly involved in the killing to come was David Atkins. He was the opposite of Carver. Atkins was described by his neighbors as hot-tempered, hard-drinking, and completely unstable. There was a messy situation brewing in Tom Green County near the ranch of Barry Ketchum, the oldest Ketchum brother. According to one story, it was a salacious murder-for-hire plot. In another, it was about the most common problem in the West, cattle rustling. Either way, the result was the first step toward the formation of the Blackjack Ketchum Gang. Jasper Powers owned a ranch near the properties of Barry Ketchum and

David Atkins. There were rumors about Jasper that swirled around the properties of Barry Ketchum and David Atkins. There were rumors about Jasper that swirled around Tom Green County. One was that he was a rustler who stole livestock from his neighbors, Ketchum and Atkins. Another said he had dishonored a gambling debt to Sam Ketchum and Will Carver. A third might have been more than a rumor. A grand jury certainly believed it anyway. Tom Ketchum said later that Jasper's foreman was having an affair with Jasper's wife. Mrs. Powers decided she wanted to get rid of her husband, so the foreman approached Tom Ketchum with a deal. The foreman

offered Tom a horse in exchange for killing Jasper Powers. It's hard to tell if Tom accepted the payment, but it seems likely that he did get rid of Jasper. Early in the morning on December 12, 1895, Jasper Powers walked out to his pasture to get his horse. Several men approached him and shot him at close range. Later, the coroner pulled five bullets out of his body, one of which had split his skull wide open. Five months later, in May of 1896, a grand jury in San Angelo indicted Tom Ketchum, the foreman, Mrs. Powers, and another man for the murder of Jasper Powers. In terms of the men who actually pulled the triggers, it was likely

Tom Ketchum, hot-headed David Atkins, and a couple others who remain mysteries. When the indictments came down and rumors of arrests started flying, people who were close to Ketchum decided it was time to flee. Will Carver and Tom's older brother Sam weren't involved, but they were close enough to Tom to be worried about their freedom. The fourth person who was indicted for murder, a man named Upshaw, had actually been removed from the list. He was no longer a wanted man, but because he had been associated with the crime, he decided to run as well. So, in the spring of 1896, Tom Ketchum, Sam Ketchum, Will Carver, and David Atkins all ran west together. The Ketchum brothers fled to New Mexico.

Carver and Atkins headed for Arizona. The four men would reunite in the future, but for now, the brothers took jobs at the Bell Ranch in San Miguel County. But that didn't last long. Tom argued with a supervisor and left after gathering his first paycheck. Sam followed his younger brother and they camped on the northern edge of the Bell Ranch for a day or two. Then they went back to the headquarters, broke into the storehouse at night, and stole supplies. The brothers hurried from the ranch and ended up in a little town called Liberty.

They found a business that was run by Morris and Levi Herstein. It was a store and post office, and it was an easy target for the Ketchums. Tom and Sam bought groceries and then set up camp outside the store. The next day, in the dark hours of early morning, the Ketchums raided the business. They took about $45 from the post office and loaded their pack horse with blankets, clothing, and provisions worth another $200. Then they set out for the Pecos River Valley. Levi Herstein discovered the theft a few hours later. He gathered three other men for an unofficial posse and took off after the Ketchums. The four-man posse caught up with the brothers about 25 miles from Liberty. The brothers were

resting and finishing lunch when they heard horses thundering toward them. According to an account that is supposed to be credible, the brothers shielded themselves behind their own animals and raised their hands as if to surrender. Then, as the posse drew closer, the Ketchums grabbed their guns and started firing. Three of the posse men fell from their horses, and the fourth turned and galloped away. When all was quiet, Tom and Sam walked over to the bodies of the fallen men. Levi Herstein and one of the others were dead, but the third man wasn't. He was hurt but lying still and hoping the Ketchums wouldn't notice

that he was still breathing. They did notice, and Tom remarked that they should fill the man with more lead. But Sam told Tom not to waste the ammo. Apparently, neither cared about the ammo because they shot Levi Herstein's dead body several more times. Introducing the Miller Optics 2KW Handheld Laser Welder. It's so simple to use, even a rookie can weld like an expert, allowing you to boost your shop's productivity up to five to ten times more than with traditional arc welding processes. Expand your workforce so you can start doing more and making more.

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horses and headed south. The man who was playing dead survived his encounter with the Ketchum brothers. When the sounds of their horses faded, he climbed onto his own horse and rode home. Tom and Sam drifted into Arizona territory, where they may have rejoined Will Carver and Dave Atkins. The brothers definitely spent much of the winter of 1896 in southeastern Arizona, and around that time, Tom inherited the nickname that sticks with him to this day. The Ketchum brothers roamed the same roads as another pair of outlaw brothers, Will and Bob Christian. The Christian brothers led the High Five gang, and they'd racked up a serious list of robberies by 1896. They also looked like Tom and Sam Ketchum. The resemblance was so strong

that some reporters attributed the robbery of the Hurstines and the murder of Levi to the Christian brothers. And it was because of that physical resemblance that Tom Ketchum has the nickname we know him by today. Will Christian was known as Black Jack Christian because of his dark complexion, dark hair, and dark eyes. Tom Ketchum had a dark complexion, dark hair, and dark eyes, so he became Black Jack Ketchum. And when Will Christian died the following spring, in April of 1897, the nickname belonged to Ketchum from that point forward. And that spring, the Ketchum gang took another step toward creation. In March, a month before Will Christian died, David Atkins learned that he was cleared of

killing Jasper Powers. There were problems with paperwork and eyewitness accounts, and he was no longer wanted for murder. So what did he do? He became wanted for murder. Atkins was tired of being on the run, so he returned home to Tom Green County, Texas. On March 20, 1897, he got blind drunk at a saloon and shot a former rival in the head. He narrowly evaded capture and went straight back on the run. He reunited with Black Jack Ketchum, and the two friends were now firmly on the outlaw trail. They were both killers, and there was no turning back unless they wanted to spend serious time in prison.

