Wyatt Earp's Prelude to the O.K. Corral,
By John D. Rose
“They mean trouble. They have just gone from Dunbar’s Corral into the O. K. Corral, all armed,
and I think you had better go and disarm them.” –Wyatt Earp, quoting R.F. Coleman
and I think you had better go and disarm them.” –Wyatt Earp, quoting R.F. Coleman
On Monday, June 6th, 1881, the Tombstone City Council held its scheduled meeting. Among the issues that the council ruled on that evening was a temporary appointment that would prove fateful to Tombstone and its history only a few months later. Marshal Ben Sippy, whom Virgil Earp had run against unsuccessfully for the position of Town Marshal, had left Tombstone. “On motion Virgil Earp was appointed Chief of Police, during absence of Sippy and instructed to file bonds in the sum of $5000.” Virgil’s appointment was to be a temporary one. But when Ben Sippy did not return, Earp retained the office that he had long coveted. This was one of a series of events leading up to the violence of October 26th. After all, it was under Virgil’s authority that he, Wyatt, Morgan, and Doc Holliday walked down Fremont Street to disarm the cowboys.
While the lawsuit over the Intervenor/Last Decision property continued in the courts, hard feelings between the Earps and the cowboy faction had escalated. In their time in Tombstone, Billy and Wyatt Earp had been acquainted with many different types of people, and both men knew Frank McLaury. Billy knew him well enough to have ordered drinks with him in the Grand Hotel just hours before his death. It was he who warned Frank and Billy Clanton upon their arrival in Tombstone about the storm brewing between their brothers and the Earp faction. Billy informed Frank that Wyatt Earp had struck his brother Tom earlier that same day. Billy didn’t witness the event, but passed on local hearsay that was buzzing about Tombstone’s streets. But the hearsay was proven correct.
Wyatt Earp would later testify that he encountered both McLaury brothers the year before as he aided Captain Hurst in recovering stolen mules. The mules, Earp said, were found at the McLaury ranch where the brand was being altered. In the summer of 1880 the Tombstone Epitaph stated, “Capt. J.H. Hurst, Twelfth Infantry, commanding Camp Rucker, is in town. Captain Hurst is following some horse thieves, and has given them a close hunt. He offers a good reward for the capture of the thieves.”
Tombstone’s Billy Allen Le Van, who partnered with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday (among others) in a disputed mine, was friendly Frank McLaury when the gunfight occurred. At the same time, the McLaurys and others within the cowboy faction became increasingly hostile toward the Earps after the mule incident, and later the arrest of Frank Stilwell and Pete Spence who were accused of robbing the Sandy Bob Stage line to Bisbee, September 8th, 1881, among other issues that divided them. And Billy involved himself in the Stilwell/Spence situation. “Frank C. Stilwell and Peter Spencer furnished bail yesterday in the sum of $14,000, upon the two charges of high-way robbery and robbing the United States mail. In the former, the bail was $2,000 and in the latter $5,000 each. The sureties in both cases were Ham Light, Wm. Allen and Ike Clanton.”
While Billy, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and others were fighting for the Last Decision claim, Billy was also coming to the aid of Stilwell and Spence, both of whom had threatened the lives of the Earps over the Bisbee Stage robbery arrest. If Billy knew of those threats, it didn’t stop his support of these two hardened and dangerous men. Nor did Billy appear deterred in joining his name with that of Ike Clanton, in support of them. In a surprising contrast to his aiding of two of their most strident enemies, Billy would later state, “My relations with the Earps have been the best, always – always friendly.”
For all the ill will that this arrest generated, the case against Stilwell and Spence soon collapsed. Billy had assisted two men accused of stage robbery, and he would find his own name incorrectly published as a captured stage robber as well. In an odd error by the press on March 24th, 1881, the front page of the Los Angeles Daily Herald announced that Billy had been arrested in connection with the shooting of Bud Philpot in the wash just south of Drew’s Station. “A Stage Robber Captured. Tombstone, A.T., March 21- William Allen, one of the stage robbers, was caught yesterday and lodged in jail. He implicates many others. Lynching is feared. The remainder of the gang will be captured in a few hours.” The Herald’s report was wrong on both counts. The remainder of the gang was not captured “in a few hours,” and William Allen had not been arrested and jailed. Luther King, who was apprehended by the Earps and then taken back to Tombstone by Sheriff Behan, was the person arrested to which the Herald referred. How Billy’s name was mistaken for that of Luther King remains unknown.
While the lawsuit over the Intervenor/Last Decision property continued in the courts, hard feelings between the Earps and the cowboy faction had escalated. In their time in Tombstone, Billy and Wyatt Earp had been acquainted with many different types of people, and both men knew Frank McLaury. Billy knew him well enough to have ordered drinks with him in the Grand Hotel just hours before his death. It was he who warned Frank and Billy Clanton upon their arrival in Tombstone about the storm brewing between their brothers and the Earp faction. Billy informed Frank that Wyatt Earp had struck his brother Tom earlier that same day. Billy didn’t witness the event, but passed on local hearsay that was buzzing about Tombstone’s streets. But the hearsay was proven correct.
Wyatt Earp would later testify that he encountered both McLaury brothers the year before as he aided Captain Hurst in recovering stolen mules. The mules, Earp said, were found at the McLaury ranch where the brand was being altered. In the summer of 1880 the Tombstone Epitaph stated, “Capt. J.H. Hurst, Twelfth Infantry, commanding Camp Rucker, is in town. Captain Hurst is following some horse thieves, and has given them a close hunt. He offers a good reward for the capture of the thieves.”
Tombstone’s Billy Allen Le Van, who partnered with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday (among others) in a disputed mine, was friendly Frank McLaury when the gunfight occurred. At the same time, the McLaurys and others within the cowboy faction became increasingly hostile toward the Earps after the mule incident, and later the arrest of Frank Stilwell and Pete Spence who were accused of robbing the Sandy Bob Stage line to Bisbee, September 8th, 1881, among other issues that divided them. And Billy involved himself in the Stilwell/Spence situation. “Frank C. Stilwell and Peter Spencer furnished bail yesterday in the sum of $14,000, upon the two charges of high-way robbery and robbing the United States mail. In the former, the bail was $2,000 and in the latter $5,000 each. The sureties in both cases were Ham Light, Wm. Allen and Ike Clanton.”
While Billy, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and others were fighting for the Last Decision claim, Billy was also coming to the aid of Stilwell and Spence, both of whom had threatened the lives of the Earps over the Bisbee Stage robbery arrest. If Billy knew of those threats, it didn’t stop his support of these two hardened and dangerous men. Nor did Billy appear deterred in joining his name with that of Ike Clanton, in support of them. In a surprising contrast to his aiding of two of their most strident enemies, Billy would later state, “My relations with the Earps have been the best, always – always friendly.”
For all the ill will that this arrest generated, the case against Stilwell and Spence soon collapsed. Billy had assisted two men accused of stage robbery, and he would find his own name incorrectly published as a captured stage robber as well. In an odd error by the press on March 24th, 1881, the front page of the Los Angeles Daily Herald announced that Billy had been arrested in connection with the shooting of Bud Philpot in the wash just south of Drew’s Station. “A Stage Robber Captured. Tombstone, A.T., March 21- William Allen, one of the stage robbers, was caught yesterday and lodged in jail. He implicates many others. Lynching is feared. The remainder of the gang will be captured in a few hours.” The Herald’s report was wrong on both counts. The remainder of the gang was not captured “in a few hours,” and William Allen had not been arrested and jailed. Luther King, who was apprehended by the Earps and then taken back to Tombstone by Sheriff Behan, was the person arrested to which the Herald referred. How Billy’s name was mistaken for that of Luther King remains unknown.
IKE CLANTON AND THE NIGHT BEFORE THE GUNFIGHT
Billy’s involvement with the Earps and Holliday had increased due to their partnership and subsequent court case with the Last Decision. But beyond issues related to the Intervenor Mine, there was a growing realization locally that threats had been made against the Earps. In spite of that, there was little to indicate a scale of animosity that would lead to a shootout. A variety of incidents between some of the players in the fight occurred just hours before the fateful event. It was a row between Doc Holliday and Ike Clanton that proved to be a key catalyst in the impending outbreak of violence.
