What Wyatt Earp won was a fame that would grow through his life and even more after his death. He had been the only gunman unharmed in the Fremont Street gunfight, then he had single-handedly fought Curley Bill, killed the outlaw but remained standing, his clothing in tatters and no bullets in his body. He had never felt a bullet in his life, something that would lend him an absurd aura of supernatural power as the stories were told around the West.
Virgil had remained under medical supervision in San Francisco. He ran into some foolish trouble when he was arrested for running an illegal faro game at a sleazy spot on Morton Street. Police Sergeant Thomas W. Bethell broke in the door at 15 Morton and climbed to the second story, where Virgil, his left arm in a sling, ran the game. Virgil, another dealer, and thirty-eight gamblers were arrested in a series of raids on the night of August 2. The two dealers paid bail of $200 each, which became the fine for their infraction when they failed to appear for the hearing. Apparently Virgil continued dealing, because a month later the San Francisco Report cryptically ran the editorial comment: "Are all the faro games still closed up or has Earp been permitted to join the ring? How is it?" Members of "the ring" apparently paid the expected bribe money to prevent police from breaking up their games.37
Sometime late in 1882, Wyatt and Warren left Colorado and joined Virgil in San Francisco to share a residence on Pine Street, in a neighborhood filled with rooming houses.38 During the final months of 1882 Wyatt Earp rekindled the romance between him and Sadie Marcus, the lovely dancer who had once been Johnny Behan's fiancee. While Mattie Earp remained in Colton awaiting her husband's return, Wyatt enjoyed the big city with Behan's former flame. By now, even Wyatt Earp realized there could be no future for him in Tombstone, no sheriff's badge or big mining claims. As he sat in his rooms he faced one of the most difficult decisions of his life: whether to return to Colton and join Mattie or submit to the charms of Sadie Marcus, with her bountiful breasts and the ability to bring laughter to a man who rarely laughed. Wyatt Earp chose Sadie, and she became his companion for the next forty-six years as they drifted across the West. When Wyatt and Sadie left San Francisco early in 1883, they were probably looking for a life far quieter than what they had lived in Tombstone. They could not know that Tombstone would never be left behind them.
Doc Holliday had barely been released from jail when Perry Mallen, the bogus detective, suddenly became the focus of a major controversy in Colorado. It seems that Holliday's captor never really had any legitimate credentials as a police officer, either in Los Angeles or in Arizona, and turned his time in Denver into a bunco scheme. The Denver Republican delighted in his downfall:
For a genuine romance of crime with detectives, bloody avengers, bulldogs and dark lanterns thrown in, the country has never produced anything half as good as the Doc Holladay [sic] case. It has been written up so much of late that the Republican would not impose another article on the subject were it not for several facts which have come out of late. These facts round off the hideous tale with a burst of laughter and turns what was nearly a tragedy into a roaring farce. The villain of the first act [Holliday] becomes the hero in the second, and the avenger and detective in one, the man [Mallen] who has devoted his life to his dead comrade, and has been shot so often that he has trouble in retaining his food, proves to be a petty swindler.
The Republican reprinted a correspondent's bizarre story from the Cincinnati Enquirer, painting Holliday as one of the most evil men in creation-"fearing neither God nor man, he became a devil incarnate and truly his horned godfather had no cause to feel ashamed of his namesake," with a list of killings that approached fifty, according to Mallen. The correspondent further credited the detective with "one of the most important captures the world ever saw, and one that will cause a fervent 'Thank God' to arise from the lips of all in this Southwestern country."39
The editors at the Republican could hardly keep from guffawing in print when they called Mallen "the famous man from nowhere" who falsely claimed to be an officer from Los Angeles. It seems that after the Holliday arrest, Mallen pulled a little con job on a Denver man named Julius Schweigardt. Mallen filled Schweigardt with wonderful tales of heroism from his life as a detective, then arrested Doc Holliday to provide a flourish to the stories. Mallen then let Schweigardt in on the scheme: he knew the whereabouts of a terrible murderer living in Kansas City who carried a reward of $1,500. All Schweigardt had to do was pay the expenses, and he could be a partner in the glory and reward. Schweigardt eagerly handed over $310 to fund the trip, and joined Mallen on the journey to Kansas City. Mallen disappeared with the cash, leaving the sucker to bemoan his loss.
