The Deadliest Outlaws

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After Tom Ketchum was sentenced to death for attempting to rob a railway train, his attorneys argued that the penalty was “cruel and unusual.” Their appeal failed, making him the first and last person executed for such a crime. He was hanged in 1901, with a grim end as the rope tore his head away during the fall. Born in 1863 on the Texas frontier, Ketchum became an orphan at nine and was raised by his brothers. In his twenties, he left home to work as a trail driver and ranch hand. After returning to Texas and committing murder, he fled, later killing two men in New Mexico with his brother Sam. Soon, he and two former cowboys robbed a train in Texas, marking the rise of the Ketchum Gang, known for their daring and fearsome reputation. Accused of various crimes, their downfall came from the advancements in communication, internal conflicts, and their reckless behavior. Jeffrey Burton has researched the Ketchum Gang and related outlaws for over forty years, utilizing unpublished sources, family records, trial transcripts, and contemporary newspapers to uncover the truth about Ketchum and others like Will Carver, Ben Kilpatrick, and Butch Cassidy. This second edition includes additional material and photographs, solidifying its place as the definitive account of the Ketchum and Wild Bunch gangs.