Wyatt Earp
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Wyatt Earp
Born
March 19, 1848
Monmouth, Illinois
Died
January 13, 1929
Los Angeles, California
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848-January 13, 1929), was a Teamster, sometime buffalo hunter, officer of the law, gambler, and saloon-keeper in the Wild West and the U.S. mining frontier from California to Alaska. He is best known for his participation in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral along with Doc Holliday, Virgil Earp, and Morgan Earp.
Genealogy
Wyatt was born in Monmouth, Illinois, USA to Nicholas Porter Earp (September 6, 1813 in Lincoln County, North Carolina - November 12, 1907 in Sawtell, California), a cooper and farmer, and his second wife Virginia Ann Cooksey (February 2, 1821 in Kentucky - January 14, 1893 in San Bernardino County, California).
His paternal grandparents were Walter Earp (1787 in Montgomery County, Maryland - January 30, 1853), a school teacher and Methodist Episcopal preacher, and Martha Ann Early (August 28, 1790 in Avery County, North Carolina - September 24, 1881). Nicholas Earp, their first born, was their only child born in North Carolina (their other five sons were born in various parts of Kentucky).
His maternal grandparents were James Cooksey and Elizabeth Smith. They had settled in Ohio County, Kentucky. Little else is known of their life.
Siblings
On December 22, 1836 in Hartford, Kentucky, Nicholas Porter Earp married Abigail Storm (born September 21, 1813 in Ohio County, Kentucky - died October 8, 1839 in Ohio County, Kentucky). The short marriage produced Wyatt's older half-brother Newton Jasper Earp (October 7, 1837 in Kentucky - December 18, 1928 in Sacramento, California). Another half-sister Mariah Ann Earp (Feb. 12-Dec. 13, 1839) did not survive to adulthood.
On July 30, 1840, widower Nicholas Earp wed Virginia Ann Cooksey in Hartford, Kentucky. This second marriage produced eight children. Note that two of Wyatt's three full sisters did not survive to adulthood.
* James Cooksey Earp (June 28, 1841 in Hartford, Kentucky - January 25, 1926 in Los Angeles, California)
* Virgil Walter Earp (July 18, 1843 in Hartford, Kentucky - October 19, 1905 in Goldfield, Nevada).
* Martha Elizabeth Earp (September 25, 1845 in Kentucky - May 26, 1856 in Monmouth, Illinois).
* Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 in Monmouth, Illinois - January 13, 1929 in Los Angeles, California).
* Morgan Seth Earp (April 24, 1851 in Pella, Iowa - March 18, 1882 in Tombstone, Arizona).
* Baxter Warren Earp (always known as Warren) (March 9, 1855 in Pella, Iowa - July 6, 1900 in Willcox, Arizona).
* Virginia Ann Earp (February 28, 1858 in Marion County, Iowa - October 26, 1861 in Pella, Iowa).
* Adelia Douglas Earp (June 16, 1861 in Pella, Iowa - January 16, 1941 in San Bernadino, California).
Early life
Wyatt Earp, born in Monmouth, Illinois, during the California Gold Rush, was named after Captain Wyatt Berry Stapp of the Illinois Mounted Volunteers, Nicholas Earp's commanding officer during the Mexican-American War. In March, 1850, the Earps left Monmouth for California, but they never reached there, settling instead in Iowa. Their new farm consisted of 160 acres (exactly 1/4 mi.² = ~0.65 km²), seven miles (10 km) northeast of Pella, Iowa.
On March 4, 1856, Nicholas sold his farm and returned to Monmouth, Illinois, but there was unable to find a job as a cooper or farmer. Faced with unemployment, Nicholas chose to become a municipal constable, serving at this post for about three years. He reportedly had a second source of income from the selling of alcoholic beverages which made him the target of the local Temperance movement and in 1859 he was tried for bootlegging, convicted and publicly humiliated. Nicholas was unable to pay his fines and on November 11, 1859, Nicholas's property was sold at auction. Two days later, the Earps left again for Pella, Iowa.
Nicholas apparently made frequent travels back to Monmouth throughout 1860 to confirm and conclude the sale of his properties and to face several lawsuits for debt and accusations of tax evasion.
During the family's second stay in Pella, the American Civil War broke out. James, Virgil and Newton joined the Union Army. Wyatt (aged 13 at war outbreak) was too young to join, but later tried on several occasions to run away and join the army, only to have his father find him and bring him home. While Nicholas was busy recruiting and drilling local companies, Wyatt, with the help of his two younger brothers, Morgan and Warren, was left in charge of bringing in an 80-acre corn crop. James returned home in summer 1863 after being severely wounded in Fredricktown, Missouri.
On May 12th, 1864, the Earp family joined a wagon train heading to California. The 1931 book Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshall by Stuart Lake, tells of the Earps' encounter with Indians near Fort Laramie and that Wyatt reportedly took the opportunity at their stop at Fort Bridger to hunt buffalo (American Bison) with Jim Bridger. Later researchers have suggested that Lake's account of Earp's early life is embellished, as there is little corroborating evidence to many of its stories. However, there is no good reason to doubt many of these personal tales, either, for they relate to personal actions on the unsettled American frontier, which would not be expected to be recorded anywhere except (with luck) in an occasional diary.
California
By late summer, 1865, Wyatt and Virgil had found a common occupation as stagecoach drivers for Phineas Banning's Banning Stage Line in Southern California. This is presumed to be the time Wyatt had his first taste of whiskey. He reportedly felt sick enough to abstain from it for the following two decades.
In spring, 1866, Earp became a teamster, transporting cargo for Chris Taylor. His assigned trail for 1866 - 1868 was from Wilmington, California to Prescott, Arizona Territory. He also worked on the route from San Bernardino through Las Vegas, Nevada Territory to Salt Lake City. In the spring of 1868, Earp was hired by Charles Chrisman to transport supplies for the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad. This is presumed to be the time of his introduction to gambling and boxing.
