Black Jack Ketchum

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

Education, History

4.8 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Thomas “Black Jack” Ketchum was an Old West cowboy turned outlaw. He and his gang robbed trains and stole livestock all throughout the American Southwest before coming to a disastrous end. And that’s when things went from bad to worse. Before it was all said and done, Ketchum would go down in history as the only person ever executed for ATTEMPTING to rob a train. Also discussed are Black Jack Christian, the Wild Bunch, Will Carver, Ben Kilpatrick, and Elzy Lay. This episode is brought to you by Quince! https://www.quince.com/wildwest This episode is also sponsored by DraftKings! https://sportsbook.draftkings.com Code: WILDWEST Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Dynamite and Six Shooter by Jeff Burton - https://a.co/d/802o5Z9 Thomas “Black Jack” Ketchum essay by Jeff Burton - https://www.seibelfamily.net/ketchum-black-jack.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	When they executed Black Jack Ketchum, he only had one arm left.
0:03.3	Had he had both or somehow figured out how to shoot with his left hand, things may have turned
0:07.6	out a bit different.
0:09.3	As it were, Ketchum remained defiant until the end, marching to the gallows and telling
0:13.4	the sheriff to hurry up because he was doing hell for dinner.
0:17.2	And what happened next sent the throng of onlookers running in terror.
0:22.5	Who was Blackjack Ketchum?
0:24.4	What caused him to become an outlaw?
0:28.5	What happened to his arm and what exactly occurred on the day of his execution that would haunt those in attendance for the rest of their lives?
0:32.2	Stick around and find out.
0:33.7	My name's Josh and this is the Wild West extravaganza.
0:46.5	Thomas Edward Ketcham was born in San Saba County, Texas on October 31st, 1863.
0:53.4	His parents arrived back in 1849 looking to raise cattle, a move that most
0:57.5	definitely came with a price. Two of Tom's uncles were killed by the Kickapoo in 1867. His father,
1:03.6	Green passed away the following year, and his mother temperance would do the same in 1873.
1:08.7	In other words, Tom was an orphan before he was even old enough to shave.
1:13.0	Thankfully, his older brother Barry offered to take him in, for a while at least. You see,
1:17.7	young Tom had a bit of a wild streak. His first known brush with the law came in March of 1880
1:22.9	when he was held in contempt of court. The details are murky, as are the consequences, but it does appear
1:28.4	that it's just 16 years of age, Tom Ketchum was already starting to buck authority.
1:33.5	It was around the same period that he allegedly got caught still in pecans from a neighbor.
1:38.6	Said neighbor delivered a thorough asswopin's so Tom returned, with dynamite, and blew up the entire
	...

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