On the night of the shooting, she said, she and her mother heard the shots. A few minutes later, Stilwell and Charley came into her home and a short time later Spence, Bode, and the other Indian followed, all very excited. She testified that the following morning Spence told her that “if I said a word about something I knew about he would kill me; that he was going to Sonora and would leave my body behind him.” She concluded, “Spence didn’t tell me so, but I know he killed Morgan Earp.” Based on the evidence, the coroner’s jury concluded that Morgan had been murdered “at the hands of Pete Spence, Frank Stilwell, a party by the name of Freis, and two Indian half-breeds, one whose name is Charlie and name of the other was not ascertained.”95
For one final twist, Briggs Goodrich testified that Stilwell had told him that “there were some boys in town who would toe the mark, and the worst of it was the Earps would think he was in it, as they did not like him.” Goodrich said, “I told him I would tell the same for him as I did for John Ringo, and he said no, that he would rather die than let them know that he cared a damn what they thought.”96
Parsons succinctly offered his appraisal of what had happened: “A quick vengeance and a bad character sent to hell where he will be the chief attraction until a few more accompany him.”97 He was not alone in his verdict. A Tombstone correspondent wrote, “On receipt of the news of the killing of Stilwell, many people said the right man had been killed. He was seen on the night of the killing of Morgan Earp, and the next day was in Tucson, having ridden there that night.”98 Even Cow-Boy partisans would affirm that Stilwell traveled to Tucson on a fast horse after Morgan’s murder.
So when the Earp party entered Tombstone on the afternoon of March 21, the stage for high drama had been set. The Earps rested and gathered their belongings at the Cosmopolitan. That afternoon, the local telegraph office received a telegram from Tucson for Sheriff Behan advising him that the Earps were wanted for the murder of Stilwell. The office manager, who was a friend of Wyatt’s, showed him the telegram first, and agreed to delay giving it to Behan until the Earps were ready to leave town.99 Near eight o’clock, Behan got the telegram and proceeded to the Cosmopolitan to arrest them. William M. Breakenridge would later claim that Behan told him and David Neagle to get their shotguns because he had to arrest the Earps. “We had not gone a block on our way to get our weapons when they came out of the hotel,” he recalled. “Behan met them on the sidewalk as they were getting on their horses and tried to arrest them alone.”100
As the Earp party passed through the Cosmopolitan’s office, they encountered Behan at the door. “As Wyatt advanced to the front and approached Behan, the sheriff said to him, ‘Wyatt, I want to see you.’ Wyatt replied, ‘You can’t see me; you have seen me once too often,’ or words to that effect. He passed out into the street and turned around and said, ‘I will see Paul,’ and then the party passed on down the street.” Wyatt later claimed that as they passed Heyman Solomon’s bank, the banker stopped him and asked if he needed anything. “Yes,” Wyatt replied. “Doc Holliday has no gun.” Solomon went into the bank and returned with his own Winchester, which he gave to Wyatt along with his best wishes.101
Wyatt’s posse, joined by Charlie Smith and Dan Tipton, saddled their horses at P. W. Smith’s Corral at the corner of Third Street and rode out of town. They set up camp at nearby Watervale and slept that first night within easy reach of Sheriff Behan. “Behan claims they resisted arrest,” reported Clara Brown, “but the bystanders claim this was all that passed, and that nothing was said about an arrest. He also asserts that every one of the party drew their guns on him, which is denied by the spectators. All were heavily armed, but no motion was made.”102
George Parsons expressed his disgust with Behan, “The Earp party returned this afternoon and Behan tried to arrest them tonight upon a telegram. They refused arrest and retired from town, first though waiting for Behan and Neagle to do what they threatened. Bad muss this. Sheriff is awake now that one of his friends is killed. Couldn’t do anything before. Things are very rotten in that office. Fine reputation we’re getting abroad.”103 The following morning, Behan left Tombstone with six men. At Contention, they met Sheriff Bob Paul from Tucson. Paul then proceeded to Tombstone, and the papers reported, “The whereabouts of the Earps is unknown.”104
That was about to change. The Earp party rode straight for Pete Spence’s wood camp off the Chiricahua Road below South Pass in the Dragoons. They approached Simon Acosta, a wood cutter, and Theodore Judah, a teamster, inquiring about Spence. They were told he had returned to Tombstone that morning to appear in court for an assault charge. The party started back toward Tombstone, then turned off the road. The workers watched as the Earps pursued Florentino Cruz, who was “running and jumping from side to side.” There was a flurry of gunfire, and the workers watched as the Earp party rode leisurely away. They found Cruz lying face down under a tree. He had been shot four times; two of the shots were fatal.105
Wyatt always claimed that before he was shot, Cruz named Curly Bill Brocius, John Ringo, Hank Swilling, Frank Stilwell, and himself as parties to Morgan Earp’s death. He did not mention Pete Spence, and Wyatt would believe afterward that Spence was not involved. Cruz reportedly told Wyatt he was paid $25 to hold the horses. “That twenty-five dollar business just about burned me up,” Wyatt said.106 He claimed to have given Cruz a chance to draw against him, although the evidence of Cruz’s body argues against such a mano a mano duel. This was blood vengeance, not a fast-draw contest.