Lawman
In spring 1868, the Earps moved again, this time settling in Lamar, Missouri where Nicholas became the local constable. When Nicholas resigned to become Justice of the Peace on November 17, 1869, Wyatt was immediately appointed constable in place of his father. On November 26 and in return for his appointment, Earp filed a bond of $1000. His sureties for this bond were his father Nicholas Porter Earp, his paternal uncle Jonathan Douglas Earp (April 28, 1824 - October 20, 1900) and James Maupin.
On January 10, 1870, Earp married his first wife, Urilla Sutherland (1849 - 1870/1871), a daughter of William and Permelia Sutherland of New York City. The marriage was short-lived. Urilla is believed to have died either a few months later, or about a year later. There are two reported versions of her cause of death: one version claims that she died of typhus, the other that she died in childbirth.
In August 1870, Earp bought a house and land for $50. In November, he resold the house for $75. The later event has been used to estimate the death of Urilla, based on presumption that a widower has less need of permanent residence than a married man expecting children. That November, Earp ran for and won his constable's post, beating his older half-brother, Newton, 137 votes to 108. This would be the only time Earp would ever run for office.
After his wife's death, Earp started to have some difficulties with the law. On March 14, 1871, Barton County, Missouri filed a lawsuit against Earp and his sureties. He had been in charge of collecting license fees for Lamar, the collected monies intended as funding for local schools. Earp was accused of never delivering the collected money. The action was eventually vacated, possibly because Earp and his father had moved out of the state.
On March 31, one James Cromwell filed a lawsuit against Wyatt alleging that he had falsified court documents referring to the amount of money that Earp had hand collected from Cromwell to satisfy a judgment. To make up the difference between what Earp turned in and Cromwell owed (and claimed he had paid), the court seized Cromwell's mowing machine and sold it for $38. Cromwell's suit claimed that Earp owed him $75, the estimated value of the machine. The outcome of this case is not known.
On April 1, Earp was one of three men (along with Edward Kennedy and John Shown) facing accusations for horse theft. On March 28, the accused had reportedly stolen two horses, "each of the value of one hundred dollars", from William Keys while in the Indian Country. On April 6, Earp was arrested by Deputy United States Marshal J.G. Owens for the latter charges. The arraignment of the charges against him was read to him by Commissioner James Churchill on April 14. Bail was set at $500. On May 15, the indictment against Earp, Kennedy and Shown was issued.
Anna Shown, wife of John Shown, claimed that Earp and Kennedy got her husband drunk and then threatened his life in order to earn his assistance. However on June 5, Edward Kennedy was acquitted while the case against Earp and John Shown remained. Faced with two lawsuits and a trial, Earp apparently chose to flee the State of Missouri. An arrest warrant was issued.
Both lawsuits and the horse theft case were eventually dropped, in part because of the disappearance of Earp. Researchers of his life do not have enough evidence to conclude whether he was guilty of the charges; however the aquital of one of his co-defendants may have been enough to cause the legal system to lose interest. In any case, this would not be the last time Wyatt Earp settled legal problems through the use of distance.
Reappearance
For years, researchers had no reliable account of Earp's activities or whereabouts between the remainder of 1871 and October 28, 1874 when Earp made his reappearance in Wichita, Kansas. It has been suggested that he spent these years hunting American Bison (as is reported in the Stuart Lake biography) and wandering from place to place in the great plains.
He is generally considered to have first met his close friend Bat Masterson around this period, on the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River. Nevertheless, the discovery of contemporary accounts that place Earp in Peoria, Illinois, and the surrounding area during 1872, have caused researchers to question these claims. Earp is listed in the city directory for Peoria during 1872 as living in the house of Jane Haspel, who operated a bagnio (brothel) from that location. In February 1872, Peoria police raided the Haspel bagnio, arresting four women and three men. The three men were 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 fined twenty dollars and cost for the criminal infraction. Two additional arrests for Wyatt Earp for the same crime during 1872 in Peoria have also been found. Some researchers have concluded that the Peoria information indicates that Earp was intimately involved in the prostitution trade in the Peoria area throughout 1872. This new information has caused some researchers to question Earp's accounts of Buffalo hunting in Kansas.
In Frontier Marshal, Lake claimed that while in Kansas, Earp met such notable figures as Wild Bill Hickok. Lake also identified Earp as the man who arrested gunman Benjamin Thompson (November 2, 1843 - March 11, 1888) in Ellsworth, Kansas, on August 15, 1873. However Lake failed to identify his sources for these allegations. Consequently later researchers have expressed their doubt about them. Diligent search of the available records has uncovered no evidence that Wyatt Earp was in Ellsworth at the time of Thompson's trouble there. Proponents of Earp's arrest of Thompson, or even Earp's presence in Ellsworth in August of that year, point to unsubstantiated recollections that Earp registered at the Grand Central Hotel there. Research has shown Earp did not check into the hotel that summer. In particular, the activities of Benjamin Thompson during the year of his arrest were covered in detail by the local press without ever mentioning Earp. Thompson published his own accounts for the events in 1884, and he too failed to report Earp as the man responsible for his arrest.
Wichita
Like Ellsworth, Wichita was a train-terminal which ended cattle drives from Texas. Such cattle boom towns on the frontier were a modern policeman's nightmare, as they filled with drunken, armed cowboys, celebrating at the end of long drives. Earp officially joined the Wichita deputies' office on April 21, 1875 after election of Mike Meagher as city marshal (this would cause endless confusion, as "city marshal" was then a synonym for police chief, a term also in use). One newspaper report exists referring to Earp as "Officer Erp" prior to his official hiring, making his exact role as an officer during 1874 unclear. Probably he served in an unofficial paid role.
