The Statement of Wyatt Earp, Epitaph Newspaper, 17 November 1881

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1 The Statement of Wyatt Earp, Epitaph Newspaper, 17 November 1881 Ike Clanton came up and they all walked into the gunsmith's shop. I saw them in the shop changing cartridges into their belts. They came out of the shop and walked along Fourth Street to the corner of Allen Street. I know it was Virgil's duty to disarm those men. He suspected he would have trouble in doing so; and I followed up to give assistance if necessary, especially as they had been threatening us. About ten minutes afterwards, and while Virgil, Morgan, Doc Holliday and myself were standing in the center of Fourth and Allen Streets several persons said, there is going to be trouble with those fellows, and one man named Coleman said to Virgil Earp, They mean trouble. They have just gone from Dunbar's corral into the O.K. corral, all armed. I think you had better go and disarm them. Virgil turned around to Doc Holliday, Morgan Earp and myself and told us to come and assist him in disarming them. 1 2 We four started through Fourth to Fremont Street. When we turned the corner of Fourth and Fremont Streets we could see them standing near or about the vacant space between Fly's photograph gallery and the next building west. I first saw Frank McLowry, Tom McLowry, Billy Clanton and Sheriff Behan standing there. When I got within about 150 feet of them I saw Ike Clanton, Billy Claiborne and another party. We had walked a few steps further when I saw Behan leave the party and come towards us, every few steps he would look back as if he apprehended danger. I heard Behan say to Virgil Earp, For God's sake don't go down there or you will get murdered. Virgil replied, I am going to disarm them - he, Virgil Earp, being in the lead. When I and Morgan came up to Behan he said, I have disarmed them. When he said this I took my pistol, which I had in my hand, under my coat, and put it in my overcoat pocket. Behan then passed up the street, and we walked on down. We came up on them close - Frank McLowry, Tom McLowry and Billy Clanton standing all in a row against the east side of the building, on the opposite side of the vacant space west of Fly`s photography gallery. Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne and a man I did not know were standing in the vacant space about halfway between the photograph gallery and the next building west. I saw that Billy Clanton and Frank McLowry and Tom McLowry had their hands by their sides and Frank McLowry's and Billy Clanton's six shooters were in plain sight. Virgil said, Throw up your hands. I have come to disarm you. Billy Clanton and Frank McLowry had their hands on their six shooters. Virgil said, Hold I don't mean that; I have come to disarm you. They Billy Clanton and Frank McLowry - commenced to draw their pistols, at the same time Tom McLowry threw his hand to his right hip and jumped behind a horse. I had my pistol in my overcoat pocket where I had put it when Behan told us he had disarmed the other party. When I saw Billy and Frank draw their pistols I drew my pistol. Billy Clanton levelled his pistol at me but I did not aim at him. I knew that Frank McLowry had the reputation of being a good shot and a dangerous man, and I aimed at Frank McLowry Page 1 of 6

2 The two first shots which were fired were fired by Billy Clanton and myself, he shot at me, and I shot at Frank McLowry. I do not know which shot was first; we fired almost together. The fight then became general. After about four shots were fired Ike Clanton ran up and grabbed my arm. I could see no weapon in his hand and thought at the time he had none, and so I said to him, The fight has now commenced go to fighting or get away. At the same time I pushed him off with my left hand. He started and ran down the side of the building and disappeared between the lodging house and the photograph gallery. My first shot struck Frank McLowry in the belly. He staggered off on the sidewalk but first fired one shot at me. When we told them to throw up their hands Claiborne held up his left hand, and then broke and ran. I never saw him afterwards until later in the afternoon, after the fight. I never drew my pistol or made a motion to shoot until after Billy Clanton and Frank McLowry drew their pistols. If Tom McLowry was unarmed I did not know it. I believe he was armed and that he fired two shots at our party before Holliday, who had the shotgun, fired at and killed him. If he was unarmed there was nothing to the circumstances, or in what had been communicated to me, or in his acts or threats, that would have led me even to suspect his being unarmed Page 2 of 6

