Cochise County in the Old West
Encyclopedia
Cochise County in the Old West was a formative period from about 1870 to 1900 in the American Southwest
. The period was characterized by rapidly-growing boomtown
s due to silver mining, ongoing Apache
Indian raids, smuggling and cattle rustling
across the Mexican-United States border, growing ranching operations, and the expansion of new technologies like mining
, railroad
, and the telegraph
. There was considerable tension between the rural residents who were for the most part Democrats
from the agarian
Confederate States
and town residents and business owners who were largely Republicans
from the industrial Union States
.
ers and Cowboys
who lived in the Cochise County countryside were resentful of the growing power of the business owners and townspeople who increasingly influenced local politics and law in the county.A cowboy in that time and region was generally regarded as an outlaw. Legitimate cowmen were referred to as cattle herders or ranchers.
The ranchers largely maintained control of the country around Tombstone, due in large part to the sympathetic support of Cochise County Sheriff
Johnny Behan
who favored the Cowboys and rural ranchers and who grew to intensely dislike the Earps. Behan tended to ignore the Earp's complaints about the McLaury's and Clanton's horse thieving and cattle rustling.
The townspeople and business owners welcomed the Cowboys who had money to spend in the numerous bordellos, gambling halls, and drinking establishments. When lawlessness got out of hand, they enacted ordinances to control the disruptive revelry and shootings. As officers of the law, the Earp brothers held authority at times on the federal, county and local level. They were resented by the Cowboys for their tactics as when Wyatt Earp buffaloed
Curly Bill when he accidentally shot Marshal Fred White. The Earps were also known to bend the law in their favor when it affected their gambling
and saloon interests, which earned them further enmity with the Cowboy faction.
Under the surface were other tensions aggravating the simmering distrust. Most of the Cowboys were Confederate
sympathizers and Democrats
from Southern states, especially Texas
. The mine and business owners
, miners, townspeople and city lawmen including the Earps were largely Republicans
from the Northern states
. There was also the fundamental conflict over resources and land, of traditional, Southern-style, “small government
” agrarianism
of the rural Cowboys contrasted to Northern-style industrial capitalism
.
in the 1880s at they peak of the silver mining
boom, outlaws derisively called "Cow-boys
", frequently robbed stagecoach
es and brazenly stole cattle
in broad daylight, scaring off the legitimate cowboys watching the herds. It became an insult to call a legitimate cattleman a "Cowboy." Legal cowmen were generally called herders or ranchers.
had a reputation as a killer, though modern research has only identified three individuals he shot. He was also friends with Bill Leonard
, who was implicated in a stagecoach robbery. Cowboy Frank Stilwell
was a known cattle rustler and served as an assistant Sheriff under Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan
. Cowboy and outlaw Texas Jack Vermillion
was a friend of the Earps who deputized him after Virgil Earp
was maimed in an ambush.
smuggling
from Sonora
into Arizona
. The illegal cattle operations kept beef prices lower and provided cheap stock
that helped small ranchers get by. Many early Tombstone residents looked the other way when it was "only Mexicans" being robbed.
The Clanton family led by Newman Haynes Clanton had a ranch about 15 miles (24.1 km) southeast of Tombstone that was a way station for stolen Mexican beef. He was assisted by his sons Ike
, Billy, and Phin Clanton
. Frank and Tom McLaury had a ranch outside of Tombstone that they used to buy and re-sell stolen Mexican cattle.
On July 25, 1880, Captain Joseph H. Hurst requested the assistance of Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp, who brought Wyatt and Morgan Earp, as well as Wells Fargo
agent Marshall Williams, to track the thieves of six U.S. Army mules stolen from Camp Rucker. This was a federal
matter because the animals were U.S. property. They found the animals on the McLaury's Ranch on the Babacomari River and the branding iron
used to change the "US" brand to "D8".
To avoid bloodshed, Cowboy Frank Patterson promised to return the mules so the posse
withdrew. The Cowboys showed up two days later without the mules and laughed at Captain Hurst and the Earps. Hurst responded by printing and distributing a handbill describing the theft and promising a reward for the "trial and conviction" of the thieves. He specifically charged Frank McLaury with assisting with the theft. It was reprinted in the Epitaph on July 30, 1880. Frank McLaury angrily printed a response in the Cowboy-friendly Nuggett, calling Hurst "a coward, a vagabond, a rascal, and a malicious liar."
In late 1879 one of Wyatt Earp
's prized horses was stolen. Almost a year later he got a tip that it had been seen at the Clanton ranch near Charleston. Earp rode out to their ranch and spotted the horse. Ike Clanton
and his brother Billy. Earp and Holliday rode to the Clanton ranch to recover the horse. On the way, they overtook Behan, who was riding in a wagon. Behan was also heading to the ranch to serve an election-hearing subpoena on Ike Clanton.
Many Cochise County cattle dealers were losing cattle and horses to the thieves which T. W. Ayles described as an "organized band" and that "their connections seem to extend to and over the Mexican border." In the middle of 1881, the Mexican military began vigorously pursuing the Cowboys and the rustlers
increased their stock thefts on the U.S.
side of the border.
, which straddles the modern Arizona and New Mexico state border. This canyon connects the Animas Valley
of New Mexico with the San Simon Valley
of Arizona. The first Skeleton Canyon massacres was an attack on Mexican
Rurales
by rustlers in July 1879. They attacked a rancho in northern Sonora
, killing several of the inhabitants. After the attack on the rancho, the survivors reported the attacks to Commandant Francisco Neri and he sent a detachment of Rurales out, among them Captain Alfredo Carrillo. The Rurales illegally crossed the border into Arizona and as the Rurales entered in the canyon, shots were fired. Three of the Rurales survived the initial onslaught. Then the Cowboys executed the Rurales leader. The Mexican Government protested the killings to President Chester Arthur despite the fact that the Mexican policemen had crossed into a foreign country where they had no jurisdiction. Although the assailants were never positively identified, it was speculated that Old Man Clanton, Ike Clanton
, Billy Clanton, "Curly Bill" Brocius
, Johnny Ringo
, and Florentino Cruz were the murderers.
and was shot in the abdomen. Wyatt Earp buffaloed
Brocius, knocking him unconscious, and arrested him. Wyatt told his biographer many years later that he thought Brocious was still armed at the time and didn't notice that Brocius' pistol was already on the ground. The pistol contain only one expended cartridge and five live rounds. Brocius waived a preliminary hearing so he and his case could be transferred to Tucson District Court
. White died two days after his shooting changing Brocious' charge to murder.
On December 27, 1880, Wyatt testified that he thought the shooting was accidental. It was also demonstrated that Brocius' pistol could be fired from half-cock. Fred White also left a statement before he died that the shooting was not intentional. The judge released Brocius, but Brocius retained bitterness towards Earp for the rough treatment he got when arrested.
had an eye for the ladies, and escorted Mary Killen, the Commercial Hotel's housekeeper, to a dance. Accounts differ as to whether she was separated from her husband
or still married to him. After the dance, they sat on the porch of the Cosmopolitan Hotel and were spotted by her drunken husband.
Mike appeared out of the dark street and shot at Leslie, barely missing him. Leslie fired back and shot Mike Killen twice. Mike Killen died five days later and was buried in Tombstone's Boot Hill cemetery on June 22, 1880.
The Tombstone Daily Journal asked in March 1881 how a hundred outlaws could terrorize the best system of government in the world, asking, "Can not the marshal summon a posse and throw the ruffians out?"
In February, 1881, Luke Short
and professional gambler and gunfighter Charlie Storms
had a verbal altercation about a faro game which was defused by Bat Masterson, who knew both men. On February 28, Storm confronted Short once again outside the Oriental Saloon. This time he pulled a .45 caliber revolver. But Storm was too slow and Short shot him in the chest at point-blank range, his muzzle flash setting Storms' clothes on fire. Short shot Storms again before his body hit the ground. Tombstone resident George Parsons
witnessed Storms' death and wrote in his journal, "The faro games went right on as though nothing had happened." Short was arrested but the shooting was ruled as self defense. Short left Tombstone in April and returned to Leadville, Colorado.
In Charleston on October 1, 1881, James Hickey was drunk. He taunted Billy Claiborne, following him around, daring him to fight. Billy avoided Hickey and left Ben Wood's Saloon for J.B. Ayer's Saloon across the street. Hickery followed right behind, hectoring Claiborne. Claiborne left once again because of Hickey and headed toward Harry Queen's Saloon. Hickey stopped him before he could enter Harry Queen's. Claiborne yelled, "Stay away from me!" and drew his revolver. He shot Hickey once between the eyes. Claiborne was arrested and stood trial but was acquitted because of Hickey's harassment.
On November 14, 1882, Leslie became involved in an argument with Billy Claiborne who, after the recent death of William Bonney, had demanded to be known as "Billy the Kid". A survivor of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
, Claiborne claimed to have killed three men who had ridiculed him, but there is only evidence of Claiborne 's fight with Bill Hickey. After the O. K. Corral shootout, Claiborne's reputation suffered because he fled the scene. On this late night, Claiborne threatened Leslie. When Leslie still refused to refer to him as "Billy the Kid", Claiborne left, only to return later that night. A patron told Leslie that Claiborne was waiting for him outside the Oriental Saloon. Leslie walked out a side door and shot Claiborne in the side. Because Claiborne was waiting outside to ambush Leslie and, in fact, fired first, the killing was ruled justified. It was described as "an incident that became an open-and-closed affair over the short period of time required by Frank to puff through a rolled cylinder of Bull Durham."
