Tom Ketchum (a bastard of a piece)
And there stood Tom Ketchum
Black Jack Ketchum
Why did he die?
I’ll tell you why
The
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.
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
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
They made for the hills
To retreat from their ills
But were tracked down into
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
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
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.
