Thornhill

Kid Curry and Jim Thornhill were pardners in a ranch.

That one would take the wrong path happened quite by chance.

Curry bore a grudge for a man named Pike,

He’d even up the score and he’d make it right.

Jimmer and the Currys strode into Jake’s Saloon,

Not knowin’ what would happen before the clock struck noon.

Jim hollered out, “Fair fight!” The rest is history,

It would spell the end of old man Landusky.

Kid Curry sent old Pike a-sprawlin’ on the floor,

While Thornhill kept the peace with his Forty-Four.

That should have been the end of it,

If the two of them had just up and quit.

But what was Pike a-reachin’ for just inside his vest?

Was he a-goin’ for the Borchart kept hidden by his breast?

Did that German automatic end up in a jam,

And put an end to Pike’s evil little plan?

We will have to wonder how it all was done,

Why did Jimmer Thornhill throw the Kid a gun?

Three shots in quick succession,

It was Curry’s first transgression.

From there he was a man always on the run,

And as for friends, he only had but one.

They tried Jimmer Thornhill as accessory,

There wasn’t any case, the judge just set him free.

Curry, Butch, and Sundance formed the Wild Bunch,

Sure to count on Thornhill if they’re in a crunch.

The robbin’ of express cars was the trade they plied,

They blew up one at Wilcox with Woodcock still inside.

They took the loot and headed out on their separate ways,

A hideout in Montana was where Curry spent his days.

The Pinkertons sent an agent to find the outlaw man,

To gain Thornhill’s confidence was Siringo’s plan.

But Curry got away and returned another day,

He wasn’t there to stay, he’d rob the GN Way.

Got forty thousand bucks in the Wagner job,

That’s a big old haul if you like to rob.

The Sheriff did a scout but found no one about,

That Thornhill hid him out there ain’t a lot of doubt.

When the posse left, a score got settled on,

Shot on his porch, Jim Winter, he was gone.

Curry made his way to Knoxville, Tennessee,

If he hadn’t picked a fight, he mighta’ stayed scot-free.

Thornhill hired him a first-class legal team,

An exoneration would be the outlaw’s dream.

Then Curry heard the verdict, twenty years in jail,

Time for him to bust out, time to hit the trail.

Of his whereabouts, Thornhill never said,

But up in Colorado, they found Kid Curry dead.

Did Jimmer cross the line between the law and crime?

Or was it just a friendship, faithful for all time?

LDT May 18, ‘24

More on Jim Thornhill– Jim Thornhill-Kid Curry’s Accomplice? – Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies (azrockdodger.com)

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