According to Clanton, it all began as he headed for a late night meal in the early hours of October 26th, 1881, a date that Tombstone would never forget. Doc Holliday found and confronted him. Ike later stated, “…it was about 1 o’clock in the morning…The night before at a lunch stand in this town near the Eagle Brewery Saloon, on the north side of Allen Street…I went in there to get a lunch. While sitting down at the table, Doc Holliday came in and commenced cursing me and said I was, ‘a son-of-a-bitch of a cowboy,’ and told me to get my gun out and get to work. I told him I had no gun. He said I was a damned liar and had threatened the Earps. I told him I had not, to bring whoever said so to me and I would convince him that I had not. He told me again to pull out my gun and if there was any grit in me, to go to fighting. All the time he was talking, he had his hand in his bosom and I supposed on his pistol. I looked behind me and saw Morgan Earp with his feet over the lunch counter. He has his hand in his bosom also, looking at me. I then got up and went out on the sidewalk. Doc Holliday said, as I walked out, ‘You son-of-a-bitch, if you ain’t heeled, go and heel yourself.’ Just as I stepped out, Morgan Earp stepped up and said, ‘Yes, son-of-a-bitch, you can have all the fight you want now!’ I thanked him and told him I did not want any of it now, as I was not heeled. Virgil Earp stood off about 10 or 15 feet from us on the sidewalk. Just about this time, or perhaps a minute later, Wyatt Earp came up where I was. Wyatt did not say anything. Morgan Earp told me if I was not heeled, when I came back on the street to be heeled. I walked off and asked them not to shoot me in the back.”
According to Clanton, it all began as he headed for a late night meal in the early hours of October 26th, 1881, a date that Tombstone would never forget. Doc Holliday found and confronted him. Ike later stated, “…it was about 1 o’clock in the morning…The night before at a lunch stand in this town near the Eagle Brewery Saloon, on the north side of Allen Street…I went in there to get a lunch. While sitting down at the table, Doc Holliday came in and commenced cursing me and said I was, ‘a son-of-a-bitch of a cowboy,’ and told me to get my gun out and get to work. I told him I had no gun. He said I was a damned liar and had threatened the Earps. I told him I had not, to bring whoever said so to me and I would convince him that I had not. He told me again to pull out my gun and if there was any grit in me, to go to fighting. All the time he was talking, he had his hand in his bosom and I supposed on his pistol. I looked behind me and saw Morgan Earp with his feet over the lunch counter. He has his hand in his bosom also, looking at me. I then got up and went out on the sidewalk. Doc Holliday said, as I walked out, ‘You son-of-a-bitch, if you ain’t heeled, go and heel yourself.’ Just as I stepped out, Morgan Earp stepped up and said, ‘Yes, son-of-a-bitch, you can have all the fight you want now!’ I thanked him and told him I did not want any of it now, as I was not heeled. Virgil Earp stood off about 10 or 15 feet from us on the sidewalk. Just about this time, or perhaps a minute later, Wyatt Earp came up where I was. Wyatt did not say anything. Morgan Earp told me if I was not heeled, when I came back on the street to be heeled. I walked off and asked them not to shoot me in the back.”
Wyatt Earp recalled the same event. According to Earp the cause of the row had its origins in a secret deal that he had offered Clanton in the spring of 1881. Earp had asked him to help him apprehend the killers of Bud Philpot who had died in the wash just south of Drew’s Station as he drove his Kinnear & Co. Stage, on March 15th, 1881. Earp had proposed a trade with Clanton. If Ike would draw the killers out for a meeting at a set location, Earp would arrest them. Under the arrangement Earp would then take credit for the capture which would bolster his chances of becoming Sheriff, and Clanton would receive the posted reward money. But Clanton became fearful that Wyatt had told his friend Doc Holliday about the deal, and Holliday was a known friend of one of the wanted men. Earp asserted that the purpose of Holliday and Ike Clanton meeting in the Alhambra saloon was to sort the matter out. What predictably turned into a row between the two, given Holliday’s temperament, occurred the night before the gunfight.
Once news of the “deal” came to light, Ike Clanton offered a different version of it in his testimony, one that would portray himself as being unwilling to sell his friends out. His version appears carefully crafted and revised in a way that shows Earp was out to murder the robbers to cover Earp’s own thefts from stage coaches, or “piping away” such proceeds, as Ike put it. Clanton claimed that Earp was willing to murder Leonard, Head and Crane to keep his own sins a secret, and at the same time, to reveal those forthcoming crimes to, of all people, Ike Clanton. In his account Clanton paints Earp with such a fanciful brush of distortion that Wyatt Earp would have to be one of the most mentally inept men to ever walk across the American West if this were true. The assertion that if Earp were to commit these crimes, he would share such personally damning information with Ike Clanton was certainly flattering to Clanton.
Ike testified, “Wyatt Earp approached me…I met him in the Eagle Brewery Saloon one night and he asked me to take a drink with him, and while they were mixing our drinks, he told me that he wanted a long private talk with me. After we had drank, he stepped out into the middle of the street with me. He then told me he would put me on a scheme to make six thousand dollars. I asked him what it was. He told me he would not tell me unless I would promise to do it, or if I would not promise to do it, not to mention our conversation to anyone else. He then made me promise on my honor as a gentleman not to repeat the conversation if I did not like the proposition. I asked him what it was. He told me it was a legitimate transaction. He then made me promise the second time that I would not mention it any more. He told me that he wanted me to help put up a job to kill Crane, Leonard and Head. He said there was between four and five thousand reward for them, and he said he would make the balance of the six thousand dollars up out of his own pocket. I then asked him why he was anxious to capture these fellows. He said that his business was such that he could not afford to capture them. He would have to kill them or else leave the country. He said he and his brother, Morgan, had piped off to Doc Holliday and William Leonard, the money that was going off on the stage, and he said he could not afford to capture them…for they [were] stopping around the country so damned long that he was afraid some of them would be caught and would squeal on him. I then told him I would see him again before I left town. I never talked to Wyatt Earp any more about it.”
Ike testified, “Wyatt Earp approached me…I met him in the Eagle Brewery Saloon one night and he asked me to take a drink with him, and while they were mixing our drinks, he told me that he wanted a long private talk with me. After we had drank, he stepped out into the middle of the street with me. He then told me he would put me on a scheme to make six thousand dollars. I asked him what it was. He told me he would not tell me unless I would promise to do it, or if I would not promise to do it, not to mention our conversation to anyone else. He then made me promise on my honor as a gentleman not to repeat the conversation if I did not like the proposition. I asked him what it was. He told me it was a legitimate transaction. He then made me promise the second time that I would not mention it any more. He told me that he wanted me to help put up a job to kill Crane, Leonard and Head. He said there was between four and five thousand reward for them, and he said he would make the balance of the six thousand dollars up out of his own pocket. I then asked him why he was anxious to capture these fellows. He said that his business was such that he could not afford to capture them. He would have to kill them or else leave the country. He said he and his brother, Morgan, had piped off to Doc Holliday and William Leonard, the money that was going off on the stage, and he said he could not afford to capture them…for they [were] stopping around the country so damned long that he was afraid some of them would be caught and would squeal on him. I then told him I would see him again before I left town. I never talked to Wyatt Earp any more about it.”
Wyatt Earp recalled this conversation with Ike very differently. He was open about the obvious political advantage that he saw in the capture of Jim Crane, Bill Leonard, and Harry Head. “I had an ambition to be Sheriff of this County at the next election, and I thought it would be a great help to me with the people and businessmen if I could capture the men who killed Philpot. There were rewards offered of about $1,200 each for the capture of the robbers. Altogether there was about $3,600 offered for their capture. I thought this sum might tempt Ike Clanton and Frank McLaury to give away Leonard, Head, and Crane, so I went to Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Joe Hill when they came to town. I had an interview with them in the back yard of the Oriental Saloon. I told them what I wanted. I told them I wanted the glory of capturing Leonard, Head, and Crane and if I could do it, it would help me make the race for Sheriff at the next election. I told them if they would put me on the track of Leonard, Head, and Crane, and tell me where those men were hid, I would give them all the reward and would never let anyone know where I got the information.
“Ike Clanton said he would like to see them captured. He said that Leonard claimed a ranch that he claimed, and that if he could get him out of the way, he would have no opposition in regard to that ranch. Clanton said that Leonard, Head, and Crane would make a fight, that they would never be taken alive, and that I must find out if the reward would be paid for the capture of the robbers dead or alive. I then went to Marshall Williams, the agent of Wells, Fargo & Co., in this town and at my request, he telegraphed to the agent, or superintendent, in San Francisco to find out if the reward would be paid for the robbers dead or alive. He received, in June, 1881, a telegram, which he showed me, promising the reward would be paid dead or alive.
“The next day I met Ike Clanton and Joe Hill on Allen Street in front of a little cigar store next to the Alhambra. I told them that the dispatch had come. I went to Marshall Williams and told him I wanted to see the dispatch for a few minutes. He went to look for it and could not find it, but went over to the telegraph office and got a copy of it, and he came back and gave it to me. I went and showed it to Ike Clanton and Joe Hill and returned it to Marshall Williams, and afterwards told Frank McLaury of its contents.
“It was then agreed between us that they were to have all the $3,600 reward, outside of necessary expenses for horse hire in going after them, and that Joe Hill should go to where Leonard, Head, and Crane were hid, over near Yreka, in New Mexico, and lure them in near Frank and Tom McLaury’s ranch near Soldier’s Holes, 30 miles from here, and I would be on hand with a posse and capture them.