City Marshal Meagher weighed 300 pounds and was apparently not an active enforcer. The real city police work was done by his assistant John Behrens (not to be confused with Johnny Behan), and his deputies Jimmy Cairns and Wyatt Earp.
Earp received several public acclamations while in Wichita. He recognized and arrested a wanted horse thief (having to fire his weapon in warning, but not hurting the man), and later a set of wagon thieves. He had a bit of public embarrassment in early 1876 when a fully-loaded single action revolver dropped out of his holster while he was leaning back on a chair and discharged when the hammer hit the floor (single-action revolvers were always dangerous to carry with a round under the hammer). The bullet went through Wyatt's coat and out through the ceiling. It may be presumed from Earp's discussion of the problem in Lake's Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal that Wyatt never carried a single-action with six rounds again. Earp didn't admit in his biography that he had first-hand knowledge this error.
Earp also had his nerves tested in Wichita in a situation which was not reported by the newspapers, but which occurs in the Lake "autobiography" and is substantiated in the memoirs of his deputy Jimmy Cairns. Wyatt had angered a number of drovers by acting to repossess an unpaid-for piano in a brothel, forced a number of drovers to pass the hat to collect the money to keep the instrument in place. Later, a group of nearly 50 armed drovers collected in Delano, preparing to "hoorah" Witchita across the river. ("Hoorah" was the Old West term for out-of-control drunken partying). Police and citizens in Wichita collected to oppose the cowboys. In the end, Wyatt Earp stood in the center of the line of defenders on the bridge from Delano to Witchita and calmly held off the mob of armed men, speaking for the town. Eventually, the cowboys turned and withdrew, peace having been kept without a shot fired or man killed. This pattern would be repeated many times in Earp's career.
Years later Cairns would write of Earp: "Wyatt Earp was a wonderful officer. He was game to the last ditch and apparently afraid of nothing. The cowmen all respected him and seemed to recognize his superiority and authority at such times as he had to use it."
In late 1875 the local paper (Witchia Beacon) carried this item: "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 was taken next morning, before his honor, the police judge, paid his fine for his fun like a little man and went on his way rejoicing. He may congratulate himself that his lines, while he was drunk, were cast in such a pleasant place 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."
Wyatt's stint as Wichita deputy came to a sudden end on April 2, 1876, when Earp took too active an interest in the city marshal's election. According to news accounts, former marshal Bill Smith accused Wyatt of wanting to use his office to help hire his brothers as lawmen. (Another story without historical substantiation is that Smith accused the Earp family of running a brothel, but if so this would be a strange insult for the frontier, since Wichita had two licenced brothels and many more in the honkytonk district of Delano across the river). Wyatt responded to the insult, whatever it was, by getting into a fist fight with Smith and beating him. Meagher was forced to fire and arrest Earp for disturbing the peace, the end of a tour of duty which the papers called otherwise "unexceptionable." When Meagher eventually won the election, the city council was split evenly on re-hiring Earp. With the cattle trade diminishing in Wichita, however, Earp solved the problem by moving on to the next booming cow-town, Dodge City, Kansas.
Dodge City
Dodge City, Kansas became a major terminal for cattle driven from Texas along the Chisolm Trail from Texas after 1875. Earp was appointed assistant marshal in Dodge City, under Marshal Larry Deger, in 1876. There is some indication that Earp traveled to Deadwood, South Dakota Dakota Territory, during the winter of 1876-7. Wyatt was not on the police force in Dodge City in the later part of 1877, although he is listed as being on the force in the spring. His presence in Dodge as a private citizen is substantianted by a July notice in the newspaper that he was fined $1.00 for slapping a muscular prostitute named Frankie Bell, who (according to the papers) "...heaped epithets upon the unoffending head of Mr. Earp to such an extent as to provide a slap from the ex-officer..". Apportionment of the blame for this disturbance of the peace by those of the time is found in the fact that Bell spent the night in jail and was fined costs of $20.00, while Earp's fine was the legal minimum.
In October 1877, Earp left Dodge City for a short while to try his luck on the gambling circuit in Texas. During this time he stopped at Fort Griffin, Texas, where (according to Wyatt's recollection in the Stuart Lake biography) he met a young, card-playing dentist known as Doc Holliday.
Earp returned to Dodge City in 1878 to become the assistant city-marshal under Charles Bassett. Holliday moved to Dodge City in June 1878, and saved Earp's life in August of the same year. While trying to break up a bar-room brawl, a cowboy drew a gun and pointed it at Earp's back. Holliday yelled, "Look out, Wyatt," then drew his gun, scaring the cowboy enough to make him back off. This would mark the beginning of Earp's and Holliday's friendship.
In the summer of 1878, Texas cowboy George Hoy, after an altercation with Wyatt, returned with friends and fired into the Comique variety hall, outside of which stood police officers Wyatt Earp and Jim Masterson. Inside the theater, a great number of .45 bullets penetrated the plank building easily, sending Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, comedian Eddie Foy and many others instantly to the floor. Masterson, Foy, and the National Police Gazette later all gave accounts of the damage to the building and danger to those inside. No one was hurt, but this was by pure luck (Foy would note that a new suit of his, which remained hanging up, was holed three times by bullets). The lawmen both inside and outside the building returned fire, and Hoy was shot from his horse as he rode away, with a severe wound to the arm. A month later, he died of the wound. Whose bullet struck Hoy is unknown, but Wyatt would always claim the shot.
Earp, many years later, claimed Hoy was attempting to assassinate him at the behest of Robert Wright, with whom he claimed an ongoing feud. Earp said the feud between himself and Wright started when Earp arrested Bob Rachals, a prominent trail leader who had shot a German fiddler. According to Earp, Wright tried to block the arrest because Rachals was one of the largest financial contributors to the Dodge City economy. Earp claimed that Wright then hired Clay Allison to kill Earp, but Allison backed down when confronted by Earp and Bat Masterson.