Ketchum, Atkins, and Will Carver formed a gang. Carver didn't have the criminal exploits of the other two, but he craved money and excitement, so he stuck with them. Tom's older brother Sam decided he wanted to try his hand at honest work in New Mexico, so he left the group. But that was only temporary. Once Tom got the gang rolling, Sam would come back. For now, Ketchum, Carver, and Atkins were in their home state of Texas, and they wanted to graduate from robbing stores to robbing trains. They headed down toward the Rio Grande and found a spot along the railroad line that looked good. It was just a speck on a map, no more than a water stop with a tiny depot. At about 1.30 in the morning on Friday, May 14, 1897,

the trio entered the little depot and found one person inside. She was the telegraph operator, and she assured them that the incoming train would stop at their outpost. When it did, Ketchum and Carver scrambled over the coal car. They jammed their Winchesters into the ribs of the engineer and the firemen. The robbers forced the hostages to continue down the line and then stop at the next cut. Atkins was waiting there with horses and dynamite after he had cut the telegraph wires. The bandits made their way to the express car. The express messenger told them there was nothing in the smaller of the two safes in the car, but Ketchum thought he knew better.

He and Carver blew it open and took what little money was there. Then the outlaws used three dynamite charges to blast through the bigger safe. By 3.15 in the morning, the robbers had three sackfuls of plunder. They would have gotten away with more, but some of it was burned up in the dynamite fire. Later, Wells Fargo admitted that the robbery cost them about $42,000 in stolen or burned money. Today, that would be worth about $1.2 million. $1.2 million. Once the three robbers had a taste of success, they wanted more.

But first, they needed to make sure they were clear of the manhunt that would surely follow after a robbery of that size. After the robbery, Ketchum, Atkins, and Carver headed toward the Rio Grande and followed it north as it meandered toward New Mexico. Eventually, they stopped to rest and split up the money. To confuse law enforcement, the three men also split up and took separate roads out of the area. They had long journeys back to Tom Green County, where they would reunite to see if there was any fallout. It was about 250 miles back to Tom Green County, where they would reunite to see if there was any fallout. It was about 250 miles back to Tom Green County, and the robbers eventually met up near Barry Ketchum's ranch. The robbery was,

officially, an overwhelming success. An assortment of sheriff's posses, deputy U.S. marshals, and Texas Rangers scoured the trails of West Texas to try to find the robbers. But as with many robberies, it was a hopeless cause. Black Jack Ketchum and his crew were still relatively minor criminals. This was their first action as a gang, if they even thought of themselves as such. And they had nowhere near the notoriety of robbers like Jesse James or outlaws in the Southwest like Billy the Kid or John Wesley Harden. But that didn't mean the robbers were completely anonymous. To use a common expression, there was a little smoke but no fire. Lawmen

probably couldn't prove who committed the robbery, but a New Mexico newspaper was partially right. the robbery, but a New Mexico newspaper was partially right. It named Atkins and Carver as two of the robbers, but it also named Will Blackjack Christian as a participant. It was one of the many times that people confused Blackjack Ketchum with Blackjack Christian. When the dust settled, Sam Ketchum decided he was done experimenting with legitimate work. He rejoined Tom, Atkins, and Carver, who were itching for more robberies. They turned their attention to the West, to New Mexico territory, where they had spent so much time working the cattle trails. They headed for the Taos Mountains north of Santa Fe and established a hideout in Turkey Creek Canyon.

It was heavily wooded and secluded. They laid low, occasionally going into the town of Taos to buy supplies, and they planned their next train robbery. By the late 1890s, train robberies in New Mexico had become rare, but Black Jack Ketchum and his gang were about to reignite the fire. They would prowl the northeast corner of the territory and the borderlands between New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle. For a while, there was continued confusion between Black Jack Ketchum and Black Jack Christian, but by the fall of 1897, Tom Ketchum

didn't care who saw him or who identified him. He leaned into his growing reputation and wore the badge of the outlaw Black Jack Ketchum with pride. He and his gang would go on quite a spree, but like Jim Miller, the outlaw life would end badly for Ketchum. Very badly. Next time on Legends of the Old West, Black Jack Ketchum and his gang commit spectacular train robberies in New Mexico. But when the law finally catches up with him, Ketchum will become the embodiment of the expression live fast, die hard.

That's next week on the season finale and the end of the Black Jack Ketchum story here on Legends of the expression, live fast, die hard. That's next week on the season finale and the end of the Black Jack Ketchum story here on Legends of the Old West. Members of our Black Barrel Plus program don't have to wait week to week to receive new episodes. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials, and they also receive exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships begin at just $5 per month. This series was researched and written by Julia Bricklin. Original music by Rob Valliere. I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer.

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