“I asked Joe Hill, Ike Clanton, and Frank McLaury what tale they would make them to get them over here. They said they had agreed upon a plan to tell them there would be a paymaster going from Tombstone to Bisbee, to pay off the miners, and they wanted them to come in and take him in. Ike Clanton then sent Joe Hill to bring them in. Before starting, Joe Hill took off his watch and chain and between two and three hundred dollars in money, and gave it to Virgil Earp to keep for him until he got back. He was gone about ten days and returned with the word that he got there a day too late; that Leonard and Harry Head had been killed the day before he got there by horse thieves. I learned afterward that the thieves had been killed subsequently by members of the Clanton and McLaury gang.
“After that, Ike Clanton and Frank McLaury claimed that I had given them away to Marshall Williams and Doc Holliday, and when they came in town, they shunned us, and Morgan, Virgil Earp, Doc Holliday and myself began to hear their threats against us.”
According to Wyatt Earp, Ike Clanton accused him of telling Doc Holliday of the secret deal. This initial discussion would set the stage for the ugly confrontation between the two in the Alhambra weeks later, as Clanton’s fears collided with Holliday’s anger the night before the gunfight. “Ike Clanton met me at the Alhambra five or six weeks ago and told me I had told Holliday about this transaction, concerning the capture of Head, Leonard, and Crane. I told him I had never told Holliday anything. I told him when Holliday came up from Tucson I would prove it. Ike said that Holliday had told him so. When Holliday came back I asked him if he had said so.”
Clanton’s apprehensions had gotten the best of him. If word had leaked out about the arrangement, it is understandable that Ike would have reason to be concerned for his safety. But Ike’s challenge to Wyatt Earp about informing Holliday of this secret was not easily remedied. How could Wyatt Earp allay Ike’s fear without furnishing Holliday with the very knowledge that Ike did not want him to have? Adding to Ike’s fear was Holliday’s poor temperament. And a separate matter also compounded an already tense situation. According to the Earps, the Clantons and McLaurys were angered over their participation in the arrest of Frank Stilwell and Pete Spence.
“About a month or more ago, Morgan Earp and myself assisted to arrest Stilwell and Spence on the charge of robbing the Bisbee stage. The McLaurys and Clantons were always friendly with Spence and Stilwell, and they laid the whole blame of their arrest on us, though the fact is, we only went as a sheriff’s posse. After we got in town with Spence and Stilwell, Ike Clanton and Frank McLaury came in.” But according to Fred Dodge, who was also with this posse, he and Wyatt Earp both played a larger role in this arrest than Wyatt stated at the Spicer Hearing. In referring to other key members of the posse, Dodge wrote, “Neither [Billy] Breakenridge nor [David] Neagle had any thing to do with it whatever. Both of them had quit the posse and gone on ahead into town some little time before we got into Bisbee.”
Dodge elaborated on the discovery of circumstantial evidence that convinced them to arrest Stilwell and Spence. “Wyatt and I were both off from our horses when we found the bootheel while we were trailing the robbers in the Mule mountains. When we got to Bisbee we were satisfied as to the man who had done the job and Wyatt went to question the shoemaker and I slipped down where Frank Stilwell and Pete Spence hung out. There I found that Frank Stilwell had one new boot heel. Wyatt found out from the shoemaker that he had put a new heel on Frank Stilwell’s boot. We arrested Frank Stilwell and Pete Spence.” After making the arrest, Dodge added, “On our way in to Tombstone Stilwell and Spence both swore they would get Wyatt, Morg, and myself for this arrest.”
Wyatt recalled the fallout when word of the arrest reached Tombstone. “Frank McLaury took Morgan Earp into the street in front of the Alhambra, where John Ringo, Ike Clanton, and the two Hicks boys were also standing. Frank McLaury commenced to abuse Morgan Earp for going after Spence and Stilwell. Frank McLaury said he would never speak to Spence again for being arrested by us.
“He said to Morgan, ‘If you ever come after me, you will never take me.’ Morgan replied that if he ever had occasion to go after him, he would arrest him. Frank McLaury then said to Morgan Earp, ‘I have threatened you boys’ lives, and a few days later I had taken it back, but since this arrest, it now goes.’ Morgan made no reply and walked off.
“Before this and after this, Marshall Williams, Farmer Daly, Ed Barnes, Old Man Urrides, Charley Smith and three or four others had told us at different times of threats to kill us, by Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Joe Hill, and John Ringo. I knew all these men were desperate and dangerous men, that they were connected with outlaws, cattle thieves, robbers and murderers. I knew of the McLaurys stealing six government mules, and also cattle, and when the owners went after them finding his stock on the McLaury’s ranch…and I naturally kept my eyes open and did not intend that any of the gang should get the drop on me if I could help it.”
The secret deal relating to the Benson stage robbers was at the heart of the trouble between Ike Clanton, Wyatt and Doc Holliday. And for Frank McLaury, the arrest of Stilwell and Spence was at the center of his trouble with the Earps. It has been stated that “The McLaury family would later maintain that at least one brother wanted to testify on behalf of Frank Stilwell.” The confrontation between Clanton and Holliday would only add to the bitterness between the parties.
Wyatt Earp stated, “On the night of the 25th of October, Holliday met Ike Clanton in the Alhambra Saloon and asked him about it [the deal]. Clanton denied it. They quarreled for three or four minutes. Holliday told Clanton he was a damned liar, if he said so. I was sitting eating lunch at the lunch counter. Morgan Earp was standing at the Alhambra bar talking with the bartender. I called him over to where I was sitting, knowing that he was an officer and told him that Holliday and Clanton were quarreling in the lunch room and for him to go in and stop it. He climbed over the lunch room counter from the Alhambra bar and went into the room, took Holliday by the arm and led him into the street. Ike Clanton in a few seconds followed them out. I got through eating and walked out of the bar. As I stopped at the door of the bar, they were still quarreling.”
“Ike Clanton said he would like to see them captured. He said that Leonard claimed a ranch that he claimed, and that if he could get him out of the way, he would have no opposition in regard to that ranch. Clanton said that Leonard, Head, and Crane would make a fight, that they would never be taken alive, and that I must find out if the reward would be paid for the capture of the robbers dead or alive. I then went to Marshall Williams, the agent of Wells, Fargo & Co., in this town and at my request, he telegraphed to the agent, or superintendent, in San Francisco to find out if the reward would be paid for the robbers dead or alive. He received, in June, 1881, a telegram, which he showed me, promising the reward would be paid dead or alive.
“The next day I met Ike Clanton and Joe Hill on Allen Street in front of a little cigar store next to the Alhambra. I told them that the dispatch had come. I went to Marshall Williams and told him I wanted to see the dispatch for a few minutes. He went to look for it and could not find it, but went over to the telegraph office and got a copy of it, and he came back and gave it to me. I went and showed it to Ike Clanton and Joe Hill and returned it to Marshall Williams, and afterwards told Frank McLaury of its contents.
“It was then agreed between us that they were to have all the $3,600 reward, outside of necessary expenses for horse hire in going after them, and that Joe Hill should go to where Leonard, Head, and Crane were hid, over near Yreka, in New Mexico, and lure them in near Frank and Tom McLaury’s ranch near Soldier’s Holes, 30 miles from here, and I would be on hand with a posse and capture them.
“I asked Joe Hill, Ike Clanton, and Frank McLaury what tale they would make them to get them over here. They said they had agreed upon a plan to tell them there would be a paymaster going from Tombstone to Bisbee, to pay off the miners, and they wanted them to come in and take him in. Ike Clanton then sent Joe Hill to bring them in. Before starting, Joe Hill took off his watch and chain and between two and three hundred dollars in money, and gave it to Virgil Earp to keep for him until he got back. He was gone about ten days and returned with the word that he got there a day too late; that Leonard and Harry Head had been killed the day before he got there by horse thieves. I learned afterward that the thieves had been killed subsequently by members of the Clanton and McLaury gang.
“After that, Ike Clanton and Frank McLaury claimed that I had given them away to Marshall Williams and Doc Holliday, and when they came in town, they shunned us, and Morgan, Virgil Earp, Doc Holliday and myself began to hear their threats against us.”
According to Wyatt Earp, Ike Clanton accused him of telling Doc Holliday of the secret deal. This initial discussion would set the stage for the ugly confrontation between the two in the Alhambra weeks later, as Clanton’s fears collided with Holliday’s anger the night before the gunfight. “Ike Clanton met me at the Alhambra five or six weeks ago and told me I had told Holliday about this transaction, concerning the capture of Head, Leonard, and Crane. I told him I had never told Holliday anything. I told him when Holliday came up from Tucson I would prove it. Ike said that Holliday had told him so. When Holliday came back I asked him if he had said so.”
Clanton’s apprehensions had gotten the best of him. If word had leaked out about the arrangement, it is understandable that Ike would have reason to be concerned for his safety. But Ike’s challenge to Wyatt Earp about informing Holliday of this secret was not easily remedied. How could Wyatt Earp allay Ike’s fear without furnishing Holliday with the very knowledge that Ike did not want him to have? Adding to Ike’s fear was Holliday’s poor temperament. And a separate matter also compounded an already tense situation. According to the Earps, the Clantons and McLaurys were angered over their participation in the arrest of Frank Stilwell and Pete Spence.