Clay Allison was also a moderately famous character of the Old West, but current research cannot confirm the tale of Earp and Masterson ever confronting him. Bat Masterson was out of town when Allison tried to "tree" (scare) Dodge City on September 19, 1878, and witnesses, cowboy Charles Siringo and Chalkley M. Beeson, proprietor of the famous Long Branch saloon, left written recollections of the incident. They said it was actually Texas cattleman Richard McNulty who faced down Allison. It may be that the incident that both Earp and Masterson remembered happened at another time, but no account of another incident has yet come to light.
Arriving in Dodge with Earp was Celia "Mattie" Blaylock, a former prostitute, who would continue with Earp until 1882.
Earp resigned from the Dodge City police force on September 9, 1878, and headed to Las Vegas, New Mexico.
The "Buntline Special"
Deputy Earp was known for pistol-whipping armed cow boys before they could dispute town ordinances against carrying of firearms. What kind of pistol Wyatt used for the job has been a mystery.
The existence of Earp's long-barreled pistol, for many years doubted, may have been a reality. The Lake biography, in describing its origin is probably incorrect, however. The story of the Buntline begins with the murder of actress Dora Hand in 1878. Dora was shot by a gentleman attempting to kill Dodge City mayor, James H. "Dog" Kelly. Dora was a guest in Kelly's house and sleeping in his bed at the time while Kelly and wife were out of town. Dora was a celebrity in 1878 and her murder was a national story. Earp was in the posse which brought down the murderer. The story of the capture was reported in newspapers as far as New York and California.
Five men were dispatched as a posse to capture the assassin: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, a very young Bill Tilghman, Charlie Bassett and William Duffy. Earp shot the man's horse and Masterson wounded the assassin, James "Spike" Kenedy, son of Texas cattleman Miflin Kenedy. The Dodge City Times called them "as intrepid a posse as ever pulled a trigger".
It is very likely that Dora's murder and the tracking down of her assassin were the events which caused Ned Buntline to bestow the gift of the "Buntline Specials". Earp's biography claimed the Specials were given to "famous lawmen" Earp, Masterson, Tilghman, Basset and Neal Brown in 1876 by author Ned Buntline in return for "local color" for his western yarns. The historical problem, of course, is that neither Tilghman nor Brown was a lawman then. Tilghman was only 18. Further, Buntline wrote only four western yarns, all about Buffalo Bill. So, if Buntline got any "local color", he never used it. His stock in trade was sea yarns (a buntline is a knot). It is most probable that 80 year old Earp "misremembered" Brown (who was a true tough guy and teamed up with Earp another time) for Duffy (who never appeared in history again).
If Lake made up the Buntline Special he even fooled himself because he spent an extraordinary amount of time trying to track it down through the Colt company and Masterson and contacts in Alaska. In all probability it was a 10 inch barreled Colt Single Action Army model with standard sights and wooden grips into which the name, "Ned", was carved. (And, sorry, no shoulder stock). This gibes with both Lake's original description and the description of one eyewitness to the gunfight at the O.K. corral shooting. The butcher, Bauer, saw a "pistol 14 or 16 inches long." A Colt SAA with a 10 inch barrel is exactly 15 inches overall. On the other hand, it is very possible that Bauer was looking at Holliday's short shotgun, and it is known that Wyatt was carrying his side-arm in the pocket of his pea-coat. This is not the place for a pistol with a 10-inch barrel.
Tombstone
Wyatt and his older brothers James (Jim) and Virgil moved to silver-mining boomtown Tombstone, Arizona Territory, in December, 1879. Wyatt brought a wagon with him that he planned to convert into a stagecoach, but on arrival he found two established stage lines already running. Good-natured Jim worked as a barkeep. Virgil was appointed deputy U.S. marshal, just prior to arriving in Tombstone. [The U.S. marshal for the Arizona Territory, C.P. Dake, was based in Prescott 280 miles (about 450 km) away, so the deputy U.S. marshal job in Tombstone represented federal authority in the southwest area of the territory.] In Tombstone, the Earps staked mining claims. Wyatt also went to work for Wells Fargo, riding shotgun for their stagecoaches when they held strongboxes, a position usually called "messenger" (see shotgun messenger).
Eventually, in the summer of 1881, younger brothers Morgan and Warren Earp moved to Tombstone, as well.
On July 25, 1880, U.S. deputy marshal Virgil Earp accused Frank McLaury, a "Cowboy," (often capitalized in papers as a local term for a cattle-dealer that often was synonymous with rustler) of taking part in the stealing of six Army mules from Camp Rucker. This was a federal matter, because the animals were federal property. The McLaurys were caught red-handed by the army representative and Earp, changing the "U.S." brand to "D.8." However, to avoid a fight the posse withdrew on the understanding that the mules would be returned. They were not. In response, the Army's representative published an account in the papers, damaging Frank McLaury's reputation. This incident would mark the beginning of animosity between the McLaurys and the Earps.
About the same time, Wyatt was appointed deputy sheriff for the southern part of Pima County, which was at that time the surrounding country containing Tombstone. The office of sheriff was, of course, a county position. Wyatt would serve in office only three months.
In September 1880, Doc Holliday moved to Tombstone.
On October 28, 1880, as Tombstone town-marshal (police chief) Fred White was trying to break up a group of late revelers shooting at the moon on Allen Street in Tombstone, he was shot in the groin as he attempted to confiscate the pistol of "Curly Bill" William Brocius, who was apparently one of the group. The pistol was later found to be fully-loaded except for one expended cartridge, implying that Brocius had not been shooting. Morgan and Wyatt Earp and Wells, Fargo agent Fred Dodge came to White's aid. Wyatt hit Brocius over the head with a pistol borrowed from Dodge and disarmed Brocius, arresting him on the deadly weapon assault charge (Virgil Earp would replace White as town marshal, but Virgil was not present at White's shooting or Brocius' arrest). Wyatt and Virgil took Brocius the next day under heavy guard to Tucson to stand trial, possibly saving him from being lynched. White died of his wound two days after his shooting, changing the charge to murder.
