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Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Earp at about age 33Born March 19, 1848

Monmouth, Illinois, U.S.A.

Died January 13, 1929 (aged 80)Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Occupation Gambler, lawman, buffalo hunter, saloon keeper, gold/copper miner, barber

Years active 1865–1898

Known for Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Opponent(s) William Brocius, Frank McLaury

Spouse Urilla Sutherland (wife)Celia Ann "Mattie" Blaylock (Common law wife)Josephine Sarah Marcus (Common law wife)

Children none

Signature

Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American investor and law enforcementofficer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer,saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. He is best known for his part in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral duringwhich three outlaw Cowboys were killed. The 30-second gunfight defined the rest of his life. Earp's modern-dayreputation is that of the Old West's "toughest and deadliest gunman of his day."[1]

Earp spent his early life in Iowa. His first wife Urilla Sutherland Earp died while pregnant less than a year after theymarried. Within the next two years he was arrested, sued twice, escaped from jail, then was arrested three more timesfor "keeping and being found in a house of ill-fame". He landed in the cattle boomtown of Wichita, Kansas where hebecame a deputy marshal for one year and developed a solid reputation as a lawman. In 1876 he followed his brotherJames to Dodge City, Kansas where he became an assistant marshal. In the winter of 1878 he went to Texas togamble where he met John Henry "Doc" Holliday whom Earp credited with saving his life.Continually drawn to boomtowns and opportunity, Earp left Dodge City in 1879, and with his brothers James and Virgil, moved to Tombstone, Arizona. The Earps bought an interest in the Vizina mine and some water rights. There, the Earps clashed with a loose federation of outlaw Cowboys. Wyatt, Virgil, and their younger brother Morgan held various law enforcement positions that put them in conflict with Tom and Frank McLaury, and Ike and Billy Clanton, who threatened to kill the Earps. The conflict escalated over the next year, culminating on October 26, 1881 in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which the Earps and Holliday killed three of the Cowboys. In the next five

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months, Virgil was ambushed and maimed and Morgan was assassinated. Wyatt, his brother Warren, Holliday, andothers pursued the Cowboys they thought responsible in a vendetta.After leaving Tombstone, Earp continually invested in various mining interests and saloons. He and his third wife, intheir later years, moved between Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert, where the town of Earp, California was namedafter him. Although his brother Virgil had far more experience as a sheriff, constable, and marshal,[2] Wyatt, whooutlived Virgil, and was made famous by a largely fictionalized biography by Stuart Lake, has been the subject ofand model for a large number of films, TV shows, biographies and works of fiction. But it is true that, unlike hisbrothers and his ally Doc Holliday, who participated in several gun battles with him, Wyatt was never woundedduring his entire lifetime, which only contributed to his mystique.

Early life

Wyatt Earp with his mother Virginia AnnCooksey Earp c. 1856.

Wyatt Earp was born in Monmouth, Illinois, on March 19, 1848, towidower Nicholas Porter Earp and Virginia Ann Cooksey.[3] From hisfather's first marriage, Wyatt had an elder half-brother, Newton, and ahalf-sister Mariah Ann, who died at the age of ten months. Wyatt wasnamed after his father's commanding officer in the Mexican-AmericanWar, Captain Wyatt Berry Stapp, of the 2nd Company IllinoisMounted Volunteers. In March 1849, the Earps left Monmouth forCalifornia but settled in Iowa.[4] Their new farm consisted of 160 acres(unknown operator: u'strong' km2), 7 miles (unknown operator:u'strong' km) northeast of Pella, Iowa.[5]

Earp's boyhood home in Pella

On March 4, 1856, Earp's father Nicholas sold his farmand returned to Turtle, Illinois, where he was electedthe municipal constable, serving at this post for aboutthree years. He was caught and convicted in 1859 forbootlegging. Nicholas was unable to pay the fines, anda lien was put against the Earp's property. It was sold atauction in November 1859, and the family left again forPella, Iowa. After their move, Nicholas returned toMonmouth throughout 1860 to sell his other propertiesand resolve several lawsuits for debt and accusations oftax evasion.[6]:14

During the family's second stay in Pella, the AmericanCivil War began. Newton, James, and Virgil joined the

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Union Army on November 11, 1861. While his father was busy recruiting and drilling local companies, Wyatt, alongwith his two younger brothers, Morgan and Warren, were left in charge of tending 80-acre (unknown operator:u'strong' ha) corn crop. Only 13 years old, Wyatt was too young to enlist, but he tried on several occasions to runaway and join the army. Each time his father found him and brought him home. James was severely wounded inFredericktown, Missouri, and returned home in the summer of 1863. Newton and Virgil fought several battles in theeast and later returned. On May 12, 1864, the Earp family joined a wagon train heading to California.[7]

CaliforniaBy late summer 1865, Virgil found work as a driver for Phineas Banning's Stage Coach Line in California's ImperialValley, and 16 year old Wyatt assisted. In the spring of 1866, Wyatt became a teamster, transporting cargo for ChrisTaylor. His assigned trail for 1866–1868 was from Wilmington, through San Bernardino then Las Vegas, Nevada, toSalt Lake City, Utah Territory.In the spring of 1868, Earp was hired by Charles Chrisman to transport supplies for the construction of the UnionPacific Railroad. He learned gambling and boxing while working on the railhead in the Wyoming Territory,[8] andrefereed a fight between John Shanssey and Mike Donovan.[9]

Lawman

Wyatt Earp at about age 19

In the spring of 1868, the Earps moved east again to Lamar, Missouri,where Wyatt's father Nicholas became the local constable. Wyattrejoined the family the next year. When Nicholas resigned onNovember 17, 1869 as constable to become the justice of the peace,Wyatt was appointed constable in his place. On November 26, in returnfor his appointment, Earp filed a bond of $1,000. His sureties for thisbond were his father, Nicholas Porter Earp; his paternal uncle,Jonathan Douglas Earp (April 28, 1824–October 20, 1900); and JamesMaupin.[10]

Marriage

In late 1869, Wyatt met Urilla Sutherland (c.1849–1870), the daughterof hotel-keeper William and Permelia Sutherland, formerly of NewYork City. They married in Lamar on January 10, 1870, and in August1870 bought a lot on the outskirts of town for $50. Urilla was pregnantand about to deliver their first child when she died from Typhoid feverlater that year.[8] In November, 1870 Wyatt sold the lot and a house on it for $75. He ran against his elderhalf-brother Newton for the office of constable, winning by 137 votes to Newton's 108.[11]

Lawsuits and chargesAfter Urilla's death, Wyatt experienced a series of legal problems. On March 14, 1871, Barton County, Missourifiled a lawsuit against Earp and his sureties. He was in charge of collecting license fees for Lamar, which fundedlocal schools. Earp was accused of failing to turn in the fees. On March 31, James Cromwell filed a lawsuit againstWyatt, alleging that Wyatt had falsified court documents about the amount of money Earp had collected fromCromwell to satisfy a judgment. To make up the difference between what Earp turned in and Cromwell actuallyowed (and claimed he had paid), the court seized Cromwell's mowing machine and sold it for $38. Cromwell's suitclaimed Earp owed him $75, the estimated value of the machine.[12]

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On March 28, 1871 Earp, Edward Kennedy, and John Shown were charged with stealing two horses, "...each of thevalue of one hundred dollars," from William Keys while in the Indian Country. On April 6, Deputy United StatesMarshal J. G. Owens arrested Earp for the horse theft. Commissioner James Churchill arraigned Earp on April 14,and set bail at $500. On May 15, an indictment against Earp, Kennedy, and Shown was issued. Anna Shown, JohnShown's wife, claimed that Earp and Kennedy got her husband drunk and then threatened his life to persuade him tohelp. On June 5 Edward Kennedy was acquitted while the case against Earp and John Shown remained. Earp didn'twait for the trial. He climbed out through the roof of his jail and headed for Peoria, Illinois.[8]

Peoria, IllinoisYears afterward, Wyatt's biographer Stuart Lake reported that Wyatt took to hunting buffalo during the winter of1871-72, but Earp was arrested three times in the Peoria area during that period. Earp is listed in the city directoryfor Peoria during 1872 as a resident in the house of Jane Haspel, who operated a brothel. In February 1872, Peoriapolice raided the brothel, arresting four women and three men: Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, and George Randall.Wyatt and the others were charged with "Keeping and being found in a house of ill-fame." They were later finedtwenty dollars plus costs for the criminal infraction. He was arrested for the same crime in May 1872 and lateSeptember 1872.[13] It’s not known if he was a pimp, an enforcer or a bouncer for the brothel.[8] He may have huntedbuffalo during 1873-74 before he went to Wichita.[13]

Wichita, KansasWichita was a railroad terminal that was a destination for cattle drives from Texas. Such cattle boom towns on thefrontier were raucous places filled with drunken, armed cowboys celebrating at the end of long drives. When thesummer-time cattle drives ended and the cowboys left, Earp searched for something to do. A newspaper story inOctober 1874 shows that he earned a bit of money helping an off-duty police officer find thieves who had stolen aman’s wagon.[8] Earp officially joined the Wichita marshal's office on April 21, 1875, after the election of MikeMeagher as city marshal (modern police chief), making $100 per month. He also dealt faro at the Long BranchSaloon.[14]:135

In late 1875, the Wichita Beacon newspaper published this story:[15]:209

On last Wednesday (December 8), policeman Earp found a stranger lying near the bridge in a drunken stupor.He took him to the 'cooler' and on searching him found in the neighborhood of $500 on his person. He wastaken next morning, before his honor, the police judge, paid his fine for his fun like a little man and went onhis way rejoicing. He may congratulate himself that his lines, while he was drunk, were cast in such a pleasantplace as Wichita as there are but a few other places where that $500 bank roll would have been heard from.The integrity of our police force has never been seriously questioned.

