Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend

by Casey Tefertiller

  It is likely the Clanton group was a mixture of rustlers and honest cattlemen. Ernshaw ran a milk ranch, and Dick Gray was the son of Mike Gray, proprietor of the Town Site Company. John Pleasant Gray, Mike's son and Dick's brother, would later say his 19-year-old brother was simply riding to town with the cowboys. Parsons saw this as little excuse when he wrote in his diary, "This killing business by the Mexicans, in my mind, was perfectly justifiable as it was in retaliation for killing of several of them and their robbery by cowboys recently, this same Crane being one of the number. Am glad they killed him. As for the others, if not guilty of cattle stealing, they had no business to be found in such bad company." Crane's death ended any chance of a deal between Ike Clanton and the Earps, and left Ike at the Earp's mercy not to tell of their discussions.

  The killing sent Tombstone into a frenzy. The San Francisco Examiner reported that Mike Gray and Lang's father raised a party to avenge the murders, and the Clanton brothers put together a troop of two hundred, "and as desperate a gang could not be imagined.... They will carry the war into Mexico. Great apprehension is felt for the Americans in Sonora, as it will more than likely be a war of retaliation. We are hourly expecting a collision as the Mexican troops are in force on the line and will repel the invaders.... lawlessness seems to be the order of the day. Serious international complications will arise unless immediate steps are taken to put a stop to the movement on foreign soil, and blood will flow like water before another week rolls round."61

  Clara Brown decried the actions of this private army and feared it would bring war with Mexico. "While no one upholds the recent massacre, those who think dispassionately about the matter realize that the Mexicans were not the first to inaugurate the present unhappy state of affairs along the border. They have suffered greatly from the depredations of those outlaws who, under the guise of 'cowboys,' infest this country and pursue the evil tenor of their ways with no attempt at interference on the part of those whose duty it is to suppress crime. The Mexicans have lost a great deal of stock, and some of their countrymen have been murdered. They are about to establish three forts near the line and will take further measures to prevent raiding. This Government should not be backward in the performance of an equal duty."61

  The Nugget did not find a war with Mexico such a bad idea. In an August 20 editorial, the paper said the war seemed inevitable and noted the advantages of conquering the country and annexing its northern states for mining and development. The Epitaph lambasted Harry Woods and the Nugget for their anti-Mexican views and needled Woods for his failings as undersheriff:

  Our hot-headed under Sheriff, who but a day or two since was crying for the blood of the "Greasers" and their territory, provided it did not require any exertion on the part of the gentleman whose duty it is to enforce the laws and collect the taxes, has cooled down considerably, and now wants the responsibility shifted on the shoulders of somebody else. There is altogether too much good feeling between the Sheriff's office and the outlaws infesting this county, as evidenced by the "escape" of King, who was supposed to be implicated in the attempted stage robbery and murder of Budd Philpott. By the way, the true inwardness of that mysterious affair has never been given the public. Will our legislative editorial Under Sheriff rise and explain?63

  Tombstone's unauthorized militia turned out to be nothing more than a burial party organized by Mike Gray to take care of the remains of his son and the others, and then to round up the remaining cattle. The Clanton brothers' threats never seemed to pan out, either. But the rumors had served to stir up much excitement, and on August 19, Mexican General Adolfo Dominguez, the adjutant to General Jose Otero, commander of the troops on the border, arrived in Tombstone to try and quiet the commotion. "Our people have been great sufferers," Dominguez said. "We have lost many citizens killed and much property stolen. We are therefore taking active steps to protect our citizens and repel raiders. There are 200 regulars besides the militia on the line, and three forts and supply camps are to be established at once. Every precaution will be taken to protect both our own citizens and such Americans as are engaged in legitimate industry within our lines."

