The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-04-27
DIG NY GRAVE DEEP
SAID "BLACK JACK" KErcHUM[
STANDING on THE scAFFoLD
AT CLAYToN, N. III.
HEAD TORN FROM Els BODY
BLOOD SCOUTING FROM THE HEAD i
LESS TRUNK SpATTEsEo
NEARBY SPECTATORS
EXECUTION OF A DEspERADoI

had Been a Terror in the south<i
western Border Country for Fif<
teen Years-Curses Every
thing and Everybody.
| CLAYTON, N. M, April 26.-Tfomas E. (
ketchum, alias Back Jack" the mo-
torlous outlaw, who had terrorized theA
| people of the Southwest for the past ff I
teen years, was hanged here this after /
noon for train robb r. and his head wasi
| severed from the bo5y Sy the rope as ifI
| by guillotine. The headless trunk
pitched forward toward the speetatorsi
ana blood spattered upon those nearest |
| the scaffold
| The execution toek place inside a stock
| aoe Dunt for the occasion. The enclc-
sure was crowded 1t0 witnesses HAVING
| been admitted. When ketchum mounte q
| the scanold, at LII p. m, his face was
pale, but he showed no fear A priest1
stood at his side as the rope was being
put around his neck. The condennedl
man had consented to this at the IastI
moment. Ketchlm declined to make a.
speech. He muttered: Good bye" then
said!
Please dig my grave very deep" and
as the cap was drawn over his face,
! shouted. Let her go
His legs trembled, but his nerve did not
fail. At 1:A D. m the drop was sprung. t!
the body shot through the trap. AM tie
| head was torn from the trunk by the /
tremendous jerk Tnc head remained (,
| in the sack and fell into the pit The
body dropped to the ground quivering
and bleeding
SPECTATORS sICKENED.
Some men groaned, and others termed
| away unable to endure the sigh For
! few seconds the body wa allowed to lie
there half doubled up on its right side
| with the blood issuing N an intern ittent
| stream from the several arteries as the
, heart kept on with its meciaEicaI heat
| ing. Then the officers rashed down the
| scaffold and lifted Ihe body from the
| ground. il
DR.. Slack pronounced life extinct in
i've minutes from tae time the body
dropped through the trap. The result
4 showed that the drop os seven feet with
the running moose was too great for so
1 heavy a man as Ks stcaum who weighed
about 10 pounds Sheriff Sa!one Garcia
superintended the execution, and him
self let Tx. trap drop.
KetehuSn spent the greater part Of the
morning in reviewing his past life, dur
ing which time ne displayed perfect con-
troll of himself, frequently referring to-
his approaching death He cursed the
railroad and express companfes AMI the
officers who were instrumental in his
+ conviction, and the people of New MoN-
CO in general and Their laws.
HERO OF MANY RCB8ERIFS z
He acknowledged that he planned and
led his gang in many robberies accreG-
/ tied to him, including the robbery On the
/ Southern Pacific railroad at STEMS Pass
in 1897, and that on TIE COlora o .uth-
ern near Folsom in July, 1898. He
said he knew who kali young Herctein
at Liberty, Tex. in 1895, but woulI give
no names claiming the goi.ty persons
! were alive. He also said that he knew
! who killed A. B. Powers in Tom Green
! county, Texas. in 1886, and that Bud Up
shaw who was accused, had no know
edge of that crime. Ketclum declared /
that he was not the orig ma Black |
/ Jack and said that out aW was still
alive and enjoying his liberty. But he
was the cause of my <rScming an out .
! law said Ketchum Lee Dow the Of I
/ ficer. saw Black Jack at the Deer /
/ Creek tank affair, and in 1897 told no
j that If I was ever tried for Black I
! Jacks crimes [ would never get free, for
| I looked too much like him. I thought if :
! / was going to be hanged fer another
! mans crimes I might we'll have some
! of nv own. The real Black Jack got /
! the name because he was very dark, ard
: on the Erie roundup in Arizona there
were two Jacks They called him 'Elack
, Jack TO distinguish him from the other
Ketchum said that Frank HerIngtons ,
! the conductor who shot him, caus ng him /
to lose his right arm, L. c. Fort, the
| Wells-Fargo attorney, anl w. II. Reno
the Colorado & Southern ra lway detec- +
tive who effected his capture. viii be
killed within a year
Il smuggIed a letter cut of the prison
ia coid ba and
men are marked"
THREE CoNvICTS INNOCENT.
Ketchun mailed letter to President
| Mckinley this morn ng, in which he said;
standing in the presence of death.
where no human aid can reach me,
desire to communicate to you some facts
which may perhaps be the means or ho-
Grating innocent men. Inere are now
three men in Santa Fe pententary SarV-
ing sentences for the robbery or the INIT
ed states mail at STEMS Pass, Arizona,
viz: Leonard AT5ertson Walter Huffman
and Bill Waterson, and they are as in
nocent of the crime as an unborn babe:
The names of the mer who committed
the crime are Dave Atkins, Ed Pulln,
VIII Carver, Sam Ketchum. Broncho Bin
and myself. l have given my attorney
in Clayton means by which articles taken
in said robbery may be found where we
hid them and also the names of wit
nesses who live in that vicinity who VIII
that neighborhood both Immediately be-
fore and after the robbery. The fact that
! these men are innocent and are Sunt ring,
impelS me to make this confession. Whl!e
YOU cannot help me, and while | realize
that all effort to secure to me corr
mutation of my sentence have siSaallY
failed. | wish to do this much in the
/ interest of these innocent men. who. so
far as I know never committed q crime
in their lives I make this statement fully
realizing that my end is fast approach
ing and that I must very soon meet my
Maker"
CRIME FOR WHICH He DIED
Thomas Ketchum, alias Black Jack, has
been the most noted desperate OF the I
| Southwest for many years. and. 1t is /
said, although he boasted OF having taken !
! the lives of many fellow beings, his exe-
cution. set for noon today, was for an
attempted train robbery, in which nobody
| was killed.
| This crime was committed near Folsom, |
! N. NJ, Aug 16 1899 Single-handed, Ket- |
| chum help up a Colorado & Southern /
| passenger train. He ordered the engineer
and f1remen to urcouple the engine and
| leave the train The conductor and mail
| agent opened fire. Ketchum received the
| contents of double-barreled shotgun In
his right arm but quickly changing the
rifle to his left shoulder he succeeded in
wounding both conductor aud mail agent,
Il