Earp was embarrassed in early 1876 when his loaded single-action revolver fell out of his holster while he wasleaning back on a chair and discharged when the hammer hit the floor. The bullet went through his coat and outthrough the ceiling.[16]

Wyatt's stint as Wichita deputy came to a sudden end on April 2, 1876, when Earp took too active an interest in thecity marshal's election. According to news accounts, former marshal Bill Smith accused Wyatt of using his office tohelp hire his brothers as lawmen. Wyatt got into a fistfight with Smith and beat him. Meagher was forced to fire andarrest Earp for disturbing the peace, which ended a tour of duty that the papers called otherwise "unexceptionable."When Meagher won the election, the city council was split evenly on re-hiring Earp. When his brother James openeda brothel in Dodge City, Kansas, Wyatt joined him.[8]

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Dodge City, Kansas

Bat Masterson (left) and Wyatt Earp in DodgeCity, 1876. The scroll on Earp's chest is a cloth

pin-on badge

After 1875, Dodge City, Kansas became a major terminal for cattledrives from Texas along the Chisholm Trail. Earp was appointedassistant marshal in Dodge City under Marshal Larry Deger in 1876.There is evidence that Earp spent the winter of 1876–77 in anotherboomtown, Deadwood, Dakota Territory.[6]:31 He was not on thepolice force in Dodge City in late 1877, and rejoined the force in thespring of 1878. The Dodge newspaper reported in July 1878 that hehad been fined $1 for slapping a muscular prostitute named FrankieBell, who (according to the papers) "...heaped epithets upon theunoffending head of Mr. Earp to such an extent as to provide a slapfrom the ex-officer..." Bell spent the night in jail and was fined $20,while Earp's fine was the legal minimum.[17]

In October 1877, Earp left Dodge City to gamble throughoutTexas.[6]:31 He stopped at Fort Griffin, Texas before returning toDodge City in 1878 to become the assistant city marshal, serving underCharlie Bassett. He may have met John Henry "Doc" Holliday while inTexas. In the summer of 1878, Holliday assisted Earp during a barroom confrontation when Earp "was surrounded by desperadoes." Earpcredited Holliday with saving his life that day[18] and they became friends.[19]

While in Dodge City, he became acquainted with brothers James and Bat Masterson, Luke Short, and prostituteCelia Anne "Mattie" Blaylock. Blaylock became Earp's common-law wife until 1881. When Earp resigned from theDodge City police force on September 9, 1879, she accompanied him to the Las Vegas in New Mexico Territory,and then Tombstone in Arizona Territory.[20]:47[14]:152

George Hoyt shootingAt about 3:00 in the morning of July 26, 1878, George Hoyt (spelled in some accounts as "Hoy") and other drunkencowboys shot their guns wildly, including three shots into Dodge City's Comique Theater, causing comedian EddieFoy to throw himself to the stage floor in the middle of his act. Fortunately, no one was injured. Assistant MarshalEarp and policeman James Masterson responded and "...together with several citizens, turned their pistols loose inthe direction of the flying horsemen." As the riders crossed the Arkansas river bridge south of town, George Hoytfell from his horse from weakness caused by a wound in the arm he had received during the fracas. Hoyt developedgangrene and died on August 21. Earp claimed to have sighted on Hoyt against the morning horizon and to havefired the fatal shot, but Hoyt could easily have been shot by Masterson or one of the citizens in the crowd.[21]

Move to Tombstone, ArizonaWyatt's older brother Virgil was in Prescott, Arizona Territory in 1879 and wrote Wyatt about the opportunities in the nearby silver-mining boomtown of Tombstone. In the fall of 1879, Wyatt, his common-law wife Mattie Blaylock, his brother Jim and his wife, and Doc Holliday and his common-law wife Big Nose Kate, all left for Arizona. They stopped in Las Vegas in New Mexico Territory and at other locations, arriving in Prescott in November. The three Earps moved with their wives to Tombstone while Doc remained in Prescott where the gambling afforded better opportunities. Tombstone had grown from less than 100 souls, when created in March 1879, to about 1000 when the Earp group arrived in November.[22]:50 On November 27, 1879, three days before moving to Tombstone, Virgil was appointed by Crawley P. Dake, U.S. Marshal for the Arizona Territory, as Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Tombstone mining district,[23] some 450 kilometres (unknown operator: u'strong' mi) from

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Prescott. The Deputy U.S. Marshal in Tombstone represented federal authority in the southeast area of the ArizonaTerritory.Wyatt brought horses and a buckboard wagon that he planned to convert into a stagecoach, but on arrival he foundtwo established stage lines already running. In Tombstone, the Earps staked mining claims and water rights interests,attempting to capitalize on the mining boom. Jim worked as a barkeep. On December 6, 1879, the three Earps andRobert J. Winders filed a location notice for the First North Extension of the Mountain Maid Mine.[24] When none oftheir business interests proved fruitful, Wyatt was hired in April or May 1880 by Wells, Fargo & Co. agent JohnClum as a shotgun messenger on stagecoaches when they transported Wells Fargo strongboxes.[22]:54[25] In thesummer of 1880, younger brothers Morgan arrived from Montana and Warren Earp moved to Tombstone as well. InSeptember, Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday arrived from Prescott.

First confrontation with CowboysOn July 25, 1880, U.S. Army Captain Joseph H. Hurst asked Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp to assist him intracking Cowboys who had stolen six U.S. Army mules from Camp Rucker. Virgil requested the assistance of hisbrothers Wyatt and Morgan, along with Wells Fargo agent Marshall Williams, and they found the mules at theMcLaurys' ranch. McLaury was a Cowboy, which in that time and region was generally regarded as an outlaw.Legitimate cowmen were referred to as cattle herders or ranchers. They found the branding iron used to change the"U.S." brand to "D.8."[19] Stealing the mules was a federal offense because the animals were U.S. property.Cowboy Frank Patterson "made some kind of a compromise" with Captain Hurst, who persuaded the posse towithdraw, with the understanding that the mules would be returned. The Cowboys showed up two days later withoutthe mules and laughed at Captain Hurst and the Earps. In response, Capt. Hurst printed a handbill describing thetheft, and specifically charged Frank McLaury with assisting with hiding the mules. He also reproduced the flyer inThe Tombstone Epitaph, on July 30, 1880. Frank McLaury angrily printed a response in the Cowboy-friendlyNuggett, calling Hurst "unmanly," "a coward, a vagabond, a rascal, and a malicious liar," and accused Hurst ofstealing the mules himself. Capt. Hurst later cautioned Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan that the cowboys had threatenedtheir lives.[19] Virgil reported that Frank accosted him and warned him "If you ever again follow us as close as youdid, then you will have to fight anyway."[26]:28 A month later Earp ran into Frank and Tom McLaury in Charleston,and they told him if he ever followed them as he had done before, they would kill him.[19]

Becomes lawmanOn July 28, Wyatt was appointed deputy sheriff for the eastern part of Pima County, which included Tombstone. Thedeputy sheriff's position was worth more than US$40,000 a year (about $963310 today) because he was also countyassessor and tax collector, and the board of supervisors allowed him to keep ten percent of the amounts paid.[27]:157

Wyatt, however, only served for about three months.On October 28, 1880, popular Tombstone town marshal Fred White attempted to break up a group of late night,drunken revelers shooting at the moon on Allen Street in Tombstone. Wyatt Earp was nearby, though unarmed. Heborrowed a pistol from Fred Dodge and went to assist White. When White grabbed Curly Bill Brocius pistol, the gundischarged, striking White in the groin.[15]:117 Wyatt pistol-whipped Brocius, knocking him to the ground. Then hegrabbed Brocius by the collar and told him to get up. Brocius protested, asking, "What have I done?[15]:117

Fred Dodge arrived on the scene. In a letter to Stewart Lake many years later, he recalled what he saw.Wyatt's coolness and nerve never showed to better advantage than they did that night. When Morg and Ireached him, Wyatt was squatted on his heels beside Curly Bill and Fred White. Curly Bill's friends werepot-shooting at him in the dark. The shooting was lively and slugs were hitting the chimney and cabin... in allof that racket, Wyatt's voice was even and quiet as usual.[15]:117

Wyatt told his biographer many years later that he thought Brocious was still armed at the time and didn't see Brocius' pistol on the ground in the dark until afterward.[28] The pistol contained one expended cartridge and five

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live rounds.[15]:118 Brocius waived a preliminary hearing so he and his case could be transferred to Tucson DistrictCourt. Virgil and Wyatt escorted Brocius to Tucson to stand trial, possibly saving him from a lynching. White, age31, died of his wound two days after his shooting.[15]:119

On December 27, 1880, Wyatt testified that White's shooting was accidental. Brocius expressed regret, saying he hadnot intended to shoot White. It was also shown that Brocius' single action revolver could be fired when half-cocked.A statement from White before he died was introduced stating that the shooting was accidental. The judge ruled thatthe shooting was accidental and released Brocius. Brocius remained intensely angry about how Wyatt pistol whippedhim and became an enemy to the Earps.[29]

Conflicts with Sheriff Behan

Josephine Sarah Marcus left a relationship withJohnny Behan for his political and personal

antagonist Wyatt Earp. This image by C. S. Fly isone of the few of her from the Tombstone era.

In the personal arena, 32-year-old Wyatt Earp and 35-year-old JohnnyBehan shared an interest in the same 18-year-old woman, JosephineSarah Marcus. She first visited Tombstone as part of the PaulineMarkham Theatre Troupe on December 1, 1879 for a one-weekengagement, the same day as Wyatt and his brothers, though it's notknown if they met at that time.[30]:19 or May 12, 1881[22]:59 Behanarrived in Tombstone in September 1880, and Marcus returned from avisit to San Francisco in October when they resumed their relationship.

In the summer of 1881, Marcus found Behan in bed with the wife of afriend[31] and kicked him out.[32] Earp had until this time acommon-law relationship with Mattie Blaylock, who was listed as hiswife in the 1880 census. She suffered from severe headaches andbecame addicted to laudanum, a commonly used opiate and painkiller.[33] The exact details of how Marcus and Wyatt developed arelationship are not known. Marcus and Wyatt went to great lengths tokeep her name out of Lake's book, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshall, andMarcus threatened litigation to keep it that way.[34]:101

In the professional and political arena, Earp and Behan competed forthe position of Cochise County sheriff. The job was potentially verylucrative because the office holder was also county assessor and tax collector. The board of supervisors allowed theoffice holder to keep ten percent of the amounts paid.[35]:157

Wyatt was initially appointed deputy sheriff by Democrat County Sheriff Charlie Shibell on July 28, 1880.[22]:65

Wyatt passed on his Wells Fargo job as shotgun messenger to Morgan. Wyatt did his job well, and from Augustthrough November his name was mentioned nearly every week by the Epitaph or the Nugget newspapers.[36]

In November, just three months later, Shibell ran for re-election against Republican challenger Bob Paul. Wyatt, aRepublican, favored Paul, and when Shibell won the election, Wyatt resigned on November 9, 1880, only twelvedays after the White shooting. Shibell immediately appointed Behan as the new Pima deputy sheriff for eastern PimaCounty.[37]

However, Paul filed charges alleging that Cowboy supporters Iike Clanton, Curly Bill Brocius, and Frank McLauryhad cooperated in ballot stuffing. Paul was eventually declared the winner of the Pima County sheriff election inApril 1881. But by that time Paul could not replace Behan with Earp because on January 1, 1881, Cochise Countywas created out of the eastern portion of Pima County.[38]

Both Earp and Behan applied to fill the new position of Cochise County sheriff. Earp thought he had a good chanceto win the position because he was the former undersheriff in the region and a Republican, like Arizona TerritorialGovernor John C. Fremont. However, Behan had political influence in Prescott.[37]

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Earp testified during the Spicer hearing after the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral that he and Behan had made a deal. IfEarp withdrew his application to the legislature, Behan agreed to appoint Earp as undersheriff. Behan received theappointment in February 1881, but did not keep his end of the bargain and instead chose Harry Woods, a prominentDemocrat. Behan testified at first that he had not made any deal with Earp, although he later admitted he had lied.Behan said he broke his promise to appoint Earp because of an incident that occurred shortly before hisappointment.[39]

This incident arose after Earp learned that one of his prize horses, stolen more than a year before, was in thepossession of Ike Clanton and his brother Billy. Earp and Holliday rode to the Clanton ranch near Charleston torecover the horse. On the way, they overtook Behan, who was riding in a wagon. Behan was also heading to theranch to serve an election-hearing subpoena on Ike Clanton.[39] Accounts differ as to what happened next. Earp latertestified that when he arrived at the Clanton ranch, Billy Clanton gave up the horse even before being presented withownership papers. According to Behan's testimony, however, Earp had told the Clantons that Behan was on his wayto arrest them for horse theft. After the incident, which embarrassed both the Clantons and Behan, Behan testifiedthat he did not want to work with Earp and chose Woods instead.[39]