On February 23, 1883, William Kinsman had been living with May Woodman. Apparently as a joke, someone had run a notice in the Epitaph newspaper that Kinsman intended to marry Woodman. Kinsman responded and ran his own announcement that he had no intentions of marrying May Woodman. Kinsman was standing in front of the Oriental Saloon on Allen Street when May Woodman walked up and shot him. Woodman was sentenced to five years in the Yuma Territorial Prison
for killing Kinsman, although the acting governor pardoned her after she had served less than one year.
One of the most well-known headstones in Tombstone's Boot Hill cemetery belongs to Lester Moore. He was a Wells, Fargo & Co.
station agent in the Mexican border at Naco
, Arizona Territory
. One afternoon Hank Dunstan appeared to claim a package due him. When he got it, he found it thoroughly mangled. The two men argued, and then both Moore and Dunstan drew their weapons. Dunstan got off four shots, hitting Moore in the chest with his .44 caliber revolver. Dunstan was mortally wounded with a hole through his ribs by the single shot Moore had squeezed off. Les Moore was Buried in Boot Hill and his famous tombstone epitaph remains an attraction in the cemetery:
In 1886, John Slaughter was elected Cochise County sheriff. Four members of the Jack Taylor Gang
—Manuel Robles, Geronimo Miranda, Fred Federico, and Nieves Deron—were wanted by both the Mexican Rurales
and Arizona law enforcement for robbery and murder. Trying to evade the lawmen's pursuit, the men came to Tombstone to visit relatives. Slaughter heard that the men were nearby and rode out to arrest them, but the outlaws were tipped off and fled. Slaughter eventually learned they were hiding with Robles' brother in nearby Contention City. Slaughter raised a posse and raided the house. They surprised Robles and Deron while they were asleep, but the gang members rose shooting. Slaughter killed Robles' brother while Deron and Robles ran for cover. Shooting as he ran, Deron nicked Slaughter's right ear lobe. Slaughter shot back and mortally wounded Deron. In his dying minutes, Deron confessed he was guilty of the crimes he had been charged with. Robles got away but he and Miranda were later shot and killed by Mexican authorities.
had a reputation as a killer, though modern research has only identified three individuals he shot. He was also friends with Bill Leonard
, who was implicated in a stagecoach robbery. After dusk on March 15, 1881, three cowboys attempted to rob a Kinnear & Company stagecoach
carrying USD$26,000 in silver bullion (about $ in today's dollars). It was enroute from Tombstone to Benson, Arizona
, the nearest rail terminal.
Bob Paul
, who had run in the election for Pima County sheriff shortly before, was working as the Wells Fargo
shotgun messenger
. He had taken the reins and driver's seat in Contention City because driver Eli 'Budd' Philpot had taken ill. Near Drew's Station, just outside of Contention City
, a man stepped into the road and commanded them to "Hold!" Paul fired his shotgun
and emptied his revolver
at the robbers, wounding a Cowboy later identified as Bill Leonard in the groin. They returned fire, killing the popular and well-known driver Eli Philpot and Peter Roerig, a beer salesman for Anheuser Busch riding in the rear dickey seat
. The horses spooked and Paul wasn't able to bring the stage under control for almost a mile, leaving the robbers with nothing. Paul later said he thought the first shot killing Philpot in the shotgun messenger seat had been meant for him as he would normally have been seated there.
Paul sent a telegram from nearby Benson to Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp. When Virgil received it at 10:00 pm, he deputized Wyatt and Morgan Earp, Bat Masterson
, who was dealing faro at the Oriental Saloon, and Wells Fargo
agent Marshall Williams. Pima County Sheriff Behan and Deputy Sheriff Billy Breakinridge joined in. They arrived at Drew's Station around dawn. Behan tried to talk them out of following the murders. The Earps were skilled trackers and Masterson could read sign
like an Indian. Virgil insisted they pursue the killers and told Behan he could ride along or ride back to Tombstone. Behan indifferently agreed to stay, and they tracked three pairs of boots to a nearby hiding spot where the outlaws mounted their horses, accompanied by a fourth rider. Bob Paul thought he recognized the voices of Bill Leonard and Jim Crane. Wyatt had seen Cowboys who worked for the Clantons—Bill Leonard
, Harry "The Kid" Head, Jim Crane
and a drifter named Luther King—camped out in an old adobe along the stage route for the past week, and he suspected they were watching the stage for an opportunity to rob it.
The Earp posse followed the robbers' trail to a nearby ranch where they found King. He wouldn't tell who his confederates were until the posse lied and told him that Doc Holliday
's girlfriend Big Nose Kate
had been shot in the holdup. Fearful of Holliday's reputation, he confessed to holding the reins of the robbers' horses, and identified Leonard, Head, and Crane as the robbers. They were all known Cowboys and rustlers. Behan, Breakinridge, and Williams escorted King back to Tombstone.
Harry Woods (publisher of the Nuggett) to sell the horse he had been riding to John Dunbar, Sheriff Behan's partner in the Dexter Livery Stable. King conveniently escaped while Dunbar and Woods were making out the bill-of-sale. Woods claimed that someone had deliberately unlocked a secured back door to the jail. The Earps and the townspeople were furious at King's easy escape. Williams was later dismissed from Wells Fargo, leaving behind a number of debts, when it was determined he had been stealing from the company for years.
The Earps, Bob Paul
, and others pursued the other two men for 17 days, riding at one point for 60 hours without food and 36 hours without water. The Cowboys were able to trade in their horses for fresh stock from friendly ranchers along the way. The lawmen were not so fortunate. During the ride Paul's horse died and Wyatt and Morgan's horses became so weak that the two men walked 18 miles (29 km) back to Tombstone to obtain new horses. After pursuing the Cowboys for over 400 miles (643.7 km) in a grand circle that finally led them into New Mexico, they could not obtain more fresh horses and were forced to give up the chase. They returned to Tombstone on April 1 to find that King had escaped. Wyatt accused Behan of complicity in King's escape, a charge when Behan strongly denied.
Behan submitted a bill for $796.84 to the county for posse expenses, but he refused to reimburse the Earp's for any of their costs. Virgil was incensed. They were finally reimbursed by Wells, Fargo & Co.
later on, but King's easy escape and Behan's refusal to reimburse them caused further friction between county and city law enforcement, and between Behan and the Earps.
reported that Curly Bill and several other men Old Man Clanton, Ike Clanton
, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Grounds, and Zwing Hunt hid in the rocks high above the trail. As the smugglers rode through the canyon the murderers opened fire, killing six of the nineteen. The rest were killed as they tried to get away.
Felipe Neri
dispatched troops to the border. Some researchers theorize that Mexican Rurales
led by Captain Alfredo Carrillo, who had survived the Skeleton Canyon Massacre
in 1879, led the ambush of the Cowboys. They found "Old Man" Clanton and six others bedded down for the night in Guadalupe Canyon with a herd of cattle. The Mexicans waited until dawn and killed five of the Cowboys.
The dead included Old Man Clanton; Charley Snow, a ranch hand who thought he had heard a bear and was the first killed; Jim Crane
, who was wanted for the stagecoach robbery near Tombstone
during Bud Philpott had been murdered; Dick Gray, son of Col. Mike Gray; and Billy Lang, a cattle rancher. Clanton, Crane, and Gray were either still in their bedrolls or in the act of getting dressed when killed. Lang was the only one who had a chance to fight back. Harry Ernshaw, a milk farmer, was grazed by a bullet on the nose; Billy Byers
feigned death until the perpetrators left.
Charles Shibell appointed
Wyatt Earp as a Pima County Deputy Sheriff on on July 27, 1880. Wyatt did his job well, and from August through November his name was mentioned nearly every week by the Epitaph or the Nugget newspapers.
. The region was strongly Republican and Paul was expected to win. Whoever won would likely appoint someone from the same political party. Republican Wyatt expected he would continue in the job.
Democrat Johnny Behan
had considerably more political experience than Republican Wyatt Earp. Behan had previously served as Yavapai County Sheriff from 1871-73. He had been elected to the Arizona Territorial Legislature twice, representing Yavapai Country in the 7th Territorial Legislature
in 1873 and Mohave County in the 10th
in 1879. Behan moved for a time to the northwest Arizona Territory where he served as the Mohave County Recorder in 1877 and then deputy sheriff of Mohave County at Gillet, in 1879.
On the day of the election in Precinct 27—San Simon Valley in northern Cochise County—James C. Hancock reported that Cowboys Curly Bill Brocius
and Johnny Ringo
served as election officials in the San Simon precinct. However, on June 1, the day before the election, Ringo biographer David Johnson places Ringo in New Mexico with Ike Clanton. Curly Bill had been arrested and jailed in Tucson on October 28 for killing Sheriff Fred White and he was still there on election day.