Wyatt Earp resigned as deputy sheriff of Pima County on November 9, 1880 (just 12 days after the White shooting), because of an election vote-counting dispute. The problem was that Wyatt favored the Republican challenger Bob Paul, rather than his current boss, Pima Sheriff Charlie Shibell. Democrat Shibell was re-elected after what was later found to be ballot-box stuffing by area Cowboys. He appointed Democrat Johnny Behan as the new deputy undersheriff for the south Pima area, to replace Earp.
Several months later, when the southern portion of Pima County was split off into Cochise County, both Earp and Behan were applicants to be appointed to fill the new position. Wyatt, as former undersheriff and a Republican in the same party as Territorial governor Fremont, assumed he had a good chance at appointment, but also knew current undersheriff Behan had political influence in Prescott. Earp would later say he made a deal with Behan that if he (Earp) withdrew his application, that Behan would name Earp as undersheriff if he won. Behan would testify there was never any such deal, but that he had indeed promised Wyatt the job if Behan won, no strings attached. However, after Behan did gain appointment as sheriff of the new Cochise County in February 1881, he chose Harry Woods (a prominent Democrat) to be the undersheriff. This left Wyatt Earp without a job in Tombstone, even after Wyatt's friend Bob Paul later won the disputed Pima sheriff election. Fortunately for Earp, about this time all the Earps were beginning to make some money on their mining claims in the Tombstone area.
On December 27, 1880, Wyatt testified in Tucson court regarding the Brocius-White shooting. Partly because of Earp's testimony (and also testimony given by White himself, before he died, that he thought the shooting had not been intentional), the judge ruled the shooting accidental, and set Brocius free. Brocius, however, would remain a friend of the McLaurys and (after the O.K. Corral fight) a deadly Earp enemy. He would later become one of the principal targets in what became known as the Earp Vendetta Ride.
Shortly after Wyatt resigned his position as deputy sheriff, he had one of his branded horses stolen. Later, after the election dispute court hearings began (probably in early January 1881), Wyatt heard that the horse was in the possession of Ike Clanton and Billy Clanton, who had a ranch near Charleston. Earp (now again a private citizen) and Holliday rode to Charleston (passing on their way deputy sheriff Behan, heading to serve an election-hearing subpoena on Ike Clanton) and recovered the horse. The incident, while nonviolent, damaged the the Clantons' reputations. It also began the Earps' public difficulties with Behan, who later testified that Earp and Holliday had put a scare into the Clantons by telling them that Behan was on his way with an armed posse to arrest them for horse theft. Such a mission would have had the effect of turning the Clantons against Behan, who badly needed the Clantons' political support since they certainly weren't afraid of him (according to Behan's testimony, Ike swore at the time that he'd never stand for being arrested by Behan). In any case, an embarrassed Behan would give this incident as his reason for not naming Earp as his undersheriff. If Behan ever served his subpoena on Ike Clanton, Ike never responded to it, and Behan never tried to enforce the summons.
In January, 1881 Wyatt Earp became part owner, with Lou Rickabaugh and others, in the gambling concession at the Oriental Saloon. Shortly thereafter, in Earp's story, John Tyler was hired by a rival gambling operator to cause trouble at the Oriental to keep patrons away. After losing a bet, Tyler became belligerent and Earp took him by the ear and threw him out of the saloon. This episode is seen in the film Tombstone.
Tensions between the Earps and both the Clantons and McLaurys increased through 1881. In March, 1881, three Cowboys attempted an unsuccessful stagecoach holdup, during which the driver was killed. There were rumors that Doc Holliday (who was a known friend of one of the suspects) had been involved, though the formal accusation of Doc's involvement was started by Doc's drunken companion Big Nose Kate after a quarrel, and later recanted after she sobered. Wyatt later testified that in order to help clear Doc's name and to help himself win the next sheriff's election, he went to Ike Clanton and offered to give him all the reward money for information leading to capture of robbers. According to Earp, Clanton agreed to provide information for the capture, knowing that if word got out to the Cowboys that he had double-crossed them, that Clanton's life would be worth little.
Later, after all three Cowboy suspects in the stage robbery were killed in unrelated violent incidents, and there was no reward to be made from them, Clanton accused Earp of leaking their deal to either his brother Morgan, or to Holliday. Clanton especially blamed Holliday.
Meanwhile, tensions between the Earps and the McLaurys increased with the holdup of yet another stage in the Tombstone area (Sept. 8), this one a passenger stage in the Sandy Bob line, bound for nearby Bisbee. The masked robbers shook down the passengers (the stage had no strongbox) and in the process were recognized from their voices and language as Pete Spence (an alias) and Frank Stilwell, who was at the time a deputy of Sheriff Behan's. Wyatt and Virgil Earp rode in the posse attempting to track the Bisbee stage robbers, and during the tracking, Wyatt discovered the unusual print of a custom repaired boot heel. Checking a shoe repair shop in Bisbee known to provide widened bootheels led to indentification of Stilwell as a recent customer, and a check of a Bisbee coral turned up Spence and Stilwell, Stilwell being found with a new set of wide custom boot heels matching the prints of the robber. Stilwell and Spence were arrested by the sheriff's posse under sheriff's deputies Breakenridge and Nagel for the stage robbery, and later by US deputy marshal Virgil Earp on the federal offense of mail robbery. However, despite the evidence, both Stilwell and Spence were released on bail.
