141 years ago today, at around 3 pm local time, 4 lawmen walked into the rear alley behind a local corral with the intention of disarming a group of men that had refused to hand over their weapons as required by local ordinance. 30 seconds later, that event would be legend.
The Earps; Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil, had been in a simmering feud with the McLaury and Clanton brothers, a group of outlaws who called themselves the Cowboys, for months and it all came to a head on the morning of October 26th, 1881 when threats and accusations would have to be answered for. In a narrow, empty lot next to C.S. Fly's boarding house (where Doc Holliday was renting a room), the Cowboys waited for the Earps and Holliday. When the shooting started, the two groups were at some spots only 6-10 feet apart. The close quarters and smoke from the gunfight (and the presence of a horse!) made it next to impossible to tell in what order any of the events of those 30 seconds occurred in but the end result was 3 dead Cowboys and everyone that stood their ground was left injured, Wyatt Earp being the only exception. That fact alone added to the legend of Wyatt as the invincible Kansas Lawman, a legend he helped to foster throughout the rest of his life.
The best historical re-creation Hollywood has ever put out has to be Tombstone.
Starring Kurt Russel, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliot and Bill Paxton. The film has its Hollywood moments where it veers away from the truth but they try to come as close as possible with the Gun Fight. If you haven't seen it, today would be a good day to watch it.
Now, a few years ago, I actually traveled to the beautiful city of Tombstone myself and visited the site of the famous Gun Fight. Let me tell you, it's much smaller than I ever imagined. The thought of 8 men all shooting at each other in such a small area.....kind of terrifying.
Here's a picture of the site....
The brown wall and gate didn't exist in 1881.....and neither did the mannequins. But I'm standing about where the Cowboys would have been before the shooting started.
And here's a photo of the end result.....
Boot Hill.
The West was truly a wild place.
The Earps; Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil, had been in a simmering feud with the McLaury and Clanton brothers, a group of outlaws who called themselves the Cowboys, for months and it all came to a head on the morning of October 26th, 1881 when threats and accusations would have to be answered for. In a narrow, empty lot next to C.S. Fly's boarding house (where Doc Holliday was renting a room), the Cowboys waited for the Earps and Holliday. When the shooting started, the two groups were at some spots only 6-10 feet apart. The close quarters and smoke from the gunfight (and the presence of a horse!) made it next to impossible to tell in what order any of the events of those 30 seconds occurred in but the end result was 3 dead Cowboys and everyone that stood their ground was left injured, Wyatt Earp being the only exception. That fact alone added to the legend of Wyatt as the invincible Kansas Lawman, a legend he helped to foster throughout the rest of his life.
The best historical re-creation Hollywood has ever put out has to be Tombstone.
Starring Kurt Russel, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliot and Bill Paxton. The film has its Hollywood moments where it veers away from the truth but they try to come as close as possible with the Gun Fight. If you haven't seen it, today would be a good day to watch it.
Now, a few years ago, I actually traveled to the beautiful city of Tombstone myself and visited the site of the famous Gun Fight. Let me tell you, it's much smaller than I ever imagined. The thought of 8 men all shooting at each other in such a small area.....kind of terrifying.
Here's a picture of the site....
The brown wall and gate didn't exist in 1881.....and neither did the mannequins. But I'm standing about where the Cowboys would have been before the shooting started.
And here's a photo of the end result.....
Boot Hill.
The West was truly a wild place.
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