  Dominguez came to Arizona to purchase supplies for the new forts and to try to act diplomatically to quiet the furor that could lead to war. He called for a joint U.S.-Mexican effort to launch attacks against the cowboys, saying: "We can only drive out these thieves and murderers by united action. We are not only willing, but very anxious that united action should exist. The American raids did much damage in our country, and affairs have been gradually growing more and more desperate. It is estimated that within the last month more than ten citizens have been killed and upward of $30,000 worth of property taken. We do not believe that this disposition to raid is general among citizens of this section. We think that the American officials and a great majority of the citizens deprecate these acts of lawlessness, and believing this we have courage to hope that by united effort the outlaws may be suppressed and an early adjustment of difficulties effected."64

  As the summer progressed, the troops under Commandant Neri took control of the situation in Sonora, and the rustling raids into Mexico ceased. The citizens on both sides of the border paid a price. Americans were not allowed to enter Sonora without a pass from Governor Torres or Neri, and Mexicans lived in apprehension of a cowboy raid coming at any time. Back in Cochise County, the mounting bands of rustlers found themselves without the easy pickings across the border and intensified their activities on the American side. By early autumn, newspaper reports appeared of horse or cattle stealing in the remote regions of Cochise County. In September, the wagon trade carrying lumber into Tombstone from the mountains ceased when "men owning teams suitable for hauling lumber positively refuse to take any more chances outside of the city limits so long as the present state of insecurity for stock exists." Businesses were forced to order lumber from California while the cowboys halted virtually all trade on the roadways. The Nugget angrily editorialized, "The scarcity of hemp and rope factories is a serious drawback to all new and unsettled countries," a veiled call for hangings to rid the county of the criminals who strangled com- merce.65

  Through most of the events, Fremont was virtually a governor in absentia. He went East to check his business investments and try to convince Congress to intercede in the mounting border crises. In a New York newspaper interview he lambasted the territorial legislature for refusing his militia plan. He then tried to recruit support for a measure that would allow use of the military to quell the border troubles.66 Fremont drew Acting Governor Gosper's ire for prolonging his stay in the East during the time of crises, and for failing to take action. Both the Democratic and Republican press railed against the governor's long absence and called for a replacement. The citizenry picked up the cry, and even cowboy pal Tom Thornton scoffed at the old Pathfinder when he said: "Governor Fremont, who, by the way, is a terrible old governmental fraud, has never paid any attention to Arizona affairs, and Gosper, who acts [as] Governor, is afraid to interfere with these men."67 Oddly, almost nobody in Arizona seemed to remember that only a few months earlier, it was Fremont who foresaw the severity of the problem and tried to provide a solution before it got out of control.

  Dominguez and the cooler heads in the Southwest prevailed, and the border war never erupted. During much of the latter half of 1881 the U.S. government was paralyzed after President James Garfield was shot on July 2 and lingered until September 19. While he lay close to death for two months, newspapers gave daily updates on his condition, and no government action was taken on the Arizona question. By the time Chester A. Arthur, the vice president, took the presidency, Arizonans faced the more immediate fear of a war with the Apaches, and that took precedence over a border battle with Mexico.

  Everybody's pal Johnny Behan was no longer in favor with the Earps by the late summer of 1881. The forgotten promise of appointing Wyatt as undersheriff, followed by the dubious events on the posse and his refusal to pay the Earps for their serv
ices, had caused a definite rift. As 1881 progressed, it grew more and more obvious that Behan was overmatched by his position. Some were hinting that he might even be in league with the outlaws. He had done little to quell the cattle thieving through Cochise County, and on his watch the outlaws had grown into a greater threat. The Epitaph grew derisive of the sheriff's office, while Woods's Nugget continued to defend Behan's honor.

  The lovely Sadie Marcus, the one-time actress who represented herself as Behan's wife, exacerbated the sheriff's problems in late July when she returned from a trip to find Johnny keeping company with a married woman. Sadie did not take kindly to her "husband's" courting another woman, and she left the sheriff. What she did for the the next few months has remained a mystery. At some point in the months of August and September, Sadie Marcus and Wyatt Earp began a friendship that would eventually blossom into romance. By unconfirmed stories, Wyatt began squiring her around town on occasion, enough to cause suspicion but not enough to cause a public scandal.68 Wyatt and Mattie were still living as man and wife, and if Wyatt became serious about Sadie at this time, no evidence remains. Stuart Lake wrote to his editor at Houghton Mifflin that Wyatt "fell for Sadie and Sadie for him. There apparently is some doubt with those who were their intimates as to which did the 'propositioning' but the first thing Johnny Behan knew, Wyatt had his girl."69 Lake may have exaggerated the extent of the relationship, but enough happened between Earp and Marcus to further aggravate the situation with the sheriff, who was facing public scorn in the Epitaph and private humiliation at losing his "wife."