“About a month or more ago, Morgan Earp and myself assisted to arrest Stilwell and Spence on the charge of robbing the Bisbee stage. The McLaurys and Clantons were always friendly with Spence and Stilwell, and they laid the whole blame of their arrest on us, though the fact is, we only went as a sheriff’s posse. After we got in town with Spence and Stilwell, Ike Clanton and Frank McLaury came in.” But according to Fred Dodge, who was also with this posse, he and Wyatt Earp both played a larger role in this arrest than Wyatt stated at the Spicer Hearing. In referring to other key members of the posse, Dodge wrote, “Neither [Billy] Breakenridge nor [David] Neagle had any thing to do with it whatever. Both of them had quit the posse and gone on ahead into town some little time before we got into Bisbee.”
Dodge elaborated on the discovery of circumstantial evidence that convinced them to arrest Stilwell and Spence. “Wyatt and I were both off from our horses when we found the bootheel while we were trailing the robbers in the Mule mountains. When we got to Bisbee we were satisfied as to the man who had done the job and Wyatt went to question the shoemaker and I slipped down where Frank Stilwell and Pete Spence hung out. There I found that Frank Stilwell had one new boot heel. Wyatt found out from the shoemaker that he had put a new heel on Frank Stilwell’s boot. We arrested Frank Stilwell and Pete Spence.” After making the arrest, Dodge added, “On our way in to Tombstone Stilwell and Spence both swore they would get Wyatt, Morg, and myself for this arrest.”
Wyatt recalled the fallout when word of the arrest reached Tombstone. “Frank McLaury took Morgan Earp into the street in front of the Alhambra, where John Ringo, Ike Clanton, and the two Hicks boys were also standing. Frank McLaury commenced to abuse Morgan Earp for going after Spence and Stilwell. Frank McLaury said he would never speak to Spence again for being arrested by us.
“He said to Morgan, ‘If you ever come after me, you will never take me.’ Morgan replied that if he ever had occasion to go after him, he would arrest him. Frank McLaury then said to Morgan Earp, ‘I have threatened you boys’ lives, and a few days later I had taken it back, but since this arrest, it now goes.’ Morgan made no reply and walked off.
“Before this and after this, Marshall Williams, Farmer Daly, Ed Barnes, Old Man Urrides, Charley Smith and three or four others had told us at different times of threats to kill us, by Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Joe Hill, and John Ringo. I knew all these men were desperate and dangerous men, that they were connected with outlaws, cattle thieves, robbers and murderers. I knew of the McLaurys stealing six government mules, and also cattle, and when the owners went after them finding his stock on the McLaury’s ranch…and I naturally kept my eyes open and did not intend that any of the gang should get the drop on me if I could help it.”
The secret deal relating to the Benson stage robbers was at the heart of the trouble between Ike Clanton, Wyatt and Doc Holliday. And for Frank McLaury, the arrest of Stilwell and Spence was at the center of his trouble with the Earps. It has been stated that “The McLaury family would later maintain that at least one brother wanted to testify on behalf of Frank Stilwell.” The confrontation between Clanton and Holliday would only add to the bitterness between the parties.
Wyatt Earp stated, “On the night of the 25th of October, Holliday met Ike Clanton in the Alhambra Saloon and asked him about it [the deal]. Clanton denied it. They quarreled for three or four minutes. Holliday told Clanton he was a damned liar, if he said so. I was sitting eating lunch at the lunch counter. Morgan Earp was standing at the Alhambra bar talking with the bartender. I called him over to where I was sitting, knowing that he was an officer and told him that Holliday and Clanton were quarreling in the lunch room and for him to go in and stop it. He climbed over the lunch room counter from the Alhambra bar and went into the room, took Holliday by the arm and led him into the street. Ike Clanton in a few seconds followed them out. I got through eating and walked out of the bar. As I stopped at the door of the bar, they were still quarreling.”
As Ike would later tell the Coroner’s Inquest, “The night before the shooting I went into the Occidental Lunch Room for a lunch, and while there, Doc Holliday came in and commenced abusing me. He had his hand on his pistol and called me a son-of-a-bitch, and told me to get my gun out…I looked around and I seen Morg Earp sitting at the bar, behind me, with his hand on his gun. Doc Holliday kept on abusing me. I then went through the door.” Ike was now out on Allen Street and not alone. He added, “Virg Earp, Wyatt, and Morg were all out there.”
Wyatt recalled the incident. “Just then Virgil Earp came up, I think out of the Occidental, and told them, Holliday and Clanton, if they didn’t stop the quarreling he would have to arrest them. They all separated at that time, Morgan Earp going down the street to the Oriental Saloon, Ike going across the street to the Grand Hotel. I walked in the Eagle Brewery where I had a faro game which I had not closed. I stayed in there for a few minutes and walked out to the street and there I met Ike Clanton. He asked me if I would take a walk with him, that he wanted to talk to me. I told him I would if he did not go too far, as I was waiting for my game in the Brewery to close, and I would have to take care of the money. We walked about halfway down the brewery building, going down Fifth Street and stopped. “He told me when Holliday approached him in the Alhambra that he wasn’t fixed just right. He said that in the morning he would have man-for-man, that this fighting talk had been going on for a long time, and he guessed it was about time to fetch it to a close. I told him I would not fight no one if I could get away from it, because there was no money in it. He walked off and left me saying, ‘I will be ready for you in the morning.’”
This could have been the end of the conversation at that point, but Ike changed course. Perhaps he felt Earp had not taken him seriously. Wyatt Earp added, “I walked over to the Oriental. He [Ike] followed me in and took a drink, having his six-shooter in plain sight. He says, ‘You must not think I won’t be after you all in the morning.’ He said he would like to make a fight with Holliday now. I told him Holliday did not want to fight, but only to satisfy him that this talk had not been made,” referring to the secret deal.
But if Doc Holliday’s only point to be made while confronting Ike was that there had been no discussion of the secret deal, then he allowed his temper to go far afield from this objective, only provoking Clanton’s anger and fears. Earp continued, “About that time the man that is dealing my game closed it and brought the money to me. I locked it in the safe and started home. I met Holliday on the street between the Oriental and Alhambra. Myself and Holliday walked down Allen Street, he going to his room, and I to my house, going to bed.”
Clanton had just been publicly humiliated by Holliday. Had he left town immediately afterward, the key escalation that contributed to the fight could have been lost. But he didn’t. Instead, he went gambling, and joined a card game that has intrigued historians ever since. Clanton would now play cards with some of the key participants in the coming drama.
Both Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday lived on the south side of Fremont Street. Wyatt had a home near the corner of 1st and next door to Virgil’s house. Holliday lived close to the corner of 3rd Street, as he had a room at Fly’s boarding house. As Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday walked towards their quarters for a night’s rest, Ike headed for the Occidental Saloon. “A half hour after that [after their quarrel in the Alhambra], I presume, I came back to the next saloon on the west, called the Occidental. I sat down in the saloon and played poker all night, until daylight. Tom Corrigan was tending bar there in that saloon. Virgil Earp and Tom McLaury and another gentleman, I don’t know his name, and Johnny Behan were playing the game.”
Wyatt recalled the incident. “Just then Virgil Earp came up, I think out of the Occidental, and told them, Holliday and Clanton, if they didn’t stop the quarreling he would have to arrest them. They all separated at that time, Morgan Earp going down the street to the Oriental Saloon, Ike going across the street to the Grand Hotel. I walked in the Eagle Brewery where I had a faro game which I had not closed. I stayed in there for a few minutes and walked out to the street and there I met Ike Clanton. He asked me if I would take a walk with him, that he wanted to talk to me. I told him I would if he did not go too far, as I was waiting for my game in the Brewery to close, and I would have to take care of the money. We walked about halfway down the brewery building, going down Fifth Street and stopped. “He told me when Holliday approached him in the Alhambra that he wasn’t fixed just right. He said that in the morning he would have man-for-man, that this fighting talk had been going on for a long time, and he guessed it was about time to fetch it to a close. I told him I would not fight no one if I could get away from it, because there was no money in it. He walked off and left me saying, ‘I will be ready for you in the morning.’”
This could have been the end of the conversation at that point, but Ike changed course. Perhaps he felt Earp had not taken him seriously. Wyatt Earp added, “I walked over to the Oriental. He [Ike] followed me in and took a drink, having his six-shooter in plain sight. He says, ‘You must not think I won’t be after you all in the morning.’ He said he would like to make a fight with Holliday now. I told him Holliday did not want to fight, but only to satisfy him that this talk had not been made,” referring to the secret deal.
