Wyatt Earp and the OK Corral

• Wyatt Earp was a law enforcer in the West.
• In 1880 Wyatt was hired as the deputy sheriff of Tombstone, Arizona Territory. It was a boom town controlled by rich businessmen.
• Wyatt and his brothers clashed with the Clantons and the McLaurys - two prominent local ranching families whose cowboys were involved in rustling and robberies.
• On 26th October 1881 there was a gunfight at the OK Corral near Tombstone. (A corral is an enclosure for cattle or horses). The Earps killed members of the McLaury and Clanton families.
• Trouble continued. When Virgil Earp (one of the brothers) was killed, Wyatt killed his murderers in revenge.
• The Earps were forced to leave Tombstone. Their violent approach to the law had only caused more conflic
• Note that most towns were not lawless.


  Many towns banned guns

  Most people did not want violent law officers like Wyatt Earp

  Billy the Kid was just one individual – famous outlaws like him were rare In general, settlements became less lawless as they developed.