A month later (Oct. 8) came yet another stage robbery, this one near Contention. Though five robbers were seen involved, again Spence and Stilwell were arrested for the crime Oct. 13,, and taken by Virgil and Wyatt Earp to jail in Tucson. This final incident, occuring less than two weeks before the O.K. Corral shootout, had the immediate effect of causing Frank McLaury, who was a friend of Spence and Stilwell, to confront Morgan Earp while Wyatt and Virgil were out of town booking Spence and Stilwell. Frank reportadly told Morgan that the McLaurys would kill the Earps if they tried to arrest either man again, or the McLaurys. These personalized threats by McLaury against the lives of the Earps for performing their official duty would rankle the Earps, very shortly before Ike Clanton caused the situation to turn violent.
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Wyatt Earp participated in this conflict at the request of Virgil Earp, giving him authority during the fight as acting under direction of the city marshal. However, Earp was not formally a city lawman at the time of the fight, but was rather deputized for the occasion, as was Holliday. Wyatt spoke of his brothers Virgil and Morgan as the "marshals" while he himself acted as "deputy." In this sense, Wyatt uses the word "deputy" as he would all his life, as referring to a man deputized for an occasion (such a posse) but not a man in regular employment as an officer.
Wyatt's testimony at the Spicer indictment hearing was in writing (as was permitted by law, which allowed statements without cross-examination at pre-trials) and Wyatt therefore wasn't cross-examined. Wyatt testified that he and Billy Clanton began the fight after Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury drew their pistols, and Wyatt shot Frank in the stomach while Billy shot at Wyatt, and missed.
The unarmed Ike Clanton escaped the fight unwounded, as did the unarmed Billy Claiborne. Wyatt was not hit in the fight, while Doc Holliday, Virgil Earp, and Morgan Earp were wounded. Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury, and Frank McLaury were killed.
Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury were armed with pistols, and used them to wound Virgil, Morgan and Doc. Whether Tom McLaury was armed during the fight was an open question at the time, and remains open today. In his testimony, Wyatt states that he believes Tom was armed with a pistol, but his language here (and nowhere else in his testimony) contains equivocation. The same is true of Virgil Earp's testimony on Tom. Both brothers left themselves room for contradiction on this point, but neither one was equivocal about the fact that Tom had been killed by Holliday with the shotgun.
From Heroes to Defendants
On October 30, Ike Clanton filed murder charges against the Earps and Holliday. Wyatt and Holliday were arrested and brought before the Justice of the Peace, Wells Spicer, while Morgan and Virgil were still recovering. Bail was set at $10,000 apiece. The hearing to determine if there was enough evidence to go to trial started November 1. The first witnesses were Billy Allen and Behan. Allen testified that Holliday fired the first shot and that the second one also came from the Earp party, while Billy Clanton had his hands in the air. Then Behan testified that he heard Billy Clanton say, "Don't shoot me. I don't want to fight." He also testified that Tom McLaury threw open his coat to show that he wasn't armed and that the first two shots were fired by the Earp party. Behan also said that he thought the next three shots also came from the Earp party. Behan's views turned public opinion against the Earps. His testimony portrayed a far different gunfight than had been first reported in the local papers.
Because of Allen's and Behan's testimony and the testimony of several other prosecution witnesses, Wyatt and Holliday's lawyers were presented with a writ of habeas corpus from the probate court and appeared before Judge John Henry Lucas. After arguments were given, the Judge ordered them to be put in jail. By the time Ike Clanton took the stand on November 9, the prosecution had built an impressive case. Several prosecution witnesses had testified that Tom McLaury was unarmed, that Billy Clanton had his hands in the air and that neither of the McLaurys were troublemakers. They portrayed Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury as being unjustly bullied and beaten by the vengeful Earps on the day of the gunfight. The Earps and Holliday looked certain to be convicted until Ike Clanton inadvertently came to their rescue.
Clanton's testimony repeated the story of abuse that he had suffered at the hands of the Earps and Holliday the night before the gunfight. He reiterated that Holliday and Morgan Earp had fired the first two shots and that the next several shots also came from the Earp party. Then under cross-examination, Clanton told a story of the lead-up to the gunfight which did not make sense. By the time he finished his testimony, the entire prosecution case had become suspect.
The first witness for the defense was Wyatt Earp. He read a prepared statement explaining that they were going to disarm the cowboys and that they fired on them in self defense. Because of Arizona's territorial laws allowing a defendant in a preliminary hearing to make a statement in his behalf without facing cross-examination, the prosecution never got a chance to question Earp. After the defense had clearly established serious doubts about the prosecution's case, the judge allowed Holliday and Earp to return to their homes in time for Thanksgiving.
Spicer ruled that the evidence indicated that the Earps and Holliday acted within the law (with Holliday and Wyatt effectively having been deputized temporarily by Virgil) and he invited the Cochise County grand jury to reevaluate his decision. Spicer did not condone the Earps' actions and he criticized Virgil Earp's choice of deputies, but he concluded that no laws were broken. He made special point of the fact that Ike Clanton, known to be unarmed, had been allowed to pass through the center of the fight without being shot.
Even though the Earps and Holliday were free, their reputation was tarnished. Supporters of the cow-boys (a very small minority) in Tombstone looked upon the Earps as robbers and murderers. However, on December 16, the grand jury decided not to reverse Spicer's decision.
Cow-boy Revenge
On December 28, while walking between saloons on Allen Street in Tombstone, Virgil was shot by three men using double-barreled shotguns. His left arm and shoulder took the brunt of the damage. Ike Clanton's hat was found in the back of the building across Allen street, from where the shots were fired. Wyatt wired U.S. Marshal Crawley Dake asking to be appointed deputy U.S. Marshal with authority to select his own deputies. Dake responded by doing exactly that. In mid-January, Earp sold his gambling concessions at the Oriental when Rickabaugh sold the saloon to Milt Joyce, an Earp adversary. On February 2, 1882, Wyatt and Virgil, tired of all the criticism leveled against them, submitted their resignations to Dake, who refused to accept them. On the same day, Wyatt sent a message to Ike Clanton that said he wanted to reconcile their differences and obliterate the animosity between them. Clanton refused. Also on the same day, Clanton was acquitted of the charges against him in the shooting of Virgil Earp, when the defense brought in seven witnesses that testified that Clanton was in Charleston at the time of the shooting.