News reached Tombstone quickly, and Pete Spence surrendered to Behan. On the same day, Deputy Sheriff Frank Hereford arrested Frederick Bode, and Deputy Sheriff William Bell brought in Hank Swilling. The rats were scurrying for cover, and Parsons applauded, “More killing by the Earp party. Hope they will keep it up.”107 Not everyone agreed, of course. J.S. Browder, a mine owner, wrote, “I very much question whether law abiding people [should] sanction the kind of justice which is administered from the muzzle of guns in the hands of Doc Holliday and the Earp party.”108 Across the Southwest, even some of the Earps’ former supporters agreed. Wyatt left no doubt that vengeance was his motive.
Clara Brown reminded her readers “that it was not the Earps who first disturbed this quiet, and that their criminal actions since have been from the determination to avenge the murder of a dearly loved brother. I do not present this as sufficient excuse for their conduct, or approve any act contrary to law; but there are certainly extenuating circumstances to be taken into consideration.”109
Ironically, Wyatt’s vendetta served to undermine rather than vindicate John Behan’s reputation as sheriff. He had been surprisingly impotent as a lawman since the street fight, so much so that even the Nugget eventually took him to task. He opened himself to further criticism when he assembled a posse of twenty-five, including a dozen Charleston-based Cow-Boys that numbered Curly Bill, John Ringo, and Fin Clanton among them. Breakenridge explained that “he took those men knowing that the Earp party would resist arrest, and, on account of the feud between them, he believed the cowboys would stay and fight.”110
That dubious logic prompted Bob Paul to refuse to join Behan’s posse. Paul explained that Behan “persists in cloaking the most notorious outlaws and murderers in Arizona with the authority of the law. I will have nothing to do with such a gang.” Even the Tucson Star approved of his decision, stating, “He refused to pursue the parties, as he felt that they could not be taken with the posse raised, inasmuch as they are most all hostile to the Earps and a meeting simply meant bloodshed, which he believed ought to and could be avoided, and yet get the parties into custody. All things considered, we do not see how Sheriff Paul could have done otherwise.”111
Brown wrote that Paul had explained that “he was assured, by friends of the Earps, that the men would, in a few days, either give themselves into his hands, or leave the country.”112 Parsons added his own perspective on Paul’s conduct: “He is a true—brave man himself and will not join the murderou
s posse here. If the truth were known he would be glad to see the Earp party get away with all of these murderous outfits.…Behan will get it yet.”113
Behan did arrest Charlie Smith and Dan Tipton, who had returned to Tombstone. Because they had left the Cosmopolitan with the Earps, they were held for “resisting officers and conspiracy.” A Tombstone correspondent of the Tucson Citizen advised Tucson readers that “[t]he charge cannot be sustained as Sheriff Behan made no attempt to arrest any one and made no mention to any of the Earp party that he wanted to arrest them.”114 The Earps’ allies quickly came to the aid of Smith and Tipton. William Herring arranged bail. Robert J. Winders, Bob Hatch, James Earp’s son-in-law Thaddeus S. Harris of the Tombstone Foundry, and Frank Walker, the superintendent of the Sycamore Springs Water Company, acted as sureties. And, on March 25, Judge Andrew J. Felter released them because “at the time of Behan’s attempt to arrest the Earp party he had no legal process.”115 Smith left at once to rejoin the Earp party; Tipton remained in town.
