The fate of outlaw Black Jack Ketchum

Clayton, N.M.—One hundred and twenty-four years after the botched hanging that ended his life, Thomas E. “Black Jack” Ketchum still casts a long, sinister shadow across the history of the American West. His death on April 26, 1901, a decapitation caused by a miscalculated drop on the gallows, remains one of the most gruesome conclusions to an outlaw’s career ever recorded.

Ketchum’s execution marked the end of a decade-long reign of violence, robbery and intimidation that spread across Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. Born in Texas after the Civil War, the cowboy-turned-outlaw built a reputation that rivaled Billy the Kid’s in brutality. His crimes, investigators later said, left more than 15 people dead.

A final walk to the gallows

On the morning of his execution, Ketchum had little left of the gang that once rode with him. Tried not for murder but for “assault upon a railway train with intent to commit a felony,” he faced the gallows under New Mexico law, which then allowed execution for train robbery.

Sheriff Salome Garcia of Union County oversaw the hanging, joined by Sheriff Clark of Trinidad and Captain L.C. Fort of Las Vegas, ordered to assist by Gov. M.A. Otero. A forged telegram delaying the event stalled the execution until early afternoon.

At 1:17 p.m., Ketchum wearing a black suit and with the empty sleeve of his amputated right arm tucked neatly into his coat, stepped onto the scaffold. The outlaw inspected the trapdoor before a black hood was placed over his head. Asked for final words, he reportedly responded in a muffled, almost cheerful tone.

Moments later, the trap opened. Due to miscalculations in the rope’s length and Ketchum’s weight, the fall severed his head completely, horrifying the assembled crowd. For many in Clayton, it was a shocking but strangely fitting end to a man whose life was steeped in violence.

Ketchum’s rise: Cowboy turned killer

As a young man on the Pecos River cattle ranges, Ketchum drifted easily into the outlaw life. Summers spent driving longhorns left him flush with wages that were soon spent; winters found him turning to robbery and murder.

Witnesses described him as nearly six feet tall, powerfully built, with black hair and piercing eyes. A skilled marksman, he was also known for his ruthlessness. According to one account, Ketchum once walked into a frontier store and killed the proprietor, then shot the man’s wife and child as they rushed in.

His gang, including his brother Sam, William McGinnis, Will Carver and Broncho Bill, terrorized the Southwest throughout the 1890s. Their crimes included a string of notorious train robberies along the Colorado & Southern line north of Clayton.

The beginning of the end

The gang’s downfall began with a shootout in Turkey Canyon after a 1899 train holdup led by Sam Ketchum. Sam was wounded and later died of his injuries; Sheriff Edward Farr was killed during the pursuit.

One month later, on Aug. 16, 1899, Black Jack attempted a solo repeat robbery at Twin Mountain. His plan failed when Conductor Frank Harrington shot him in the arm with a double-barrel shotgun. Ketchum fled but collapsed near his horses. A freight crew found him the next morning, and Sheriff Pinard arrested him without resistance.

Doctors amputated his shattered arm in Trinidad. After recovering, he was transferred to Clayton to await trial.

Awaiting fate

In jail, Ketchum reportedly disdained his nickname and showed no remorse. Rumors of a rescue swirled, placing the town on high alert. Tried before Chief Justice William J. Mills and prosecuted by District Attorney Jeremiah Leahy, the evidence, including the testimony of the train crew, sealed his fate. His appeal failed.

The night before his execution, he slept soundly and refused spiritual counsel. Just before facing the noose, he dictated a confession to President William McKinley, clearing three men wrongly accused in an 1897 mail robbery.

“I make this statement fully realizing my end is fast approaching, and that I must very soon meet my Maker,” he wrote.

A lonely burial, an enduring legend

After his body was taken down, an express wagon carried his coffin through Clayton to a small cemetery north of town. He was buried at sunset in an unmarked grave, with no family present.

With Ketchum’s death, the gang dissolved; its members dead, imprisoned or vanished. Historians note that while Billy the Kid is more widely remembered, Ketchum showed even less regard for human life.

Today, his story endures as a chilling reminder of the violent fringes of Western history. In an era of cybercrime and modern criminal networks, Black Jack Ketchum’s analog brutality stands as a stark contrast, and a warning from a past that still echoes across the desert plains of the Southwest.