The home of John Magill was used as the polling place. A mysterious "Henry Johnson" was responsible for certifying the ballots. This turned out to be James Johnson, the same James K. Johnson who had been shooting up Allen Street the night Marshal White was killed. Moreover, he was the same Johnson that testified at Curly Bill’s preliminary hearing after he shot Fred White. James Johnson later testified for Bud Paul in the election hearing and said that the ballots had been left in the care of Phin Clanton
. None of the witnesses during the election hearing reported on ballots being cast for dogs.
They gathered the dozen or so legal voters in town and coerced them to vote for Shibell. Then they gathered non-voters like the children and Chinese and had them cast ballots. Not satisfied, the named all the dogs, burros and poultry and cast ballots in their names for Shibell. The San Simon precinct turned out an amazing 104 votes, 103 of them for Shibell.
Democrat Shibell was unexpectedly reelected by a margin of 58 votes. He immediately appointed Johnny Behan
as the new deputy sheriff for the Tombstone region of Pima County. Wyatt, also a Republican, supported Bob Paul
and resigned as deputy sheriff on November 9. Shibell immediately appointed Behan as the new South Pima deputy sheriff. Paul and Earp checked the ballots and were suspicious to see that 108 out of 109 voters in Precinct 27 had voted for Shibell.
On November 19, Bob Paul
filed suit and accused Shibell of ballot-stuffing. The trial was transferred to Tucson's district court and began in January 17. On January 20, 1881, the Arizona Star reported, “There has been some big cheating somewhere, and by some persons. It was clear that there had been reckless counting at Tombstone, fraud at San Simon and a careless election board at Tres Alamos.” A recount was held and this time Paul had 402 votes and Shibell had 354. Sixty-two were kept from a closer examination.
The election commissioners threw the whole precinct out in February, but Shibell appealed the decision, preventing Bob Paul
from taking office until April, 1881. However, the eastern portion of Pima County had been split off to form Cochise County on February 1. This prevented Paul from appointing Earp as deputy sheriff for the Tombstone area of Pima County.
John Dunbar's brother Thomas had served in the Arizona Territorial Legislature. He had introduced the bill that established a new county in the southeast corner of the territory and was referred to as the “father of Cochise County”. Behan utilized his existing position and his superior political connections to lobby
hard for the position. The office was appointed by the Territorial
governor and confirmed by the territorial legislature. Wyatt also had other interests including a claim in the Vizina mine, water rights proposals, and a one-quarter interest in the Oriental Hotel where the ran the Faro
concession at the Oriental Saloon. Behan made a deal with Earp: he promised Wyatt a position as his undersheriff
if he was appointed over Wyatt. Earp withdrew his name from the political contest. Behan used the influence he had gained while serving two terms in the territorial legislature. He was also supported by his partner in the Dexter Livery Stable, John Dunbar. John and his brother Tom, from Bangor, Maine
, were "close family friends" of the powerful Republican senator James G. Blaine
, also from Bangor, and one of the most powerful Republican congressmen of his time. When the territory formed Cochise County, Governor John C. Frémont
appointed and the Territorial Legislature approved Behan as Sheriff and John Dunbar as the first Cochise County Treasurer on February 10, 1881.
Behan reneged on his deal with Earp and appointed prominent Democrat Harry Woods instead. Later that year, Behan gave a contrived explanation of his actions during the hearings after the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. He said he broke his promise to appoint Earp because of an incident shortly before his appointment. Searching for a horse stolen in late 1879, Wyatt learned about a year later that the horse was in nearby Charleston. Wyatt spotted Billy Clanton attempting to remove the horse from a corral and retrieved it without trouble. Behan was in the area to serve a subpoena
on Ike Clanton. Ike was hopping mad when Behan finally found him, for Earp had told Clanton that Behan "had taken a posse of nine men down there to arrest him." Behan took offense at Wyatt's tactics and changed his mind about appointing Wyatt. Holliday reported in an interview in 1882 that "from that time a coolness grew up between the two men."
(chief of police) on June 6, 1881, after Ben Sippy abandoned the job. On September 8, 1881, tensions between the Earps and the McLaurys further increased when a passenger stage on the 'Sandy Bob Line' in the Tombstone area bound for Bisbee, Arizona
was held up. The masked bandits robbed all of the passengers of their valuables and the strongbox
of about $2,500. During the robbery, the driver heard one of the robbers describe the money as "sugar", a phrase known to be used by Frank Stilwell
. Stilwell had until the prior month been a deputy for Sheriff Behan but had been fired for "accounting irregularities".
Both Pete Spence
and Stilwell were friends of Tom and Frank McLaury. Wyatt
and Virgil Earp
rode with the sheriff's posse attempting to track the Bisbee stage robbers. At the scene of the holdup, Wells, Fargo & Co.
undercover agent Fred Dodge
discovered an unusual boot print left by someone wearing a custom-repaired boot heel. The Earps checked a shoe repair shop in Bisbee that had removed a heel matching the boot print from Frank Stilwell
's boot.
When Stilwell arrived in Bisbee with his livery stable partner, Pete Spence
, Tombstone Marshal Virgil Earp and Tombstone Special Police Officer Wyatt Earp arrested them for the robbery. Stilwell and Spence were arraigned before Judge Wells Spicer
and posted $7,000 bond. At the preliminary hearing, Stilwell and Spence were able to provide several witnesses who supported their alibi
s. Judge Spicer dropped the charges for insufficient evidence just as he had done for Doc Holiday earlier in the year. Having evaded the state charges, Virgil Earp in his other role as Deputy U.S. Marshal re-arrested Spence and Stilwell on October 13 for the Bisbee robbery on a new federal charge of interfering with a mail carrier
. The newspapers, however, reported that they had been arrested for a different stage robbery that occurred (October 8) near Contention City.
Virgil took Frank to Tucson for arraignment where he was held at the territorial jail. While Virgil was in Tucson, he deputized Wyatt to act in is place an assistant city marshal in Tombstone. The Cowboys saw the new arrest as further evidence they were being unfairly harassed and targeted by the Earps. They let the Earps know hat they could expect retaliation. While Wyatt and Virgil were in Tucson for the federal hearing on the charges against Spence and Stilwell, Frank McLaury confronted Morgan Earp. He told him that the McLaurys would kill the Earps if they tried to arrest Spence, Stilwell, or the McLaurys again. The Tombstone Epitaph reported "that since the arrest of Spence and Stilwell, velied threats [are] being made that the friends of the accused will 'get the Earps.'"
was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on October 26, 1881 in Tombstone
, Arizona Territory
of the United States
. Although only three men were killed during the gunfight, it is generally regarded as the most famous gunfight in the history of the Old West
.
Despite its name, the gunfight began in a 15–20 ft (4.6–6.1 m) wide empty lot or alley on Fremont Street, between C. S. Fly
's lodging house and photographic studio and the MacDonald assay
house. The lot was six doors east of an alleyway that served as the O.K. Corral's
rear entrance. The two opposing parties were initially only about 6 feet (1.8 m) apart. About thirty shots were fired in thirty seconds. Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed. Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton were killed; Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp, and Doc Holliday were wounded and survived. Ike Clanton filed murder charges against Doc Holliday and the Earps and after a month-long preliminary hearing they were exonerated.
The Earps and Doc Holliday
were charged by Billy Clanton's brother, Ike Clanton, with murder but were eventually exonerated by a local judge after a 30-day preliminary hearing and then again by a local grand jury. The so-called cowboy faction
allegedly targeted the Earps for assassination over the next six months, which led to a series of killings and retributions, often with federal and county lawmen supporting different sides of the conflict. The series of battles became known as the Earp Vendetta Ride
. The Earps and Doc Holliday left Arizona and the Cowboy element was less of a threat from that point forward.
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
. The period was characterized by rapidly-growing boomtown
Boomtown
A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...
s due to silver mining, ongoing Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
Indian raids, smuggling and cattle rustling
Cattle raiding
Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle.In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the person as a duffer...
across the Mexican-United States border, growing ranching operations, and the expansion of new technologies like mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, railroad
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
, and the telegraph
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
. There was considerable tension between the rural residents who were for the most part Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
from the agarian
Agrarianism
Agrarianism has two common meanings. The first meaning refers to a social philosophy or political philosophy which values rural society as superior to urban society, the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values...
Confederate States
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
and town residents and business owners who were largely Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
from the industrial Union States
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
.
Rural vs. town interests
Many of the ranchRanch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
ers and Cowboys
The Cowboys (Cochise County)
The Cowboys were a loosely associated group of outlaw cowboys in Pima and Cochise County, Arizona Territory in the late 19th century. They were cattle rustlers and robbers who rode across the border into Mexico and rounded up cattle that they then sold in the United States...
who lived in the Cochise County countryside were resentful of the growing power of the business owners and townspeople who increasingly influenced local politics and law in the county.A cowboy in that time and region was generally regarded as an outlaw. Legitimate cowmen were referred to as cattle herders or ranchers.