3 Tasks: 1) Read Wyatt Earp s detailed statement about what happened at the O.K. Corral, published in the Epitaph newspaper in November You will find that he makes a number of points about what happened, in what order, and who was to blame. Each of the main points he makes are summarised below. 2) Next, read through each of the sources of evidence, A-D. Decide whether they agree or disagree with Wyatt Earp on each of the points he makes. Put a tick in the corresponding box below if they are in agreement, a cross if they disagree or leave it blank if Earp s point isn t addressed in the source. 1. Virgil went to the O.K. Corral to disarm the Clantons and the McLowrys. 2. The people of Tombstone asked Virgil Earp to disarm the cowboys. 3. Sheriff John Behan approached Virgil and said, For God's sake don't go down there or you will get murdered. Virgil replied, I am going to disarm them. 4. Wyatt put his pistol away in his pocket. A B C D 5. Virgil said, Throw up your hands. I have come to disarm you. 6. Billy Clanton and Frank McLowry drew their pistols first. 7. Tom McLowry drew his gun and jumped behind a horse. 8. The two first shots were fired by Billy Clanton and Wyatt Earp. 9. Ike Clanton was unarmed. Wyatt said to him The fight has now commenced, go to fighting or get away. Ike then ran off. 10. Frank McLowry was shot in the belly and died. 11. Claiborne ran away. 12. Tom McLowry fired two shots before Holliday killed him with a shotgun. E STATEMENT OF WYATT Key questions 1) Does Wyatt Earp omit anything from his account? 2) Why do the sources give differing accounts? 3) Which, if any, do you feel are the more reliable sources? 4) Why is it difficult for historians to be sure what happened at the O.K. Corral? Page 3 of 6

4 Source A On the morning of 26 October, Ike Clanton was back in Tombstone with his younger brother Billy, Frank, and Tom McLowry, and Billy Clairborne, all men with reputations as cattle rustlers. Virgil Earp, now assistant marshal, deputized his brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and the three patrolled the streets, apparently trying to pick a quarrel with the Clantons: Virgil struck Ike and Wyatt punched Tom McLowry. When the Clantons went to the O.K. Corral to collect their horses and leave town, the Earp brothers followed them. Doc Holliday tagged along with a sawn-off shotgun under his frock-coat. In the corral, Virgil called out, You are under arrest. Somebody fired. In less than a minute, Billy Clanton and the McLowrys were dead, Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne had run for their lives, Morgan Earp had a bullet in the left shoulder, Virgil one in the leg, and Holliday one in the left hip. When the Clanton and McLowry bodies were laid out in their caskets, citizens hung a large notice over them: Murdered in the streets of Tombstone. B. Innes, The Wild West, in The Wild West, Grolier enterprises, 1976 Source B This is best told in the words of R. F. Coleman, who was an eyewitness from the beginning to the end. Mr. Coleman says: I was the first in the O.K. Corral at 2.30pm, when I saw the two Clantons Ike and Bill, and the two McLowry boys in earnest conversation across the street. I went up the street and notified Sheriff Behan, and told him it was my opinion they meant trouble, and that it was his duty, as Sheriff, to go and disarm them. I then went and saw Marshall Virgil Earp and notified him to the same effect. I then walked through the O.K. Corral about fifty yards behind the Sheriff. On reaching Fremont Street I saw Virgil Earp, Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday in the centre of the street, all armed. I went along to Fry s photograph gallery, when I heard Virgil Earp say, Give up your arms, or throw down your arms. There was some reply made by Frank McLowry, but at the same moment there were two shots fired simultaneously by Doc Holliday and Frank McLowry. The firing then became general, over thirty shots being fired. Tom McLowry fell first, but raised and fired again before he died. Bill Clanton fell next and rose to fire again when Mr. Fly took his revolver from him. Frank McLowry ran a few yards and fell. Morgan Earp was shot through and fell. Doc Holliday was hit in the left hip, but kept on firing. Virgil Earp was hit in the third or fourth fire in the leg, which staggard him but he kept up the effective work. Wyatt Earp stood up and fired in rapid succession, as cool as a cucumber, and was not hit. After the firing was over Sheriff Behan went up to Wyatt Earp and said, I ll have to arrest you. Wyatt replied, I won t be arrested today. I am right here and am not going away. You have deceived me; you told me those men were disarmed; I went to disarm them. The Daily Epitaph, Arizona, 27 October Page 4 of 6

