Our story for this time comes from New Mexico. It was sent in by Carl Alexander who lives in Santa Fe. Before we get to Carl’s story, here is a bit of background. Thomas “Black Jack” Ketchum was the only person ever hanged in Clayton, New Mexico. He was also the only man ever hanged for train robbery in the entire state, a law that was later found to be unconstitutional. But, it was a little too late for poor Black Jack.
Here is Carl’s story:
Hello Ron, I want to tell you a story about a meeting I had while camping at the Philmont Scout Ranch. I and several other scouts were backpacking through the mountains, visiting various historic sites, including an abandoned gold mine, a ghost town, and one of Black Jack Ketchum’s outlaw hideouts.
The hideout was a large rock overhang, and we thought it would be fun to camp there for the night. However, our leader insisted that we stay at a nearby-designated site. Disappointed, several of us set our tents up several hundred feet away from the leader’s tent, hoping we would have a chance to sneak back to the hideout later that night.
About 11:00 pm, when the rest of the camp was fast asleep, five of us gathered our sleeping bags and quietly stole back to the hideout. We set up camp under the overhang and built a fire, where we sat around talking about our trip and trying to scare each other with ghost tales about Black Jack. When the fire burned down to nothing more than red coals we settled down in our sleeping bags. I drifted off to sleep thinking about Black Jack. Suddenly, I was awakened by a noise in the bushes. I felt paralyzed, unable to move, and tried to call out to the others, but my throat was all knotted up.
This next part is hard to believe, but I swear it happened.
I saw a cowboy dressed all in black come running out of the bushes toward the hideout. The man was mostly solid, but some parts of him appeared translucent. He was filthy dirty, with a tattered hat, clothes from the 1800s, and yellowed teeth. His face was very red, glistening with sweat, with lots of facial hair, and the apparition held a revolver.
The cowboy didn’t appear to see me, but I was terrified. I think it was my inability to move more than the man. I watched as a strange fog emanated from the tree line across from a small stream, and I could hear men yelling unintelligibly and then muffled gunfire. The cowboy turned and fired his revolver six times into the trees and then ran over to where I was. I could see that the cowboy was wounded in the shoulder and he discharged six shell casings, from his revolver, right on top of me. Then as I watched the casings disappear as they fell onto my sleeping bag. The cowboy then reloaded his revolver, fired additional shots into the trees, and suddenly stopped. He looked down at me. By the expression on his face it was obvious that he was stunned. The cowboy seemed to be confused and then un-cocked his pistol, looked right at me, and said, “You’re not supposed to be here.” Then he just disappeared into thin air.
Eventually, I was able to move and could go back to sleep but had to be shaken repeatedly by the others before waking in the morning. As we broke camp I told my friends about the “dream,” or whatever it was. They were amused but didn’t believe me. That is until I started to roll up my sleeping bag, and found six shell casings in the dust.
Later, after we had returned to base camp, we visited an old saloon where a photograph of Black Jack Ketchum was displayed. The man in the photograph was the same man I had seen at the hideout. When I told my friends, they brushed me off saying it was a big hoax and I never told anyone about it again, but kept the shell casings. Years later I took the shells to a gun historian who said the casings were dated from sometime around 1878 but were in almost brand new condition. What happened to me? I don’t know. I will say this. I believe that Black Jack Ketchum Lives On! – Carl Alexander
This Week’s Podcast: On the podcast this week we have a creepy tale about two magicians that face off in a battle to control a zombie that is flying a plane full of passengers. You won’t believe the outcome of this one! It is amazing! You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from Apple Podcasts, stream it on Stitcher Radio or on the mobile version of Spotify. Do you prefer the radio? We are heard every Thursday at 10:00 pm and Sunday Night at 11:00 PM (EST) on AMFM247.COM. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link
Your Stories: Do you have a story that you would like to share on the podcast or the blog? Head to the main website, click on Story Submission, leave your story, give it a title, and please tell me where you’re from. I will read it if I can.
Social Links:
Main Podcast Site by LibSyn
The Blog Site by WordPress
Facebook Link
Twitter Link
Contact Links:
Email
Story Submissions
Contact Ron
Ron's Amazing Stories - The Blog 