The ranchers largely maintained control of the country around Tombstone, due in large part to the sympathetic support of Cochise County Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
Johnny Behan
Johnny Behan
John Harris Behan was from April, 1881 to November, 1882 sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona Territory. Behan was appointed the first sheriff of the newly-created county in February, 1881. The mining boomtown of Tombstone was the new county seat and Behan's headquarters...
who favored the Cowboys and rural ranchers and who grew to intensely dislike the Earps. Behan tended to ignore the Earp's complaints about the McLaury's and Clanton's horse thieving and cattle rustling.
The townspeople and business owners welcomed the Cowboys who had money to spend in the numerous bordellos, gambling halls, and drinking establishments. When lawlessness got out of hand, they enacted ordinances to control the disruptive revelry and shootings. As officers of the law, the Earp brothers held authority at times on the federal, county and local level. They were resented by the Cowboys for their tactics as when Wyatt Earp buffaloed
Pistol-whipping
Pistol-whipping is the act of using a handgun as a blunt weapon, wielding it as if it were a club or blackjack. "Pistol-whipping" and "to pistol-whip" were reported as "new words" of American speech in 1955, with cited usages from 1940s...
Curly Bill when he accidentally shot Marshal Fred White. The Earps were also known to bend the law in their favor when it affected their gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
and saloon interests, which earned them further enmity with the Cowboy faction.
Under the surface were other tensions aggravating the simmering distrust. Most of the Cowboys were Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
sympathizers and Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
from Southern states, especially Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. The mine and business owners
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
, miners, townspeople and city lawmen including the Earps were largely Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
from the Northern states
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
. There was also the fundamental conflict over resources and land, of traditional, Southern-style, “small government
Small government
A Small government is one which minimizes its own activities. It is a concept important to classical liberalism and libertarianism.-In Hong Kong:...
” agrarianism
Agrarianism
Agrarianism has two common meanings. The first meaning refers to a social philosophy or political philosophy which values rural society as superior to urban society, the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values...
of the rural Cowboys contrasted to Northern-style industrial capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
.
Outlaw Cowboys
During the rapid growth of Cochise CountyCochise County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*78.5% White*4.2% Black*1.2% Native American*1.9% Asian*0.3% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*4.0% Two or more races*9.6% Other races*32.4% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
in the 1880s at they peak of the silver mining
Silver mining
Silver mining refers to the resource extraction of the precious metal element silver by mining.-History:Silver has been known since ancient times. It is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, and slag heaps found in Asia Minor and on the islands of the Aegean Sea indicate that silver was being separated...
boom, outlaws derisively called "Cow-boys
The Cowboys (Cochise County)
The Cowboys were a loosely associated group of outlaw cowboys in Pima and Cochise County, Arizona Territory in the late 19th century. They were cattle rustlers and robbers who rode across the border into Mexico and rounded up cattle that they then sold in the United States...
", frequently robbed stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
es and brazenly stole cattle
Cattle raiding
Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle.In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the person as a duffer...
in broad daylight, scaring off the legitimate cowboys watching the herds. It became an insult to call a legitimate cattleman a "Cowboy." Legal cowmen were generally called herders or ranchers.
Cowboys as lawmen
The lines between the outlaw element and law enforcement were not always distinct. Doc HollidayDoc Holliday
John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
had a reputation as a killer, though modern research has only identified three individuals he shot. He was also friends with Bill Leonard
Bill Leonard
William R. Leonard is a Republican U.S. politician who served as a member of the California State Board of Equalization from 2002 until his resignation in March 2010.-Life and career:After earning his B.A...
, who was implicated in a stagecoach robbery. Cowboy Frank Stilwell
Frank Stilwell
Frank C. Stilwell was an outlaw Cowboy who murdered at least two men in Cochise County during 1877-1882. For four months he was a deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Arizona Territory for Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan...
was a known cattle rustler and served as an assistant Sheriff under Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan
Johnny Behan
John Harris Behan was from April, 1881 to November, 1882 sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona Territory. Behan was appointed the first sheriff of the newly-created county in February, 1881. The mining boomtown of Tombstone was the new county seat and Behan's headquarters...
. Cowboy and outlaw Texas Jack Vermillion
Texas Jack Vermillion
John Wilson Vermillion , alias "Texas Jack" and later as "Shoot-Your-Eye-Out" Vermillion, was a gunfighter of the Old West known for his participation in the Earp vendetta ride and his later association with Soapy Smith.- Early life :...
was a friend of the Earps who deputized him after Virgil Earp
Virgil Earp
Virgil Walter Earp fought in the Civil War. He was U.S. Deputy Marshal for south-eastern Arizona and Tombstone City Marshal at the time of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the Arizona Territory. Two months after the shootout in Tombstone, outlaw Cowboys ambushed Virgil on the streets of...
was maimed in an ambush.
Smuggling and cattle rustling
The Clanton and McLaury clans were among those allegedly involved in the clandestine cross-border livestockLivestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
smuggling
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
from Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
into Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. The illegal cattle operations kept beef prices lower and provided cheap stock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
that helped small ranchers get by. Many early Tombstone residents looked the other way when it was "only Mexicans" being robbed.
The Clanton family led by Newman Haynes Clanton had a ranch about 15 miles (24.1 km) southeast of Tombstone that was a way station for stolen Mexican beef. He was assisted by his sons Ike
Ike Clanton
Joseph Isaac Clanton was born in Callaway County, Missouri. He is best known for being a member of group of outlaw Cowboys that had ongoing conflicts with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan Earp and Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday. The Clantons repeatedly threatened the Earps because they interfered with...
, Billy, and Phin Clanton
Phineas Clanton
Phineas Fay Clanton was the son of Newman Haynes Clanton and the brother of Billy and Ike Clanton. He was witness to and possibly played a part if a number of illegal activities during his life...
. Frank and Tom McLaury had a ranch outside of Tombstone that they used to buy and re-sell stolen Mexican cattle.
On July 25, 1880, Captain Joseph H. Hurst requested the assistance of Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp, who brought Wyatt and Morgan Earp, as well as Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
agent Marshall Williams, to track the thieves of six U.S. Army mules stolen from Camp Rucker. This was a federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
matter because the animals were U.S. property. They found the animals on the McLaury's Ranch on the Babacomari River and the branding iron
Branding iron
A branding iron is a tool which uses the process of pressing a heated metal shape against an object or livestock with the intention of leaving a mark....
used to change the "US" brand to "D8".
To avoid bloodshed, Cowboy Frank Patterson promised to return the mules so the posse
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
withdrew. The Cowboys showed up two days later without the mules and laughed at Captain Hurst and the Earps. Hurst responded by printing and distributing a handbill describing the theft and promising a reward for the "trial and conviction" of the thieves. He specifically charged Frank McLaury with assisting with the theft. It was reprinted in the Epitaph on July 30, 1880. Frank McLaury angrily printed a response in the Cowboy-friendly Nuggett, calling Hurst "a coward, a vagabond, a rascal, and a malicious liar."
In late 1879 one of Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
's prized horses was stolen. Almost a year later he got a tip that it had been seen at the Clanton ranch near Charleston. Earp rode out to their ranch and spotted the horse. Ike Clanton
Ike Clanton
Joseph Isaac Clanton was born in Callaway County, Missouri. He is best known for being a member of group of outlaw Cowboys that had ongoing conflicts with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan Earp and Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday. The Clantons repeatedly threatened the Earps because they interfered with...
and his brother Billy. Earp and Holliday rode to the Clanton ranch to recover the horse. On the way, they overtook Behan, who was riding in a wagon. Behan was also heading to the ranch to serve an election-hearing subpoena on Ike Clanton.
Many Cochise County cattle dealers were losing cattle and horses to the thieves which T. W. Ayles described as an "organized band" and that "their connections seem to extend to and over the Mexican border." In the middle of 1881, the Mexican military began vigorously pursuing the Cowboys and the rustlers
Rustlers
Rustlers are a range of burgers and hot sandwiches produced by Kepak Convenience Foods, based in Kirkham, Lancashire, England. The parent company, Kepak, is based in Dublin, Ireland. Each product in the range comes packed with a sachet of sauce appropriate for the food...
increased their stock thefts on the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
side of the border.
First Skeleton Canyon Massacre
Skeleton Canyon is located in the Peloncillo MountainsPeloncillo Mountains (Hidalgo County)
The Peloncillo Mountains of Hidalgo County, , is a major 35-mi long mountain range of southwest New Mexico's Hidalgo County, and also part of the New Mexico Bootheel region. The range continues to the northwest into Arizona as the Peloncillo Mountains of Cochise County, Arizona...
