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Not the average Wednesday
afternoon
By Todd DeFeo
On an October afternoon 123 years ago
yesterday, Wyatt Earp, two of his brothers and Doc Holliday walked
along the streets of Tombstone, Ariz., and into history. Earp, who
arrived in the town almost two years earlier hoping to strike it rich,
found himself in the middle of an epic showdown n the "Gunfight at the
OK Corral."
The shootout, today remembered in movies and
books, is the quintessential Wild West myth, still debated and
researched by historians. But exactly what happened n that is who shot
first n is probably lost to history. The facts of the shootout differ
depending on who is recounting the event. What historians do know is
that the gunfight wasn't an isolated incident between the Earps and
the cowboys. And it turned Wyatt Earp, a lawman and a gambler, into an
outlaw.
When Wyatt arrived in Tombstone in December
1879, he wasn't looking to return to his law enforcement past; he was
looking to strike it rich. Ironically, not too long after his arrival,
on July 31, 1880, he was appointed a deputy sheriff of the Tombstone
district of Pima County, Ariz. And early in 1881, Wyatt hoped to be
appointed sheriff of the newly formed Cochise County, but Johnny Behan,
a Southern Democrat with ties to a group of people known as cowboys,
was appointed to the post.
Wyatt's run in with the cowboys began on Oct.
28, 1880, when he arrests "Curly" Bill Brocius for the shooting death
of Tombstone City Marshall Fred White, laying the groundwork for what
would be a tumultuous next two years. Brocius was later cleared in
White's death. But a few months later, after the Benson stage is
robbed on March 15, 1881, and two people are killed, associates of the
McLaury and Clanton families, who run with the cowboy crowd, are
implicated in the crime. The feud heats up when Cochise County Sheriff
Johnny Behan arrests Holliday, charging him with the robbery.
Historians believe Behan was attempting to set up Holliday.
Interestingly in June 1881, Wyatt strikes a
deal with Ike Clanton to help solve the crime, though the deal falls
apart. A second robbery n this time of the Bisbee Stage in September
1881 n pits Wyatt against the cowboys because the stage's driver
identifies Pete Spence and Frank Stillwell, a deputy under Behan, as
the perpetrators. And later that month, Wyatt, along with his brother
Virgil and Fred Dodge, arrest Spence and Stillwell, further agitating
the cowboys.
While the incidents to date fueled the
proverbial fire and escalated the feud between the Earps and the
cowboys, it was an incident on Oct. 25, 1881, that would be the
breaking point. After a night of drinking at the Alhambra Saloon, Ike
Clanton begins threatening the Earps and Holliday. The next morning,
Ike runs through town with a rifle and threatens to shoot Wyatt, and
Virgil later arrests Ike, charging him with violating Tombstone's
ordinance prohibiting guns. Ike pays a $25 fine and on his way out of
court he runs into Wyatt.
Later that afternoon, Ike and some of his
cowboy friends gather in a lot behind the OK Corral. Behan confronts
the cowboys and urges, "I don't want any trouble boys, let me have
your weapons." Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury tell Behan they are
unharmed; Frank McLaury, citing threats to his life, refuses to
disarm.
In the meantime, Wyatt, Virgil, their brother
Morgan and Doc, make their way along Allen Street. They turn right on
Fremont and left onto Fourth, where they run into Behan, who tells the
four, "I have disarmed them." The Earps and Holliday do not stop,
instead making their way to the lot behind the OK Corral, soon coming
upon the cowboys.
What happened next has become some of the most
disputed facts in Wild West history. Most accounts indicate Wyatt and
Billy Clanton fired the first shots, though a bullet fired by Doc is
believed to have killed Billy. Doc also kills Tom McLaury and shoots
at Ike as he is fleeing. Doc also shoots Frank McLaury in the head,
after a bullet from Frank's gun grazes him in the hip. In the
shootout, which lasted about 30 seconds, Virgil was shot in the leg
and Morgan was wounded in both shoulders.
While the shootout is the most famous incident
in the history of the Earp-cowboy feud, it is merely the middle point.
Earp and Holliday were subsequently charged with murder and faced a
trial. Judge Wells Spicer acquitted the pair, and that once again
seems to further fuel the feud. On Dec. 28, 1881, Virgil is shot in
the arm and the following day, Wyatt is sworn in as deputy Marshall.
Three months later, on March 18, 1882, Morgan is killed.
The two incidents spark Wyatt to seek revenge.
On a rampage, Wyatt uses his law enforcement position to hunt down and
kill Frank Stillwell, "Indian Charlie" and Bill Brocius, all men he
believes had a hand in Morgan's death. Soon after the three killings,
Earp flees Arizona n he is now an outlaw.
What really happened before and after the
Shootout at the OK Corral warrants an examination, even if it is 123
years later. What's most interesting about the circumstances
surrounding the "Gunfight at the OK Corral" is Wyatt Earp, a man
generally regarded as an honest law enforcement officer, actually
turns into a fugitive, wanted for murder.
Published Oct. 27, 2004,
in the Daily Herald of McDonough, Ga.
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