Interest in mining and gambling

Professional gambler and dandy Luke Short, afriend of Wyatt's from Dodge City

Losing the undersheriff position left Wyatt Earp without a job inTombstone; however, Wyatt and his brothers were beginning to makesome money on their mining claims in the Tombstone area. In January1881, Oriental Saloon owner Lou Rickabaugh gave Wyatt Earp aone-quarter interest in the faro concession at the Oriental Saloon inexchange for his services as a manager and enforcer.[6]:41 Wyattinvited his friend, lawman and gambler Bat Masterson, to Tombstoneto help him run the faro tables in the Oriental Saloon. In June 1881,[40]

Wyatt also telegraphed another friend and gambler from Dodge, LukeShort, who was living in Leadville, Colorado, and offered him a job asa faro dealer.[41][42]

Bat remained until April, 1881, when he returned to Dodge City toassist his brother Jim.[43]:206[44]:206 On October 8, 1881 Doc Hollidaygot into a dispute with John Tyler in the Oriental Saloon. A rivalgambling concession operator hired Tyler to make trouble at theOriental and disrupt Wyatt's business. When Tyler started a fight afterlosing a bet, Wyatt threw him out of the saloon. Holliday laterwounded Oriental owners Milt Joyce and his partner Lou Rickabaughand was convicted of assault. Around this time Earp saved gamblerMike O'Rourke ("Johnny Behind the Deuce") from being hanged afterhe was arrested for murdering a miner. O'Rourke said he killed theminer in self-defense. Earp stood down a large crowd that wanted to lynch O'Rourke, an incident that added to Earp'slegend as a lawman.[6]:39

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Cowboys rob stagecoachesTensions between the Earps and both the Clantons and McLaurys increased through 1881. On March 15, 1881 at10:00 pm, three cowboys attempted to rob a Kinnear & Company stagecoach carrying US$26,000 in silver bullion(about $626152 in today's dollars) near Benson, during which the popular driver Eli "Budd" Philpot and passengerPeter Roerig were killed.[45]

The Earps and a posse tracked the men down and arrested Luther King, who confessed he had been holding the reinsfor Bill Leonard, Harry "The Kid" Head, and Jim Crane as the robbers. King was arrested and Sheriff Johnny Behanescorted him to jail, but somehow King walked in the front door and almost immediately out the back door.[46]

During the hearing into the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Wyatt testified that he offered the US$3,600 in Wells Fargoreward money ($1,200 per robber) to Ike Clanton and Frank McLaury in return for information about the identitiesof the three robbers. Wyatt testified that he had other motives for his plan as well: he hoped that arresting themurderers would boost his chances for election as Cochise County sheriff.[47]

According to Earp, both Frank McLaury and Ike Clanton agreed to provide information to assist in their capture, butnever had a chance to fulfill the agreement. All three cowboy suspects in the stage robbery were killed whenattempting other robberies. Wyatt told the court at the hearing after the O.K. Corral shootout that he had taken theextra step of obtaining a second copy of a telegram for Ike from Wells Fargo assuring that the reward for capturingthe killers applied either dead or alive.[47] In his testimony at the court hearing, Clanton offered different testimonyabout the incident and accused Earp of leaking their deal to his brother Morgan or to Holliday.[6]:42 He said thatMorgan Earp had asked him about whether he would make the agreement with Wyatt, and four or five daysafterward Morgan confided in him that he and Wyatt had "piped off $1,400 to Doc Holliday and Bill Leonard" whowere supposed to be on the stage the night Bud Philpot was killed. During his testimony, Clanton told the court "Iwas not going to have anything to do with helping to capture—" and then he corrected himself "—kill Bill Leonard,Crane and Harr."[48] Ike Clanton denied having any knowledge of the telegram confirming the reward money.[48]

September stagecoach robberyMeanwhile, tensions between the Earps and the McLaurys increased with the holdup of another stage in theTombstone area on September 8, this one a passenger stage in the Sandy Bob line, bound for nearby Bisbee. Themasked robbers shook down the passengers and robbed the strongbox. They were recognized by their voices andlanguage. They were identified as Pete Spence (an alias for Elliot Larkin Ferguson) and Frank Stilwell, a businesspartner of Spence who had shortly before been fired as a deputy of Sheriff Behan's (for county tax "accountingirregularities"). Spence and Stilwell were friends of the McLaury brothers. Wyatt and Virgil Earp rode with thesheriff's posse attempting to track the Bisbee stage robbers, and Wyatt discovered an unusual boot heel print in themud. They checked with a shoemaker in Bisbee and found a matching heel that he had just removed from Stilwell'sboot. A further check of a Bisbee corral turned up both Spence and Stilwell. Stilwell and Spence were arrested bysheriff's deputies Breakenridge and Nagel for the stage robbery, and later by Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp on thefederal offense of mail robbery.[49]

Released on bail, Spence and Stilwell were re-arrested by Virgil for the Bisbee robbery a month later, October 13, onthe new federal charge of interfering with a mail carrier. The newspapers, however, reported that they had beenarrested for a different stage robbery that occurred (October 8) near Contention City. Occurring less than two weeksbefore the O.K. Corral shootout, this final incident may have been misunderstood by the McLaurys. While Wyattand Virgil were still out of town for the Spence and Stilwell hearing, Frank McLaury confronted Morgan Earp,telling him that the McLaurys would kill the Earps if they tried to arrest Spence, Stilwell, or the McLaurysagain.[6]:43

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Gunfight and aftermathOn Wednesday, October 26, 1881, the tension between the Earps and the Cowboys came to a head. Ike Clanton,Billy Claiborne, and other Cowboys had been threatening to kill the Earps for several weeks. Tombstone cityMarshal Virgil Earp learned that the Cowboys were armed and had gathered near the O.K. Corral. He asked Wyattand Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday to assist him, as he intended to disarm them. Wyatt was acting as a temporaryassistant marshal, Morgan was a Deputy City Marshall, and Virgil deputized Holliday for the occasion. Atapproximately 3:00 p.m. the Earps headed towards Fremont Street where the Cowboys had been reportedgathering.[47][50]

They confronted five Cowboys in a vacant lot adjacent to the O.K. Corral's rear entrance on Fremont street. The lotbetween the Harwood House and Fly's Boarding House and Photography Studio was narrow—the two parties wereinitially only about 6 to 10 feet (unknown operator: u'strong' to unknown operator: u'strong' m) apart. IkeClanton and Billy Claiborne fled the gunfight. Tom and Frank McLaury along with Billy Clanton stood their groundand were killed. Morgan was clipped by a shot across his back that nicked both shoulder blades and a vertebra.Virgil was shot through the calf and Holliday was grazed by a bullet.[47][50][51]

From heroes to defendantsOn October 30, Ike Clanton filed murder charges against the Earps and Holliday. Justice Spicer convened apreliminary hearing on October 31 to determine if there was enough evidence to go to trial. In an unusualproceeding, he took written and oral testimony from a number of witnesses over more than a month.[50][52]

Sheriff Behan, testifying for the prosecution, said the Cowboys had not resisted but either thrown up their hands andturned out their coats to show they were not armed.[53] He said that Tom McLaury threw open his coat to show thathe was not armed and that the first two shots were fired by the Earp party.[39] Sheriff Behan insisted Doc Hollidayhad fired first using a nickel-plated revolver, although other witnesses reported seeing him carrying a messengershotgun immediately beforehand.The Earps hired an experienced trial lawyer, Thomas Fitch, as defense counsel. Wyatt testified that he drew his gunonly after Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury went for their pistols. He detailed the Earps' previous troubles with theClantons and McLaurys and explained that they intended to disarm the cowboys. He said they fired inself-defense.[47] Fitch managed to produce testimony from prosecution witnesses during cross-examination that wascontradictory and appeared to dodge his questions.After extensive testimony, Justice Spicer ruled on November 30 that that there was not enough evidence to indict themen. He said the evidence indicated that the Earps and Holliday acted within the law and that Holliday and Wyatthad been deputized temporarily by Virgil.[54] Even though the Earps and Holliday were free, their reputations hadbeen tarnished. Supporters of the Cowboys in Tombstone looked upon the Earps as robbers and murderers andplotted revenge.

Cowboys' revengeOn December 28, while walking between saloons on Allen Street in Tombstone, Virgil was ambushed and maimedby a shotgun round that struck his left arm and shoulder. Ike Clanton's hat was found in the back of the buildingacross Allen Street from where the shots were fired. Wyatt wired U.S. Marshal Crawley Dake asking to be appointeddeputy U.S. marshal with authority to select his own deputies.[55] Dake granted the request in late January andprovided the Earps with some funds he borrowed from Wells, Fargo & Co. on behalf of the Earps, variously reportedas $500[56]:238 to $3,000.[56]:238

In mid-January, when Earp ally Rickabaugh sold the Oriental Saloon to Earp adversary Milt Joyce, Wyatt sold his gambling concessions at the hotel. The Earps also raised some funds from sympathetic business owners in town. On February 2, 1882, Wyatt and Virgil, tired of the criticism leveled against them, submitted their resignations to Dake,

Wyatt Earp 11

who refused to accept them because their accounts had not been settled.[56]:470 On the same day, Wyatt sent amessage to Ike Clanton that he wanted to reconcile their differences, which Clanton refused. Clanton was alsoacquitted that day of the charges against him in the shooting of Virgil Earp, when the defense brought in sevenwitnesses who testified that Clanton was in Charleston at the time of the shooting.[56]:242

The Earps needed more funds to pay for the extra deputies and associated expenses. Contributions received fromsupportive business owners were not enough. On February 13, Wyatt mortgaged his home to lawyer James G.Howard for $365.00 (about $8790 today) and received $365.00 in U.S. gold coin.[57] (He was never able to repay theloan and in 1884 Howard foreclosed on the house.)After attending a theatre show on March 18, Morgan Earp was assassinated by gunmen firing from a dark alleythrough a door window into room where he was playing billiards. Morgan was struck in the right side. The bulletshattered his spine, passed through his left side, and lodged in the thigh of George A. B. Berry. Another roundnarrowly missed Wyatt. A doctor was summoned and Morgan was moved from the floor to a nearby couch. Theassassins escaped in the dark and Morgan died forty minutes later.[8]

Wyatt Earp felt he could not rely on civil justice and decided to take matters into his own hands.[8] He concluded thatonly way to deal with Morgan's murderers was to kill them all.[55]

Earp vendettaThe day after Morgan's murder, Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt, his brother James, Doc Holliday, and a few others thatWyatt deputized took Morgan's body to the railhead in Benson. They put Morgan's body on the train with James,who accompanied it to the family home in Colton, California, where Morgan's wife waited to bury him.[58] Theyguarded Virgil and Addie through to Tucson, where they had heard Frank Stilwell and other Cowboys were waitingto kill Virgil. The next morning Frank Stilwell's body was found alongside the tracks riddled with buckshot andgunshot wounds.[55] Wyatt and five others were accused of murdering him and Tucson Justice of the Peace CharlesMeyer issued warrants for their arrest.The Earp posse briefly returned to Tombstone where Sheriff Behan tried to stop them. The heavily armed possebrushed him aside and set out for Pete Spence's wood camp in the Dragoon Mountains. They found and killedFlorentino "Indian Charlie" Cruz. Two days later, near Iron Springs (later Mescal Springs), in the WhetstoneMountains, they were seeking to rendezvous with a messenger for them. They unexpectedly stumbled onto the woodcamp of Curly Bill Brocius, Pony Diehl, and other Cowboys. According to reports from both sides, the two sidesimmediately exchanged gun fire. Except for Wyatt and Texas Jack Vermillion, whose horse was shot, the Earp partywithdrew to find protection from the heavy gunfire. Curly Bill fired at Wyatt with a shotgun but missed. Eighteenmonths prior Wyatt had protected Curly Bill against a mob ready to lynch him and then provided testimony thathelped spare Curly Bill from a murder trial for killing Sheriff Fred White. Now, Wyatt returned Curly Bill's gunfirewith his own shotgun and shot Curly Bill in the chest from about 50 feet (15 m) away. Curly Bill fell into the waterby the edge of the spring and died.[59]