, which straddles the modern Arizona and New Mexico state border. This canyon connects the Animas Valley
Animas Valley
The Animas Valley is a lengthy and narrow, north-south 85 mi long, valley located in western Hidalgo County, New Mexico in the Bootheel Region; the extreme south of the valley lies in Chihuahua, in the northwest of the Chihuahuan Desert, the large desert region of the north-central Mexican...
of New Mexico with the San Simon Valley
San Simon Valley
The San Simon Valley is a broad valley east of the Chiricahua Mountains, in the northeast corner of Cochise County, Arizona and southeastern Graham County, with a small portion near Antelope Pass in Hidalgo County of southwestern New Mexico. The valley trends generally north-south but in its...
of Arizona. The first Skeleton Canyon massacres was an attack on Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
Rurales
Rurales
Rurales was the name commonly used to designate the Mexican Guardia Rural : a force of mounted police or gendarmerie that existed between 1861 and 1914...
by rustlers in July 1879. They attacked a rancho in northern Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
, killing several of the inhabitants. After the attack on the rancho, the survivors reported the attacks to Commandant Francisco Neri and he sent a detachment of Rurales out, among them Captain Alfredo Carrillo. The Rurales illegally crossed the border into Arizona and as the Rurales entered in the canyon, shots were fired. Three of the Rurales survived the initial onslaught. Then the Cowboys executed the Rurales leader. The Mexican Government protested the killings to President Chester Arthur despite the fact that the Mexican policemen had crossed into a foreign country where they had no jurisdiction. Although the assailants were never positively identified, it was speculated that Old Man Clanton, Ike Clanton
Ike Clanton
Joseph Isaac Clanton was born in Callaway County, Missouri. He is best known for being a member of group of outlaw Cowboys that had ongoing conflicts with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan Earp and Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday. The Clantons repeatedly threatened the Earps because they interfered with...
, Billy Clanton, "Curly Bill" Brocius
William Brocius
William "Curly Bill" Brocius was a gunman, rustler and an outlaw Cowboy in the Cochise County area of Arizona Territory during the early 1880s. He had a number of conflicts with the lawmen of the Earp family, and he was named as one of the individuals who participated Morgan Earp's assassination....
, Johnny Ringo
Johnny Ringo
John Peters "Johnny" Ringo was an outlaw Cowboy of the American Old West who was affiliated with Ike Clanton and Frank Stilwell in Cochise County, Arizona Territory during 1881-1882.-Early life:...
, and Florentino Cruz were the murderers.
Tombstone marshal killed
On October 28, 1880, Tombstone town marshal Fred White was trying to break up a group of late revelers shooting at the moon on Allen Street in Tombstone. He attempted to confiscate the pistol of Curly Bill BrociusWilliam Brocius
William "Curly Bill" Brocius was a gunman, rustler and an outlaw Cowboy in the Cochise County area of Arizona Territory during the early 1880s. He had a number of conflicts with the lawmen of the Earp family, and he was named as one of the individuals who participated Morgan Earp's assassination....
and was shot in the abdomen. Wyatt Earp buffaloed
Pistol-whipping
Pistol-whipping is the act of using a handgun as a blunt weapon, wielding it as if it were a club or blackjack. "Pistol-whipping" and "to pistol-whip" were reported as "new words" of American speech in 1955, with cited usages from 1940s...
Brocius, knocking him unconscious, and arrested him. Wyatt told his biographer many years later that he thought Brocious was still armed at the time and didn't notice that Brocius' pistol was already on the ground. The pistol contain only one expended cartridge and five live rounds. Brocius waived a preliminary hearing so he and his case could be transferred to Tucson District Court
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. White died two days after his shooting changing Brocious' charge to murder.
On December 27, 1880, Wyatt testified that he thought the shooting was accidental. It was also demonstrated that Brocius' pistol could be fired from half-cock. Fred White also left a statement before he died that the shooting was not intentional. The judge released Brocius, but Brocius retained bitterness towards Earp for the rough treatment he got when arrested.
Shootings commonplace
In mid-June, 1880, Buckskin Frank LeslieFranklin Leslie
Nashville Franklin [Franklyn] Leslie was an lawman, U.S. Army scout, gambler, and an outlaw. He was known for his fringed buckskin jacket and his twin revolvers. He became famous in Tombstone, Arizona for killing two men in self-defense before he killed one of his wives while drunk and in a fit of...
had an eye for the ladies, and escorted Mary Killen, the Commercial Hotel's housekeeper, to a dance. Accounts differ as to whether she was separated from her husband
or still married to him. After the dance, they sat on the porch of the Cosmopolitan Hotel and were spotted by her drunken husband.
Mike appeared out of the dark street and shot at Leslie, barely missing him. Leslie fired back and shot Mike Killen twice. Mike Killen died five days later and was buried in Tombstone's Boot Hill cemetery on June 22, 1880.
The Tombstone Daily Journal asked in March 1881 how a hundred outlaws could terrorize the best system of government in the world, asking, "Can not the marshal summon a posse and throw the ruffians out?"
In February, 1881, Luke Short
Luke Short
Western frontiersman Luke L. Short was a noted gunfighter, who had worked as a farmer, cowboy, whiskey peddler, army scout, dispatch rider, gambler and saloon keeper at various times during the four decades of his life.- Early life :...
and professional gambler and gunfighter Charlie Storms
Charlie Storms
Charlie Storms was a professional gunfighter and gambler of the Old West, who is best known, unfortunately, for having been killed during a gunfight with noted gunman Luke Short, in Tombstone, Arizona....
had a verbal altercation about a faro game which was defused by Bat Masterson, who knew both men. On February 28, Storm confronted Short once again outside the Oriental Saloon. This time he pulled a .45 caliber revolver. But Storm was too slow and Short shot him in the chest at point-blank range, his muzzle flash setting Storms' clothes on fire. Short shot Storms again before his body hit the ground. Tombstone resident George Parsons
George W. Parsons
George Whitwell Parsons was a licensed attorney turned banker during the 19th century Old West. He is remembered due to his having kept an accurate diary of his days in the west, which gave detailed accounts of his interaction with Old West notables such as Wyatt Earp and "Curly Bill"...
witnessed Storms' death and wrote in his journal, "The faro games went right on as though nothing had happened." Short was arrested but the shooting was ruled as self defense. Short left Tombstone in April and returned to Leadville, Colorado.
In Charleston on October 1, 1881, James Hickey was drunk. He taunted Billy Claiborne, following him around, daring him to fight. Billy avoided Hickey and left Ben Wood's Saloon for J.B. Ayer's Saloon across the street. Hickery followed right behind, hectoring Claiborne. Claiborne left once again because of Hickey and headed toward Harry Queen's Saloon. Hickey stopped him before he could enter Harry Queen's. Claiborne yelled, "Stay away from me!" and drew his revolver. He shot Hickey once between the eyes. Claiborne was arrested and stood trial but was acquitted because of Hickey's harassment.
On November 14, 1882, Leslie became involved in an argument with Billy Claiborne who, after the recent death of William Bonney, had demanded to be known as "Billy the Kid". A survivor of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States. Outlaw Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed, but Ike's brother...
, Claiborne claimed to have killed three men who had ridiculed him, but there is only evidence of Claiborne 's fight with Bill Hickey. After the O. K. Corral shootout, Claiborne's reputation suffered because he fled the scene. On this late night, Claiborne threatened Leslie. When Leslie still refused to refer to him as "Billy the Kid", Claiborne left, only to return later that night. A patron told Leslie that Claiborne was waiting for him outside the Oriental Saloon. Leslie walked out a side door and shot Claiborne in the side. Because Claiborne was waiting outside to ambush Leslie and, in fact, fired first, the killing was ruled justified. It was described as "an incident that became an open-and-closed affair over the short period of time required by Frank to puff through a rolled cylinder of Bull Durham."
On February 23, 1883, William Kinsman had been living with May Woodman. Apparently as a joke, someone had run a notice in the Epitaph newspaper that Kinsman intended to marry Woodman. Kinsman responded and ran his own announcement that he had no intentions of marrying May Woodman. Kinsman was standing in front of the Oriental Saloon on Allen Street when May Woodman walked up and shot him. Woodman was sentenced to five years in the Yuma Territorial Prison
Yuma Territorial Prison
The Yuma Territorial Prison was a prison in the Arizona Territory of the United States and now in present day Yuma, Arizona. The Territorial Prison is one of the Yuma Crossing and Associated Sites on the National Register of Historic Places in the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area.The site is...
for killing Kinsman, although the acting governor pardoned her after she had served less than one year.
One of the most well-known headstones in Tombstone's Boot Hill cemetery belongs to Lester Moore. He was a Wells, Fargo & Co.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
station agent in the Mexican border at Naco
Naco, Arizona
Naco is a census-designated place in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. Its population was 833 at the 2000 census. It is across the United States–Mexico border from Naco, Sonora. The Naco port of entry is open 24 hours per day....
, Arizona Territory
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state....
. One afternoon Hank Dunstan appeared to claim a package due him. When he got it, he found it thoroughly mangled. The two men argued, and then both Moore and Dunstan drew their weapons. Dunstan got off four shots, hitting Moore in the chest with his .44 caliber revolver. Dunstan was mortally wounded with a hole through his ribs by the single shot Moore had squeezed off. Les Moore was Buried in Boot Hill and his famous tombstone epitaph remains an attraction in the cemetery:
- HERE LIES LESTER MOORE, FOUR SLUGS FROM A 44, NO LES NO MORE
In 1886, John Slaughter was elected Cochise County sheriff. Four members of the Jack Taylor Gang
Jack Taylor Gang
The Jack Taylor Gang was an outlaw gang of the Old West which operated mostly in Arizona Territory and Mexico.The gang was first organized by Jack Taylor, a minor outlaw with moderate skills in train robbery...
