Wyatt
Earp (2)
(March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929)
 Contents
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 away, so the deputy U.S. marshal job in
Tombstone represented federal authority in the southwest area of
the territory.] In
Tombstone, the Earp’s 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". Eventually, in the summer of 1880, 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, along with 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 a deputy took Brocius in a wagon the next day to Tucson to
stand trial, possibly saving him from being lynched (Brocius
waived preliminary hearing to get out of town faster, probably
believing the same). White, age 31, died of his wound two days after his shooting,
changing the charge to murder.
On December 27, 1880, Wyatt
testified in Tucson court regarding the Brocius-White shooting.
Partly because of Wyatt ’s testimony (and also a
statement 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.
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.
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 Wyatt.
Several months later, when the
southern portion of Pima County was split off into Cochise
County,
both Wyatt 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.
Wyatt would later testify that he made a deal with Behan
that if he (Wyatt) 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 gained appointment as sheriff of
the new Cochise County in February 1881, he in fact 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 Wyatt, about this time all the Earps were beginning to make
some money on their mining claims in the Tombstone area.
Wyatt had had one of his branded
horses stolen in late 1879, shortly after he arrived in Tombstone.
More than a year later, after the election dispute court
hearings began (probably in December, 1880 or early January 1881),
Wyatt heard that the horse was in the possession of Ike Clanton
and Billy Clanton, who had a ranch near Charleston. Wyatt (now
again a private citizen) and Holliday rode to Charleston (passing
on their way deputy sheriff Behan in a wagon with two other men,
heading to serve an election-hearing subpoena on Ike Clanton) and
recovered the horse. Wyatt
would testify in disgust at the Spicer Hearing that Billy Clanton
had given up the horse even before being presented with ownership
papers, showing that he knew it was stolen.
The incident, while nonviolent, damaged the Clantons'
reputations and convinced the Earps that the Clantons were horse
thieves.
This incident also began the
Earps' public difficulties with Behan (at least according to Behan),
who later testified that Wyatt 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 Wyatt '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 Wyatt 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 near Benson, during which the driver and
passenger were murdered in the gunfire.
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 Frank McLaury and offered to give him all the reward money for
information leading to capture of robbers.
According to Wyatt, both Frank McLaury and Ike Clanton
agreed to provide information for the capture, knowing that if
word got out to the Cowboys that he had double-crossed them, that
the lives of Frank and Ike 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 Wyatt 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 (September 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, a
business partner of Spence who was also 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 boot heels led to identification of Stilwell as a recent
customer, and a check of a Bisbee corral (Silwell and Spence were
business partners with interests in Bisbee) turned up both 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 U.S.
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 (October 8) came
yet another stage robbery, this one near Contention City.
Though five robbers were seen involved, again Spence and
Stilwell were arrested October 13, and taken by Virgil and Wyatt
Earp to jail and arraignment in Tucson.
The papers of the time reported that they had been arrested
for the Contention robbery, but they had actually been re-arrested
by Virgil for the (new) federal charge of interfering with a mail
carrier for the earlier Bisbee robbery.
This final incident may have caused a misunderstanding
among Spence and Stilwell's friends, making them look like
scapegoats. Occurring less than two weeks before the O.K. Corral
shootout, it 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 still out of town for the Spence and
Stilwell hearing. Frank
reportedly 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.
The
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was an event of legendary
proportion in the Wild West. 'Bat' Masterson visited Wyatt Earp in
Tombstone, Arizona, leaving shortly before the famous event.
The gunfight occurred on Wednesday afternoon, October 26,
1881, in a vacant lot, known as lot 2, in block 17, behind the
corral, in Tombstone, Arizona. Thirty shots were fired in thirty seconds. Wyatt Earp, Doc
Holliday, Virgil Earp, and Morgan Earp fought against Billy
Claiborne, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Clanton, and Ike
Clanton. Both McLaurys were killed, as was Billy Clanton.
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. It
told of the Benson stage robbery conducted to cover up stolen
money that was actually not missing. Ike
also claimed that Doc Holliday and Morgan, Wyatt, and Virgil Earp
had all separately confessed to him their role in either the
pre-robbery of Benson stage money, the Benson stage holdup, or
else the cover-up of the robbery by allowing the robbers' escape. By
the time, Ike finished his testimony, the entire prosecution case
had become suspect.
The first witness for the defense
was Wyatt Earp. He
read a prepared statement detailing the Earps previous troubles
with the Clantons and McLaurys, and explaining why they were going
to disarm the Cowboys, and claiming 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 Wyatt. 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.
