26. Bailey, “Too Tough to Die,” 122–123. Bailey points out that the killing of Marshal White led to a public demand for changes in City Ordinance No. 9, which prohibited “carrying concealed weapons,” to “prohibiting the carrying of deadly weapons in any way.” He also notes that when Tombstone was granted a city charter on February 21, 1881, Tombstone abolished the old town marshal’s office and created a police department with a chief of police and “such number of regular policemen” as required, supervised by a Board of Police Commissioners. Nashville Franklin Leslie was a mercurial character who had killed Mike Killeen the previous spring in a gunfight over Leslie’s attention to Killeen’s wife. Buckskin Frank, despite his shortcomings, including wife beating, was a close associate of Milt Joyce. See Bailey and Chaput, Cochise County Stalwarts, 2:6. He was officially appointed special deputy on November 29, 1880, with “power of arrest on the premises of the Oriental Saloon.” Minute Book, Town Council, Village of Tombstone, 24; see also Alford E. Turner, ed., The Earps Talk (College Station, TX: Creative, 1980), 23n.
27. For discussion of the election dispute, see Tefertiller, Wyatt Earp, 53–54, and Shillingberg, Tombstone, A. T., 162–168.
28. Tombstone Daily Nugget, November 12, 1880. Alexander, Sacrificed Sheriff, 67–68, argues that the circumstances suggest that Shibell asked for Earp’s resignation.
29. Tucson Daily Star, November 14, 1880.
30. Shillingberg, Tombstone, A. T., 166.
31. Ibid., 169–170; Tefertiller, Wyatt Earp, 54.
32. See Survey Field Notes for the First Northern Extension of the Mountain Maid Mining Claim, General Land Office, No. 6716, Mineral Certificate No. 78, Lot No. 62, November 10–16, 1880, and Record of Mines, County Recorder’s Office, Book J, 432–433, Pima County, Arizona. The affidavit bearing Doc’s signature is reproduced in Ben T. Traywick, John Henry (The “Doc” Holliday Story) (Tombstone, AZ: Red Marie’s Bookstore, 1996), 93. See also Shillingberg, Tombstone, A. T., 170– 171.
33. Tefertiller, Wyatt Earp, 55. A different perspective is offered by Alexander, Sacrificed Sheriff, 74–75. Wyatt Earp was never politically shrewd; Behan clearly was. Earp might best be described as naive or at least inexperienced with party politics. His experience in Kansas, especially in Dodge, ill prepared him for the contentious politics of Arizona. There, city and county governments were both Republican, and although there were factions, they tended to work more cooperatively.
34. Tombstone Daily Nugget, December 8, 1880; George Whitwell Parsons, The Private Journal of George W. Parsons (Tombstone, AZ: Tombstone Epitaph, 1972), 107–108.
35. Gatto, Curly Bill, 57–63; Tefertiller, Wyatt Earp, 59–65.
36. The most balanced account of the Johnny-behind-the-Deuce affair is found in Tefertiller, Wyatt Earp, 56–59. Debate about the incident has centered on the role of Wyatt Earp, or, more fundamentally, if the crowd that gathered was a mob or a gaggle of curiosity seekers. The Tucson Daily Citizen, January 15, 1881, clearly demonstrates the intent of the crowd, noting, “Shortly after a mob collected and would undoubtedly have hung the prisoner but for the firmness of Marshal Sippy and the other officers.” The Citizen did not mention Earp specifically, but, as Tefertiller demonstrates, he was clearly a major player in what happened. Parsons, Journal, 118.
37. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Clark was a remarkable character who retained a reputation for honesty as a gambler throughout his career. See Bailey and Chaput, Cochise County Stalwarts, 1:66. He, like Doc, was consumptive. See also C. L. Sonnichsen, Billy King’s Tombstone (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1972), 117–141. For Leavy, see William B. Secrest, “Jim Levy: Top-Notch Gunfighter,” True West 25 (August 1978): 24–26, 56–58; William Barclay Masterson, “Famous Gunfighters of the Western Frontier: Ben Thompson,” Human Life (January 1907): 9; Joseph G. Rosa, Gunfighter: Man or Myth? (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969), 142–144.
38. Robert F. Palmquist, “Gambling on Water,” Arizona Territorial Justice Forum (September 5, 2002): 12–18; the Wyatt Earp, Clark, and Holliday rights appear in Transcribed Millsites Book 1, pp. 150–153, County Recorder’s Office, Cochise County, Bisbee, Arizona; Paul Cool, “The World of Sherman McMaster,” WOLA Journal 7 (Autumn 1998): 10–22; Peter Brand, “Sherman W. McMaster(s): The El Paso Salt War, Texas Rangers, and Tombstone,” WOLA Journal 8 (Winter 1999): 2–19.