—Manuel Robles, Geronimo Miranda, Fred Federico, and Nieves Deron—were wanted by both the Mexican Rurales
Rurales
Rurales was the name commonly used to designate the Mexican Guardia Rural : a force of mounted police or gendarmerie that existed between 1861 and 1914...
and Arizona law enforcement for robbery and murder. Trying to evade the lawmen's pursuit, the men came to Tombstone to visit relatives. Slaughter heard that the men were nearby and rode out to arrest them, but the outlaws were tipped off and fled. Slaughter eventually learned they were hiding with Robles' brother in nearby Contention City. Slaughter raised a posse and raided the house. They surprised Robles and Deron while they were asleep, but the gang members rose shooting. Slaughter killed Robles' brother while Deron and Robles ran for cover. Shooting as he ran, Deron nicked Slaughter's right ear lobe. Slaughter shot back and mortally wounded Deron. In his dying minutes, Deron confessed he was guilty of the crimes he had been charged with. Robles got away but he and Miranda were later shot and killed by Mexican authorities.
Stagecoach driver killed
The lines between the outlaw element and law enforcement were not always distinct. Doc HollidayDoc Holliday
John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
had a reputation as a killer, though modern research has only identified three individuals he shot. He was also friends with Bill Leonard
Bill Leonard
William R. Leonard is a Republican U.S. politician who served as a member of the California State Board of Equalization from 2002 until his resignation in March 2010.-Life and career:After earning his B.A...
, who was implicated in a stagecoach robbery. After dusk on March 15, 1881, three cowboys attempted to rob a Kinnear & Company stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
carrying USD$26,000 in silver bullion (about $ in today's dollars). It was enroute from Tombstone to Benson, Arizona
Benson, Arizona
-Transportation:Benson Airport is located 3 miles north west of the city.Benson is served by Interstate 10 to the north, which travels directly to downtown Tucson....
, the nearest rail terminal.
Bob Paul
Robert H. Paul
Robert H. Paul was a law enforcement officer in the American Southwest for more than 30 years. He was sheriff of Pima County, Arizona Territory from April 1881 to 1886 and a friend of Deputy U.S. Marshall Virgil Earp and his brother Wyatt Earp...
, who had run in the election for Pima County sheriff shortly before, was working as the Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
shotgun messenger
Shotgun messenger
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a shotgun messenger was a private "express messenger" and guard, especially on a stagecoach but also on a train, in charge of overseeing and guarding a valuable private shipment, such as particularly the contents of a strongbox or safe...
. He had taken the reins and driver's seat in Contention City because driver Eli 'Budd' Philpot had taken ill. Near Drew's Station, just outside of Contention City
Contention City, Arizona
Contention City or Contention is a ghost mining town in Cochise County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It was occupied from the early-1880s through the late-1880s in what was then known as the Arizona Territory...
, a man stepped into the road and commanded them to "Hold!" Paul fired his shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
and emptied his revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
at the robbers, wounding a Cowboy later identified as Bill Leonard in the groin. They returned fire, killing the popular and well-known driver Eli Philpot and Peter Roerig, a beer salesman for Anheuser Busch riding in the rear dickey seat
Rumble seat
A rumble seat, dicky seat, dickie seat or dickey seat is an upholstered exterior seat which hinges or otherwise opens out from the rear deck of a pre-World War II automobile, and seats one or more passengers. An 1899 Century Dictionary describes a rumble as " A seat for servants in the rear of a...
. The horses spooked and Paul wasn't able to bring the stage under control for almost a mile, leaving the robbers with nothing. Paul later said he thought the first shot killing Philpot in the shotgun messenger seat had been meant for him as he would normally have been seated there.
Paul sent a telegram from nearby Benson to Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp. When Virgil received it at 10:00 pm, he deputized Wyatt and Morgan Earp, Bat Masterson
Bat Masterson
William Barclay "Bat" Masterson was a figure of the American Old West known as a buffalo hunter, U.S. Marshal and Army scout, avid fisherman, gambler, frontier lawman, and sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph...
, who was dealing faro at the Oriental Saloon, and Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
agent Marshall Williams. Pima County Sheriff Behan and Deputy Sheriff Billy Breakinridge joined in. They arrived at Drew's Station around dawn. Behan tried to talk them out of following the murders. The Earps were skilled trackers and Masterson could read sign
Tracking (hunting)
Tracking in hunting and ecology is the science and art of observing animal tracks and other signs, with the goal of gaining understanding of the landscape and the animal being tracked...
like an Indian. Virgil insisted they pursue the killers and told Behan he could ride along or ride back to Tombstone. Behan indifferently agreed to stay, and they tracked three pairs of boots to a nearby hiding spot where the outlaws mounted their horses, accompanied by a fourth rider. Bob Paul thought he recognized the voices of Bill Leonard and Jim Crane. Wyatt had seen Cowboys who worked for the Clantons—Bill Leonard
Bill Leonard
William R. Leonard is a Republican U.S. politician who served as a member of the California State Board of Equalization from 2002 until his resignation in March 2010.-Life and career:After earning his B.A...
, Harry "The Kid" Head, Jim Crane
Jim Crane
James Robert "Jim" Crane is a businessman from Houston, Texas. Crane is chairman and chief executive of Crane Capital Group and he is also the owner and chairman of the MLB team Houston Astros -Early life and education:...
and a drifter named Luther King—camped out in an old adobe along the stage route for the past week, and he suspected they were watching the stage for an opportunity to rob it.
The Earp posse followed the robbers' trail to a nearby ranch where they found King. He wouldn't tell who his confederates were until the posse lied and told him that Doc Holliday
Doc Holliday
John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
's girlfriend Big Nose Kate
Big Nose Kate
Mary Katherine Horony Cummings , known as Big Nose Kate, was the Hungarian-born long-time companion and common-law wife of fabled gambler and gunfighter Doc Holliday in the American Old West....
had been shot in the holdup. Fearful of Holliday's reputation, he confessed to holding the reins of the robbers' horses, and identified Leonard, Head, and Crane as the robbers. They were all known Cowboys and rustlers. Behan, Breakinridge, and Williams escorted King back to Tombstone.
Posse tracks robbers
On March 19, King was escorted in the front door of the jail and let out the back a few minutes later. King had arranged with UndersheriffUndersheriff
An Undersheriff is an office derived from ancient British practice and still extant in, among other places, the United Kingdom and the United States, though somewhat different forms.-United States:...
Harry Woods (publisher of the Nuggett) to sell the horse he had been riding to John Dunbar, Sheriff Behan's partner in the Dexter Livery Stable. King conveniently escaped while Dunbar and Woods were making out the bill-of-sale. Woods claimed that someone had deliberately unlocked a secured back door to the jail. The Earps and the townspeople were furious at King's easy escape. Williams was later dismissed from Wells Fargo, leaving behind a number of debts, when it was determined he had been stealing from the company for years.
The Earps, Bob Paul
Robert H. Paul
Robert H. Paul was a law enforcement officer in the American Southwest for more than 30 years. He was sheriff of Pima County, Arizona Territory from April 1881 to 1886 and a friend of Deputy U.S. Marshall Virgil Earp and his brother Wyatt Earp...
, and others pursued the other two men for 17 days, riding at one point for 60 hours without food and 36 hours without water. The Cowboys were able to trade in their horses for fresh stock from friendly ranchers along the way. The lawmen were not so fortunate. During the ride Paul's horse died and Wyatt and Morgan's horses became so weak that the two men walked 18 miles (29 km) back to Tombstone to obtain new horses. After pursuing the Cowboys for over 400 miles (643.7 km) in a grand circle that finally led them into New Mexico, they could not obtain more fresh horses and were forced to give up the chase. They returned to Tombstone on April 1 to find that King had escaped. Wyatt accused Behan of complicity in King's escape, a charge when Behan strongly denied.
Behan submitted a bill for $796.84 to the county for posse expenses, but he refused to reimburse the Earp's for any of their costs. Virgil was incensed. They were finally reimbursed by Wells, Fargo & Co.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
later on, but King's easy escape and Behan's refusal to reimburse them caused further friction between county and city law enforcement, and between Behan and the Earps.
Second Skeleton Canyon Massacre
In July 1881, "Curly Bill" Brocius received word that several Mexican smugglers carrying silver were heading to the United States through Skeleton Canyon. Johnny RingoJohnny Ringo
John Peters "Johnny" Ringo was an outlaw Cowboy of the American Old West who was affiliated with Ike Clanton and Frank Stilwell in Cochise County, Arizona Territory during 1881-1882.-Early life:...
reported that Curly Bill and several other men Old Man Clanton, Ike Clanton
Ike Clanton
Joseph Isaac Clanton was born in Callaway County, Missouri. He is best known for being a member of group of outlaw Cowboys that had ongoing conflicts with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan Earp and Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday. The Clantons repeatedly threatened the Earps because they interfered with...
, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Grounds, and Zwing Hunt hid in the rocks high above the trail. As the smugglers rode through the canyon the murderers opened fire, killing six of the nineteen. The rest were killed as they tried to get away.
