1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:11,719 Speaker 1: brain Stuff. Lauren Vogel bomb here, the romanticized version of 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:16,279 Speaker 1: the American cowboy tin stars, quick draw gunfights, saloons on 4 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: dusty streets, and unending desert landscapes wouldn't hold such a 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: firm place in her consciousness if not for the infamous 6 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 1: showdown now known as the Gunfight at the Okay Corral. 7 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: You know, the one between tough nosed law men and 8 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,599 Speaker 1: some hard headed outlaws in the town of Tombstone near 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: the Mexican border in the Arizona Territory. But just to clarify, 10 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: the shootout wasn't even in a corral at all. It 11 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: took place in a vacant lot next to a photo 12 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: studio in a boarding house. The second point of clarification, 13 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: nobody ever called the standoff the Gunfight at the Okay 14 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: Corral until Hollywood sunk its claws into the story with 15 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: seven Burt Lancaster Kirk Douglas blockbuster titled Gunfight at the 16 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: Okay Corral, which you have to admit, does sound way 17 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: cooler than gunfight in a vacant lot, But in true 18 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: Wild West movie fashion, the cast of the real life 19 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: fight is easily broken into two groups. The good guys 20 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,399 Speaker 1: were the lawman in an otherwise lawless part of the 21 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: Arizona territory. They were Tombstone Marshall Virgil Earth, his brothers 22 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: Morgan and Wyatt, both officially special policeman, and temporary policeman 23 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: John Henry doc Holiday. The bad guys were a group 24 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: known as the Cowboys cal russelan horse thieven group of 25 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: no good cusses. They were Billy Clayborne, brothers Ike and 26 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: Billy Clinton, and brothers Frank and Tom McClory, and these 27 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: two groups hated each other. Long story short. Between eighteen 28 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: seventy nine and eighteen eighty, Tombstone's population exploded with prospectors 29 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: searching for silver ore and the town needed law enforce sment. 30 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: The town leaders wanted men like Virgil and Wyatt Earth 31 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: because they had solid reputations as gunfighters and lawmen, but 32 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: the Clayton and mclory families, who were prominent ranchers, formed 33 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: their own coalition known as the Cowboys. The Cowboys didn't 34 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: recognize Virgil Earp as marshal or his legal authority, and 35 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: the Cowboys despised the fact that eurpened his lawmen often 36 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: used possibly extra legal methods to enforce the law. In 37 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: late eighty one, it was against the law to carry 38 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: weapons within the Tombstone town limits. A Virgil earp let 39 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,919 Speaker 1: that be known to the cowboys, and that's how things 40 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 1: started that day. After some threats and two pistol whippings 41 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: by the Earps, the two groups squared off at about 42 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: three pm on October. Most estimates put the two groups 43 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: not much farther than six ft or two meters apart. 44 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: There were plenty of handguns present. Holiday carried a shotgun 45 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: before the article. This episode is based on How Stuff Works. 46 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,639 Speaker 1: Spoke with Marshall Trimble, Arizona's official state historian. He said, 47 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: when the cowboys came into town and Billy Clinton saw 48 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: his brother Ike had been hit, and Frank saw his 49 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: brother Tom had been cocked, they were spoiling for a fight. 50 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: Then they made open threats that they were going to 51 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: kill the Earth's They were overheard, and that's what saved 52 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 1: the earps and Doc from maybe going to a murder trial. 53 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: And here we jump ahead to the first hand witness 54 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: account of John H. Bean. He was the sheriff of 55 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: Cochise County, a political rival to the Earps, and a 56 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: friend too many of the cowboys, and one of many 57 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: interviewed afterward during a hearing into the gunfight. This transcript 58 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: is courtesy of the Arizona Memory Project. Quote when they 59 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: got to the party of cowboys, they drew their guns 60 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: and said, you sons of you have been looking for 61 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: a fight, and you can have it. Someone of the party, 62 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: i think Marshall Arp, said throw up your hands. We 63 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: are going to disarm you instantaneously. With that, the fight 64 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: commenced and there was around some thirty shots fired. Dozens 65 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: and dozens of accounts have been written on the fight, 66 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: and many relying on firsthand accounts like this. Some say 67 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: that at least one of the cowboys was unarmed. Others 68 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: refute that claim. The questions arose as to who fired 69 