Earp Historical Timeline Page 4

The Gunfight

• 1881, October 23 - George Parsons, life long friend of Wyatt Earp, and diarist, writes in his journal of Tombstone: "Quiet as usual today. Read up my papers and ate my bread and bacon with usual composure. Nothing new yet in these parts. Rather monotonous. I hope this state of affairs won't continue long." It didn't.
• 1881, October 25 - Ike and Tom McLaury ride into town, loaded with beef. They park their wagon at the West End Corral around 11:00am. They just left their brothers Billy and Frank and have agreed to meet them in Tombstone the following day.
• 1881, October 25 - Evening: Ike and Tom take in the town, moving from saloon to saloon and game to game. Around 11:00pm they go their separate ways.
• 1881, October 25 - Ike enters the Alhambra around 1:00am (on the 26th) for a bite to eat. There he encounters Doc Holliday. No doubt both men are inebriated. From either side the story agrees, the men tangled words. According to the Earps the event was the day before and it was over lunch at the Alhambra. Wyatt is also eating lunch, and Morgan is called in his official capacity to break it up between Doc and Ike. Morgan pulls Doc outside. But Ike is full of piss and vinegar and follows, creating a disturbance in the street. Town marshal Virgil now gets involved. He threatens to arrest both, and he's not likely to bluff. All the Earps are known for arresting anyone including friends and family if they break the law. Virgil had even arrested Wyatt before now. The situation is temporarily defused and each goes his separate way. Ike catches up with Wyatt, according to Wyatt, later, drunk and wanting to talk of making a fight because of the dissagreement over the soured deal between them, the Wells Fargo reward for the capture of Leonard, Crane, and Head.
• 1881, October 26 - The morning: Virgil leaves an all-night poker game with Tom McLaury, John Behan, Ike Clanton, and an unidentified man. Ike wants Virgil to carry a threat to Doc, but Virgil refuses and Ike implies that Virgil might end up fighting too. A little later Ned Boyle wakes up Wyatt to tell him of threats, but Wyatt stays in bed a little longer. When he does get up he goes to the Oriental where Harry Jones tells him that Ike is armed with a winchester and hunting the Earps. Later in the morning Ike is still drinking, apparently not having been in bed at all, and he's making threats against the Earps to whoever will listen. Officer Andy Bronk is the first person to wake up Virgil and tell him about the threats.
  The afternoon: at Hafford's Ike is annoyed at the lack of Earps. He leaves to hunt up Doc. Big Nosed Kate is informed that Ike is hunting Doc Holliday and she wakes him. Meanwhile Wyatt and Virgil run into each other and compare notes. They split up. Soon Virgil runs into Ike and disarms of his winchester and his pistol, buffaloeing him in the process. Virgil marches him to the judge but has to leave Ike in Morgan's custody while he finds the Judge Wallace. Wyatt enters the courtroom. Ike makes more threats and Wyatt is beginning to lose his temper, exchanging threat for threat. The Judge fines Ike and his weapons are deposited at the Grand Hotel. At Wyatt steps out of the courthouse he bumps into Tom McLaury. More threats, and Wyatt slaps and then buffaloes Tom. Wyatt goes to Hafford's and buys a cigar. Now Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton appear on the scene, meeting up with their brothers. All are in an angry mood. The boys go to Spangenberg's gunsmith shop. Frank's horse walks up on the porch and sticks his head through the door. Wyatt moves up and starts to back the horse off, since it's 'illegally parked'. Frank grabs the reins from his hands and moves his horse himself. The boys now are putting cartridges in their gunbelts.
• 1881, October 26 - 1:18pm: Some miners inform Virgil that the McLaurys and Clantons are still making threats and talking to other cow boys about the incidents of the morning. There are rumors that they have telegraphed to Charleston for some of their friends to come. Meanwhile the cow boys have rearmed themselves, crowds are gathering, and the Citizen's Safety Committee is offering it's services to Virgil. More threats are heard by various citizens. Virgil takes a drink with Sheriff Behan at the Hafford's saloon. Virgil discusses his intention to go disarm the cow boys. Behan thinks that will lead to a sure fight and suggests that he go down and disarm them alone. As long as the Clantons and McLaury's stay at the OK Corral they are entitled to bear arms, but once in the street they're breaking the law.