Almost from the beginning, the strangest set of characters seemed to fill the periphery of the Wyatt Earp saga. From the absurd Ike Clanton to the bombastic Mallen, weird personalities were always in the background.
By mid-July, one of the most unusual characters of Tombstone was gone. Sullen, brooding, mysterious John Ringo died in the mountains from a single bullet through his brain. The coroner's jury called it suicide, but rumors swirled through Cochise County blaming just about every man who owned a gun. Years later, some even thought Wyatt returned to claim another victim in his Vendetta, but it is most unlikely that Wyatt Earp returned to kill John Ringo.40
Another fire swept through Tombstone in late May, burning much of the business district and destroying the three major hotels, the Grand, the Cosmopolitan, and Brown's. Also lost was the Golden Eagle Brewery; a saloon called the Crystal Palace would be built on the site. The Nugget office was completely destroyed by the flames and the paper would never publish again. It had become redundant anyway, since the owners had purchased the Epitaph and both papers spoke with the same voice.
Tombstone continued, with Marshal Neagle's police department cracking down on Chinese opium dens and hauling the smokers into court. The cowboy criminals, depleted by the loss of their leaders, grew tamer as time passed. There were still robberies on the roadways and occasional shootings, but organized cattle rustling diminished, and stage robberies became a rarity instead of a regu- larity.41
The Town Site land dispute continued. Most merchants either capitulated or won court cases proving their claims; the issue was not settled until 1886, when the Territorial Supreme Court ruled against James S. Clark and invalidated the claims of the Town Site Company. By that time, Tombstone was in decline, the Earps were long gone, and many of the cowboys were dead or had fled. Clark continued to have problems. In September of 1885, an angry Tombstoner placed dynamite in Clark's stove. When his wife, Lydia, lit the stove, it exploded in her face, causing damage and serious injury, but not death.
Behan again was hauled into court on malfeasance charges but released quickly by Judge Stilwell when the charges did not stick. He faced another indignity in September when he sought renomination, only to face a rebuff from Cochise County Democrats. Behan fired Billy Breakenridge in August;42 a month later the former deputy challenged him for the sheriff's nomination. Harry Woods had nominated Behan at the county convention, but Behan finished dead last among six candidates on the first ballot. The voting continued for ballot after ballot, with Behan never making a significant showing. Finally, after six ballots, Breakenridge withdrew his name, Woods withdrew his nomination of Behan, and Larkin Carr edged Mike Gray for the right to run for sheriff.43 The stoutly Democratic Epitaph supported Carr and said on September 30 that if Republican Jerome L. Ward were elected sheriff, "it is reported Wyatt Earp will be the undersheriff and the ghost of Zwink [sic] Hunt a deputy." Ward won easily.
After losing office, Behan held various political jobs, running into trouble at times for abusing his finances. He became warden at Yuma Prison, prompting Clum, Parsons, and the other pro-Earpers to suggest that Behan was on the wrong side of the bars. Ever the womanizer, Behan in 1886 apparently engaged in a torrid affair with Bert Dunbar, the wife of his former livery stable partner John Dunbar. She wrote passionate love letters to "My Darling Brown Eyed Boy," telling "how
I love you," and hoping that he wasn't feeling restrained because of his friendship for her husband.44
Marshal Crawley Dake came under investigation in 1885 for missing federal funds that had been assigned to finance his campaign against the cowboys. He said he could not show receipts because of Wyatt Earp's disappearance. Earp was found easily by the investigators and said he had received only a small part of the money appropriated. While the situation appeared suspicious, charges were not filed because it appeared unlikely any money could be recovered. During the investigation, one agent contacted Johnny Behan. "He informed me that he himself had done more to quiet the disturbance than anyone else, and that he regarded the whole affair as a fight between two lawless factions," investigator Leigh Chambers reported.45 Johnny Behan could make himself the hero as well as anyone.