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: the first shot and who shot whom, but the toll 70 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: of the gunfight is not in question. Once everything had 71 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 1: quieted down, three cowboys, Billy Clinton, just eighteen or nineteen 72 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 1: years old at the time, and both McClory brothers were dead. 73 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: The fight lasted no more than thirty seconds. The lawmen 74 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: weren't without their injuries, though Tremble said In the end, 75 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: Morgan Earp almost had a fatal wound. The bullet just 76 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: missed his spine, but it went right clear through his back. 77 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: Virgil took a hit in his leg, and Doc just 78 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: got a scrape. Why it came through without a scratch, 79 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,840 Speaker 1: just like he does in the movies. Four days after 80 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: the fight, Mike Clayton, who had fled once bullets started flying, 81 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: accused the Earps and Holiday of murder and Tombstone Justice 82 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: of the Peace Wells Spicer held a hearing into the 83 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: throw down being back to the cowboys, but others supported 84 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: the Earps and Holiday. The verdict may have hinged on 85 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: the testimony of one Addie Borland, a local dressmaker, who 86 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,360 Speaker 1: contradicted the cowboys claim that they had their hands up 87 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: and should not have been fired upon. The Spicer eventually 88 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: found that the Earps and Holiday were well within their 89 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:37,720 Speaker 1: rights and declared that no trial was necessary. Mike Clayton, 90 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: bent on revenging the death of his brother and the 91 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,720 Speaker 1: other cowboys, is generally thought to be behind the assassination 92 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: attempt on Virgil Earp in December of that year and 93 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: the murder of Morgan Earp, who was gunned down in 94 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:53,360 Speaker 1: a Tombsdown billiard club in early two After Morgan's killing, 95 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: Wyatt Earp tracked down some of the Clayton's cohorts when 96 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: killing a couple. Clayton was killed by a detective in Springerville, 97 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: Arizona Territory in eighteen eighty seven while resisting arrest. Wyatt 98 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,719 Speaker 1: was the last of the Ok Corral survivors. He died 99 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: in Los Angeles in nineteen twenty nine at age eighty. 100 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: The gunfight gained near mythic status in nineteen thirty one 101 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: after Stuart Lake, a former press agent for President Theodore Roosevelt, 102 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,119 Speaker 1: and a Hollywood writer, interviewed Wyatt and published a loose 103 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:28,719 Speaker 1: biography titled Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshal. Then came the movie 104 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: and a TV series on Why Earp's life and times 105 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:36,559 Speaker 1: ran from nineteen fifty five to nineteen sixty one. Among 106 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,359 Speaker 1: the actors who have portrayed Wyatt are Henry Fonda in 107 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: My Darling Clementine from nineteen forty six, A Burt Lancaster 108 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifty seven movie James Garner An Hour 109 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,479 Speaker 1: of the Gun in nineteen sixty seven, Kurt Russell in 110 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: Tombstone in ninetee, Kevin Costner in Wide Earp in ninety four, 111 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: and Bell Kilmer in wyatt Earp's Revenge in twelve. Trimble said, 112 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 1: I think it's the psychology that people like to believe 113 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: that a good guy can't be that good and why 114 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: it wasn't why it had a little shady past all 115 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: of them? Did I tell people these were sporting men. 116 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: They ran around with prostitutes, gambled, hung out with an 117 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: unsavory lot. But why it came from a good family 118 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: A why it was a whole lot better than the 119 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 1: others and he was just a product of his time. 120 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: Tourists now streamed Tombstone to see re enactments, and beyond Tombstone, 121 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: that face to face showdown between a lawless bunch of 122 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: cowboys and a hardened bunch of law men has given 123 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: Arizona and the entire West a huge part of its identity, 124 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: a larger even than that for many visitors, the gunfight 125 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: is a snapshot of America. A Tremble said, A gunfighters 126 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: are America's rendition of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. 127 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: People are fascinated by them because they had a code 128 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: of their own and It's an independence, of free spirited independence. 129 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 1: It's what everybody wishes they could be, but aren't y. 130 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article The Okay Corral, 131 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: the Gunfight of All Gunfights on how stuff works dot Com, 132 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: written by John Donovan. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart 133 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com and 134 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler Klain. Four more podcasts from my 135 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 136 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.