5 Source C It was 26 October The outlaws were lined up against the wall of the Assay Office backing onto the corral. Tom McLowry was the nearest to the street. Then came his brother, Frank, the most dangerous gunslinger in the lot and the teen-aged Billy Clanton, and his brother Ike. Billy Clairborne, wearing a Colt on either hip, was on the other end of the line. The quintet was tense and alert, eyes glued on the point where the corral opened out into Tombstone s Fremont Street. In a moment the men they were waiting for came into view. Wyatt and Virgil Earp turned the corner first, then Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday. The tall, handsome Earps wore black from head to foot, the sombre design broken only by their white shirts. Holliday had on a black frock coat and under it bulged a sawn-off shot gun. You men are under arrest, Virgil Earp sang out as his party moved within eight feet of the lean, desert hardened outlaws. Throw up your hands. Suddenly guns roared in the crisp, bright afternoon, as the greatest face to face, wideopen gunfight in the history of the West - the battle of the O.K. corral - got under way. Frank McLowry fell first. A slug from Wyatt Earp s Buntline Special tore into him just above the gunbelt. Morgan Earp, his coat singed by a bullet from Tom McLory s.45, put a shot into Billy Clanton s gun hand as the youth pured fire at Wyatt. Billy Clairborne fled. Ike Clanton rushed up to Earp. Don t kill me! I m not shooting! This fight s commenced, Earp answered. Get fighting or get out. So Clanton got out, ducking into Fly s. Now Tom McLowry s.45 found a mark. A slug ripped into Morgan Earp s left shoulder, but he kept fighting. Wyatt concentrated on Tom McLowry, who started to run. Both Holliday and Wyatt Earp hit him and he fell dead. His brother Frank, staggering as his life ebbed away, turned on Holliday. Morgan Earp saw it. Three pistols exploded at once. McLowry fell with bullets in his head and heart. The dying Billy Clanton shot Virgil through the leg before Wyatt s gun brought him down. The battle of the O.K. Corral was over. It had taken less than thirty seconds. Horan and Sann, A Pictorial History of the Wild West, Hamlyn, Page 5 of 6

6 Source D We then went to where our team was; met the sheriff there; he told us that he would have to arrest us and take our arms off. I told him that we were just going to leave town; that I had no arms on me; he then told Billy, my brother, to take his arms up to his office, Billy told him he was just leaving the town. The sheriff then told Frank and Tom McLowry to take their arms off. Tom McLowry then opened his coat and said, 'Johnny, I have nothing.' Frank said that he was leaving town, and that he would disarm if the Earps would; that he had business that he would like to do before he left town. Just at that time Doc Holliday and the Earps appeared on the sidewalk; the sheriff stepped out to meet them; he told them that he had this party in charge; they walked right by him. I stepped out and met Wyatt Earp; he (Wyatt) stuck his six shooter at me and said, 'Throw up your hands!' The marshal also told the other boys to throw up their hands; Frank McLowry and Billy Clanton threw up; Tom McLowry threw open his coat and said he had nothing; they (Earps) said you sons of bitches came here to make a fight ; at the same instant Doc Holliday and Morgan Earp shot; Morgan shot Billy Clanton, and I don't know which of the boys he shot; I saw Virg shooting at the same time; I grabbed Wyatt Earp and pushed him around the corner and then ran through the photograph gallery; at the same time I saw Billy Clanton fall; when I got away. Testimony given by Ike Clanton at the Coroner s inquest, 31 October Page 6 of 6