  Much of Tombstone continued to buy Behan's glad-handing friendliness. Sociable, always ready with a joke, and continually puffing up his achievements, he was easy to accept as one of the good guys. Behan was good company, the type of man who would always brighten a dinner party as long as he didn't bed the host's wife. San Francisco Examiner correspondent Ridgely Tilden wrote of the sheriff: "John H. Behan, the present Sheriff of Cochise county, has proved himself an able and efficient officer, and will beyond a doubt be elected to succeed himself. He is a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, being honest, efficient and capable."70 But others grew to distrust the cordial sheriff. Clum attacked him constantly in Epitaph editorials, and letters to various papers kept insinuating he was in league with the cowboys.7'

  The Earps, particularly Wyatt, were less open, not as friendly as genial Johnny. Western writer Eugene Cunningham, a friend of Billy Breakenridge, gave the deputy sheriff's opinion of the Earp family: "He thoroughly disliked them. They got on his nerves, strutting like they did because they had Wyatt behind them."72

  Whether Breakenridge and Behan liked it or not, the four blond-haired Earp brothers became part of the fabric of Tombstone, with Jim tending bar, Wyatt and Virgil in law enforcement, and Morgan riding shotgun, filling in as a deputy, and doing whatever else caught his fancy. Examiner correspondent Tilden described the family: "Jimmy, as he is familiarly called, is one of the jolliest, best-natured men that ever the sun shone on. In truth he was a general favorite. Bacchus would occasionally get the better of him, but Jimmy never hunted fights, and if he accidentally found one would, as soon as sober, fix things up. Virgil was of different texture. Marshal of Tombstone for months, he kept the town as quiet as a cemetery. Poor Morgan was as brave and reckless a man as ever put foot in stirrup or pulled the trigger on a 45. Wyatt, who never drank, was as cool as the icebergs in Alaska, brave and determined as any man on earth, and General of the whole outfit."73

  Tough guy Wyatt shunned hard liquor for ice cream, stopping almost daily for a cold scoop at a little parlor on Fourth Street. Still, the Earps never quite fit in with the best element of town. They were saloonkeepers and gamblers, not mining engineers or merchants. Virgil applied for membership in the Masonic lodge and was refused. Tombstone's upper class respected the Earps and needed them. They did not necessarily want to be lodge brothers with them.

  Reporter Tilden was not so cordial toward Doc Holliday, whose friendship with the Earps seemed to puzzle Tombstone. "Now comes Doc Holliday, as quarrelsome a man as God ever allowed to live on earth. A Georgian, well bred and well-educated, he happened in Kansas some years ago. Saving Wyatt Earp's life in Dodge City, Kansas, he earned his gratitude, and notwithstanding his many bad breaks since, has always found a friend in Wyatt."74

  Holliday seemed to lead contrary lives in Tombstone, antagonizing much of the community with his downright orneriness yet winning some sort of acceptance with the Earps. Holliday had a quirky sense of humor and a love of practical jokes. When a stranger entered Tombstone wearing a derby hat, Holliday followed him through the streets ringing a dinner bell.75 He was prematurely gray at the age of 30, possibly due to his chronic tuberculosis. But the hot, dry Arizona climate seemed to agree with him; the coughing fits became rare and his fragile body seemed to grow stronger.

  As troubled as the situation in Tombstone seemed when September began, it would only grow worse as the month progressed. Pony Deal and Sherman McMasters had been the primary suspects in a stage robbery in Globe in February, and Pima County sheriff Bob Paul had been seeking them for months. On September 9, he captured Deal and wired to Virgil Earp in Tombstone. Virgil responded that McMasters was in town and asked Paul if he wanted an arrest made. As Virgil awaited the reply, John Ringo rode into town with his horse in a lather and joined McMasters. For more than two hours, Virgil awaited word whether to arrest McMasters, keeping an eye on Ringo all the time. But a snag developed, according to the Epitaph. Paul sent his wire authorizing an arrest to Wells, Fargo agent Marshall Williams, who was not in his office. The telegraph operator delivered it to the office without telling Virgil of the contents. Sam Clayton, the agent sitting in for Williams, eventually opened it and went out searching for Virgil, but found him minutes after McMasters had left, bound in the direction of the O.K. Corral.