Wyatt received bullet holes in both sides of his long coat and another struck his boot heel. After emptying hisshotgun, Wyatt fired his pistol, mortally wounding Johnny Barnes in the chest and wounded Milt Hicks in the arm.Vermillion tried to retrieve his rifle wedged in the scabbard under his fallen horse, exposing himself to the Cowboys'gunfire. Doc Holliday helped him gain cover. Wyatt had trouble remounting his horse because his cartridge belt hadslipped down his legs. He was finally able to get on his horse and with the rest of the posse retreated.[60]

The Earp Party rode north to the Percy Ranch, but were not welcomed by Hugh and Jim Percy, who feared the Cowboys; after a meal and some rest, they left at about 3:00 a.m. in the morning of March 27. The Earp party slipped into the area near Tombstone and met with supporters, including "Charlie" Smith and Warren Earp. On March 27, the posse arrived at the Sierra Bonita ranch of Henry C. Hooker, a wealthy and prominent rancher.[55]

That night Dan Tipton caught the first stage out of Tombstone and headed for Benson, carrying $1,000 from mining owner and Earp supporter E.B. Gage for the posse.[55] Hooker congratulated Earp on the murder of Curly Bill.

Wyatt Earp 12

Hooker fed them and Wyatt told him he wanted to buy new mounts, but Hooker refused to take the money. WhenBehan's posse was observed in the distance, Hooker suggested Wyatt make his stand there, but Wyatt moved into thehills about three miles (5 km) distant near Reilly Hill.[56]

The Earp posse did not meet with the posse, led by Cochise County Sheriff John Behan, searching for the Earps, andin the middle of April 1882 the Earp party fled the Arizona territory, heading east into New Mexico Territory andthen into Colorado. [56]:263

The coroner reports credited the Earp party with killing four men in their two-week long ride. In 1888 Wyatt Earpgave an interview to California historian H. H. Bancroft during which he claimed to have killed "over a dozen stagerobbers, murderers, and cattle thieves" in his time as a lawman.[61]

Life after TombstoneThe gunfight in Tombstone lasted only 30 seconds, but it would end up defining Earp for the rest of his life.[14]:135

After Wyatt killed Frank Stilwell in Tucson, his movements received national press coverage and he became aknown commodity in Western folklore.[62]

After killing Curley Bill, the Earps left Arizona for Colorado. They stopped in Albuquerque, New Mexico, wherethey met Deputy U.S. Marshal Bat Masterson, Wyatt's friend. The Earps, Sherman McMasters, and Holliday rodewith Masterson to Trinidad, Colorado where Masterson owned a saloon. Wyatt dealt Faro for several weeks beforehe, Warren, Holliday, and several others rode on to Gunnison, Colorado.[63]

Holliday headed to Pueblo and then Denver. The Earps and Texas Jack set up camp on the outskirts of Gunnison,Colorado, where they remained quietly at first, rarely going into town for supplies. Eventually, Wyatt took over afaro game at a local saloon.[6]:66

After Morgan Earp's assassination, Wyatt's former common-law wife, Celia Anne "Mattie" Blaylock, waited for himin Colton but eventually accepted that Wyatt was not coming back.[63] Wyatt left Mattie their house when he leftTombstone. She moved to Pinal City, Arizona and resumed life as a prostitute. Wyatt instead went to San Franciscoand[33] joined Josephine, Warren and Virgil in late 1882. Josie, or Sadie as he called her, was his common-law wifefor the next forty-six years.[6]:29 Mattie struggled with her addictions and committed "suicide by opium poisoning"on July 3, 1888.[64]

Wyatt Earp 13

Dodge City War

The "Dodge City Peace Commission," June 1888. (L to R)standing: W.H. Harris, Luke Short, Bat Masterson, W.F. Petillon.

Seated: Charlie Bassett, Wyatt Earp, Frank McLain and NealBrown.

On May 31, 1883, Earp returned along with BatMasterson to Dodge City to help Luke Short, part ownerof the Long Branch saloon, during what became knownas the Dodge City War. When the Mayor tried to runLuke Short first out of business and then out of town,Short appealed to Masterson who contacted Earp. WhileShort was discussing the matter with Governor GeorgeWashington Glick in Kansas City, Earp showed up withJohnny Millsap, Shotgun John Collins, Texas JackVermillion, and Johnny Green. They marched up FrontStreet into Short's saloon where they were sworn in asdeputies by constable "Prairie Dog" Dave Marrow. Thetown council offered a compromise to allow Short toreturn for ten days to get his affairs in order, but Earprefused to compromise. When Short returned, there wasno force ready to turn him away. Short's Saloon reopened,and the Dodge City War ended without a shot beingfired.[6]:67

Idaho mining ventureEarp spent the next decade running saloons and gambling concessions and investing in mines in Colorado and Idaho,with stops in various boom towns. He also owned several saloons outright or in partnership with others.In 1884, Wyatt and his wife Josie, Warren, James and Bessie Earp were in Eagle, Idaho, another boom town. Wyattwas looking for gold in the Murray-Eagle mining district. They opened a saloon called The White Elephant in acircus tent. An advertisement in a local newspaper suggests gentlemen 'come and see the elephant'.[63]

Earp was named sheriff of the newly incorporated Kootenai County, Idaho. In Idaho Wyatt was involved in a briefshootout. On March 28, several feet of snow were still on the ground. Bill Buzzard, a miner of dubious reputation,began constructing a building when one of Wyatt's partners, Jack Enright, tried to stop the construction. Enrightclaimed the building was on part of his property. Words were exchanged and Buzzard reached for his Winchester.He fired several shots at Enright and a skirmish developed. Allies of both sides quickly took defensive positionsbetween snowbanks and began shooting at one another. Kootanie County Deputy Sheriff Wyatt Earp and ShoshoneCounty Deputy W. E. Hunt ended the fight.[63]

In about April 1885, it was reported that Wyatt Earp used his badge to join a band of claim jumpers in Embry Camp,later renamed Chewelah, Washington.[65] Within six months their substantial stake had run dry, and the Earps leftthe Murray-Eagle district.

San Diego real estate boomIn 1885, Earp and Josie moved to San Diego where the railroad was about to arrive and a real estate boom was underway. They stayed for about four years. Earp speculated in San Diego's booming real estate market.[66] Between 1887 and around 1896 he bought three saloons and gambling halls, one on Fourth Street and the other two near Sixth and E, all in the "respectable" part of town.[66][67][68] They offered twenty-one games including faro, blackjack, poker, keno, and other Victorian games of chance like pedro and monte.[66] At the height of the boom, he made up to $1,000 a night in profit.[69] Wyatt particularly favored and may have run the Oyster Bar located in the Louis Bank of Commerce on Fifth Avenue.[6]:71 In 2003, the Oyster Bar saloon was converted into a restaurant by former San

Wyatt Earp 14

Diego mayor Roger Hedgecock who opened Roger’s On Fifth.[70] Wyatt had a long-standing interest in boxing andhorse racing. In the 1887 San Diego City Directory he was listed as a capitalist or gambler. He won his first racehorse "Otto Rex" and began investing in racehorses.[71] He also judged prize fights on both sides of the border andraced horses.[66] Earp was one of the judges at the County Fair horse races held in Escondido in 1889.[72]

On July 3, 1888, Mattie Blaylock, who had always considered herself Wyatt's wife, committed suicide in Pinal,Arizona Territory, by taking an overdose of laudanum.[33]

Move to San FranciscoThe Earps moved back to San Francisco in 1890 or 1893 so Josie could be closer to her family. Wyatt took a jobmanaging a horse stable in Santa Rosa. Earp developed a reputation as a sportsman as well as a gambler. He won hisfirst race horse, Otto Rex, in a card game. He owned a six-horse stable in San Francisco.[73] At Santa Rosa, Earppersonally competed in and won a harness race. From 1890 to 1897, they lived at four different residences in thecity: 145 Ellis St., 720 McAllister St., 514A Seventh Ave. and 1004 Golden Gate Ave.[22]:171 Josephine wrote in IMarried Wyatt Earp: The Recollections of Josephine Sarah Marcus, that she and Wyatt were married in 1892 by thecaptain of multimillionaire Lucky Baldwin's yacht aboard his yacht. Raymond Nez wrote that his grandparentswitnessed their marriage aboard a yacht off the California coast.[63] Baldwin also owned the Santa Anita racetrack,which Wyatt—a long-time horse aficionado—frequented when they were in Los Angeles.[73]

During the summer of 1896, Earp began to write his memoirs with the help of John H. Flood, whom he had hired ashis secretary.[74]

Fitzsimmons-Sharkey fight refereeOn December 2, 1896, Earp refereed a heavyweight boxing match at Mechanics' Pavilion in San Francisco betweenBob Fitzsimmons and Tom Sharkey. He had refereed 30 or so matches in earlier days, though not under the Marquisof Queensbury rules.[75] Fitzsimmons was favored to win, and bets flowed heavily his way. Wyatt entered the ringstill armed with his Colt .45 and had to be disarmed. He later said he forgot he was wearing it. Fitzsimmons carriedthe fight until the eighth round when Wyatt stopped the bout on a foul, ruling that Fitzsimmons had hit Sharkeywhen he was down. His ruling was greeted with loud boos and catcalls.[32] Earp based his decision on the Marquis ofQueensbury rules, which state in part, "A man on one knee is considered down and if struck is entitled to the stakes."Very few witnessed the foul Earp ruled on. He awarded the decision to Sharkey, who attendants carried out as"...limp as a rag."[21]

Fitzsimmons obtained an injunction against distributing the prize money until the courts could determine who therightful winner was. The judge ruled that prize fighting was illegal in San Francisco and the courts would notdetermine who the real winner was. The decision provided no vindication for Earp and he soon left San Francisco forgood.[76] The San Francisco papers lampooned and scrutinized Wyatt for a full month, questioning his honesty. TheSan Francisco Call vilified him, calling him a crook and a cheat. Earp was accused of having a financial interest inthe outcome.[77] Earp was also accused of pulling a gun on Fitzsimmons when confronted.

Wyatt Earp 15

Klondike Gold Rush

Wyatt Earp's pistol, left behind in Juneau, Alaska while travelingto Nome

In the fall of 1897, Earp and Josie joined in the AlaskaGold Rush and headed for Nome, Alaska. He operated acanteen during the summer of 1899 and in September,Earp and partner Charles E. Hoxie built the DexterSaloon in Nome, Alaska, the city's first two story woodenbuilding and its largest and most luxurious saloon. Thebuilding was used for a variety of purposes because it wasso large: 70 by 30 feet (unknown operator:u'strong' × unknown operator: u'strong' m) with 12feet (unknown operator: u'strong' m) ceilings.[15]

Wyatt Earp in Nome, Alaska with long-time friend and formerTombstone mayor and editor John Clum

While there, he rubbed elbows with Jack London, futureauthor Rex Beach, playwright Wilson Mizner, and JackDempsey’s future promoter Tex Rickard.[15] Wyatt wasarrested twice in Nome for minor offenses, includingbeing drunk and disorderly, although he was not tried.[78]

Wyatt Earp 16

Return to California

Wyatt Earp's Northern Saloon, Tonopah, Nevada, circa 1902. Thewoman on the left is thought to have been Josie Earp.