But if Doc Holliday’s only point to be made while confronting Ike was that there had been no discussion of the secret deal, then he allowed his temper to go far afield from this objective, only provoking Clanton’s anger and fears. Earp continued, “About that time the man that is dealing my game closed it and brought the money to me. I locked it in the safe and started home. I met Holliday on the street between the Oriental and Alhambra. Myself and Holliday walked down Allen Street, he going to his room, and I to my house, going to bed.”
Clanton had just been publicly humiliated by Holliday. Had he left town immediately afterward, the key escalation that contributed to the fight could have been lost. But he didn’t. Instead, he went gambling, and joined a card game that has intrigued historians ever since. Clanton would now play cards with some of the key participants in the coming drama.
Both Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday lived on the south side of Fremont Street. Wyatt had a home near the corner of 1st and next door to Virgil’s house. Holliday lived close to the corner of 3rd Street, as he had a room at Fly’s boarding house. As Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday walked towards their quarters for a night’s rest, Ike headed for the Occidental Saloon. “A half hour after that [after their quarrel in the Alhambra], I presume, I came back to the next saloon on the west, called the Occidental. I sat down in the saloon and played poker all night, until daylight. Tom Corrigan was tending bar there in that saloon. Virgil Earp and Tom McLaury and another gentleman, I don’t know his name, and Johnny Behan were playing the game.”
THE ALL NIGHT POKER GAME CONCLUDES
It was a fateful sunrise that illuminated the streets of Tombstone on October 26th, 1881. As the daylight reached into the back room of the Occidental, two key players in that game and the drama to come decided to leave. If the game had at all helped Ike diminish his anger, it was soon reignited, now focused at Virgil Earp. Ike lamented that “When the poker game broke up in the morning at daylight, I saw Virgil take his six-shooter out of his lap and stick it in his pants. I got up and followed him out of doors on the sidewalk. He was going down Allen Street towards the Cosmopolitan Hotel. I walked up to him and told him in regard to…playing poker with a six-shooter in his lap, that I thought he stood in with those parties that tried to murder me the night before. I told him if that was so, that I was in town. He said he was going to bed. I went back and passed my chips into the poker game and had no more talk with Virgil that morning.”
Virgil Earp offered a different recollection of their conversation as the poker game concluded. “On the morning of the 26th, somewhere about six or seven o’clock, I started to go home, and Ike Clanton stopped me and wanted to know if I would carry a message from him to Doc Holliday. I asked him what it was. He said, ‘the damned son of a bitch has got to fight.’ I said, ‘Ike, I am an officer and I don’t want to hear you talking that way at all. I am going down home now, to go to bed, I don’t want you to raise any disturbance while I am in bed.’”
Virgil’s refusal to deliver his threat to Holliday prompted Ike to expand the threat to him as well. “I started to go home,” Virgil continued, “and when I got ten feet from him he said, ‘You won’t carry the message?’ I said, ‘No, of course I won’t.’ I made four or five steps more. He said, ‘You may have to fight before you know it’…I made no reply to him and went home and went to bed. I don’t know how long I had been in bed. It must have been between 9 and 10 o’clock when one of the policeman [sic] came and told me to get up, as there was liable to be hell.”
Clanton expanded his war from Holliday to now include the Earps. Had he focused his anger at Holliday alone, the matter may arguably have remained between them. But bringing the Earps in caused a wider disruption which would ultimately drag the McLaury brothers as well as Billy Clanton into the matter. Still, Virgil was dismissive of Ike, and appeared to be more interested in getting to sleep than worrying about Clanton’s threats. With Virgil off the streets, Clanton was free to pursue a war of words with anyone who would listen. As word spread of his tirade, concerns and speculation were growing that real trouble might result.
Virgil Earp offered a different recollection of their conversation as the poker game concluded. “On the morning of the 26th, somewhere about six or seven o’clock, I started to go home, and Ike Clanton stopped me and wanted to know if I would carry a message from him to Doc Holliday. I asked him what it was. He said, ‘the damned son of a bitch has got to fight.’ I said, ‘Ike, I am an officer and I don’t want to hear you talking that way at all. I am going down home now, to go to bed, I don’t want you to raise any disturbance while I am in bed.’”
Virgil’s refusal to deliver his threat to Holliday prompted Ike to expand the threat to him as well. “I started to go home,” Virgil continued, “and when I got ten feet from him he said, ‘You won’t carry the message?’ I said, ‘No, of course I won’t.’ I made four or five steps more. He said, ‘You may have to fight before you know it’…I made no reply to him and went home and went to bed. I don’t know how long I had been in bed. It must have been between 9 and 10 o’clock when one of the policeman [sic] came and told me to get up, as there was liable to be hell.”
Clanton expanded his war from Holliday to now include the Earps. Had he focused his anger at Holliday alone, the matter may arguably have remained between them. But bringing the Earps in caused a wider disruption which would ultimately drag the McLaury brothers as well as Billy Clanton into the matter. Still, Virgil was dismissive of Ike, and appeared to be more interested in getting to sleep than worrying about Clanton’s threats. With Virgil off the streets, Clanton was free to pursue a war of words with anyone who would listen. As word spread of his tirade, concerns and speculation were growing that real trouble might result.
COUNTDOWN TO A TRAGEDY
Saloon keeper Julius Kelly got an earful of Clanton’s evolving rants. Kelly recalled that he saw Clanton on the street and in his saloon “between nine and 11 o’clock in the forenoon. He had what I supposed to be a Winchester rifle; nothing more that I saw…I was tending bar on the morning of 26th October when Ike Clanton and Joe Stump came in and called for drinks. At the time I was waiting upon other customers when I heard Ike Clanton telling Joe Stump of some trouble he had the previous night. I asked Clanton what trouble he had been having. He stated that the Earp crowd and Doc Holliday had insulted him the night before when he was not heeled; that he had now heeled himself, and that they had to fight on sight.” Kelly knew enough of the Earps and Holliday to offer Ike some advice. “I cautioned him against having any trouble as I believed the other side would also fight if it came to that point…”
But Julius Kelly was by no means the only saloonkeeper who would hear from Clanton that day. He also made his way to Hafford’s saloon. The Earps were known to visit Hafford’s as well, and Wyatt would patronize it that same day, but as fate would have it, their paths did not cross at Hafford’s.
As Hafford later recalled, “I know Isaac Clanton, I saw him on the day of the shooting at my house, on the corner of Fourth and Allen streets in Tombstone at my saloon, on the 26th day of October, 1881. He had a rifle in his hand…Isaac Clanton said that Holliday and the Earps had insulted him the night before.” Hafford added, “he was unarmed at the time [of the argument]. [He] said he was looking for Holliday or the Earps, [and] that they had agreed to meet him before 12 o’clock. He said, ‘It is five minutes past 12 now,’ pulling out his watch. I said, ‘it is 10 minutes past,’ looking at the clock, ‘and you had better go home. There will be nothing of it.’ In two or three minutes he went out, and that is the last I saw of him until the coroner’s inquest.”
As Hafford later recalled, “I know Isaac Clanton, I saw him on the day of the shooting at my house, on the corner of Fourth and Allen streets in Tombstone at my saloon, on the 26th day of October, 1881. He had a rifle in his hand…Isaac Clanton said that Holliday and the Earps had insulted him the night before.” Hafford added, “he was unarmed at the time [of the argument]. [He] said he was looking for Holliday or the Earps, [and] that they had agreed to meet him before 12 o’clock. He said, ‘It is five minutes past 12 now,’ pulling out his watch. I said, ‘it is 10 minutes past,’ looking at the clock, ‘and you had better go home. There will be nothing of it.’ In two or three minutes he went out, and that is the last I saw of him until the coroner’s inquest.”
As the day wore on and reports of Ike’s continuing threats reached the Earps, Tombstone’s streets were rife with speculation that a confrontation could soon occur. Virgil Earp was visited by local policeman A.J. Bronk. “You had better get up,” he told Virgil. “There’s liable to be hell!” Bronk added that “Ike Clanton has threatened to kill Holliday as soon as he gets up…He’s counting you fellows in too,” referring to Virgil and his brothers. Although Virgil learned this from A.J. Bronk, he would still choose to utilize the aid of those he was closest to, rather than one of his policemen who notified him of the impending trouble.
THE PERFECT TOMBSTONE STORM IS BREWING
Virgil got out of bed and saw brothers James and Morgan Earp on the street. “One of them asked me if I had seen Ike Clanton. I told them I had not. One of them said, ‘He has got a Winchester rifle and six-shooter on, and threatens to kill us on sight.’” Virgil asked Morgan where he could find him, and when he said that he didn’t know, the two set out together to locate Clanton. It didn’t take them long.
“I found Ike Clanton on Fourth Street between Fremont and Allen with a Winchester rifle in his hand and a six-shooter stuck down in his breeches. I walked up and grabbed the rifle in my left hand. He let loose and started to draw his six-shooter. I hit him over the head with mine and knocked him to his knees and took his six-shooter from him. I ask[ed] him if he was hunting for me. He said he was, and if he had seen me a second sooner he would have killed me. I arrested Ike for carrying firearms, I believe was the charge, inside the city limits. When I took him to the courtroom, Judge Wallace was not there. I left him in charge of Special Officer Morgan Earp while I went out to look for the Judge.”