Behan’s Cow-Boy posse, which appears to have divided into two separate groups, was back in the field, and before the end of the day on the twenty-fifth, word reached Tombstone that Curly Bill had been killed in a fight with the Earps. George Parsons provided an overview:
A very disagreeable day, indeed. Tip and Smith discharged this a. m. Rumors of a battle and four of the Earp party killed received this a. m. Discredited. I got strictly private news though later that “Curly Bill” has been killed at last—by the Earp party and none of the latter hurt. Sheriff Behan has turned all of the cow-boys loose against the Earps and with this lawless element is trying to do the worst. I am heartily glad at this repulse and hope the killing is not stopped with the cut-throat named. Feeling is growing here against the ring, Sheriff, etc., and it would not surprise me to know of a necktie party some fine morning. Things seem to be coming to this pass. “Then let it come the time is ripe and rotten ripe for change.”116
The death of Curly Bill was the result of an unexpected collision between Earp’s party and the Charleston posse of Cow-Boys. George Hand spotted the Cow-Boys and described them in his diary: “They are well mounted, well armed, and seem intent on biz. They are in search of the Earp party who took breakfast two miles above here this morning.”117 In the meantime, Wyatt Earp was running out of funds. He met Charlie Smith near Tombstone and sent him to ask E.B. Gage for a $1,000 loan. Smith was instructed to deliver the funds at Iron Springs in the Whetstone Mountains the following day. Smith was taken into custody by Marshal Neagle, and Tony Kraker and Whistling Dick Wright were picked to deliver the money to Warren Earp at Iron Springs.118
Daniel G. “Big Tip” Tipton, an Earp partisan who left Arizona with the Earps and Doc Holliday in 1882. He traveled with Doc from Albuquerque to Colorado. Later he was a customs officer in El Paso, Texas. He was eventually prosecuted for illegal activities as a customs agent; the photo was taken at the Ohio State Penitentiary in 1897.
The following day, March 24, Wyatt, Doc, Sherman, Texas Jack, and Creek were approaching Iron Springs unaware that Curly Bill and his Cow-Boy posse were camped there. As Wyatt and his companions neared the springs, the Cow-Boys opened fire on them. In the first blast of gunfire, Texas Jack Vermillion’s horse went down, pinning Jack to the ground, while the rest of the party, including Doc, scattered in retreat. Only Earp held his ground. He dismounted, threw his reins around his arm, and unlimbered his shotgun. With his horse plunging about nearly out of control, Wyatt recognized Curly Bill blasting away at him. Some accounts claim that McMaster and Doc yelled, “Curly Bill!” at first fire. Wyatt, who had not realized that “[e]very mother’s son, including my old pal Doc Holliday, one of the bravest men I ever knew, had turned tail in the first volley and gone scampering into the distance as fast as their horses could run,” returned the fire. Curly went down with a yell, his chest torn open by buckshot.119
Earp had loosened his gunbelt to be more comfortable during the ride. When he realized how exposed he was, he found that the belt had slipped down his legs, so that when he attempted to remount, he could not swing into the saddle. As he tried to pull the gunbelt up with one hand, bullets tore off the saddle horn, hit one of his boot heels, and shredded his coattails. Finally remounted, he stopped long enough to help Texas Jack get free and then rode for cover.120
Doc met Wyatt and, expecting him to be wounded, prepared to help him from the saddle. “You must be shot all to pieces,” Doc said. Everyone, including Wyatt, thought he had been shot, and they were amazed to find that he had not been hit. Doc then suggested that they make a charge on the Cow-Boys, but Wyatt said, “If you fellows are hungry for a fight you can go on and get your fill.”121 With that, the Earp group fell back. Doc later provided his own account:
The facts are these: We were out one day after a party of outlaws, and about 3 o’clock on a warm day after a long and dry ride from the San Pedro river, we approached a spring which was situated in a hollow. As we did so
EIGHT RUSTLERS ROSE UP
From behind the bank and poured from thirty-five to forty shots into us. Our escape was miraculous. The shots cut our clothes and saddles and killed one horse, but did not hit us. I think we would have been all killed if God Almighty wasn’t on our side. Wyatt Earpp [sic] turned loose with a shot-gun and killed Curley [sic] Bill. The eight men in the gang which attacked us were all outlaws, for each of whom a big reward has been offered.122