After Wyatt Earp left Tombstone, Sam Purdy kept the Epitaph faithfully Democratic, jabbing the Earps with regularity, attacking the Tucson Citizen, and praising the local police and sheriff. He left a legacy of falsehoods that would confuse several generations to come. Not everyone liked Sam Purdy. His partner, Patrick Hamilton, left the Epitaph and went off to start the competing Tombstone Independent. Purdy and Hamilton grew so antagonistic that they challenged each other to a duel. They met across the border in Sonora. They could not agree on the weapons, however, and the duel fizzled, with Hamilton calling Purdy a coward.46 In early October Purdy was gone-back to Yuma-and Richard Rule again took over as editor of the Epitaph.
Billy the Kid Claiborne, who had run away from the Fremont Street gunfight, could not run away from Buckskin Frank Leslie. At seven on the morning of November 14, Leslie stood talking to friends at the Oriental Saloon when Claiborne pushed through and began insulting Buckskin Frank. Leslie led the young cowboy outside and continued the row before returning to the saloon. Claiborne was outside on the street with his rifle, and Leslie was told the Kid was waiting. Buckskin Frank rolled a cigarette, jammed it between his lips, and lit it before he picked up his pistol and walked into the street. Claiborne fired once and missed. Leslie fired and hit.47
"Frank Leslie ... shot and killed the notorious Kid Claiborne this a.m., at 7:30, making as pretty a center shot on the Kid as one could wish to," Parsons wrote in his journal. "The Kid threatened and laid for him near the Oriental with a Winchester, but Frank got the drop on him, being quick as lightning and used to killing men, and the Kid has gone to hell. I say so because, if such a place exists and is for bad men, he is there, as he was a notoriously bad egg and has innocent blood on his hand. I state facts. Frank has done the county a service.... Frank didn't lose the light on his cigarette during the encounter. Wonderfully cool man."
Tombstone's mine production fell off over the years. Water slowly began seeping into the mines, a minor problem at first. In 1886, a fire burned the pump shaft at the Grand Central, and sinking silver prices made it impractical to rebuild. Parsons pulled out in '87. Tombstone remained the county seat for five decades, the main reason for its survival. Most of the mining operators left before Parsons, and the boom had busted. For a few years at least, Tombstone would become a quiet little town with a noisy reputation.
Ike Clanton got himself shot and killed in 1887 by a detective named J. V. Brighton, hired by Graham and Apache counties to chase outlaws. According to Brighton's story, Clanton pal Lee Renfro took over a ranch belonging to Isaac N. Ellinger. Ellinger went to the Clanton ranch and met up with Renfro, who shot and killed him. Brighton tracked down Renfro and killed him when he reached for his six-shooter. Ike had also run into trouble, collecting several felony indictments, and was dodging the law. Some weeks after killing Renfro, Brighton found Ike. This time, he could not run. Brighton said that at the sight of the officers Clanton pulled his Winchester from its scabbard and tried to gallop off. They ordered him to halt, but his answer was to bring his Winchester to his shoulder. Before he could fire, Brighton shot and the rustler fell dead on the trail.48
Fin Clanton was convicted of cattle rustling and went to the territorial prison at Yuma, the hellhole of the Southwest. Lark Ferguson, alias Pete Spence, also wound up there. Spence's tale is particularly unusual, because he began by enforcing the law in Georgetown, New Mexico. The Silver City Enterprise called him "one of the best peace officers in the West." However, the constable ran into trouble for rustling and spent most of the '90s in prison stripes. He later married Fin Clanton's widow and lived under the name Peter Ferguson until his death in 1914.
Perhaps the strangest change came in the connotation of the word "cowboy." In the 1880s it had been synonomous with criminal, lowlife, and villain; by the early '90s, however, the word had become a romantic title for so-called knights on horseback, with not the slightest taint of the pejorative. Cowboys would continue to be romanticized through the decades, the previous connotation lost to history.
By the 1890s, most of the mining sojourners left Cochise County to the ranchers. The old friends of the McLaurys and Clantons would continue the political tales of Wyatt Earp's villainy. Earp's supporters would settle in different areas, throughout California and back to the East, and continue lauding his heroism. It created a strange schism, with Earp receiving praise throughout the country while being vilified at the scene of the crimes. Wyatt Earp would never escape the debate, no matter where he wandered.