Although Wyatt had been dismissive toward Ike the night before, his near attempt at an ambush of Virgil close to the noon hour caused him to take his threats more seriously. Wyatt also had been notified earlier in the day that there was trouble with Ike. This is his version of how Clanton was found. “… Ned Boyle came to me and told me that he met Ike Clanton on Allen Street near the telegraph office, that Ike was armed, that he said, ‘as soon as those damned Earps make their appearance on the street today the ball will open, we are here to make a fight. We are looking for the sons-of-bitches!’ I laid in bed some little time after that, and got up and went down to the Oriental Saloon.
“Harry Jones came to me after I got up and said, ‘What does all this mean?’ I asked him what he meant. He says, ‘Ike Clanton is hunting you boys with a Winchester rifle and a six-shooter.’ I said, ‘I will go down and find him and see what he wants.’ I went out and on the corner of Fifth and Allen I met Virgil Earp, the marshal. He told me how he heard Ike Clanton was hunting us.”
Virgil and Wyatt separated and began a block by block search for Clanton. Virgil found him first. “I went down Allen Street and Virgil went down Fifth Street and then Fremont Street. Virgil found Ike Clanton on Fourth Street near Fremont Street, in the mouth of an alleyway.”
Wyatt added, “I walked up to him and said, ‘I hear you are hunting for some of us.’ I was coming down Fourth Street at the time. Ike Clanton then threw his Winchester rifle around toward Virgil. Virgil grabbed it and hit Ike Clanton with his six-shooter and knocked him down…Virgil and Morgan Earp took his rifle and six-shooter and took them to the Grand Hotel after examination, and I took Ike Clanton before Justice Wallace.”
According to Wyatt, an angry Ike Clanton renewed his threats once again. “I will get even with all of you for this. If I had a six-shooter now I would make a fight with all of you.’ Morgan Earp then said to him, ‘If you want to make a fight right bad, I will give you this one!’, at the same time offering Ike Clanton his own six-shooter. Ike Clanton started to get up and take it, when Campbell, the deputy sheriff, pushed him back in his seat, saying he would not allow any fuss…”
During the previous 12 hours, both Virgil and Wyatt had displayed a dismissive calmness in dealing with Ike Clanton, in a possible attempt to diffuse his anger. But this had had little effect, and now Wyatt was clearly irritated. He testified, “I was tired of being threatened by Ike Clanton and his gang and believe from what he said to me and others, and from their movements that they intended to assassinate me the first chance they had, and I thought that if I had to fight for my life with them I had better make them face me in an open fight. So I said to Ike Clanton, who was then sitting about 8 feet away from me. ‘You damned dirty cowthief, you have been threatening our lives and I know it. I think I would be justified in shooting you down any place I should meet you, but if you’re anxious to make a fight, I will go anywhere on earth to make a fight with you, even over to the San Simon among your crowd!’”
An angry Wyatt Earp now walked out of Judge Wallace’s courtroom and encountered Tom McLaury. Earp’s next decision would have great impact on the coming hours. Earp stated that Tom offered him a threat. “He came up to me and said to me, ‘If you want to make a fight I will make a fight with you anywhere.’ I supposed at the time that he had heard what had just transpired between Ike Clanton and myself.
“I knew of his having threatened me, and I felt just as I did about Ike Clanton and if the fight had to come, I had better have it come when I had an even show to defend myself. So I said to him, ‘All right, make a fight right here!’ And at the same time slapped him in the face with my left hand and drew my pistol with my right. He had a pistol in plain sight on his right hip in his pants, but made no move to draw it. I said to him, ‘Jerk your gun and use it!’ He made no reply and I hit him over the head with my six-shooter and walked away, down to Hafford’s Corner. I went into Hafford’s and got a cigar and came out and stood by the door.” Wyatt’s reaction to Tom would later become known to his brother Frank by Billy Allen Le Van, and likely led to Frank’s demand that Sheriff Behan first disarm the Earp party.
Although the trouble had started with Doc Holliday and Ike Clanton in the Alhambra saloon that prior evening, the escalation between the Earps and Ike Clanton continued without Holliday’s presence. Precious few opportunities for both sides to reduce the growing tensions were quickly disappearing. Once Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury arrived in Tombstone, they would soon be reunited with their brothers. With the arrival of these last two participants, the key players were now in place for the upcoming conflict.
Now this quartet would travel about the streets of Tombstone. Much of what was said between them failed to be recorded in the Spicer Hearing. But considering Ike Clanton’s derisive, public remarks earlier that day, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton would likely learn Ike’s perspective that he had been unjustly persecuted at the hands of the Earp faction. After being struck by Wyatt Earp, Tom’s view of the Earps and Wyatt in particular would take a turn for the worse. And Ike’s attempted ambush of Virgil, added to his continuing verbal outbursts, would inform how the Earps saw the growing trouble as well. Both sides in the matter would find their opposition against each other deepening.
From his vantage point at Hafford’s saloon, Wyatt Earp remained observant. “Pretty soon after [his incident with Tom McClaury] I saw Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and William Clanton pass me and went down Fourth Street to the gunsmith shop. I followed them to see what they were going to do. When I got there, Frank McLaury’s horse was standing on the sidewalk with his head in the door of the gun shop. I took the horse by the bit, as I was deputy city marshal, and commenced to back him off the sidewalk. Tom and Frank and Billy Clanton came to the door. Billy Clanton laid his hand on his six-shooter. Frank McLaury took hold of the horse’s bridle and I said, ‘You will have to get this horse off the sidewalk.’ He backed him off into the street. Ike Clanton came up about this time and they all walked into the gun shop. I saw them in the gun shop changing cartridges into their belts. They came out of the shop and walked along Fourth Street to the corner of Allen Street. They went down Allen Street over to Dunbar’s corral.” The gun shop referred to was Spangenberg’s. According to Virgil Earp, a worried Bob Hatch told him, “For God’s sake, hurry down there to the gunshop, for they are all down there, and Wyatt is all alone…They are liable to kill him before you get there!”
“I found Ike Clanton on Fourth Street between Fremont and Allen with a Winchester rifle in his hand and a six-shooter stuck down in his breeches. I walked up and grabbed the rifle in my left hand. He let loose and started to draw his six-shooter. I hit him over the head with mine and knocked him to his knees and took his six-shooter from him. I ask[ed] him if he was hunting for me. He said he was, and if he had seen me a second sooner he would have killed me. I arrested Ike for carrying firearms, I believe was the charge, inside the city limits. When I took him to the courtroom, Judge Wallace was not there. I left him in charge of Special Officer Morgan Earp while I went out to look for the Judge.”
Although Wyatt had been dismissive toward Ike the night before, his near attempt at an ambush of Virgil close to the noon hour caused him to take his threats more seriously. Wyatt also had been notified earlier in the day that there was trouble with Ike. This is his version of how Clanton was found. “… Ned Boyle came to me and told me that he met Ike Clanton on Allen Street near the telegraph office, that Ike was armed, that he said, ‘as soon as those damned Earps make their appearance on the street today the ball will open, we are here to make a fight. We are looking for the sons-of-bitches!’ I laid in bed some little time after that, and got up and went down to the Oriental Saloon.
“Harry Jones came to me after I got up and said, ‘What does all this mean?’ I asked him what he meant. He says, ‘Ike Clanton is hunting you boys with a Winchester rifle and a six-shooter.’ I said, ‘I will go down and find him and see what he wants.’ I went out and on the corner of Fifth and Allen I met Virgil Earp, the marshal. He told me how he heard Ike Clanton was hunting us.”
Virgil and Wyatt separated and began a block by block search for Clanton. Virgil found him first. “I went down Allen Street and Virgil went down Fifth Street and then Fremont Street. Virgil found Ike Clanton on Fourth Street near Fremont Street, in the mouth of an alleyway.”
Wyatt added, “I walked up to him and said, ‘I hear you are hunting for some of us.’ I was coming down Fourth Street at the time. Ike Clanton then threw his Winchester rifle around toward Virgil. Virgil grabbed it and hit Ike Clanton with his six-shooter and knocked him down…Virgil and Morgan Earp took his rifle and six-shooter and took them to the Grand Hotel after examination, and I took Ike Clanton before Justice Wallace.”