Guadalupe Canyon Massacre
In August, 1881, Mexican CommandantCommandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
Felipe Neri
Felipe Neri
Felipe Neri was a soldier and general in the Mexican Revolution.-Early life:...
dispatched troops to the border. Some researchers theorize that Mexican Rurales
Rurales
Rurales was the name commonly used to designate the Mexican Guardia Rural : a force of mounted police or gendarmerie that existed between 1861 and 1914...
led by Captain Alfredo Carrillo, who had survived the Skeleton Canyon Massacre
Skeleton Canyon Massacre
The Skeleton Canyon Massacres refer to two separate attacks on Mexican citizens in 1879 and 1881. Skeleton Canyon is located in the Peloncillo Mountains , which straddles the modern Arizona and New Mexico state line border...
in 1879, led the ambush of the Cowboys. They found "Old Man" Clanton and six others bedded down for the night in Guadalupe Canyon with a herd of cattle. The Mexicans waited until dawn and killed five of the Cowboys.
The dead included Old Man Clanton; Charley Snow, a ranch hand who thought he had heard a bear and was the first killed; Jim Crane
Jim Crane
James Robert "Jim" Crane is a businessman from Houston, Texas. Crane is chairman and chief executive of Crane Capital Group and he is also the owner and chairman of the MLB team Houston Astros -Early life and education:...
, who was wanted for the stagecoach robbery near Tombstone
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
during Bud Philpott had been murdered; Dick Gray, son of Col. Mike Gray; and Billy Lang, a cattle rancher. Clanton, Crane, and Gray were either still in their bedrolls or in the act of getting dressed when killed. Lang was the only one who had a chance to fight back. Harry Ernshaw, a milk farmer, was grazed by a bullet on the nose; Billy Byers
Billy Byers
William Mitchell "Billy" Byers was an American jazz trombonist and arranger.Born in Los Angeles, Byers suffered from arthritis from a young age and was unable to continue his plans of a career as a pianist. He picked up trombone and played with Karl Kiffle before serving in the Army in 1944-45...
feigned death until the perpetrators left.
Elections and ballot-stuffing
Pima County sheriff DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Charles Shibell appointed
Wyatt Earp as a Pima County Deputy Sheriff on on July 27, 1880. Wyatt did his job well, and from August through November his name was mentioned nearly every week by the Epitaph or the Nugget newspapers.
Pima County sheriff
Shibell ran for reelection in the November 2, 1880 against Republican Bob PaulRobert H. Paul
Robert H. Paul was a law enforcement officer in the American Southwest for more than 30 years. He was sheriff of Pima County, Arizona Territory from April 1881 to 1886 and a friend of Deputy U.S. Marshall Virgil Earp and his brother Wyatt Earp...
. The region was strongly Republican and Paul was expected to win. Whoever won would likely appoint someone from the same political party. Republican Wyatt expected he would continue in the job.
Democrat Johnny Behan
Johnny Behan
John Harris Behan was from April, 1881 to November, 1882 sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona Territory. Behan was appointed the first sheriff of the newly-created county in February, 1881. The mining boomtown of Tombstone was the new county seat and Behan's headquarters...
had considerably more political experience than Republican Wyatt Earp. Behan had previously served as Yavapai County Sheriff from 1871-73. He had been elected to the Arizona Territorial Legislature twice, representing Yavapai Country in the 7th Territorial Legislature
7th Arizona Territorial Legislature
The 7th Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly was a session of the Arizona Territorial Legislature which convened on January 6, 1873, in Tucson, Arizona Territory.-Background:...
in 1873 and Mohave County in the 10th
10th Arizona Territorial Legislature
The 10th Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly was a session of the Arizona Territorial Legislature which convened on January 6, 1879, in Prescott, Arizona Territory....
in 1879. Behan moved for a time to the northwest Arizona Territory where he served as the Mohave County Recorder in 1877 and then deputy sheriff of Mohave County at Gillet, in 1879.
On the day of the election in Precinct 27—San Simon Valley in northern Cochise County—James C. Hancock reported that Cowboys Curly Bill Brocius
William Brocius
William "Curly Bill" Brocius was a gunman, rustler and an outlaw Cowboy in the Cochise County area of Arizona Territory during the early 1880s. He had a number of conflicts with the lawmen of the Earp family, and he was named as one of the individuals who participated Morgan Earp's assassination....
and Johnny Ringo
Johnny Ringo
John Peters "Johnny" Ringo was an outlaw Cowboy of the American Old West who was affiliated with Ike Clanton and Frank Stilwell in Cochise County, Arizona Territory during 1881-1882.-Early life:...
served as election officials in the San Simon precinct. However, on June 1, the day before the election, Ringo biographer David Johnson places Ringo in New Mexico with Ike Clanton. Curly Bill had been arrested and jailed in Tucson on October 28 for killing Sheriff Fred White and he was still there on election day.
The home of John Magill was used as the polling place. A mysterious "Henry Johnson" was responsible for certifying the ballots. This turned out to be James Johnson, the same James K. Johnson who had been shooting up Allen Street the night Marshal White was killed. Moreover, he was the same Johnson that testified at Curly Bill’s preliminary hearing after he shot Fred White. James Johnson later testified for Bud Paul in the election hearing and said that the ballots had been left in the care of Phin Clanton
Phineas Clanton
Phineas Fay Clanton was the son of Newman Haynes Clanton and the brother of Billy and Ike Clanton. He was witness to and possibly played a part if a number of illegal activities during his life...
. None of the witnesses during the election hearing reported on ballots being cast for dogs.
They gathered the dozen or so legal voters in town and coerced them to vote for Shibell. Then they gathered non-voters like the children and Chinese and had them cast ballots. Not satisfied, the named all the dogs, burros and poultry and cast ballots in their names for Shibell. The San Simon precinct turned out an amazing 104 votes, 103 of them for Shibell.
Democrat Shibell was unexpectedly reelected by a margin of 58 votes. He immediately appointed Johnny Behan
Johnny Behan
John Harris Behan was from April, 1881 to November, 1882 sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona Territory. Behan was appointed the first sheriff of the newly-created county in February, 1881. The mining boomtown of Tombstone was the new county seat and Behan's headquarters...
as the new deputy sheriff for the Tombstone region of Pima County. Wyatt, also a Republican, supported Bob Paul
Robert H. Paul
Robert H. Paul was a law enforcement officer in the American Southwest for more than 30 years. He was sheriff of Pima County, Arizona Territory from April 1881 to 1886 and a friend of Deputy U.S. Marshall Virgil Earp and his brother Wyatt Earp...
and resigned as deputy sheriff on November 9. Shibell immediately appointed Behan as the new South Pima deputy sheriff. Paul and Earp checked the ballots and were suspicious to see that 108 out of 109 voters in Precinct 27 had voted for Shibell.
On November 19, Bob Paul
Robert H. Paul
Robert H. Paul was a law enforcement officer in the American Southwest for more than 30 years. He was sheriff of Pima County, Arizona Territory from April 1881 to 1886 and a friend of Deputy U.S. Marshall Virgil Earp and his brother Wyatt Earp...
filed suit and accused Shibell of ballot-stuffing. The trial was transferred to Tucson's district court and began in January 17. On January 20, 1881, the Arizona Star reported, “There has been some big cheating somewhere, and by some persons. It was clear that there had been reckless counting at Tombstone, fraud at San Simon and a careless election board at Tres Alamos.” A recount was held and this time Paul had 402 votes and Shibell had 354. Sixty-two were kept from a closer examination.
The election commissioners threw the whole precinct out in February, but Shibell appealed the decision, preventing Bob Paul
Robert H. Paul
Robert H. Paul was a law enforcement officer in the American Southwest for more than 30 years. He was sheriff of Pima County, Arizona Territory from April 1881 to 1886 and a friend of Deputy U.S. Marshall Virgil Earp and his brother Wyatt Earp...
from taking office until April, 1881. However, the eastern portion of Pima County had been split off to form Cochise County on February 1. This prevented Paul from appointing Earp as deputy sheriff for the Tombstone area of Pima County.
Cochise County sheriff
Both Wyatt Earp and Johnny Behan initially sought the new position of Cochise County sheriff. The Cochise County sheriff's position was a lucrative job, far beyond its salary. The sheriff was not only responsible for enforcing the law but was also county assessor, tax collector, and responsible for collecting prostitution, gambling, liquor, and theater fees. The county supervisors allowed the sheriff to keep ten percent of all amounts paid. This made the job worth more than $40,000 a year (about $ today).John Dunbar's brother Thomas had served in the Arizona Territorial Legislature. He had introduced the bill that established a new county in the southeast corner of the territory and was referred to as the “father of Cochise County”. Behan utilized his existing position and his superior political connections to lobby
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
hard for the position. The office was appointed by the Territorial
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state....
governor and confirmed by the territorial legislature. Wyatt also had other interests including a claim in the Vizina mine, water rights proposals, and a one-quarter interest in the Oriental Hotel where the ran the Faro
Faro (card game)
Faro, Pharaoh, or Farobank, is a late 17th century French gambling card game descendant of basset, and belongs to the lansquenet and Monte Bank family of games, in that it is played between a banker and several players winning or losing according to the cards turned up matching those already...
concession at the Oriental Saloon. Behan made a deal with Earp: he promised Wyatt a position as his undersheriff
Undersheriff
An Undersheriff is an office derived from ancient British practice and still extant in, among other places, the United Kingdom and the United States, though somewhat different forms.-United States:...
if he was appointed over Wyatt. Earp withdrew his name from the political contest. Behan used the influence he had gained while serving two terms in the territorial legislature. He was also supported by his partner in the Dexter Livery Stable, John Dunbar. John and his brother Tom, from Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
, were "close family friends" of the powerful Republican senator James G. Blaine
James G. Blaine
James Gillespie Blaine was a U.S. Representative, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time Secretary of State...