Clanton went before the Justice of the Peace J. B. Smith in Contention and again filed charges against the Earps and Holliday for the murder of Billy Clanton and the McLaurys. A large posse escorted the Earps to Contention, fearing that the cowboys would try to ambush the Earps on the unprotected roadway, with just Behan serving as guard. The charges were dismissed by Judge Lucas because of Smith's judicial ineptness. The prosecution immediately filed a new warrant for murder charges, issued by Justice Smith, but Judge Lucas quickly dismissed it writing in his decision that new evidence would have to be submitted before a second hearing would be called. Because the November hearing before Spicer was not a trial, Clanton had the right to continue pushing for prosecution, but the prosecution would have to come up with new evidence of murder before the case could be considered.
After attending a show of Stolen Kisses on March 18, Morgan Earp wanted to play some pool. Wyatt tried to convince Morgan to head home. He had heard rumors that the cowboys were going to attack that night. Morgan insisted on playing a game of pool, so they headed to Campbell and Hatch's saloon. At ten minutes before 11, Morgan walked around the table to line up a shot, leaving his back to the glass door at the rear of the room. With the lights on inside, anyone standing in the alley could easily see through the glass and spot the figures inside. While Morgan leaned over the table to take the pool shot, a rifle shot came through the glass and hit Morgan in the lower back. A second shot hit the wall just over Wyatt's head. By the time anybody could get to the alley, the assassins were gone. Morgan died from his wounds less than an hour later, lying on a couch in the poolhall.
The Arizona Vendetta (Earp Vendetta Ride)
Wyatt, determined to avenge one brother's death and another brother's maiming, made arrangements to send Virgil and his wife Allie to the family home in Colton, California. Morgan's wife was also in Colton, where she had traveled for safety before Morgan was killed. James Earp accompanied Morgan's body, which was sent to Colton, from the railhead in Benson. The next day, when Wyatt took Virgil and Allie to the rail depot in Contention for their own passage back to Colton, he received a warning that Ike Clanton, Frank Stilwell, Billy Miller and another cow-boy were watching all the trains leaving the area so that they could kill Virgil. Wyatt, Warren Earp, Holliday, John Johnson and Sherman McMasters decided to accompany Virgil and Allie on the train until it reached Tucson. After having dinner in Tucson, Virgil and Allie got back on board, headed for California. When the train pulled away from the station in the dark, gunfire was heard. Witnesses only saw men running with weapons far away, and nothing could be identified. Stilwell's body was found on the tracks the next morning.
Wyatt later said he saw Frank Stilwell (who was in Tucson to face a charge of stage-robbery) and another man he believed to be Clanton lying prone on a flatcar, shotguns in hand. As Wyatt approached, the two men ran. Stilwell stumbled, and, by Wyatt's own admission, he shot Stilwell while Stillwel was fending off the barrel of Earp's shotgun and saying "Morg!" (possibly confusing Wyatt for Morgan). Stilwell's body was found with not only shotgun wounds, but many other bullet wounds as well, and other parties with Wyatt obviously joined in Stilwell's killing (or at least, shooting). Wyatt Earp, a man who took pride in avoiding bloodshed, had now crossed the line into a murder.
Ike Clanton, would-be murderer, once again got away. What Stilwell was doing on the tracks near the Earps' train has never been explained. However, Ike Clanton once again made his own case worse by giving an interview to the newspapers claiming that he and Stilwell had been in Tucson for Stilwell's legal problems, and that they'd heard that the Earps were going in on a train to kill Stilwell. Stilwell then disappeared from the hotel and was found later blocks away, on the tracks, dead. By Ike Clanton's account, the Earp party was not in Tucson to protect the wounded Virgil (although Virgil was there), but to kill Stilwell. And Stilwell, knowing this, obligingly went to the tracks near Virgil's train after dark, in order to be killed. Once again, this is an Ike Clanton story which few believed.
A warrant for the arrest of Wyatt Earp, Warren Earp, Holliday, Johnson and McMasters as suspects in the murder of Stilwell, was nevertheless issued.
Based on the testimony of Pete Spence's wife, Marietta, at the coroner's inquest on the killing of Morgan, the coroners jury concluded that Spence, Stilwell, Frederick Bode, and Florentino "Indian Charlie" Cruz were the prime suspects in the assassination of Morgan Earp. Spence immediately turned himself in so that he would be protected in Behan's jail. The trial for the murder of Morgan Earp began on April 2 and ended very quickly when the prosecution called Mrs. Spence to the stand, and the defense objected to the testimony (which would have been hearsay, and also partly testimony of a wife against a husband). Without Mrs. Spence, the prosecution dropped its case.
Pima County justice of the peace Charles Meyer sent a telegram to Tombstone saying that the Earps were wanted in Tucson for the killing of Stilwell, and Behan should arrest them. The manager of the telegraph office, a friend of the Earps, showed the message to Wyatt before delivering it to Behan and agreed to hold on to it long enough for the Earp posse to leave town again. Behan got the message just as Earp's posse was getting ready to leave. Behan approached them to arrest them, but they told him that they would be seeing Pima County sheriff Bob Paul about the matter, and rode out.
By then, "Texas" Jack Vermillion had joined the Earp posse and Behan had deputized Johnny Ringo, Phin Clanton and other cowboys so that they could be part of the posse that arrested the Earps. Officially a territorial federal (U.S. Marshal's) posse was now hunting for a local country Sherrif's posse, both armed with warrants for men in the other bands. Historians have noted that for two weeks both these posses managed to avoid each other remarkably well.