Wyatt and Josie returned to California in 1901 with anestimated $80,000. In February, 1902, they arrived inTonopah, Nevada, where gold had been discovered and aboom was under way. He opened the Northern Saloon inTonopah, Nevada and served as a deputy U.S. Marshalunder Marshal J.F. Emmitt.[79] His saloon, gambling andmining interests were profitable for a period.[80]

After Tonapah's gold strike boom waned, Wyatt stakedmining claims just outside Death Valley and elsewhere inthe Mojave Desert. In 1906 he discovered severaldeposits of gold and copper near the Sonoran Desert townof Vidal, California on the Colorado River and filed morethan 100 mining claims[32] near the WhippleMountains.[81]:83 Wyatt and Josie Earp summered in LosAngeles and lived in at least nine small Los Angeles rentals as early as 1885 and as late as 1929, mostly in thesummer.[32] They bought a small cottage in Vidal and lived there during the fall, winter and spring months of1925–1928, while he worked his "Happy Days" mines in the Whipple Mountains a few miles north. It was the onlypermanent residence they owned the entire time they were married.[82] Wyatt had some modest success with theHappy Day Gold Mines[23] and they lived on the slim proceeds of income from that and Kern County Oil.[83][84]

In about 1910, when he was 62, the Los Angeles police department hired Wyatt and former Los Angeles detectiveArthur Moore King at $10.00 per day to carry out various tasks "outside the law" such as retrieving criminals fromMexico, which he did very capably. This led to Wyatt's final armed confrontation. In October, 1910 he was asked byformer Los Angeles Police Commissioner H. L. Lewis to head up a posse to protect surveyors of the AmericanTrona Company who were attempting to wrest control of mining claims for vast deposits of potash on the edge ofSearles Lake held in receivership by the foreclosed California Trona Company. Wyatt and the group he guardedwere regarded as claim jumpers and were confronted by armed representatives of the other company. King wrote,"...that it was the nerviest thing he had ever seen." With guns pulled, Wyatt came out of his tent with a Winchesterrifle, firing a round at the feet of Federal Receiver Stafford W. Austin. "Back off or I'll blow you apart, or my nameis not Wyatt Earp."[85] The owners summoned the U.S. Marshal who arrested Earp and 27 others, served them with asummons for Contempt, and sent them home. Earp's actions did not resolve the dispute, which eventually escalatedinto the "Pot Ash Wars" of the Mojave Desert.On July 23, 1911 Earp was arrested by Los Angeles police. He was charged with attempting to fleece J.Y. Peterson,a realty broker, in a fake faro game. Since money hadn't changed hands the charge against Earp was reduced tovagrancy and he was released on $500 bail.Earp eventually moved to Hollywood and became an unpaid film consultant for several silent cowboy movies.[86][87]

He met several well-known and soon to be famous actors on the sets of various movies. On the set of one movie, hemet Marion Morrison (who later became famous under the assumed name of John Wayne). Morrison served Earpcoffee on the sets, and later told Hugh O'Brian that he based his image of the Western lawman on his conversationswith Earp. Director John Ford worked as an apprentice on the studio lots about the time that Wyatt Earp used to visitfriends on the set, and Ford later claimed he reconstructed the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral based on Wyatt'sinput.[88]:234 In the early 1920s, Earp was given the honorary title of Deputy Sheriff in San Bernardino County,California.[8]

Wyatt Earp 17

Death

The Earps' grave at Hills of Eternity

The last surviving Earp brother and the last surviving participant of theGunfight at the O.K. Corral, Wyatt Earp died at home in the Earps'small apartment at 4004 W 17th Street, in Los Angeles, of chroniccystitis (some sources cite prostate cancer) on January 13, 1929 at theage of 80.[89] His pallbearers were prominent men: George W. Parsons,Charles Welch, Fred Dornberge, Los Angeles Examiner writer JimMitchell, Hollywood screenwriter Wilson Mizner, Earp's good friendfrom his days in Tombstone, John Clum, and Western actors WilliamS. Hart and Tom Mix.[90] Mitchell wrote Wyatt's obituary.[91] Thenewspapers reported that Tom Mix cried during his friend's service.His wife Josie was too grief-stricken to attend. Josie had Earp's bodycremated and buried Earp's ashes in the Marcus family plot at the Hillsof Eternity, a Jewish cemetery (Josie was Jewish) in Colma, California.

Although it never was incorporated as a town, the settlement formerlyknown as Drennan located near the site of some of his mining claimswas renamed Earp, California in his honor when the post office wasestablished there in 1930.[84]

When she died in 1944, Josie's ashes were buried next to Earp's. The original gravemarker was stolen on July 8,1957 but was later recovered.[92] Their gravesite is the most visited resting place in the Jewish cemetery.[93]

ReputationWyatt Earp's modern-day reputation is that of Old West's "toughest and deadliest gunmen of his day."[94] He is "acultural icon, a man of law and order, a mythic figure of a West where social control and order were notablyabsent."[95] He has been portrayed in a number of film and books as a fearless Western hero.[94]

Wyatt is often viewed as the central character and hero of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, at least in part because ofall of his brothers, he was the only one who was never wounded nor killed. In gunfight after gunfight, from Wichitato Dodge City, during Tombstone and the Earp Vendetta Ride, Wyatt was never scratched, although his clothing wasshot through with bullet holes.[96] According to Flood's biography, Wyatt vividly recalled a presence that in severalinstances warned him away or urged him to take action. This happened when he was on the street, alone in his roomat the Cosmopolitan Hotel, at Bob Hatch's Pool Hall, where he went moments before Morgan was murdered, andagain when he approached Iron Springs and surprised Curly Bill Brocius, killing him.[96]

Like his brothers, Wyatt Earp was a physically imposing figure for his day: 6 feet (unknown operator: u'strong' m)tall, when most men were about 5 feet 6 inches (unknown operator: u'strong' m).[75] He weighed about 165 to 170pounds (unknown operator: u'strong' to unknown operator: u'strong' kg), was broad-shouldered, long-armed,and all muscle. He was very capable of using his fists instead of his weapon to control those resisting hisauthority,[97] and was reputed to be an expert with a pistol. He showed no fear of any man.[98]:83 The TombstoneEpitaph said of Wyatt, "bravery and determination were requisites, and in every instance proved himself the rightman in the right place."[99]

Virgil Earp actually held the legal authority in Tombstone the day of the shoot out. Virgil was both Tombstone City Marshall and Deputy U.S. Marshal. Virgil had considerably more experience with weapons and combat as a Union soldier in the Civil War, and in law enforcement as a sheriff, constable, and marshal than did Wyatt.[2] As city marshal, Virgil made the decision to disarm the Cowboys in Tombstone.[51] Wyatt was only a temporary assistant marshal to his brother. But because Wyatt outlived Virgil and due to a creative biography written by Stuart Lake that made Wyatt famous, his name became well-known and the subject of many movies, TV shows, biographies and

Wyatt Earp 18

works of fiction.

Contemporary descriptionsPublic perception of his life has varied over the years as media accounts of his life have changed. The story of theEarps' actions in Tombstone were published by newspapers nationwide. When citizens of Dodge City learned theEarps had been charged with murder after the gunfight, they sent letters endorsing and supporting the Earps to JudgeWells Spicer.[100]

Among his peers, Wyatt was respected. His deputy Jimmy Cairns described Wyatt's work as a police officer inWichita, Kansas. "Wyatt Earp was a wonderful officer. He was game to the last ditch and apparently afraid ofnothing. The cowmen all respected him and seemed to recognize his superiority and authority at such times as he hadto use it." [101] He described Wyatt as "the most dependable man I ever knew; a quiet, unassuming chap who neverdrank and in all respects a clean young fellow."[102]

John Clum, owner of The Tombstone Epitaph and mayor of Tombstone while Wyatt was a gambler and lawmanthere, described him in his book It All Happened in Tombstone.

Wyatt’s manner, though friendly, suggested a quiet reserve… Frequently it has happened that men who haveserved as peace officers on the frontier have craved notoriety in connection with their dealings with the outlawelement of their time. Wyatt Earp deprecated such notoriety, and during his last illness he told me that formany years he had hoped the public would weary of the narratives—distorted with fantastic and fictitiousembellishments—that were published from time to time concerning him, and that his last years might bepassed in undisturbed obscurity.[102]

Bill Dixon knew Wyatt early in his adult life. He wrote:Wyatt was a shy young man with few intimates. With casual acquaintances he seldom spoke unless spoken to.When he did say anything it was to the point, without fear or favor, which wasn't relished by some; but thatnever bothered Wyatt. To those who knew him well he was a genial companion. He had the most evendisposition I ever saw; I never knew him to lose his temper. He was more intelligent, better educated, and farbetter mannered than the majority of his associates, which probably did not help them to understand him. Hisreserve limited his friendships, but more than one stranger, down on his luck, has had firsthand evidence ofWyatt's generosity. I think his outstanding quality was the nicety with which he gauged the time and effort forevery move. That, plus his absolute confidence in himself, gave him the edge over the run of men.[6]

Famous lawman Bat Masterson described Wyatt in 1907.Wyatt Earp was one of the few men I personally knew in the West in the early days whom I regarded asabsolutely destitute of physical fear. I have often remarked, and I am not alone in my conclusions, that whatgoes for courage in a man is generally fear of what others will think of him - in other words, personal braveryis largely made up of self-respect, egotism, and apprehension of the opinions of others. Wyatt Earp's daringand apparent recklessness in time of danger is wholly characteristic; personal fear doesn't enter into theequation, and when everything is said and done, I believe he values his own opinion of himself more than thatof others, and it is his own good report he seeks to preserve... He never at any time in his career resorted to thepistol excepting cases where such a course was absolutely necessary. Wyatt could scrap with his fists, and hadoften taken all the fight out of bad men, as they were called, with no other weapons than those provided bynature.[101]:150

Wyatt Earp 19

Later imageAfter the shootout in Tombstone, his pursuit and murder of those who attacked his brothers, and after leavingArizona, Wyatt was often in doubt about the public's perception of his and his brothers' reputation. His role in historyhas stimulated considerable ongoing scholarly and editorial debate. A large body of literature has been written aboutWyatt Earp and his legacy, some of it highly fictionalized. Considerable portions of it are either full of admirationand flattery or hostile debunking.[61]

Wyatt was repeatedly criticized in the media over the remainder of his life. His wife Josephine wrote, "Thefalsehoods that were printed in some of the newspapers about him and the unjust accusations against him hurt Wyattmore deeply than anything that ever happened to him during my life with the him, with the exception of his mother'sdeath and that of his father and brother, Warren."[103]:xiv

On April 16, 1894, the Fort Worth Gazette wrote that Virgil Earp and John Behan had a "deadly feud." It describedBehan as "an honest man, a good official, and possessed many of the attributes of a gentleman." Earp, on the otherhand, "was head of band of desperadoes, a partner in stage robbers, and a friend of gamblers and professionalkillers... Wyatt was the boss killer of the region."[104]

His handling of the Tom Sharkey – Bob Fitzsimmons boxing match in San Francisco on December 2, 1896 left asmear on his character.[94] In late 1899, Wyatt opened a gambling concession in Seattle, Washington. On November25, the local paper, the Seattle Star, described him as "a man of great reputation among the toughs and criminals,inasmuch as he formerly walked the streets of a rough frontier mining town with big pistols stuck in his belt, spurson his boots and a devil-may-care expression upon his official face." The Seattle Daily Times was less full of praise,announcing in a very small article that he had a reputation in Arizona as a "bad man."[105]

Wyatt at home on August 9, 1923, at age 75.

