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Tom Ketchum (a bastard of a piece)

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And there stood Tom Ketchum

Black Jack Ketchum

Why did he die?

I’ll tell you why

The Santa Fe train

A dapper man with a psychotic stare

Full trimmed moustache

Short, well-groomed hair

Knew two wild girls

Who rode a Wild Bunch

Outlaws they all.

 

A murder in waiting.

 

Arizona, New Mexico, Texas

Wrongly accused

Nothing to loose

Black Jack had a gang.

New allegations

More assassinations

Hiding and lost on the plains.

The famed Bell Ranch

Burgled a store in the nearby town

A post office too, the ranching was through

Liberty, ironically named.

 

A Posse on the trail

Decision due now boy

Incision too Cowboy

Surprised in a quiet arroyo

The fugitives found

Two more dead on the ground

Two others to their horses and fled

A first hand account

From a man that survived

Told how he was knocked clean from his horse

Blown free of all breath

He was moments from death

And lay there as still as a corpse.

Black Jack viewed the bodies

And lifted his lip

Eyes narrow and burning with hate

Jack emptied his shells

As the carcasses rocked

The two for which it was too late.

30/30

 

 

The twist in the tale was that he was pursued

But never for these callous killings

Instead he was sought

And eventually caught

For death from the hand of his brother

Now truly on the run

The tale had begun

Kicked off from the Hole in the Wall

Numerous gangs

In a mountain retreat

Safe from the Law as it was

Cassidy and Kid Curry, and Elzy Lay

The greatest Outlaws in the sense

Tom met his match in this unholy batch

And kept to his side of the fence

For over the course of the next 8 dead years

Curry would slay as he breathed

Nine lawmen were killed

And just as was billed

The most infamous murder seethed.

 

Train were their stock

They were easy to take

Three robbed in a similar location

But once again another crime was

Committed but Tom was not there

The Wild Bunch rode out

But he wasn’t about

For a second attack at Twin Mountain.

 

They made for the hills

To retreat from their ills

But were tracked down into Turkey Creek Canyon

Sherriff Ed Far, had now raised the bar

Special Agent Bill Reno came too

With a posse of five

Who would this time survive?

This was something their God only knew

A gun battle then

Of a dozen mean men

Releasing fire from down in the dust

Heartbeat drowned the ears

The pressure of blood, to keep it within one’s own viens

Survival on one side, the righteous opposed

A personal oppression of fears.

 

Sam Ketchum soon took one in the wing

Seriously hurt

He was dragged through the scrub

Hauled though the dirt

One after the other two deputies fell

Time for the gang to dessert

Sam slowed the escape, just a short distance made

And was cornered a few days from then

Another gun fight

But try as they might

Sam once more escaped with his men

But this time Ed far, with Deputy Love

Would not follow on from that spot

There rests their souls

In hastily dug holes

As more Wild Bunch victims we shot.

 

But Sam only made it as far as a ranch

Agent Reno was not to be bested

A few days then passed

Then surely, at last

He found him and Sam was arrested

He later died of his wounds

Gunshot

Elzy Lay had headed West purposely to become an outlaw

Mistakenly believing that he had killed a man

Jailed for life for the murder of Farr

Released in 1906, after serving less than 10 years.

 

Now Black Jack or Tom

Supposedly knew

Nothing of the death of his brother

So trains were for him

a soft hit target still

alone he set out  for another

riding once again

for the very same train

that had caused the destruction of Sam

conductor Frank Harrington saw an approach

a lone rider signalling intent

he recognised him from a previous attack

in history his name would cement

Frank grabbed his gun and shot Tom in the arm

this blew the outlaw from his horse

a posse next day

headed out down that way

it was only a matter of course

badly wounded he lost his right arm

was nursed back to health for his trial

taken to a prison in Union County

and held a significant while

sentenced to hang for ‘felonious assault

upon a railway train’

a record he holds as no other man

was hanged in that wild state again

There stood Tom Ketchum

the recalcigent Tom had arrived at the end

had seen his fortunes truly dip

as he stood on the trap door to take him from life

his last words were ‘..boys…lit it rip’

but fate and bad fortune called on him once more

just as soon as he last words were said

he’d gained weight in the jail and the rope was too long

as he fell it then cut off his head

sewn back on for viewing

there was one last shot

before work then commenced with the spade

he was posed for a pose with a photograph  man

and a popular postcard was made.

 

 

◄ Power of Thought

Bound by Silence ►

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