According to Wyatt, an angry Ike Clanton renewed his threats once again. “I will get even with all of you for this. If I had a six-shooter now I would make a fight with all of you.’ Morgan Earp then said to him, ‘If you want to make a fight right bad, I will give you this one!’, at the same time offering Ike Clanton his own six-shooter. Ike Clanton started to get up and take it, when Campbell, the deputy sheriff, pushed him back in his seat, saying he would not allow any fuss…”
During the previous 12 hours, both Virgil and Wyatt had displayed a dismissive calmness in dealing with Ike Clanton, in a possible attempt to diffuse his anger. But this had had little effect, and now Wyatt was clearly irritated. He testified, “I was tired of being threatened by Ike Clanton and his gang and believe from what he said to me and others, and from their movements that they intended to assassinate me the first chance they had, and I thought that if I had to fight for my life with them I had better make them face me in an open fight. So I said to Ike Clanton, who was then sitting about 8 feet away from me. ‘You damned dirty cowthief, you have been threatening our lives and I know it. I think I would be justified in shooting you down any place I should meet you, but if you’re anxious to make a fight, I will go anywhere on earth to make a fight with you, even over to the San Simon among your crowd!’”
An angry Wyatt Earp now walked out of Judge Wallace’s courtroom and encountered Tom McLaury. Earp’s next decision would have great impact on the coming hours. Earp stated that Tom offered him a threat. “He came up to me and said to me, ‘If you want to make a fight I will make a fight with you anywhere.’ I supposed at the time that he had heard what had just transpired between Ike Clanton and myself.
“I knew of his having threatened me, and I felt just as I did about Ike Clanton and if the fight had to come, I had better have it come when I had an even show to defend myself. So I said to him, ‘All right, make a fight right here!’ And at the same time slapped him in the face with my left hand and drew my pistol with my right. He had a pistol in plain sight on his right hip in his pants, but made no move to draw it. I said to him, ‘Jerk your gun and use it!’ He made no reply and I hit him over the head with my six-shooter and walked away, down to Hafford’s Corner. I went into Hafford’s and got a cigar and came out and stood by the door.” Wyatt’s reaction to Tom would later become known to his brother Frank by Billy Allen Le Van, and likely led to Frank’s demand that Sheriff Behan first disarm the Earp party.
Although the trouble had started with Doc Holliday and Ike Clanton in the Alhambra saloon that prior evening, the escalation between the Earps and Ike Clanton continued without Holliday’s presence. Precious few opportunities for both sides to reduce the growing tensions were quickly disappearing. Once Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury arrived in Tombstone, they would soon be reunited with their brothers. With the arrival of these last two participants, the key players were now in place for the upcoming conflict.
Now this quartet would travel about the streets of Tombstone. Much of what was said between them failed to be recorded in the Spicer Hearing. But considering Ike Clanton’s derisive, public remarks earlier that day, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton would likely learn Ike’s perspective that he had been unjustly persecuted at the hands of the Earp faction. After being struck by Wyatt Earp, Tom’s view of the Earps and Wyatt in particular would take a turn for the worse. And Ike’s attempted ambush of Virgil, added to his continuing verbal outbursts, would inform how the Earps saw the growing trouble as well. Both sides in the matter would find their opposition against each other deepening.
From his vantage point at Hafford’s saloon, Wyatt Earp remained observant. “Pretty soon after [his incident with Tom McClaury] I saw Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and William Clanton pass me and went down Fourth Street to the gunsmith shop. I followed them to see what they were going to do. When I got there, Frank McLaury’s horse was standing on the sidewalk with his head in the door of the gun shop. I took the horse by the bit, as I was deputy city marshal, and commenced to back him off the sidewalk. Tom and Frank and Billy Clanton came to the door. Billy Clanton laid his hand on his six-shooter. Frank McLaury took hold of the horse’s bridle and I said, ‘You will have to get this horse off the sidewalk.’ He backed him off into the street. Ike Clanton came up about this time and they all walked into the gun shop. I saw them in the gun shop changing cartridges into their belts. They came out of the shop and walked along Fourth Street to the corner of Allen Street. They went down Allen Street over to Dunbar’s corral.” The gun shop referred to was Spangenberg’s. According to Virgil Earp, a worried Bob Hatch told him, “For God’s sake, hurry down there to the gunshop, for they are all down there, and Wyatt is all alone…They are liable to kill him before you get there!”
A number of bystanders voiced their concerns to the Earps. Wyatt stated, “About ten minutes afterwards, and while Virgil, Morgan, Doc Holliday and myself were standing on the corner of Fourth and Allen Streets, several people said, ‘There is going to be trouble with those fellows,’ and one man named [R. F.] Coleman said to Virgil Earp, ‘They mean trouble. They have just gone from Dunbar’s Corral into the O. K. Corral, all armed, and I think you had better go and disarm them.’ Virgil turned around to Doc Holliday, Morgan Earp and myself and told us to come and assist him in disarming them.” One wonders what might have happened differently had Virgil called upon his police officers for assistance instead of the very men who were the object of the cowboys’ anger.
THE WALK-DOWN BEGINS
Once Virgil Earp had made the decision to disarm the Clantons and McLaurys, Morgan Earp raised a final question before they left. “They have horses, had we not better get some horses ourselves, so that if they make a running fight we can catch them?” Wyatt responded saying, “No, if they try to make a running fight we can kill their horses and then capture them.”
Wyatt continued his testimony. “We four started through Fourth to Fremont Street.” After turning the corner the Earps continued along Fremont nearing Bauer’s meat market. Customer Martha J. King observed their approach. “…I was coming from my home…to get some meat for dinner…the butcher was in the act of cutting the meat when some one at the door said here they come,” referring to the Earp party. This made Mrs. King curious. “I stepped to the door and looked up the side walk and I saw 4 men coming down the side walk…I stood in the door until these gentlemen passed…and what frightened me and made me run back [was] when I heard him [one of the Earps] say let them have it and Doc Holliday said al[l] right…”
Wyatt continued his testimony. “We four started through Fourth to Fremont Street.” After turning the corner the Earps continued along Fremont nearing Bauer’s meat market. Customer Martha J. King observed their approach. “…I was coming from my home…to get some meat for dinner…the butcher was in the act of cutting the meat when some one at the door said here they come,” referring to the Earp party. This made Mrs. King curious. “I stepped to the door and looked up the side walk and I saw 4 men coming down the side walk…I stood in the door until these gentlemen passed…and what frightened me and made me run back [was] when I heard him [one of the Earps] say let them have it and Doc Holliday said al[l] right…”
Passing Mrs. King and brushing off an approach by Sheriff Behan, the Earps continued down Fremont toward the cowboys, and Wyatt noted that “we could see them standing near or about the vacant space between Fly’s photograph gallery and the next building west.” The building to the west is commonly referred to as the “Harwood House,” and briefly played host to Belle Crowley’s dress making shop.
Wyatt continued. “When we got within about 150 feet of them I saw Ike Clanton and Billy Clanton and another party. We had walked a few steps further and I saw Behan leave the party and come toward us. Every few steps he would look back as if he apprehended danger. I heard him say to Virgil Earp, ‘for God’s sake, don’t go down there, you will get murdered!’ Virgil Earp replied, ‘I am going to disarm them.” Wyatt added that when Sheriff Behan spoke to Virgil “I took my pistol, which I had in my hand, under my coat, and put it in my overcoat pocket.”
As the Earps concluded their walk-down, the two parties faced each other. It was a telling moment for all concerned, but especially Ike Clanton, who could now see the result of his own relentless threats that he had made with such bravado. He was now confronted by the very men that he had so boldly demanded just such a confrontation with, and he was unarmed. “We came upon them close; Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, and Billy Clanton standing in a row against the east side of the building on the opposite side of the vacant space west of Fly’s photograph gallery…I saw that Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom McLaury had their hands by their sides, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton’s six-shooters were in plain sight.”
The calm before the storm was tragically brief. “Virgil said, ‘Throw up your hands, I have come to disarm you!’ Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury laid their hands on their six-shooters. Virgil said, ‘Hold, I don’t mean that…I have come to disarm you!’ Then Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury commenced to draw their pistols…” At that moment, Mrs. King was trying to reach the back of Bauer’s shop, as she feared for her safety, but did not make it as far as she had hoped. “…I thought that I would run and run towards the back of the shop but before I reached the middle of the shop I heard shots…”
The reputation of Frank McLaury with a gun was such that Wyatt Earp sought to shoot him first even as Billy Clanton was taking aim at him. Wyatt gave his account: “When I saw Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury draw their pistols, I drew my pistol. Billy Clanton leveled his pistol at me, but I did not aim at him. I knew that Frank McLaury had the reputation of being a good shot and a dangerous man, and I aimed at Frank McLaury. The first two shots were fired by Billy Clanton and myself, he shooting at me, and I shooting at Frank McLaury. I don’t know which was fired first. We fired almost together. The fight then became general.”
After the shootout, the Republicans at the Epitaph faced a complicated situation. John Clum and his staff had long given open support to the Earps, also Republican. And John Clum himself was now an office holder – Mayor of Tombstone - who had to know that such a controversial shooting could affect his own political future in this boom town. But regardless of his personal and political fortunes, the Epitaph under the control of John Clum was thoroughly on record in its prior support of the Earps. He supported Virgil when he ran for office, and he gave Wyatt positive press when he worked during part of the previous year as a deputy located at Tombstone for Pima County Sheriff Charlie Shibell. But even for a Tombstone insider such as John Clum, it was difficult to know which direction public support would turn.