• 1881, October 26 - 2:28pm: Behan leaves Hafford's to see the cow boys. Meeting up with Frank McLaury he walks down to the west of the OK Corral, just beyond Fly's house and yard to meet up with the rest. Meanwhile Virgil rejoins his brothers. He is informed of more threats. Doc is now with the bunch. Virgil asks his brothers and Doc to accompany him in disarming the cow boys who have been making threats all day. He hands his Well Fargo shootgun to Doc and asks him to keep it under his coat. The four men began their famous walk. At this point they have no way of knowing how many men they are facing. Morgan worries that the cow boys may be mounted. Wyatt points out that they can just shoot the horses and prevent their escape. There is a cool breeze. Finally they spot the cow boys near Fly's. There are six, including Billy Claiborne and the sheriff. When Johnny sees the Earp party approach he hurries towards them, throwing up his hands he shouts for the Earps not to go down there or they will be murdered. Virgil informs Behan that he will be disarming them. Now Johnny tells Virgil that he has already disarmed the boys.
• 1881, October 26 - 2:47pm: the cow boys slip deeper into the vacant lot so that now all Virgil can see is half a horse. As the Earps clear the corner of Fly's they can see the Clantons and McLaurys, and armed. The Earps claim that Tom has his hand on a winchester rifle on a horse, later the cow boys would claim Tom was unarmed. Virgil instructs the boys to throw up their hands, he wants their guns. However Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury cock their pistols. Virgil says "Hold on, I don't want that!" but Billy throws down. Now Wyatt pulls his pistol from his overcoat pocket. Wyatt aims for Frank, as being the best shot and shoots in Frank in the belly as Billy fires at him. Then, as Wyatt later testifies, "The fight then became general." Tom's horse jumps, but Tom holds him, he pulls a pistol out of his shirt and fires over the horse back. Virgil goes to shooting. Frank, gutshot, fires and staggers along the street. Tom's horse is blocking the cow boys possible escape route. Ike cuts and runs after the first four shots, grabbing Wyatt's arm. Wyatt sees he is unarmed and directs him to get out of the fight. Ike gets himself right out of harms way, leaving his brother and two friends. Frank tries to flee but decides to finish Doc before he goes - but Morgan kills Frank with a shoot to the head. Frank has wounded both Morgan and Virgil: Morgan in the shoulder and Virgil in the calf. He has also managed to wound Doc. It's all over in less than thirty seconds. Three men laying dead and dying on the ground as the crowd gathers. Behan attempts to arrest the Earps. Wyatt says "I won't be arrested now. You threw us, Johnny."
• 1881, October 26 - 2:49pm: the wounded members of the Earp party are taken to the drugstore to get fixed up, and then taken home. It takes Billy Clanton half an hour to die. The cow boys are then taken to a room back of the Dexter Corral to await the undertaker. Ike Clanton would tell a different story then the Earps, he would maintain that only two were armed, and that the Earps fired on the boys as they raised their hands in compliance with Virgil's order to do so.

  The aftermath ...

  Back in time ...

  Historians : Found an error? Please feel free to email me at wyatt@panhistoria.com with corrections.

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  Sources:
  The Illustrated Life and Times of Wyatt Earp by Bob Boze Bell, Boze Books, 1993
  Wyatt Earp and the Coeur d'Alene Gold!: Stampede to Idaho Territory, by Jerry Dolph and Arthur Randall, Eagle City Publishing, 1999
  Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend, by Casey Tefertiller, John Wiley & Sons, 1999
  Wyatt Earp: The Missing Years, San Diego in the 1880's, by Kenneth R. Cilch and Kenneth R. Cilch, Jr., Gaslamp Books, 1998
  The Earp Papers : In a Brother's Image by Don Chaput
  The Truth About Wyatt Earp by Richard E. Erwin