On March 12, 1922, the Sunday Los Angeles Times ran a scandalousarticle by J.M. Scanland about Wyatt's life as a lawman. During thesame year, Frederick R. Bechdolt published When the West WasYoung, a story about Wyatt's time in Tombstone, but he mangled manybasic facts. He described the Earp-Clanton differences as the fallingout of partners in crime.[106] Both of these reports bothered Wyatt agreat deal, but he remained stalwart. In 1924, a story in a SanFrancisco paper said interviewing him was "like pulling teeth". Earpdidn't trust the press and he preferred to keep his mouth shut.[103]:xiv

Flood biography

Expressing his dismay about the controversy that followed him hisentire life, he wrote in a letter to John Hays Hammond on May 21,1925, saying "notoriety had been the bane of my life."[107] But Earptold his biographer White in 1926, "For my handling of the situation atTombstone, I have no regrets. Were it to be done over again, I woulddo exactly as I did at that time. If the outlaws and their friends andallies imagined that they could intimidate or exterminate the Earps by a process of assassination, and then hidebehind alibis and the technicalities of the law, they simply missed their guess."[108]

Finally attempting to counter negative accounts in newspapers and books, Earp tried to persuade his friend,well-known cowboy movie star William S. Hart, to make a movie about his life. “If the story were exploited on thescreen by you,” he wrote Hart, “It would do much toward setting me right before a public which has always been fedlies about me.”[8] Hart encouraged Wyatt to first find an author to pen his story. Wyatt worked with John Flood to gethis life committed to paper.

Wyatt Earp 20

In February 1926, Hart encouraged The Saturday Evening Post to publish John Flood's biography so "that ... therising generation may know the real from the unreal.",[109] but Flood was a horrendous writer and publisher afterpublisher rejected the manuscript.[103]:xvi

Burns' tale of blood and thunderAuthor Walter Noble Burns visited Earp in September 1926 and asked Wyatt questions for the book he was writingabout Doc Holliday. Wyatt told him he was working on his own book and turned him away. Burns visitedTombstone and based on what he learned about Wyatt decided instead to focus his book on him. He pestered Wyattfor facts, and on March 27 the next year, Wyatt finally responded to Burn's repeated requests in an 11 page letteroutlining the basic facts from Earp's point of view.[109]

When their efforts to get the Flood manuscript published failed, the Earps decided to appeal to Burns, whose ownbook was near publication. Burns responded and told them, “I should not now care to undertake another book which,in part at least, would be upon much the same lines... I should have been delighted six months ago to accept youroffer but it is too late now. My book has championed Mr. Earp’s cause throughout and I believe will vindicate hisreputation in Tombstone in a way that he will like."[110] When Burns turned them down, Josephine actively workedto stop the publication of his book, fearful that their efforts to publish Wyatt's biography would be thwarted as aresult.[110]

In February 1927, Bobbs Merrill editor Anne Johnston wrote a painfully direct criticism of Flood's writing. She saidthe language was "stilted, florid and diffuse." She said, "Now one forgets what it's all about in the clutter ofunimportant details that impedes its pace, and the pompous manner of its telling." Earp, Hart and Flood finallydecided to turn to Burns. But he was not interested. His book was about to be published, free of the constraintsimposed by a collaboration with Earp.[96]

In late 1927, Burns published Tombstone, An Iliad of the Southwest, a mesmerizing tale "of blood and thunder", thatchristened Earp as the "Lion of Tombstone."[103]:xvi. Readers and reviewers found they had a difficult timediscerning between "fact and fiction."[109] One reader notes, "Walter Noble Burns would become famous as one ofthe first authors to paint Wyatt Earp as the hero in white who saved Tombstone."[111]

Lake's flattering biographyIn contrast, author Stuart N. Lake wrote in the first biography of Earp, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, that the Earpsstood for law and order.[21] Lake wrote that the lawmen justifiably arrested some of the Cowboys, and when theyresisted, fought the outlaws to a final finish.[112]:36

Before he wrote the book, Lake sought Earp out, initially hoping to write a magazine article about him. Earp wasseeking a biographer at about the same time. Wyatt, who was 80, may have been financially motivated as he hadlittle income in his last years of life.[76] Lake and Earp only met a few times before Earp died, during which Earpsketched out the "barest facts" of his life for Lake.[21] During the interviews and in later correspondence, Wyatt wentto great lengths to keep his wife Josephine's name out of Lake's book. Lake wrote Earp that he planned to sendportions of the book to his New York agent, but Earp objected because he wanted to read it first.[113]

Following Earp's death in January 1929, Josephine corresponded with Lake. He claimed she attempted to influencewhat he wrote and hamper him in every way possible, including consulting lawyers. Josephine may have threatenedto sue Lake.[34]:101 Josephine worked hard to see that Wyatt was portrayed in the book in a positive manner. Lakepromised Josephine Earp in the fall of 1929 that the book would establish Earp in his "rightful place" and make her alittle money as well.[6]:91 Josephine insisted she was merely striving to protect Earp’s legacy.[114]

Lake finally published Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal in 1931, two years after Earp's death. It portrayed Earp as"gallant white knight"[115] and entirely avoided mentioning Josephine Earp. The book drew considerable positiveattention and established Lake as a writer for years to come.[112]

Wyatt Earp 21

However, later researchers have suggested that Lake's account of Earp's early life is embellished, for there is littlecorroborating evidence for many of the book's stories. Writers such as Steve Gatto, Frank Waters, and Dr. Floyd B.Streeter have cast doubt on the authenticity and accuracy of Lake's larger-than-life depiction of Wyatt Earp. Thebook "is now regarded more as fiction than fact."[115]

Lake later told Burton Rascoe of the New York Herald Tribune that during his interviews Earp had been"inarticulate," that "in speech, he was at best monosyllabic." Lake told Frank Waters, author of The Earp Brothers ofTombstone, that Wyatt had not dictated a word of his book, never saw the edited manuscript, and died two yearsbefore the book was published.[116]:9 Lake admitted many years afterward that he fabricated quotes and more whenhe wrote the book.[21] He said he felt "journalistically justified in inventing the Earp manuscript."[21][62]

The book transformed Wyatt into a celluloid hero at a time during the Great Depression when the media hungeredfor heroes.[63] It is regarded today as largely fictional.[117]

Influence on mediaLake's creative biography and later Hollywood portrayals exaggerated Wyatt's profile as a western lawman.[2] Lakewrote another version of Wyatt's story in 1946 that Director John Ford developed into the movie My DarlingClementine,[117] which further boosted Wyatt's reputation. The book later inspired a number of stories, movies andtelevision programs about outlaws and lawmen in Dodge City and Tombstone, including the 1955 television seriesThe Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.[63]

"Buntline Special"One of the legends about Earp perpetrated by Lake was about a long-barreled revolver called the "Buntline Special",a Colt six-shooter with a 12-inch barrel. Earp was described by Lake as using this weapon to pistol-whip and disarmcowboys who resisted town ordinances against carrying of firearms. Earp’s biography claimed the Specials weregiven to "famous lawmen" Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Bill Tilghman, Charlie Bassett and Neal Brown by authorNed Buntline in return for “local color” for his western yarns. This may be inaccurate since neither Tilghman norBrown were lawmen then. There is no conclusive proof as to the kind of pistol Wyatt carried on a regular basis,although it is known that on the day of the Fight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881, Earp used a .44 caliber1869 American model Smith & Wesson with an 8 inch barrel. Earp had received the weapon as a gift fromTombstone mayor and Tombstone Epitaph newspaper editor John Clum.[21]

Lake spent much effort trying to track down the Buntline Special through the Colt company, Masterson, and contactsin Alaska. Lake described it as a Colt Single Action Army model with a long, 12 inches (unknown operator:u'strong' cm) barrel, standard sights, and wooden grips into which the name “Ned” was ornately carved. Researchershave never found any record of an order received by the Colt company, and Ned Buntline's alleged connections tothe Earps have been discredited.[21]

Although historians such as William B. Shillingberg maintain that the Buntline was a fabrication by Lake; therevolver could have been specially ordered from the Colt factory in Hartford, Connecticut. Several revolvers with16-inch barrels were displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition and over-long barrels were available from Colt at adollar an inch over 7.5 inches (unknown operator: u'strong' mm). There are no company records for the BuntlineSpecial nor a record of any orders from or sent to Ned Buntline but this does not preclude the historicity of therevolvers. Massad Ayoob writing for Guns Magazine cited notes by Josie Earp in which she mentions an extra-longrevolver as a favorite of Wyatt Earp. Ayoob cited an order by Tombstone, Arizona, bartender Buckskin Frank Lesliefor a revolver of near-identical description. This order predated the O.K. Corral fight by several months.[118]

Wyatt Earp 22

Dubious claims by WyattWyatt's reputation has been confused by inaccurate, conflicting, and false stories told about him by others, and by hisown claims that cannot be corroborated. For example, in an interview with a reporter in Denver in 1896, he deniedthat he had killed Johnny Ringo.[119] He then flipped his story, claiming he had killed Ringo. In about 1918 he toldForrestine Hooker, who wrote an unpublished manuscript,[119] and then Frank Lockwood, who wrote Pioneer Daysin Arizona in 1932,[120] that he was the one who killed Johnny Ringo as he left Arizona in 1882. However, Wyattincluded details that do not match what is known about Ringo's death. Wyatt repeated that claim to at least threeother people.During an interview with his future biographer Stuart Lake during the late 1920s, Wyatt said that he arrestednotorious gunslinger Ben Thompson in Ellsworth, Kansas, on August 15, 1873, when news accounts andThompson's own contemporary account about the episode do not mention his presence.[94] He also told Lake that hehad hunted buffalo during 1871 and 1872, yet arrest records show he was arrested and jailed on a horse theft chargeon April 6, 1871, and arrested in Peoria during February 1872.[99]

At the hearing following the Tombstone shootout, Wyatt said he had been marshal in Dodge City, a claim herepeated in an August 16, 1896, interview that appeared in the San Francisco Examiner. But Wyatt had only been anassistant city marshal there.[99]

In the same interview, Wyatt claimed that George Hoyt had intended to kill him. He also said he and Bat Mastersonhad confronted Clay Allison when he was sent to Dodge City to finish George Hoyt's job, saying that they had forcedhim to back down.[121] Two other accounts contradicted Earp, crediting cattleman Dick McNulty and Long BranchSaloon owner Chalk Beeson with convincing Allison and his cowboys to surrender their guns. Cowboy CharlieSiringo witnessed the incident and left a written account.[122][123][124]

I Married Wyatt Earp controversyOne of the most well known and for many years respected books about Wyatt Earp was I Married Wyatt Earp,originally credited as a factual memoir by Josephine Marcus Earp. Published in 1976, it was edited by amateurhistorian Glen Boyer,[125][126] and published by the University of Arizona Press. It was immensely popular for manyyears, capturing the imagination of people with an interest in western history, studied in classrooms, cited byscholars,[127]:50 and relied upon as factual by filmmakers.[128]