, also from Bangor, and one of the most powerful Republican congressmen of his time. When the territory formed Cochise County, Governor John C. Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
appointed and the Territorial Legislature approved Behan as Sheriff and John Dunbar as the first Cochise County Treasurer on February 10, 1881.
Behan reneged on his deal with Earp and appointed prominent Democrat Harry Woods instead. Later that year, Behan gave a contrived explanation of his actions during the hearings after the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. He said he broke his promise to appoint Earp because of an incident shortly before his appointment. Searching for a horse stolen in late 1879, Wyatt learned about a year later that the horse was in nearby Charleston. Wyatt spotted Billy Clanton attempting to remove the horse from a corral and retrieved it without trouble. Behan was in the area to serve a subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
on Ike Clanton. Ike was hopping mad when Behan finally found him, for Earp had told Clanton that Behan "had taken a posse of nine men down there to arrest him." Behan took offense at Wyatt's tactics and changed his mind about appointing Wyatt. Holliday reported in an interview in 1882 that "from that time a coolness grew up between the two men."
Bisbee stagecoach robbery
Virgil Earp was appointed Tombstone's city marshalMarshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
(chief of police) on June 6, 1881, after Ben Sippy abandoned the job. On September 8, 1881, tensions between the Earps and the McLaurys further increased when a passenger stage on the 'Sandy Bob Line' in the Tombstone area bound for Bisbee, Arizona
Bisbee, Arizona
Bisbee is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, 82 miles southeast of Tucson. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 6,177...
was held up. The masked bandits robbed all of the passengers of their valuables and the strongbox
Safe
A safe is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or damage. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face removable or hinged to form a door. The body and door may be cast from metal or formed out of plastic through blow molding...
of about $2,500. During the robbery, the driver heard one of the robbers describe the money as "sugar", a phrase known to be used by Frank Stilwell
Frank Stilwell
Frank C. Stilwell was an outlaw Cowboy who murdered at least two men in Cochise County during 1877-1882. For four months he was a deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Arizona Territory for Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan...
. Stilwell had until the prior month been a deputy for Sheriff Behan but had been fired for "accounting irregularities".
Pete Spence
Pete Spence , suspected of robbery in 1878 in Goliad County, Texas, changed his name from Elliot Larkin Ferguson. He was later a suspect in a stagecoach robbery outside Bisbee, Arizona and was known for his association with outlaw Cowboys Frank and Tom McLaury and Ike and Billy Clanton of...
and Stilwell were friends of Tom and Frank McLaury. Wyatt
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
and Virgil Earp
Virgil Earp
Virgil Walter Earp fought in the Civil War. He was U.S. Deputy Marshal for south-eastern Arizona and Tombstone City Marshal at the time of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the Arizona Territory. Two months after the shootout in Tombstone, outlaw Cowboys ambushed Virgil on the streets of...
rode with the sheriff's posse attempting to track the Bisbee stage robbers. At the scene of the holdup, Wells, Fargo & Co.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
undercover agent Fred Dodge
Fred J. Dodge
Frederick J. Dodge was an undercover Wells Fargo detective, a constable in Tombstone, Arizona, and Texas cattleman. He was born in Spring Valley, California and was raised in Sacramento. He worked as undercover agent for Wells Fargo in California, Nevada and Arizona...
discovered an unusual boot print left by someone wearing a custom-repaired boot heel. The Earps checked a shoe repair shop in Bisbee that had removed a heel matching the boot print from Frank Stilwell
Frank Stilwell
Frank C. Stilwell was an outlaw Cowboy who murdered at least two men in Cochise County during 1877-1882. For four months he was a deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Arizona Territory for Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan...
's boot.
When Stilwell arrived in Bisbee with his livery stable partner, Pete Spence
Pete Spence
Pete Spence , suspected of robbery in 1878 in Goliad County, Texas, changed his name from Elliot Larkin Ferguson. He was later a suspect in a stagecoach robbery outside Bisbee, Arizona and was known for his association with outlaw Cowboys Frank and Tom McLaury and Ike and Billy Clanton of...
, Tombstone Marshal Virgil Earp and Tombstone Special Police Officer Wyatt Earp arrested them for the robbery. Stilwell and Spence were arraigned before Judge Wells Spicer
Wells Spicer
Wells W. Spicer was an American journalist, prospector, politician, lawyer and judge whose legal career immersed him in two significant events in frontier history: the Mountain Meadows massacre in the Utah Territory in 1857; and the 1881 shootout commonly known as the Gunfight at the O.K...
and posted $7,000 bond. At the preliminary hearing, Stilwell and Spence were able to provide several witnesses who supported their alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
s. Judge Spicer dropped the charges for insufficient evidence just as he had done for Doc Holiday earlier in the year. Having evaded the state charges, Virgil Earp in his other role as Deputy U.S. Marshal re-arrested Spence and Stilwell on October 13 for the Bisbee robbery on a new federal charge of interfering with a mail carrier
Mail carrier
A mail carrier, mailman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman , postman/postwoman , letter carrier or postie is an employee of the post office or postal service, who delivers mail and parcel post to residences and businesses...
. The newspapers, however, reported that they had been arrested for a different stage robbery that occurred (October 8) near Contention City.
Virgil took Frank to Tucson for arraignment where he was held at the territorial jail. While Virgil was in Tucson, he deputized Wyatt to act in is place an assistant city marshal in Tombstone. The Cowboys saw the new arrest as further evidence they were being unfairly harassed and targeted by the Earps. They let the Earps know hat they could expect retaliation. While Wyatt and Virgil were in Tucson for the federal hearing on the charges against Spence and Stilwell, Frank McLaury confronted Morgan Earp. He told him that the McLaurys would kill the Earps if they tried to arrest Spence, Stilwell, or the McLaurys again. The Tombstone Epitaph reported "that since the arrest of Spence and Stilwell, velied threats [are] being made that the friends of the accused will 'get the Earps.'"
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
The Gunfight at the O.K. CorralGunfight at the O.K. Corral
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States. Outlaw Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed, but Ike's brother...
was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on October 26, 1881 in Tombstone
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
, Arizona Territory
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state....
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Although only three men were killed during the gunfight, it is generally regarded as the most famous gunfight in the history of the Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
.
Despite its name, the gunfight began in a 15–20 ft (4.6–6.1 m) wide empty lot or alley on Fremont Street, between C. S. Fly
C. S. Fly
Camillus "Buck" Sydney Fly was an American photographer most noted for the many photographs he took during Tombstone, Arizona's wild and wooly days. He was also a lawman and served as Cochise County Sheriff from 1895 to 1897. His photos are legendary and highly prized.-Early life:His parents...
's lodging house and photographic studio and the MacDonald assay
Metallurgical assay
A metallurgical assay is a compositional analysis of an ore, metal, or alloy.Some assay methods are suitable for raw materials; others are more appropriate for finished goods. Raw precious metals are assayed by an assay office...
house. The lot was six doors east of an alleyway that served as the O.K. Corral's
O.K. Corral, Arizona
The O.K. Corral was originally a small horse corral located in the 19th century boomtown city of Tombstone in the Territory of Arizona, an organized incorporated territory of the United States. It is most famously associated with the "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" which is somewhat of a misnomer...
rear entrance. The two opposing parties were initially only about 6 feet (1.8 m) apart. About thirty shots were fired in thirty seconds. Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed. Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton were killed; Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp, and Doc Holliday were wounded and survived. Ike Clanton filed murder charges against Doc Holliday and the Earps and after a month-long preliminary hearing they were exonerated.
The Earps and Doc Holliday
Doc Holliday
John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
were charged by Billy Clanton's brother, Ike Clanton, with murder but were eventually exonerated by a local judge after a 30-day preliminary hearing and then again by a local grand jury. The so-called cowboy faction
The Cowboys (Cochise County)
The Cowboys were a loosely associated group of outlaw cowboys in Pima and Cochise County, Arizona Territory in the late 19th century. They were cattle rustlers and robbers who rode across the border into Mexico and rounded up cattle that they then sold in the United States...
allegedly targeted the Earps for assassination over the next six months, which led to a series of killings and retributions, often with federal and county lawmen supporting different sides of the conflict. The series of battles became known as the Earp Vendetta Ride
Earp vendetta ride
The Earp Vendetta Ride, lasting from March 20 to April 15, 1882, was a manhunt for outlaw Cowboys led by newly appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp. He was searching for men he held responsible for maiming his brother Virgil, the Tombstone Marshal and Deputy U.S. Marshal, and assassinating his...
. The Earps and Doc Holliday left Arizona and the Cowboy element was less of a threat from that point forward.