The "Gunfight at the OK Corral" was not even arguably the most famous gunfight in western history. It took place on October 26, 1881 in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, between the "lawmen" Earps and Doc Holliday and the "cowboys," a group of rowdy and dangerous armed men.

It lasted only 30 seconds, but left several dead and injured. Morgan Earp was shot in the shoulder and his brother Virgil had a leg wound. Doc Holliday was barely injured with a grazed hip. Wyatt Earp made it through the gunfight without any injury. The other side didn't fare very well. Frank and Tom McLaury were dead from the guns of Wyatt and Doc respectively. Also, Billy Clanton lay dying from the shotgun of Doc Holliday. Morgan was later ambushed, shot and killed, apparently in revenge, causing Wyatt to undertake a murderous vendetta against the supposed perpetrators. Brother James was not present at the gunfight.

I came across these period pictures of Wyatt and his brothers in the old Birdcage Theater (actually a theater, gambling hall, bar and brothel all rolled into one) in Tombstone. I thought it might be interesting for you to see what these guys looked like for real.



...and here is a picture of the "cowboys" as they appear today.




This is an aerial photograph showing you the layout of Tombstone today, pretty much the same in the 1880s. You will note that Wyatt Earp's home (where he lived with Mattie Blaylock, his common-law wife) is in the upper left hand corner, and the Birdcage Theater in the lower right hand corner. Just above the Birdcage is the Oriental Saloon, and to its left is the Crystal Palace Saloon. Both of these saloons were watering holes for the Earps and others. The OK Corral is in the upper left area between Fremont Street and Allen Street. Right next to it is the old City Hall, still standing since it was built in the 1880s. The Old County Courthouse is in the lower left hand corner. My grandfather served on juries there in the early part of the 20th Century.

John

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Neat post and good pictures.

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James

Neat post! I love Old West history. The Earps were certainly dedicated to their mustaches! ... too bad there is no mustache smilie face...

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Proud anachronism

Here's how close they were when lead started flying. The Earps and Holliday on the left and the cowboys on the right. There was a house here in the foreground (the Harwood House) and the wall was that metal fence. So that tight area must've been filled with gunsmoke. That's Fly's boarding house where Doc lived and the little building on the far right his photo studio. That beige wall on the far left wasn't there and is there now to keep tourists from seeing the site for free. It was actually open onto Front Street.

Back in the mid 1950s there used to be a tv game show, "The $64,000 question." They had a old man on that was wyatt earps nephew on that I belive was james earps son. His catagory of questions was on western history and he done well. The show host did get a little frustrated with him once or twice. He was handed a single action army and was to explain a few things about it. After holding the gun and explaining how it worked he asked the host could he keep it? Then it came up he was in one gun fight himself and killed a man. The host asked him why, and he just commented that he had bothered his sister. The guy was thin dark and tall, and had the family resembulance. I would estimate that he was around 80 years old in the mid-late 50`s. I wonder if there is a tape somewhere of that show? I used to work with a guy about 20 years older than me that claims wyatt was a neighbor of his family where he grew up in colton california. I belive wyatt died around 1929.

Thanks! for the photos! I've LONG wanted to make a journey to Tombstone.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

Just go here.
Wyatt Earp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Years ago as a boy I put a bucket in front of the tv set. I wanted to see wyatt earp!

My Wife's Great Uncle worked for Murat Masterson in Prescott Arizona in the 1880's. He collected mine receipts from mines that were owned by the Masterson family. He had to flee Arizona after killing an outlaw who had some revengeful family members and Judge Masterson sent him to San Francisco where he was involved in another shooting. The Judge paid for many appeals for years that eventual won John McNulty his pardon.
Question is, is this Judge Murat Masterson related to Bat Masterson?

Here ya go on murat masterson.

Votes for women! Arizona Territory's ill-fated Suffrage Bill of 1883 | Days Past |Sharlot Hall MuseumDays Past | Sharlot Hall Museum Archives

Great controversial history. Always entertaining for we "shootists" and my thanks for posting this thread and the photos. But...what about Doc?

Cheers;
Lefty

Good photos,thanks for posting those. There are similar pictures of Wyatt,Virgil,and Morgan,and also of Holiday in Stuart Lake's autobiography,Wyatt Earp-Frontier Marshall,but none of James.
It was stated in the book that when one of them walked down the street,they favored so much that people couldn't tell them apart unless they got really close.

oldflatfoot,the photo of Doc in the book bears a very close resemblance to Dennis Quaid's appearance in "Wyatt Earp." Much more so than Kilmer's characterizaton in "Tombstone." Quaid had to lose 40 pounds to play that part. I liked Tombstone a lot but the more I review them the more I see more historcal correctness of the Earp family and Wyatt in the Costner version. Kevin Costner thinks very highly of himself,but I have to give credit where it's due.He does good production work and research. Open Range is another good example.
Watching the interviews of the actors he chose for each role,he was very meticulous.

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Blessed be the Lord,my Rock

Stu;
I truly loved Open Range, it has become one of my favorite all time westerns, right up there in the top ten with no doubt. I think it was Costner's best film so far. Thanks for jogging my memory.

Cheers;
Lefty

I attended Wyatt Earp Days in Tombstone a few years ago. What's really neat is to hear direct descendants of the Clanton clan argue to this day that the Earps and their buddy Doc murdered their kin. They do have a good argument in their favor !