Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan was generally sympathetic to the interests of the rural ranchers and Cowboys. The Earps were not universally liked by the townspeople but they tended to protect the interests of the town’s business owners and residents. In June 1881 he was also appointed as Tombstone’s town marshal. Marshal for eastern Pima County, with his offices in Tombstone, only days before his arrival. Virgil Earp had been hired as Deputy U.S. The Earps arrived on December 1, 1879, when the small town was mostly composed of tents as living quarters, a few saloons and other buildings, and the mines. Tombstone, Arizona is located near the Mexican border. I will of course follow this article up with more about Wyatt’s vendetta, and biographies of the key players, but for now I will concentrate on the infamous gunfight itself. A total of thirty shots were fired in thirty seconds in the most famous shootout in the history of the American Old West. Words couldn’t have been truer than those spoken by Wyatt Earp. In a gun fight… You need to take your time in a hurry.” The truth is better than a romantic myth.“Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything. I returned from my journey somewhat wiser and more aware of the harsh reality of this town’s history. This fact seems to tarnish the romantic gloss Hollywood has wrought over this legendary hero. Two of Wyatt Earp’s wives (he had been married three times, with the third marriage lasting until his death) were former “soiled doves.” One of the wives, Mattie, had to return to her former profession and was driven to suicide when Wyatt abandoned her. This made me think of the doves that were living above the patio in the house where I was staying in Phoenix, only they should have more rightly been called “soiling doves” as they frequently soiled the nest and its surroundings. They were sometimes referred to in those days as “soiled doves,” which sounds a bit condescending. I also found out much about the sex trade workers who lived in Tombstone in Wyatt Earp’s time. I think you’ll agree that even as a dummy, Wyatt Earp is quite heroic. I know, you are very jealous dear readers, because you weren’t there to witness it yourself. For latecomers like me, they had an ever better show on hand. Usually, the gunfight is reenacted daily by real people (a very inaccurate portrayal, compared to the dummy one), but I’d arrived too late for that. Yes indeed, this is what they don’t tell you in the history textbooks. All the participants in the shootout (Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil Earp, Doc Holiday, the Clanton Brothers, and Frank and Tom McLaury) were not real people at all but were in fact large, lifelike dummies. Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and his gambler friend Doc Holiday didn’t look like Hollywood movie stars. You see, the truth is, life in the old west wasn’t as glamorous as it was portrayed to be by movies like Tombstone (starring Kurt Russel). I was very excited to see the recreation of the gunfight, but I was in for quite a surprise… On this exact spot, legendary lawman Wyatt Earp and his brothers faced off against the most notorious gang of outlaws in the old west. There I stood at the actual site of the OK Corral in the blazing Arizona heat. If you look around, you can see the gunfighters, just as they stood on October 26, 1881…” said a disembodied voice from the speakers. The West’s most famous gunfight began where you are now standing.
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