And the Earps continued to receive support from the Epitaph at a time when it was most beneficial to them. The Epitaph had long been a proponent of law and order. Supporting the Earps in this matter meant supporting the view that these shooting deaths were justifiable, and as events would later show, the gunfight would set in motion additional violence. With its trademark flair for writing, the Epitaph published one of the most succinct and dramatic headlines in the history of the American West. The Epitaph account centered on the eye witness recollections of R.F. Coleman, Billy Allen’s walking companion, as they headed toward the scene of the tragedy about to unfold.
Wyatt continued. “When we got within about 150 feet of them I saw Ike Clanton and Billy Clanton and another party. We had walked a few steps further and I saw Behan leave the party and come toward us. Every few steps he would look back as if he apprehended danger. I heard him say to Virgil Earp, ‘for God’s sake, don’t go down there, you will get murdered!’ Virgil Earp replied, ‘I am going to disarm them.” Wyatt added that when Sheriff Behan spoke to Virgil “I took my pistol, which I had in my hand, under my coat, and put it in my overcoat pocket.”
As the Earps concluded their walk-down, the two parties faced each other. It was a telling moment for all concerned, but especially Ike Clanton, who could now see the result of his own relentless threats that he had made with such bravado. He was now confronted by the very men that he had so boldly demanded just such a confrontation with, and he was unarmed. “We came upon them close; Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, and Billy Clanton standing in a row against the east side of the building on the opposite side of the vacant space west of Fly’s photograph gallery…I saw that Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom McLaury had their hands by their sides, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton’s six-shooters were in plain sight.”
The calm before the storm was tragically brief. “Virgil said, ‘Throw up your hands, I have come to disarm you!’ Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury laid their hands on their six-shooters. Virgil said, ‘Hold, I don’t mean that…I have come to disarm you!’ Then Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury commenced to draw their pistols…” At that moment, Mrs. King was trying to reach the back of Bauer’s shop, as she feared for her safety, but did not make it as far as she had hoped. “…I thought that I would run and run towards the back of the shop but before I reached the middle of the shop I heard shots…”
The reputation of Frank McLaury with a gun was such that Wyatt Earp sought to shoot him first even as Billy Clanton was taking aim at him. Wyatt gave his account: “When I saw Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury draw their pistols, I drew my pistol. Billy Clanton leveled his pistol at me, but I did not aim at him. I knew that Frank McLaury had the reputation of being a good shot and a dangerous man, and I aimed at Frank McLaury. The first two shots were fired by Billy Clanton and myself, he shooting at me, and I shooting at Frank McLaury. I don’t know which was fired first. We fired almost together. The fight then became general.”
After the shootout, the Republicans at the Epitaph faced a complicated situation. John Clum and his staff had long given open support to the Earps, also Republican. And John Clum himself was now an office holder – Mayor of Tombstone - who had to know that such a controversial shooting could affect his own political future in this boom town. But regardless of his personal and political fortunes, the Epitaph under the control of John Clum was thoroughly on record in its prior support of the Earps. He supported Virgil when he ran for office, and he gave Wyatt positive press when he worked during part of the previous year as a deputy located at Tombstone for Pima County Sheriff Charlie Shibell. But even for a Tombstone insider such as John Clum, it was difficult to know which direction public support would turn.
And the Earps continued to receive support from the Epitaph at a time when it was most beneficial to them. The Epitaph had long been a proponent of law and order. Supporting the Earps in this matter meant supporting the view that these shooting deaths were justifiable, and as events would later show, the gunfight would set in motion additional violence. With its trademark flair for writing, the Epitaph published one of the most succinct and dramatic headlines in the history of the American West. The Epitaph account centered on the eye witness recollections of R.F. Coleman, Billy Allen’s walking companion, as they headed toward the scene of the tragedy about to unfold.
NOTED EARP RESEARCHER AND EXPERT JEFF MOREY ON Witness at the O.K. Corral: Tombstone’s Billy Allen Le Van.
I’d like to thank the many who have purchased the Le Van book, and who have offered such kind words about it. Among the many that have done so, I’d especially like to acknowledge Earp expert and researcher, Jeff Morey. I’ve long held respect for his talented and insightful research abilities, and Jeff’s decades of devotion to this pursuit have enriched all who enjoy this intriguing story. I am humbled by his praise for Witness at the O.K. Corral: Tombstone’s Billy Allen Le Van. In a response to Robin Andrews, whose remarkable research made this book possible for me to write in the first place, Mr. Morey wrote “I do want to congratulate you and John Rose on the great new Billy Allen book. It is a truly wonderful contribution!” –Jeff Morey
ROBIN ANDREWS REGARDING Witness at the O.K. Corral: Tombstone’s Billy Allen Le Van.
Robin Andrews, whose remarkable family history and stellar research made this book possible, said the following of this book. “I am very pleased to announce that Billy Allen Le Van’s biographic story has been told in its entirety. “…I have been researching the lives of Billy Allen Le Van (aka Tombstone’s Billy Allen) and his future wife, Belle Crowley (my great-great grandmother), for a long time (since 1998). Posters close to me knew after several years, that there was enough research material, mined out of the archives of Arizona on Billy Allen Le Van, to create a book. I started looking for someone willing to write that story.
“I was looking for a very good story teller. I have the attention span of a gnat, so I needed someone’s writing that could keep my attention and interest so others like me would enjoy the book as well. That was important to me. Then I felt this person needed to be an excellent historian of southern Arizona and one who could author a non-fiction old west biography and still give dimension to the characters in Billy’s story. I was asking a lot, I know. I knew much about the lives of Billy and the people in his family, even the gunfight, but not enough about other citizens, historic events, politics, organizations, businesses , and things like that, to do this story justice. I knew that my friend, John D. Rose of Sierra Vista, Arizona, met these requirements and more.
“After John Rose’s book, ‘Charleston & Millville, A.T., Hell on the San Pedro’ came out, I knew that John would qualify as an excellent choice to write Billy Allen Le Van’s biography, but would he do it? I knew he had other very important projects he was working on, but I hoped that someday in the near future that he would take on this daunting project of mine. I asked John if he would write Billy Allen Le Van’s book and John said yes. I think you too will be glad he said yes when you read this book. John has honored us with a great Tombstone story and includes many images from his own fabulous ephemeral type collections related to Tombstone. “He wove the stories of Tombstone citizens throughout the Le Van’s life story in Arizona, making it a balanced and extremely interesting account. He was meticulous in his efforts to honor the rules of non-fiction story telling, but brought those characters to life.
"Oh, and of course, the very famous Tombstone gunfight is featured in this book as are all the players of that event, including Billy Allen as the first witness to testify at the Spicer preliminary hearing that followed. Don’t go without this book on your Arizona History/Gunfight at the O.K. Corral bookshelf. Trust me, it’s a good one.”-Robin Andrews
“I was looking for a very good story teller. I have the attention span of a gnat, so I needed someone’s writing that could keep my attention and interest so others like me would enjoy the book as well. That was important to me. Then I felt this person needed to be an excellent historian of southern Arizona and one who could author a non-fiction old west biography and still give dimension to the characters in Billy’s story. I was asking a lot, I know. I knew much about the lives of Billy and the people in his family, even the gunfight, but not enough about other citizens, historic events, politics, organizations, businesses , and things like that, to do this story justice. I knew that my friend, John D. Rose of Sierra Vista, Arizona, met these requirements and more.
“After John Rose’s book, ‘Charleston & Millville, A.T., Hell on the San Pedro’ came out, I knew that John would qualify as an excellent choice to write Billy Allen Le Van’s biography, but would he do it? I knew he had other very important projects he was working on, but I hoped that someday in the near future that he would take on this daunting project of mine. I asked John if he would write Billy Allen Le Van’s book and John said yes. I think you too will be glad he said yes when you read this book. John has honored us with a great Tombstone story and includes many images from his own fabulous ephemeral type collections related to Tombstone. “He wove the stories of Tombstone citizens throughout the Le Van’s life story in Arizona, making it a balanced and extremely interesting account. He was meticulous in his efforts to honor the rules of non-fiction story telling, but brought those characters to life.
"Oh, and of course, the very famous Tombstone gunfight is featured in this book as are all the players of that event, including Billy Allen as the first witness to testify at the Spicer preliminary hearing that followed. Don’t go without this book on your Arizona History/Gunfight at the O.K. Corral bookshelf. Trust me, it’s a good one.”-Robin Andrews
The above information is in part excerpted from Witness at the O.K. Corral: Tombstone’s Billy Allen Le Van, by John D. Rose. For more on this legendary story and other research breakthroughs, this book is available at https://www.createspace.com/5258114 as well as Amazon.com. The cover of this landmark book on Billy Allen Le Van, the Gunfight near the O.K. Corral, Tombstone A.T., Belle Le Van and her family history, and so much more, is viewed below.
Copyright John D. Rose, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018.