Justice Spicer eventually 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 all of the Earps' actions and he criticized Virgil
Earp's choice of deputies Wyatt and Holliday, 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 Cowboys (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.
Cowboy revenge
In December, 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.
At this point the Clantons and McLaurys were out of legal options.
Very shortly, illegal options would be tried.
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 granting the request.
In mid-January, Wyatt 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 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. 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.
Wyatt's Vendetta Ride
Detailed: Earp
Vendetta Ride
After attending a theater show on
March 18, Morgan Earp was assassinated by gunmen firing from a
dark alley, through the door window into the lighted pool hall. Morgan was hit in the lower back
while a second shot hit the wall just over Wyatt's head. The
assassins escaped in the dark and Morgan died less than an hour
later.
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.
Meanwhile, Wyatt had a brother to
bury, and another to protect. On Sunday, March 19, the day after
Morgan's murder, Wyatt, his brother James, and a group of friends
took Morgan's body to the railhead in Benson. There, they put
Morgan's body on the train with James, to accompany it to the
family home in Colton, California. There, Morgan's wife waited to
bury him.
The next day (Monday), it was
Virgil and his wife Allie's turn to be escorted safely out of Tombstone. Wyatt had gotten word that trains leaving from Benson
were being watched in Tucson, and getting the still-invalid Virgil
through Tucson to safety would be more difficult. Wyatt, Warren
Earp, Holliday, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson and Sherman McMasters
took Virgil and Allie in a wagon to the train in Benson, leaving
their own horses this time in Contention City, and boarding the
train with Virgil. As the train pulled away from the Tucson
station in the dark, gunfire was heard. Frank Stilwell's body was
found on the tracks the next morning.
What Stilwell was doing on the
tracks near the Earps' train, if not ill-intended, has never been
explained. Ike Clanton made his case worse by giving a newspaper
interview claiming that he and Stilwell had been in Tucson for
Stilwell's legal problems, and heard that the Earps were coming in
on a train to kill Stilwell. According to Ike, Stilwell then
disappeared from the hotel and was found later, blocks away, on
the tracks. Wyatt, many years later, in the Flood biography, said
that he and his party had seen Ike and Stilwell on the tracks with
weapons, and had shot Stilwell.
After killing Stilwell in Tucson
and sending their train on its way to California with Virgil, the
Earp party was afoot. They hopped a freight train back to Benson
and hired a wagon back to Contention, riding back into Tombstone
by the middle of the next day (Tues, March 21). They were now
wanted men, for once Stilwell's killing had been connected to the
Earp party on the train, warrants had been issued for five of the
Earp party. Ignoring Johnny Behan and now joined by Texas Jack
Vermillion, the Earp posse road out of town the same evening.
The next morning, on Wednesday
March 22, the Earps rode to the woodcamp of Pete Spence at South
Pass in the Dragoon Mountains, looking for Spence. By now, they
knew of the Morgan Earp inquest testimony. Spence was in jail, but
at the woodcamp, the Earp posse found Florentino "Indian
Charlie" Cruz. Earp said to his biographer Lake that he got
Cruz to confess to being the lookout, while Stilwell, Hank
Swilling, Curly Bill and Ringo killed Morgan. After the
"confession," Wyatt and the others shot Cruz dead.
Two days later, in Iron Springs,
Arizona, the Earp party, seeking a rendezvous with a messenger for
them, instead stumbled upon a group of cowboys led by "Curley
Bill" William B. Brocious. In Wyatt's account, he had jumped
from his horse to fight, when he noticed the rest of his posse
retreating, leaving him alone. Curley Bill was surprised in the
act of cooking dinner at the edge of the spring, and he and Wyatt
now traded shotgun blasts. Curley Bill was hit in the chest by
Wyatt's shotgun fire, and died. Wyatt survived several near misses
from Curley Bill's companions before he could remount his horse,
but was not hit. During the fight, another Cowboy named Johnny
Barnes received wounds which would ultimately be fatal. The Earp
party survived unharmed and spent the next several weeks riding
though the rough country near Tombstone. Ultimately, when it
became clear to the Earps that Behan's posse would not fight them,
nor could they return to town, they decided to ride out of the
territory for good.
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.
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.
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.
Earp 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.
And one of Earp's friends in Hollywood was William S. Hart,
a well-known 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 [4], William S. Hart and Tom Mix were
pallbearers at his funeral. Tom Mix wept. 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 grave marker was stolen in 1957, but has since
been replaced by a flat marker.
See Also
Wyatt
Earp page 1
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