In 1998, writer Tony Ortega wrote a lengthy investigative article for the Phoenix New Times for which heinterviewed Boyer. Boyer said that he is uninterested in what others think of the accuracy of what he has written."This is an artistic effort. I don't have to adhere to the kind of jacket that these people are putting on me. I am not ahistorian. I'm a storyteller."[129] Boyer admitted that the book is "100 percent Boyer."[128] He said the book was notreally a first-person account, that he had interpreted Wyatt Earp in Josephine's voice, and admitted that he couldn'tproduce any documents to vindicate his methods.[128]

The book also "further embroidered upon Frank Waters's imagining about Wyatt's adulterous affair with her."[130]

Boyer and the University Press' credibility was severely damaged. In 2000 the University referred all questions touniversity lawyers who investigated some of the allegations about Boyer's work.[126] Later that year the Pressremoved the book from their catalog.[131] The book has been discredited as a fraud and a hoax[129] that cannot berelied on.[132]:154

Other work by Boyer subsequently were questioned. His book Wyatt Earp's Tombstone Vendetta, published in 1993,was allegedly based an account written by a previously unknown Tombstone journalist that Boyer named "TheodoreTen Eyck," but whose identity could not be independently verified. Boyer claimed that the manuscript was "clearlyauthentic" and that it contained "fascinating revelations (if they are true) and would make an ace movie."[133] Boyerlater said the character was in fact a blend of "scores of accounts," but could not provide any sources.[134]

Wyatt Earp 23

Negative viewsWilliam M. Breakenridge's book, Helldorado: Bringing Law to the Mesquite, ghost written by Western novelistWilliam MacLeod Raine, was published in 1928 before Wyatt died.[62] Wyatt and his wife Josie claimed that muchof what Breakenridge wrote was biased and more fiction than fact. Breakenridge interviewed Earp in Los Angelesbut the picture he painted of Wyatt was that of a thief, pimp, crooked gambler, and murderer. Earp loudly protestedthe book's contents until his death in 1929, and his wife continued in the same vein afterward. One critic writes that,"Breakenridge was insanely jealous of the notoriety Wyatt Earp had received and he made it very clear on more thanone occasion that he thoroughly disliked the Earps."[111] Breakenridge referred to the Clantons and McLaurybrothers as "cowboys" and said the Earps and Doc Holliday aggressively mistreated the guiltless cowboys until theywere forced into a fatal confrontation.[112]

Edwin V. Burkholder, who specialized in stories about the Old West, published an article about Wyatt in 1955 inArgosy Magazine. He called Wyatt Earp a coward and murderer, and manufactured evidence to support hisallegations.[62] He also wrote, using the pseudonyms "George Carleton Mays" and "J. S. Qualey", for the Westernmagazine Real West. His stores were filled with sensational claims about Wyatt Earp's villainy, and he made up fakeletters to the editor from supposed "old-timers" to corroborate this story.[62]

Frank Waters interviewed Virgil Earp's widow, Allie Sullivan Earp, to write The Earp Brothers of Tombstone.Waters used her anecdotes as a frame for adding a narrative and "building a case, essentially piling quote upon quoteto prove that Wyatt Earp was a con man, thief, robber, and eventually murderer."[135] Allie Earp was so upset by theway he distorted and manipulated her words that she threatened to shoot him. So he waited until 1960, 13 years afterher death, to publish the book. It was described by one reviewer as "a smear campaign levied against the Earpbrothers."[130][136]

SJ Reidhead, author of Travesty: Frank Waters Earp Agenda Exposed, spent nearly a decade searching for theoriginal manuscript, researching Waters, his background, and his bias against the Earps. In doing so, the authordiscovered that the story Waters presented against the Earps was primarily fictitious. Nothing is documented. Thereare no notes nor sourcing. There is only the original Tombstone Travesty manuscript and the final Earp Brothers ofTombstone. Because of his later reputation, few writers, even today, dare question Waters' motives. They also do notbother fact checking the Earp Brothers of Tombstone, which is so inaccurate it should be considered fiction, ratherthan fact.[137]

Anti-Earp writers and researchers use Frank Waters' Earp Brothers of Tombstone, as their primary source formaterial that presents Wyatt Earp as something of a villainous monster, aided and abetted by his brothers who werealmost brutes. Waters detested the Earps so badly that he presented a book that was terribly flawed, poorly edited,and brimming with prevarications. In his other work, Waters is poetic. In the Earp Brothers of Tombstone, he is littlemore than a tabloid hack, trying to slander someone he dislikes.[137] To date, no reason has been uncovered for thebias Frank Waters exhibited against Wyatt Earp and his brothers.[137]

In 1963, Ed Bartholomew published Wyatt Earp, The Untold Story followed by Wyatt Earp: Man and Myth in 1964.His books were strongly anti-Earp and attacked Wyatt Earp's image as a hero. Bartholomew went about this byreciting snippets of accumulated anti-Earp facts, rumors, gossip, and innuendo. Bartholomew's books started a trendof debunking Earp, and the academic community followed his lead, pursuing the image of Earp as a "fightingpimp."[62][138]

In reviewing Allen Barra's Inventing Wyatt Earp. His Life and Many Legends, William Urban, a Professor of Historyat Monmouth College in Warren County, Illinois, pointed out a number of factual inaccuracies in the book. Anotherinconsistency in Barra pointed out by another reviewer include a description of the poker game the night before theshoot out. Ike Clanton's account of the game (the only one that exists) gives the participants as John Behan, VirgilEarp, Ike Clanton, Tom McLaury, and a fifth man Ike didn't recognize.[76]:115 Barra is criticized for adding DocHolliday as the game's winner, although this is possibly done as a joke, since Barra also notes Wyatt and Doc havegone home for the night, before the game.[139]

Wyatt Earp 24

Willian Urban also describes "the questionable scholarship of Glenn Boyer, the dominant figure in Earpiana for thepast several decades, who has apparently invented a manuscript and then cited it as a major source in hispublications. This does not surprise this reviewer, who has personal experience with Boyer’s pretentiousexaggeration of his acquaintance with Warren County records."[140]

LegacyThe character of Wyatt Earp has been a central figure in over 10 films and featured in many more. Among thebest-known actors that have portrayed him are Randolph Scott, Guy Madison, Henry Fonda, Joel McCrea, BurtLancaster, James Garner, Jimmy Stewart, Hugh O'Brian, Kevin Costner, Val Kilmer, and Kurt Russell.[61] Hischaracter has influenced the way that movies depict Old West law enforcement.Earp's life gained nationwide attention with the publication of Stuart Lake's book, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshall.But it was the popular movie Gunfight at the O.K. Corral that brought his life story into pop culture. The moviealtered public perception of the Cowboys. In Earp's time they had been outlaws, but in the movies they became thegood guys assisting the lawmen.[141]

With the emergence of television in the 1950s, producers spun out a large number of western-oriented shows. At theheight of their popularity in 1959, there were more than two dozen "cowboy" programs on each week. At least six ofthem were connected to some extent with Wyatt Earp: The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson,Tombstone Territory, Broken Arrow, Johnny Ringo, and Gunsmoke. Hugh O'Brian portrayed Earp on the show WyattEarp, which ran for six seasons.[141]

The Earp legend in film and television• Frontier Marshal (1934)[142] – The first film adaptation of Stuart N. Lake's novel. George O'Brien plays

"Michael Earp".• Frontier Marshal (1939)[143] – Randolph Scott as Wyatt Earp• Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die (1942)[144] – Stars Richard Dix• My Darling Clementine (1946)[145] – Stars Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford.• Wichita (1955)[146] – Stars Joel McCrea.• The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp TV series (1955–1961)[147] – Starring Hugh O'Brian as Wyatt Earp.• Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)[148] – Stars Burt Lancaster.• Hour of the Gun (1967)[149] – Stars James Garner in the first of two movies with Garner as Earp.• Doc (1971)[150] – Gunfight of the O.K. Corral from Doc Holliday's point of view. Stacy Keach as Doc and Harris

Yulin as Wyatt.• Tombstone (1993)[151] – Stars Kurt Russell.• Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone (1994)[152] – Film combines colorized footage of The Life and Legend of Wyatt

Earp with new scenes filmed in Tombstone.• Wyatt Earp (1994)[153] – Stars Kevin Costner.• Black Hats (film) (2012)[154] - Stars Harrison Ford• The First Ride of Wyatt Earp (2012)- Stars Val Kilmer

Wyatt Earp 25

Earp as a character or adaptation of the legend• Law and Order (1932)[155] Walter Huston as Frame Johnson, a character inspired by Wyatt Earp.• Dodge City (1939)[156] – Errol Flynn as Wade Hatton, inspired by Wyatt Earp.• Winchester '73 (1950)[157] – James Stewart wins a rare Winchester rifle that is stolen. Will Geer portrays Wyatt

Earp.• Gun Belt (1953)[158] – Outlaw Billy Ringo tries to go straight.• Masterson of Kansas (1954)[159] – Bat Masterson is assisted by Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday• Badman's Country (1958)[160] – Pat Garrett catches up to Butch Cassidy's gang and calls in Wyatt Earp.• Alias Jesse James (1959)[161] – Bob Hope stars and Hugh O'Brian briefly appears as Wyatt Earp.• The Secret World of Eddie Hodges (1960)[162] – TV musical starring Jackie Gleason Hugh O'Brien as Wyatt Earp• Cheyenne Autumn (1964) has a sequence featuring James Stewart as Earp and Arthur Kennedy as Doc Holliday in

Dodge CIty.• Desafío en Rio Bravo (1965)[163] – Guy Madison as Wyatt Earp.• "The Gunfighters" (1966) Doctor Who episode[164] – The TARDIS materializes in Tombstone, where the

characters become embroiled in the events leading up to the famous gunfight.• "Spectre of the Gun" (1968) Star Trek: The Original Series episode[165] – The officers aboard the USS Enterprise

reenact the roles of the Clanton gang. Ron Soble plays Wyatt Earp as a criminal.• Which Way to the OK Corral? (1971)[166] Alias Smith and Jones[167] – Cameron Mitchell as Wyatt Earp and Bill

Fletcher as Doc Holliday• I Married Wyatt Earp (1983)[168] – Television docudrama based on the fictionalized memoirs of Josephine

Marcus Earp, played by Marie Osmond.• Sunset (1988)[169] – Bruce Willis as Tom Mix and James Garner as Wyatt Earp team up to solve a murder at the

1929 Academy Award• Deadwood (2006)[170][171] – Wyatt and Morgan appear in two episodes. Gale Harold as Wyatt Earp.

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/ www. independent. co. uk/ arts-entertainment/film—first-action-hero-wyatt-earp-was-an-elderly-movie-groupie-who-failed-to-make-it-as-an-extra-then-stuart-n-lake-wrote-his-spurious-biography-and-the-starspangled-hero-of-the-o-k-corral-was-born-as-two-new-films-strip-the-myth-to-its-bones-david-ashford-charts-the-making-of-a-hollywood-cowboy-1446479.html). The Independent (London). . Retrieved January 10, 2011.