So the Earp party withdrew. Later, Kraker and Wright rode into Iron Springs expecting to find Warren Earp. Instead, they found themselves looking down the barrels of Cow-Boy guns. Kraker caught them off guard by yelling, “What are you doing here, you lop-eared Missourian?” Whistling Dick quickly concocted a story about looking for lost mules, and he and Kraker ended up eating a meal with the Cow-Boys and listening to an account of Wyatt Earp’s one-man charge against them. Afterward, they returned to Tombstone without delivering the money and gave a Nugget reporter an account of the gunfight.123
The shootout at Iron Springs happened. The various accounts agreed on the main particulars to an amazing degree. The only real point of dispute was the outcome: Did Wyatt Earp kill Curly Bill Brocius? Wyatt and his companions believed he did. That is certain. Wyatt, Doc, and Warren all gave separate accounts that agreed on that, and Johnny Barnes, who was wounded in the same fight, confirmed it to Fred Dodge. However, the Earps did not retrieve the body, which left room for doubt. And the Cow-Boys and some of the area newspapers chose to question whether Brocius was even there.124
One plausible story told by old-timers was that Bill was seriously wounded and was carried by wagon to Frank Patterson’s ranch, where he died and was buried. This would explain one discrepancy between the first accounts: the Earps claimed eight or nine Cow-Boys present, while Kraker and Whistling Dick found four men at Iron Springs. This would also explain why the Cow-Boys did not tell Kraker and Wright of his death. Wyatt Earp later claimed that he told John Thacker of Wells, Fargo of Brocius’s demise and that Thacker had a man dig up and identify the body.125
No body was produced for the public to see, however, leaving the debate over Curly Bill’s death to become a staple Wild West controversy, beginning with the Nugget saying that “the notorious and wily William is, beyond a question of doubt alive in New Mexico,” and the Epitaph responding, “Suffice it to say that Curly Bill is as dead as two loads of buckshot can make him.”126 Across the West, others took up the debate. The San Francisco Exchange used sarcasm to note how he would be missed, but concluded, “This makes the fourth the Earp party has scored to the cowboys’ one. We are beginning to doubt the courage and invincibility of that much-talked-of class and are willing to give long odds on the murderous superiority of the Earps.”127
What the Curly Bill debate did do was to draw attention back to the Cow-Boy question and the real source of lawlessness in southeastern Arizona. Bill’s name had become synonymous with the rustlers, while Stilwell and Cruz did not have that association outside of Cochis
e County. Killing Curly Bill in an open gunfight somehow made Wyatt Earp seem less a rogue lawman on a path of personal vengeance, and gave his supporters more of an argument in justification of their course. On March 24, proceedings were to begin against Pete Spence in the murder of Morgan Earp before Justice A.O. Wallace, but the dilatory actions over the next few days gave little reason for optimism, and by April 4 all the remaining conspirators named by the coroner’s jury had walked, confirming the Earps’ fears and providing for some citizens validation of his course.128
On the night of March 25, the murder of Martin R. Peel at the Tombstone Milling and Mining Company, near Charleston, by Cow-Boys made the case of the law-and-order crowd even stronger, especially after Peel’s father, Judge Bryant L. Peel, sent this public letter to the Epitaph:
To the People of Tombstone: Perhaps I am not in a condition to express a clear, deliberate opinion, but I would say to the good citizens of Cochise county there is one of three things you have to do. There is a class of cut-throats among you and you can never convict them in court. You must combine and protect yourselves and wipe them out, or you must give up the country to them, or you will be murdered one at a time, as my son has been.—B. L. Peel.129
Such a public endorsement of vigilantism by a judge had its impact, and Parsons summed it up, “Now that it has come to killing of upright, respectable, thoroughly law abiding citizens—all are aroused and the question is now, who is the next.”130 Even earlier, a Tombstone correspondent of the Tucson Citizen reported, “Feeling is rapidly changing to sympathy for the Earps since the Coroner’s jury rendered a verdict in the case of the killing of Morgan Earp.”131 On March 27, when Governor Frederick A. Tritle arrived in Tombstone, he saw at once that dramatic measures had to be taken. Tritle was the former partner of William B. Murray, a leader of the Citizens Safety Committee, and he stayed at the home of Milton Clapp (another prominent vigilante, who was handling money for Earp’s posse) while he was in Tombstone.
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