39. Tefertiller, Wyatt Earp, 55–56, summarizes the sources well, but the author has followed Palmquist, “Gambling on Water,” 15–16, in placing the episode in February 1881, rather than in late December 1880, as Tefertiller does, because it fits better with the existing primary sources and Wyatt Earp’s known movements.
40. Tefertiller, Wyatt Earp, 56.
41. Testimony of John Behan, Tombstone Daily Nugget and Tombstone Daily Epitaph, November 2–5, 1881; John Flood’s notes of interview with Wyatt Earp, September 5, 1926, 137–139, John D. Gilchreise Collection.
42. Bailey, “Too Tough to Die,” 96–97; Shillingberg, Tombstone, A. T., 185–187; Tefertiller, Wyatt Earp, 67–69.
43. Ford County Globe, February 15, 1881. George T. Buffum, Smith of Bear River (New York: Grafton, 1906), 119–127, claimed that Masterson traveled to Tombstone with Judge William H. Stilwell and protected him from ruffians who were “offended” by his high silk hat. The Arizona Weekly Citizen, March 13, 1881, reported, “Masterson Bros., Jim Bruce, Charley Gill and Mr. Tipton have arrived from the Black Hills.” The “Mr. Tipton” was Daniel G. Tipton, who would later be allied with the Earps and Doc Holliday.
44. Santa Fe New Mexican, March 2, 1881. For more on Storms, see Masterson, “Luke Short,” 10, and Jay, “Fact or Artifact?” 26.
45. The best exposition of the Short-Storms affair is Robert F. Palmquist, “‘Snuffing Out a Gambler’: Short vs. Storms,” Wild West (October 2004): 30–36. Other critical sources include the Arizona Weekly Citizen, February 27, 1881; the Tucson Weekly Star, March 3, 1881; Parsons, Journal, 128; John H. Flood Jr., “Wyatt Earp (a Peace Officer of Tombstone),” unpublished manuscript, 1927, 137–139, C. Lee Simmons Collection; and Santa Fe New Mexican, March 2, 1881. Harry E. Gryden, a Dodge City attorney, friend of Harris, Short, Masterson, and Earp, and the local correspondent of the Associated Press, would report, doubtlessly based on his conversations with his friends, that Storms was hired by the Slopers. See National Police Gazette, July 23, 1883.
46. Parsons, Journal, 128; Phoenix (Arizona) Herald, March 4, 1881. The nature of the incident involving Dublin is unclear, but it may have started over the postmortem examination of Storms’s body. Wyatt Earp testified at the Crabtree trial in 1925 that he was one of the men who carried Storms to his room at the San Jose House after he was shot. He said, “The doctor was going to hold a post mortem and they wanted me to stick around.” Lotta Crabtree Probate Case, p. 295, Harvard Law Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Lake notes in the Stuart N. Lake Collection, Huntington Library, San Marino, California, include the cryptic statement that “Dublin, Storms partner, tried to stop post mortem.” See also Jay, “Fact or Artifact?” 26, for more about the possible identity of Dublin.
47. Phoenix Herald, March 4, 1881; Las Vegas Daily Optic, April 16, 1881. Ed Bartholomew, Wyatt Earp: The Man and the Myth (Toyahvale, TX: Frontier Book, 1964), 144–145, says McAllister was a gambler, not the Galeyville butcher.
48. Parsons, Journal, 130. He added, “Much bad blood today. Pistols pulled.” Could this be one of the confrontations in the Earp literature that are undocumented? What is most troubling, in light of the standard accounts that make Earp a partner in the Oriental as early as January 1881 (see this discussion in Jay, “Fact or Artifact?” 16–20), is the absence of contemporary evidence linking Earp to the Oriental before the events in late February. There are references to Earp gambling at the Danner & Owens Saloon (run by his friend R. J. Winders), at Vogan’s (where his brother James worked), and at the Eagle Brewery, but no direct references to the Oriental. Joyce later claimed that initially he was “a firm
friend and supporter” of the Earps, “only going against them when John Behan, his warm personal friend, ran for Sheriff.” San Francisco Examiner, November 30, 1889.
49. Tombstone Daily Epitaph, March 11, 1881. Kate joined Doc in Tombstone in early March. Typescript of Recollections of Mary Katharine Cummings as Given to Anton Mazzonovich, 2–3, Kevin J. Mulkins Collection.
