The following article is from Old West Magazine: Summer, 1974, Publisher: Western Publications Inc., USA., by Chris Weatherby.
Richard H. “Dick” Duncan grew up on the San Saba River, near the north mouth of Richland Creek. His closest friends were the Ketchum boys, Tom and Sam. Texas court records show that in 1876, when Duncan was only fourteen years old, he and Tom Ketchum were tried for “theft of property of the value of $.75.” Through the years there followed other arrests and trials for such things as malicious mischief, gambling, and stealing livestock. By the time Dick Duncan and the Ketchum boys reached maturity their reputations had digressed past the ornery stage. They were considered bad men.
They managed to get by with no serious consequences for quite some time; then when things began to get to hot for them, Tom and Sam Ketchum left San Saba and went to New Mexico. There they formed the “Blackjack Gang” and embarked upon a career of train robberies. Sam Ketchum died in 1899 of blood poisoning from a bullet wound received in a shoot-out with a posse following an attempted robbery of the Colorado and Southern express train near Folsom, New Mexico. Tom “Blackjack” Ketchum was hanged in 1901 after being apprehended and convicted of train robbery.
Not far from the Duncan place lived the Williamson family. The family consisted of Mrs. Williamson, a widow of about fifty; her daughter, Lavonia Holmes, also a widow, about thirty; a son, Ben, about twenty-one, who was weak both physically and mentally, and another daughter, Beulah, who was about sixteen. The Williamsons wanted to sell their small Wallace Creek farm and move to Mexico. Mrs. Williamson made a deal with Dick Duncan to sell the farm to him for $400, and he was to furnish transportation for the family to Eagle Pass where they would cross over into Mexico to make their home. Duncan made a down payment of $300 and Mrs. Williamson and each of the children signed the deed by mark. This transaction was witnessed by Ed Hawkins, a close neighbor of the Williamsons.
At approximately nine o’clock the following night, a wagon passed the Hawkins house and turned in at the Williamson place. Soon there were sounds of the wagon’s being loaded and then leaving. It seemed strange to Ed Hawkins that the family would leave in the dead of night. He was further mystified when the wagon headed west, in the direction of San Angelo, for Mrs. Williamson had told him that she wanted to go by Austin to visit a son who was in the asylum there. A few minutes after the wagon left, two horsemen passed the Hawkins place and continued east toward San Saba.
It was early in February 1889. Texas Ranger Sergeants Ira Aten and John R. Hughes were camped in Nueces Canyon near Barksdale, Texas (Barksdale is in southwest Texas - Edwards County). On February 6 they encountered a tall stranger near Camp Wood who said that his name was Jones. He told the Rangers that he was from Tom Green County, a few miles from San Angelo. He explained that he was on his way to Mexico to get his sister and mentioned that a family was traveling with him.
The following day the Rangers saw the same man again. This time he was accompanied by a tall, redhaired man. The two were riding beside a wagon in which three women and a young man were riding. The Rangers noticed that the wagon was a bright, shiny, new Mitchel with a sign painted on the back tailgate: “Sold by Joe S. Clark, San Saba, Texas.” The party was traveling in the direction of Eagle Pass.
In March the Rangers again came across Jones and the red-haired man. This time they identified themselves as Walter Landers, alias Picnic Jones, and Richard H. “Dick” Duncan. They were headed north and had the same new Mitchel wagon, but the former occupants were not with them. Jones was riding a horse that was branded LOV. Later it was learned that this was the brand of a rancher in San Saba County. Sergeants Aten and Hughes came upon two men in another wagon the following day. The men introduced themselves as “Old Man” Duncan and Tap Duncan. In the course of their conversation, they admitted being the father and brother of Dick Duncan. They seemed surprised when told that Dick Duncan was in the area. They told the Rangers that they were returning to San Saba after visiting in Mexico.