  Unarmed, Virgil had to borrow a pistol from a friend of Clayton's, then deputized brother Jim Earp to join him in the search. They checked several saloons, then headed for the O.K. Corral to notify the proprietor not to let McMasters take his horse. As they reached the corral, a man came loping out on McMas- ters's horse. Virgil ordered the rider to halt, but he kept riding. Virgil fired a shot into the air, and the rider spun around and asked if the marshal wanted him. It was not McMasters but a stranger, and Virgil allowed him to ride on. Virgil ran after him on foot and stopped him again, taking the horse, according to the Epitaph. Just as Earp got in the saddle, McMasters leaped from a bunch of bushes about a hundred feet away and dashed for a fence. Virgil ordered him to halt, but McMasters kept running. Virgil unloaded his six-shooter, then rode around the fence in pursuit to find McMasters had made good his escape. Behan finally arrived to help with the hunt, too late to catch the escaping fugitive. The Epitaph lamented: "Had Sheriff Paul telegraphed direct to the Marshal, McMasters would now have been in custody and safely reposing in the County Jail."76 McMasters went on foot to the Contention mine, where the hostler, a black man named Jim Smith, apparently helped him steal two horses. McMasters then rode off, eluding Behan's pursuit.

  As with just about everything in Tombstone, there would be more to the story. According to Wyatt Earp's statements in 1925, he employed McMasters as an informer. Most likely, Wyatt had lured McMasters away from the rustlers, and Virgil's pursuit was primarily a ruse to convince Ringo and the rest that McMasters remained a wanted man. It is very possible that the hostler Jim Smith was also part of Earp's chain of informants. Smith, a tough Civil War veteran, became a noted Tombstone character in his own right for backing down Frank Leslie with a shotgun. Smith could have been an important operative since he would have drawn little notice among the rustler crowd. They would not have expected a black man to serve as one of the Earps' sources of information.

  While Virgil handled his duties in town, Wyatt rode away on other business. The night before the McMasters chase, the stage from Tombstone to Bisbee pulled through the Mule Mountains a few miles north of the Mexican borde
r, passing through the small mining town of Hereford. Just beyond, town driver Levi McDaniels heard a voice call "Hold on," and two men stepped out with bandannas covering their faces. The two robbers took the mail sack, a Wells, Fargo box with $2,500-there was no shotgun messenger-and then lined up the passengers and collected their valuables. The robber carrying a shotgun climbed up to McDaniels's seat, said, "Maybe you have got some sugar," and went through the driver's pockets. He returned to the ground and took a gold watch and $600 cash from two passengers. The robbers then allowed the stage to proceed.

  The holdup happened at about ten on the night of September 8, but word did not reach Tombstone until 9:30 the next morning when two messengers rode into town and reported to Wells, Fargo agent Williams. Within a few hours, the Epitaph reported, Deputy Sheriff Breakenridge and Wyatt and Morgan Earp were on the trail. Williams, Dodge, and another deputy, Dave Neagle, were to join the posse later. According to the Nugget, Wyatt wore the badge of a U.S. deputy marshal during the search.77 The trail could be easily followed because one of the robbers had used an unshod horse, unusual in the rocky backcountry.

  The posse had one real clue: "One of the robbers was or appeared to be of a jocose turn of mind and in the use of many cant phrases which were known to be familiar sayings of Stilwell," the Tucson Citizen said.78 Most notable was the use of the word "sugar" for money, a term common in the Frank Stilwell vernacular. Dodge said the posse split, with Breakenridge and Neagle following one trail and he and the Earps taking another. Wyatt and Dodge were experienced trackers, and as they followed the trail, they came across something out of place, a boot heel that matched the tracks they had seen around the site of the stagecoach robbery. According to Dodge, "Wyatt and I were both off from our horses when we found the boot heel 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 to where Frank Stilwell and Pete Spence hung out."