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Schuster hardcover ed. ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4391-5424-3.[142] Frontier Marshall (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0025144/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[143] Frontier Marshall (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0031346/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[144] Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0035450/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[145] My Darling Clementine (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0038762/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[146] Wichita (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0048806/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[147] The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0047750/ / ) at the Internet Movie Database[148] Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0050468/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[149] Hour of the Gun (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0061787/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[150] Doc (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0067003/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[151] Tombstone (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0108358/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[152] Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0111757/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[153] Wyatt Earp (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0111756/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[154] Kit, Borys (July 23, 2011). "Harrison Ford to Star as Wyatt Earp in 'Black Hats' (Exclusive)" (http:/ / www. hollywoodreporter. com/

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[157] Winchester '73 (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ ttNUMBER/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[158] Gun Belt (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0045845/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[159] Masterson of Kansas (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0048358/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[160] Badman's Country (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0045845/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[161] Alias Jesse James (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0052545/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[162] The Secret World of Eddie Hodges (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0424425/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[163] Desafío en Rio Bravo (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0059098/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[164] Doctor Who (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0056751/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[165] "Spectre of the Gun" (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0708448/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[166] NAME (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ ttNUM/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[167] "Which Way to the OK Corral?" (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0508576/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[168] I Married Wyatt Earp (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0085707/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[169] Sunset (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0096193/ / ) at the Internet Movie Database[170] "Amateur Night" (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0556290/ ) at the Internet Movie Database[171] "Leviathan Smiles" (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0556285/ ) at the Internet Movie Database

Further reading• Barra, Allen (1998). Inventing Wyatt Earp: His Life and Many Legends. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers.

ISBN 0-7867-0685-6.• Earp, Josephine Sarah Marcus (1976). I Married Wyatt Earp: The Recollections of Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp.

University of Arizona Pr. ISBN 0-8165-0583-7.• Fattig, Timothy W. (2005). Wyatt Earp: The Biography. Talei Publishers. p. 596. ISBN 0-9631772-8-1.• Gatto, Steve (2000). The Real Wyatt Earp: A Documentary Biography. Silver City: High-Lonesome Books.

ISBN 0-944383-50-5.• Lake, Stuart N. (1994). Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal. Pocket. ISBN 0-671-88537-5.• Marks, Paula Mitchell (1989). And Die in the West: the story of the O.K. Corral gunfight. New York: Morrow.

ISBN 0-671-70614-4.• Reidhead, SJ (2005). Travesty: Frank Waters Earp Agenda Exposed. Roswell, NM: Jinglebob Press & Wyatt

Earp Books. ISBN 1-892508-13-3.• Tefertiller, Casey (1997). Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

ISBN 0-471-18967-7.• Turner, Alford E. (1981). The OK Corral Inquest. College Station, Texas: Creative Publishing company.

ISBN 0-932702-16-3.• Palenske, Garner A. (2011). Wyatt Earp in San Diego. Santa Ana, Ca: Graphic Publishers.

ISBN 978-1-882824-41-0.

External links• Wyatt Earp History Page (http:/ / www. wyattearp. net/ )• Wyatt Earp: Tombstonian by Tim Fattig (http:/ / www. tombstonetimes. com/ stories/ wyatt. html)• Wyatt Earp Family History (http:/ / www. kansasheritage. org/ families/ earp. html)• Wyatt Earp Rare Original Letters (http:/ / www. shapell. org/ btl. aspx?2745904)• Chapter from Wyatt Earp (http:/ / www. skyways. org/ orgs/ fordco/ earp. html) 1926 autobiographical attempt by

John H. Flood, Jr.• Old West Kansas Gunfighters (http:/ / www. vlib. us/ old_west/ guns. html)• Hollywood Portrayals of Wyatt Earp (http:/ / blogs. amctv. com/ future-of-classic/ 2009/ 10/ wyatt-earp-movies.

php) from American Movie Classics

Wyatt Earp 31

• The Colt Revolver in the American West—Wyatt Earp's Single Action Army (http:/ / theautry. org/the-colt-revolver-in-the-american-west/ historic-individuals?artifact=85. 1. 1628)

Article Sources and Contributors 32

Article Sources and ContributorsWyatt Earp  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=507177526  Contributors: $1LENCE D00600D, 11drag0nf1y, 45Factoid44, A.V., Accurizer, Acscomps, Action.nate, Adabow,After Midnight, Aikka, Aitias, Akasanof, Akihironihongo, Alansohn, Alawi, Aldaron, AlexPlank, AlexR, Alexander Iwaschkin, Ali, AlienZen, AlphaEtaPi, Altstikman, Alyssabelle818,Amaddb04, Amakuru, Amerindianarts, Anetode, Angelo Michael, Antandrus, Anthony22, Antonrojo, Apopagasm, Arctosouros, Arevco88, ArielGold, ArlingtonNationalCemetaryKing1000, ArtLaPella, Asams10, Asiaticus, Astronautics, AustralianRupert, Avoided, Az81964444, BSveen, Badgernet, Balph Eubank, Bart-16, Batman2005, Belissarius, Ben Ben, Bencope, Bender235,Bentruwe, Beowolf53, Bestproofreader, BigBen212, BillFlis, Billy Hathorn, Binabik80, Bjelleklang, Blahaccountblah, BlongerBros, Blootea, Bluesykillerhorn, Bobblewik, Bohemianroots, Brad,Brian1979, BrokenSphere, BrownHairedGirl, Bsadowski1, Btphelps, Buckboard, Burkedavis, Bweenie, Byronkw, CDA, CWY2190, CWenger, Caliroptic, Calmer Waters, Caltas,CanadianLinuxUser, Candorwien, Candybarfactory, CanisRufus, Canpark, Capricorn42, Caracaskid, CardinalDan, Cash55, Casper2k3, CatherineMunro, Cathyjocooke, Cblack11, CecilWard,Century0, Charliecow7, Chauncyo9, ChosenNightwolf, Chrehr, Chris the speller, Civil Engineer III, Cjrother, Clarityfiend, Clemwang, Climent Sostres, Cmdrjameson, Colonies Chris,Combatentropy, Cometstyles, Cookiehead, Cori Hoag, Corusant, Courcelles, Cowboydan76, Crayon222, Cunningham, Cybertooth85, D-Rock, D6, DCEdwards1966, DMacks, DSRH,Dananderson, Daniel32357, DanielCD, Danny, DarthVader, Dausten59, DaveDixon, Davepape, Davewild, DavidLevinson, DavidOaks, Davidkt, Davidshq, Dblicken1393, Dcflyer, DeWaine,Deacon of Pndapetzim, Delirium, Denni, Dfeigin@yahoo.com, Dieds, Dimadick, Dinosaur puppy, Discospinster, Docbud, Doktorschley, Dougweller, Doulos Christos, Downwards, Dr.K.,Dreadstar, Drestros power, Dspradau, Dx87, Dyl, ERcheck, Eaomatrix, Edward, Edward321, Edwards0013, Ehistory, Eldredo, Eloquence, Encyclopedia77, Engineer Bob, Epbr123, Eric,Ericlaw02, Esperant, Euphoria, Evanreyes, Evb-wiki, Evenios, Everard Proudfoot, Evercat, Ewlyahoocom, Excirial, FJPB, Fastfission, Fat&Happy, Feezo, Fifties, Firemanrick, Flexiblefine,Fordmadoxfraud, Fordsbasement, Fourthords, Fredrick day, Fuhghettaboutit, Fusionmix, Gaius Cornelius, Gamaliel, Gangster178, George Ho, GiantSnowman, Ginsengbomb, Gogo Dodo, GoodOlfactory, GorgeCustersSabre, Gorrister, Gravitan, GreatWhiteNortherner, Gurchzilla, GusF, Guyzero, Gwernol, Halmstad, Hanacy, Happysailor, HarleyKwinn, Hdk925, Hede2000, Hephaestos,Hmains, Hqb, Hut 8.5, Hydra Rider, Icairns, Iconoclast.horizon, Idaltu, Improve, Ineuw, J S Ayer, J.delanoy, JForget, JGKlein, JNW, JaGa, JamesMLane, Jamesrsheehan, Jaydec, Jayron32,Jear-bear1, Jezhotwells, JimVC3, Jllm06, Jmg38, Jmlk17, Jnchowe, John K, John Smythe, John Vandenberg, John of Reading, Jonmall1, Jordanr64, Jorgieporgie, Jpr127, Jsayre64, Jschnur,JustAGal, Kardworx, Kcranson, Kennyavance, Kenyon, Khatru2, Khazar, King Pickle, Kirrages, Kitch, Kiwi128, Kjgold, Kkbay, Klow, Kpatrickglover, Kranar drogin, Krawunsel, Krazy keith,Krich, Ktr101, Kudret abi, Kukini, Kumioko (renamed), Kungfuadam, Kuru, Kwmtex, L Kensington, L1A1 FAL, LFevas, LactoseIntolerant, Larry Dunn, Lectonar, Leoni2, Levid37, Licon,Liface, Lightmouse, Ligulem, Linnell, Liquidmetalrob, Local hero, Locos epraix, LordofHavoc, Lova Falk, LuckyYou, Lupinoid, M1ss1ontomars2k4, M855GT, Magnoliasouth, Maile66,Malcolm Farmer, Malleus Fatuorum, Marktreut, Matt Deres, Matt.forestpath, Matteh, MatthewVanitas, Maurreen, Maverick9711, Maxis ftw, Meffertf, Mentifisto, Metron4, Michael Hardy,Michael Snow, Midnightdreary, Mike Searson, Mike Selinker, Mikeblas, Mikeo, Mlaffs, Monnitewars, Morning277, Mouse Nightshirt, Moverton, Mr Pyles, Mschel, Msjayhawk, Mulder416,NE3333, Nakon, NawlinWiki, Ndteegarden, Necrothesp, Neutrality, Neverquick, Nick Number, Nicktfx, Nipsy, Niteowlneils, Norm mit, Novasource, Nowordneeded, NuclearWarfare, Nyttend,OBrienMadHouse, Oddharmonic, Oddjobn99, Omicronpersei8, Onlyemarie, Optimist on the run, Orangemike, Orpharion, P. 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Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Wyatt Earp portrait.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wyatt_Earp_portrait.png  License: Public Domain  Contributors: unattributedFile:Wyatt Earp signature.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wyatt_Earp_signature.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Wyatt Earp Created in vector format byScewingImage:Wyatt-earp-mother.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wyatt-earp-mother.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: unknownImage:Wyatt Earp House.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wyatt_Earp_House.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: Robert ThallImage:WyattEarp2.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:WyattEarp2.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Original uploader was Sbharris at en.wikipediaImage:Wyatt Earp und Bat Masterson 1876.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wyatt_Earp_und_Bat_Masterson_1876.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors:Frank C. Müller, MB3Image:Josephine-Sarah-Marcus-c1881.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Josephine-Sarah-Marcus-c1881.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: C.S. Fly,Tombstone, Arizona (Transfered by btphelps/Original uploaded by Btphelps)Image:Luke Short.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Luke_Short.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: UnknownImage:DodgeCityPoliceCommission.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:DodgeCityPoliceCommission.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:SbharrisImage:Wyatt Earp gun Red Dog Juneau.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wyatt_Earp_gun_Red_Dog_Juneau.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Originaluploader was Evb-wiki at en.wikipediaImage:EarpinNome.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:EarpinNome.JPG  License: Public Domain  Contributors: SbharrisImage:Northern Saloon.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Northern_Saloon.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: GpscholarImage:Wyatt & Josephine Earp grave.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wyatt_&_Josephine_Earp_grave.JPG  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike3.0  Contributors: BrokenSphereFile:Wyatt-earp-1923-lg.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wyatt-earp-1923-lg.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Btphelps

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