Wyatt Earp

• Wyatt Earp was one of the icons of the so-called Wild West
• People like Wyatt Earp were often chosen for law and order positions like sheriff
• Rowdy cow towns and mining settlements were the perfect environment for both criminals and hard men
• Lawmen like Wyatt Earp could sometimes act in ways rather similar to the thugs they were supposed to be rounding up
• In 1874, Wyatt Earp was arrested for participating in a bar brawl in Wichita
• Wyatt Earp helped the deputy marshal sort out a group of rowdy cowboys in Wichita
• As a result of helping in Wichita, the mayor offered Wyatt Earp the post of deputy marshal
• Wyatt Earp was promoted to marshal in Dodge City in 1874
• In 1879, Wyatt Earp decided to move to Tombstone, Arizona
• Tombstone, Arizona, was a mining boom town controlled by rich businessmen
• Wyatt Earp was hired as a deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Arizona, in 1880 to clear up the town
• By 1881, Wyatt Earp and his two brothers were dealing with rustling horse and mule thefts in Tombstone
• The Clanton and McLaury families were cowboys who were pitted against the rich businessmen in Tombstone, Arizona
• The Clantons and McLaurys started robbing stagecoaches in Tombstone, Arizona
• Some also suspected the Earps of being involved in the stagecoach robberies
• The tension between the Earps supporting the businessmen and the cowboys led by the Clantons and McLaurys culminated in the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881
• During the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Wyatt Earp, his two brothers, and local gunslinger Doc Holliday confronted the cowboys
• A gun was cocked during the confrontation at the O.K. Corral, leading to shooting erupting
• Wyatt Earp shot dead Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton during the gunfight at the O.K. Corral
• Holliday advanced down the main street in Tombstone to the OK Corral where they confronted the cowboys
• Corral


  A stock enclosure for cattle
• Someone in the group cocked a gun and then shooting erupted
• The shooting resulted in the deaths of Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton
• Virgil Earp, who was Wyatt's brother and the city marshal, claimed they had only wanted to arrest the men but the Clantons and McLaurys had opened fire first
• Many people doubted Virgil Earp's claim, thinking that the Earps were shooting first and asking questions later
• In the aftermath, the gunfight didn't stop the trouble as Virgil Earp was shot and wounded, and later Morgan Earp was shot dead
• Wyatt embarked on his own personal vendetta, seeking revenge by shooting and killing the two men who shot his brothers
• Wyatt argued that this was justice, but few agreed, and opinion had begun to turn against him
• Wyatt and Virgil eventually fled Tombstone
• Wyatt Earp later wrote about his experiences and started to create his own mythology before dying in 1929 aged 80
• Wyatt Earp was emblematic of the problematic lawmen of the West, with a violent and lawless background
• The gunfight at the OK Corral in 1881 is one of the few genuine Wild West shootouts
• Wyatt Earp's crime-fighting style used more violence, eventually driving him and his family out of Tombstone
• Lawmen like Earp disappeared as federal authority took over the more remote, lawless, and violent territories, leading to stability prevailing
• The Wild West had more stability by the 1880s, and there wasn't space for someone like Wyatt Earp to destabilize it
• The guns at the time weren't easy to take part in shootouts
• Wyatt Earp's response to violence by fighting fire with fire made matters worse
• Wyatt Earp's violent response to violence led to his family fleeing Tombstone
• Wyatt Earp's experiences and actions led to the creation of his own mythology
• Wyatt Earp's death in 1929 marked the end of his story