On March 22, the Earps found Florentino "Indian Charlie" Cruz in the Dragoon Mountains. Earp said that he got Cruz to confess to being the lookout, while Stilwell, Hank Swelling, Curly Bill and Ringo killed Morgan. After the "confession," Wyatt shot Cruz. The coroner's inquest found Cruz with a leg wound, a wound to the pelvis, and a shot to the side of the head. Wyatt Earp would later tell the story of letting Cruz draw a pistol in a set-up contest for his life. This story does not jibe with an earwitness acount at the coroner's inquest, which noted a relatively short time between the first and last shots of the Cruz murder.
Two days later, in Iron Springs, Arizona, the Earp party confronted a group of cowboys led by "Curley Bill" William B. Brocious. In Wyatt's account, he jumped from his horse to fight when he noticed the rest of his posse retreating as fast as their horses could carry them. Curley Bill and some of his companions got off a few shots that perforated both sides of Wyatt's long coat and hit his boot heel and saddle, before Wyatt returned fire and hit Curley Bill in the chest with a shotgun blast. Wyatt finally was able to mount his horse and retreat. Brocious' friends buried Curley Bill on the Patterson ranch near the Babocomari River. His grave is unmarked. Some have claimed he survived, but he was never seen again.
Apparently Brocious' compadre Johnny Barnes, the man who many credited with firing the shot that permanently crippled Virgil Earp, also received wounds in the Iron Springs fight, and later died from them. Before he died, Barnes told Wells Fargo agent Floyd Dodge that Wyatt Earp had killed Brocious.
Life after Tombstone
After the killing of Curley Bill, the Earps left Arizona and headed to Colorado. In a stop over in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wyatt and Holliday had a falling out but remained on fairly good terms. The group split up after that with Holliday heading to Pueblo and then Denver. The Earps and Texas Jack set up camp on the outskirts of Gunnison, Colorado, where they remained quiet at first, rarely going into town for supplies. Eventually, Wyatt took over a faro game at a local saloon.
Slowly all of the Earp assets in Tombstone were sold to pay for taxes, and the stake the family had amassed eroded. Wyatt and Warren joined Virgil in San Francisco in late 1882. While there, Wyatt rekindled a romance with Josie Marcus, Behan's one-time fiancée. His common-law wife, Mattie waited for him in Colton but eventually realized Wyatt was not coming back (Wyatt had left Mattie the house when he left Tombstone). Earp left San Francisco with Josie in 1883 and she became his companion for the next forty-six years (no marriage certificate has been found). Earp and Marcus returned to Gunnison where they settled down and Earp continued to run a faro bank.
In 1883, Earp returned, along with Bat Masterson, to Dodge City to help a friend deal with the corrupt mayor. What became known as the Dodge City War was started with the mayor of Dodge City tried to run Luke Short first out of business and then out of town. Short appealed to Masterson who contacted Earp. While Short was discussing the matter with Governor George Washington Glick in Kansas City, Earp showed up with Johnny Millsap, Shotgun Collins, Texas Jack Vermillion, and Johnny Green. They marched up Front Street into Short's saloon where they were sworn in as deputies by constable "Prairie Dog" Dave Marrow. The town council offered a compromise to allow Short to return for ten days to get his affairs in order, but Earp refused compromise. When Short returned, there was no force ready to turn him away. Short's Saloon reopened and The Dodge City War ended without a shot being fired.
Earp spent the next decade running saloons and gambling concessions and investing in mines in Colorado and Idaho, with stops in various boom towns. In 1886 Earp and Josie moved to San Diego and stayed there about four years.
On July 3, 1888, Mattie Earp committed suicide in Pinal, Arizona Territory by taking an overdose of laudanum. There is no historical evidence that, in her life with Earp, Mattie was the laudanum addict and generally impossible woman that she is portrayed to be in the film "Wyatt Earp".
The Earps moved back to San Francisco during the 1890s so Josie could be closer to her family and Wyatt closer to his new job, managing a horse stable in Santa Rosa. During the summer of 1896, Earp wrote his memoirs with the help of a ghost writer (Flood). On December 3, 1896, Earp was the referee for the boxing match to determine the heavyweight championship of the world. During the fight Bob Fitzsimmons, clearly in control, landed a low blow against Tom Sharkey. Earp awarded the victory to Sharkey and was accused of committing fraud. Fitzsimmons had an injunction put on the prize money until the courts could determine who the rightful winner was. The judge in the case decided that because fighting, and therefore prize fighting, was illegal in San Francisco, that the courts wouldn't determine who the real winner was. The decision provided no vindication for Earp.
In the fall of 1897, Earp and Josie chased another gold rush, this time to Alaska. Earp ran several saloons and gambling concessions in Nome. They would return to San Francisco or Seattle, Washington. While living in Alaska, Earp met and became friends with Jack London. Controversy continued to follow Earp and he was arrested several times for different minor offenses.
The Earps eventually moved to Hollywood, where he met several famous and soon to be famous actors on the sets of various movies. On the set of one movie, he met a young extra and prop man who would eventually become John Wayne. Wayne would later tell Hugh O'Brian that he based his image of the Western lawman on his conversations with Earp. But Earp's best friend in Hollywood was William S. Hart, the biggest cowboy star of his time. In the early 1920s, Earp served as deputy sheriff in a mostly ceremonial position in San Bernardino County.
When Wyatt died of chronic cystitis in 1929 at age 80, William S. Hart was a pallbearer. Josie had Wyatt's body cremated and buried Wyatt's ashes in the Marcus family plot at the Hills of Eternity, a Jewish cemetery (Josie was Jewish) in Colma, California. When she died in 1944, Josie's ashes were buried next to Wyatt's. The original gravemarker was stolen in 1957 (no doubt by a watcher of the big Burt Lancaster Earp movie of that year), but has since been replaced by a flat marker.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyatt_Earp