50. Wyatt Earp to Walter Noble Burns, March 15, 1927, Walter Noble Burns Collection, Special Collections, University of Arizona Library, Tucson, Arizona. The physical description of Leonard comes from the reward poster released following the Benson stage robbery.
51. Ibid. Two other versions must be noted. First, the Tucson Daily Star, March 26, 1882, more than a year later, carried an extended review of the Earp–Cow-Boy troubles. In it, the Star claimed, “At about 8:30 that same evening [of the robbery attempt at Drew’s Station], Doc Holliday rode up to a saloon in Charleston, ten miles from below the scene of the attempted robbery and inquired for Billy Clanton. On being told that he was not there, [Holliday] started for Tombstone, which was nine miles distant, and at about 10 o’clock rode up to a saloon on a back street in Tombstone and called for a big drink of whisky, which he drank at a gulp, without dismounting. His horse at the time was covered with foam. This all happened before the news of the murder reached Tombstone. At midnight the agent, and the Earp brothers, with Holliday, left town to meet Paul.” Second, Wells, Fargo issued a statement in the March 23, 1882, issue of the San Francisco Examiner that said in part, “Doc Holiday [sic], although a man of dissipated habits and a gambler, has never been a thief and was never in any way connected with the attempted stage robbery when Philpot [sic], the stage driver was killed. For three quarters of an hour after the stage passed the Wells, two and a half miles from Tombstone, he was seen at the latter place, so drunk that he was helped upon his horse, and the robbery occurred thirteen miles from Tombstone, so it was utterly impossible for him to be there. Neither did he form a part of agent Williams’ and detective Paul’s posse afterward.” The juxtaposition of these two accounts provides clear contrasts in the timing of Holliday’s movements, and the Wells, Fargo statement is critical in absolving Doc of participation, as the company was not in the habit of defending persons guilty of attempting to rob their gold shipments. Notably, the Star’s account, which was intended to implicate Holliday in the botched robbery attempt, had Doc arriving at a saloon in Tombstone “at about 10 o’clock.” The robbery attempt occurred near ten o’clock, which means, if the Star’s report is accurate, that Doc could not have been involved.
52. Frederick R. Bechdolt to William M. Breakenridge, December 23, 1927, William M. Breakenridge Letters, Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
53. Tombstone Daily Epitaph, March 16, 17, 1881; Tucson Daily Star, March 17, 1881; Sacramento (California) Daily Union, March 17, 1881; Clara Spalding Brown to the editor, March 19, 1881, San Diego Union, March 26, 1881; San Francisco Daily Exchange, March 16, 1881; San Francisco Examiner, May 28, 1882; Parsons, Journal, 133; see also Coroner’s Inquest, Elihu Philpott and Peter Roerig, March 1881, MS 150, F.326, Cochise County Records, Arizona Historical Society, Tucson, Arizona.
54. Ibid. Paul claimed that Bat Masterson was a passenger on the stage, according to the Phoenix Arizona Republican, June 26, 1892. See also “F” to the editor, March 16, 1881, Phoenix Herald, March 19, 1881. Kate would use the mention of rope beards to foster her claim that the Earps were somehow involved, stating, in one account (Mary Katharine Cummings, typescript of recollections prepared by Arthur W. Bork, unpublished manuscript, p. 3, copy in author’s files, courtesy Arthur W. Bork) that Wyatt had opened a trunk, pulled out a fake beard, and asked her if she knew what it was. Frank Waters, The Earp Brothers of Tombstone: The Story of Mrs. Virgil Earp (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1960), 109, 130, has Allie Earp, Virgil’s wife, mention the fake beards, but these references do not appear in his original work, “Tombstone Travesty,” first version, 1936, Frank Waters Papers, Center for Southwest Research, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Although court records relating to Kate’s specific accusations against Doc have disappeared, she was likely the source of the rope beards story. The Tucson Star, March 26, 1882, said, “In the meantime, Holliday had a quarrel with the woman he had been living with, and she denounced him before the authorities and swore that ‘Doc’ had a rope mask in his trunk for a month, before the killing of Philpot [sic], and that she knew that he was implicated in the murder.” That is the earliest account linking Kate and the rope beard story.
55. San Francisco Examiner, May 28, 1882; Tucson Weekly Star, March 24, 1881; Tucson Daily Citizen, March 27, 1881; Sacramento Daily Union, March 22, 1881; Phoenix Herald, March 25, 1881.
56. Virgil Earp to Crawley P. Dake, March 21, 1881, quoted in Larry D. Ball, The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846–1912 (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1978), 118.
57. Tombstone Daily Epitaph, March 21, 24, 1881; San Francisco Examiner, May 28, 1882. Wyatt and Bat reached Tombstone on March 23, after their long walk.