WYATT AND SADIE RETURNED TO COLORADO and settled in Gunnison, where Wyatt continued to run a faro bank, when the call came for him to leave. Luke Short, Wyatt's old friend from Dodge City and early on in Tombstone, had run into trouble back in Dodge. Short had returned to Kansas in April of 1881 to manage the gambling concession at the Long Branch Saloon for Bill Harris and Chalkley Beeson. In February of 1883, Beeson sold his interest to Short. The Long Branch sat on Front Street amid a line of saloons and gambling houses, between George Hoover's retail and wholesale liquor store and the Alamo Saloon, owned and operated by Dodge City mayor Ab Webster, who had recently purchased the bar. Native Texan Short had developed quite a following with the Texas trail hands, taking business from his saloonkeeper neighbors. Webster did not take the loss of revenue gracefully.
With the city elections coming up, the old Dodge City Gang, headed by former mayor Jim "Dog" Kelly, selected Harris, Short's partner, to top the ticket. A few days later, the opposition group led by Webster chose former marshal Larry Deger as candidate for mayor with the promise of political reform. Deger, the former marshal and son of German immigrants, could be counted on to deliver the German vote and make reforms without hurting his sponsor, Webster. In this movement, the reforms would be made selectively. After a bitter campaign, Deger won easily, 214 to 143.
Within a month, the new mayor and the city council enacted laws against vagrancy and prostitution, with fines of $5 to $100 for keeping a brothel or working in one, plus fines of $10 to $100 for "loitering, loafing or wandering," with the stipulation that brothel keepers and gambling operators were subject to arrest. On April 28, two days before the ordinances went into effect, city clerk Lou Hartman, who wore the badge of a special policeman, and city marshal Jack Bridges went to the Long Branch and arrested three women, euphemistically called singers, charging them with prostitution.
Such moves were not unusual. Gambling had long been illegal in Dodge, and the fines collected were looked upon virtually as taxes. The city took its share, and the games went on. The new antiprostitution laws were just another tax ploy, Short believed. Nearly all the saloons allowed shady ladies to entertain the drovers, and the new fines would be the cost of doing business. A few hours after the arrest, Short received some unsettling news: No women had been arrested at the neighboring saloons. He went next door to Webster's Alamo, where several women were present, some perched on patrons' laps.
"Luke then smelt a mouse," Bat Masterson wrote in 1907. "All the time Luke was trying to get his employees out of the calaboose, the music in the mayor's place was in full swing. This, as can well be imagined, did not tend to help matters in the least."49
The
angry Short strapped on his six-shooter and marched toward the city jail, where the girls from the Long Branch waited. Hartman, the clerk and cop, standing on the plank sidewalk near the jail, recognized Short. The frightened Hartman drew, fired, and missed. The shot splattered the dust behind the oncoming gambler. Hartman turned to run as Short returned fire, the bullet whizzing past Hartman's ear as he tripped and fell to the sidewalk.
Thinking that he had killed the city clerk, Short returned to the Long Branch, loaded his shotgun, and barricaded the door. He refused arrest through the night until it was explained to Short that he had not killed Hartman, and that if he surrendered he could go to police court and plead guilty to disturbing the peace, a charge that would amount to only a small fine. Short agreed and put down his guns. As he stepped out the door unarmed, two officers moved beside him and marched him to jail, where he was locked up on charges of assault. He was released on $2,000 bond, then rearrested the next day with saloonmen and gamblers W. H. Bennett, Doc Neil, Johnson Gallagher, and L. A. Hyatt. When they asked about the charges against them, they were told that they were undesirables. Webster was getting rid of the competition.
"The annual revolutionary spirit was again exhibited on our streets again yesterday," the Ford County Globe wrote. "Wars and rumors of war was the outcry all along the line."50
Short and his partner Harris tried desperately to take legal action, but were denied access to counsel. Deger, Webster, and a band of men took the gamblers from jail and marched them to the depot where they could choose their trains out of Dodge. Short picked East, and departed for Kansas City. The Long Branch was far too lucrative an investment for Short to simply abandon, and he quickly telegrammed for Masterson to return from Colorado.
Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend Page 43