58. Parsons, Journal, 134.
59. Cummings, Mazzanovich typescript, 11. On March 21, 1881, the Tombstone Daily Epitaph announced that “Kate Holliday [and] Mrs. King” had gone to Charleston by stage. The reason for the trip was not explained, but it was not the date she left for Globe.
60. From the beginning, the news reports said that the robbery involved four men (although rumors spread that there were more). Bill Leonard, Jim Crane, and Harry Head were still at large; Luther King was in custody. Hence, the reference to “the fourth” at Tombstone being followed is puzzling at best. It is true that some reports indicated that King was implicated in the robbery but only as the holder of the horses. In fact, the Tucson Daily Citizen reported on March 27, 1881, that “a gentleman, just in from Willcox states that it is the general impression there that the supposed confederate in charge of Sheriff Behan [King] is not one of the parties concerned in the murder and attempted stage robbery, but that he is cognizant of their whereabouts and intentions, and is taken away to remove him from improper influence. It is also suspected that the officers are on a wrong scout, and the real culprits are now about the streets of Willcox unrecognized.” In its report of the capture of King, the Sacramento Daily Union, March 22, 1881, suggested that possibly as many as nine men were involved and wrote, “Meanwhile it is certain that several men around town, among them one who was a participant in the preliminary pursuit, are under surveillance [italics added].” Some latter-day accounts included Doc in the original posse, but he was not mentioned in any of the contemporary documents, so this reference appears to have been about another person. The Los Angeles Times, March 24, 1881, identified the arrested man as “William Allen.” A man of that name would be associated later with the outlaw element. See Tefertiller, Wyatt Earp, 103. Doc’s friendship with Leonard made him vulnerable to rumor, but the certitude with which some writers have identified the fourth man as Doc is based on events that happened later and misrepresentations made by William M. Breakenridge in Helldorado: Bringing Law to the Mesquite (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1928), 212–213. Breakenridge confused the dates in the Tombstone Daily Nugget reports, then added a statement to a Tucson Daily Star article that did not appear in the original. He cites the article as March 24, but actually the article was published on March 31, which concerned King’s escape. The sentence Breakenridge added said, “He was an important witness against Holliday.” Robert F. Palmquist discovered the discrepancy. Palmquist to Tefertiller, August 7, 1995, copy in the author’s files. See also Casey Tefertiller, “Resolving Earp Myths,” NOLA Quarterly 21 (October–December 1997): 3–4.
61. William M. Breakenridge’s handwritten statement, circa 1910, Special Collections, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. The report of the movements of the suspect in the Tucson Star article on March 24 do not fit well with other accounts of Doc’s movements, including Breakenridge’s.
The Tucson Star, March 26, 1882, provided further support for the idea that Doc was suspected in the days after the attempted holdup.
62. The reward poster was first reproduced in Tefertiller, Wyatt Earp, 209. Later, on August 25, 1881, the Tucson Weekly Star printed an article claiming that the robbery attempt was also part of a plot to assassinate Bob Paul and that he had avoided being killed only because he had swapped places with Bud Philpott and was driving at the time of the robbery attempt. See Tefertiller, Wyatt Earp, 87–88, 353n, for a discussion of the sources on this topic. This story lacks plausibility, if for the simple reason that it makes it hard to explain losing the traces when the first shots were fired or how Paul reacted so quickly. If it were true, it would make Doc’s participation even less likely because it defies all logic to conclude that Holliday would be involved in a plot to kill Wyatt Earp’s friend and ally.
63. Tombstone Evening Gossip, March 29, 1881. King was charged with “aiding and assisting to murder” in Judge A. O. Wallace’s court. Territory v. Luther King, Justice of the Peace Court, Report of Criminal Business, List of Cases, F.386, CCR, AHS.
64. Tombstone Evening Gossip, March 29, 1881.
65. Ibid.
66. San Francisco Examiner, May 28, 1882.
67. Tombstone Daily Nugget, March 31, 1881.
68. Parsons, Journal, 136.
69. Tucson Daily Citizen, April 5, 1881.
70. Tombstone Daily Epitaph, March 30, 1881.
71. James B. Hume to Lida Munson, March (?) 1881, James B. Hume Collection, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, California.
72. Tombstone Daily Epitaph, March 30, 1881.
73. Tucson Weekly Star, April 8, 1881. The Tombstone Daily Epitaph, April 1, 1881, had already reported rumors of King’s death but concluded that the rumors were false and “stories about King’s death were started to throw the officers off the scent.”.
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