WEBVTT - What Really Happened at the O.K. Corral?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff. Lauren Vogel bomb here, the romanticized version of

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<v Speaker 1>the American cowboy tin stars, quick draw gunfights, saloons on

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<v Speaker 1>dusty streets, and unending desert landscapes wouldn't hold such a

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<v Speaker 1>firm place in her consciousness if not for the infamous

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<v Speaker 1>showdown now known as the Gunfight at the Okay Corral.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, the one between tough nosed law men and

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<v Speaker 1>some hard headed outlaws in the town of Tombstone near

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<v Speaker 1>the Mexican border in the Arizona Territory. But just to clarify,

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<v Speaker 1>the shootout wasn't even in a corral at all. It

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<v Speaker 1>took place in a vacant lot next to a photo

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<v Speaker 1>studio in a boarding house. The second point of clarification,

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<v Speaker 1>nobody ever called the standoff the Gunfight at the Okay

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<v Speaker 1>Corral until Hollywood sunk its claws into the story with

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<v Speaker 1>seven Burt Lancaster Kirk Douglas blockbuster titled Gunfight at the

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<v Speaker 1>Okay Corral, which you have to admit, does sound way

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<v Speaker 1>cooler than gunfight in a vacant lot, But in true

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<v Speaker 1>Wild West movie fashion, the cast of the real life

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<v Speaker 1>fight is easily broken into two groups. The good guys

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<v Speaker 1>were the lawman in an otherwise lawless part of the

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<v Speaker 1>Arizona territory. They were Tombstone Marshall Virgil Earth, his brothers

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<v Speaker 1>Morgan and Wyatt, both officially special policeman, and temporary policeman

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<v Speaker 1>John Henry doc Holiday. The bad guys were a group

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<v Speaker 1>known as the Cowboys cal russelan horse thieven group of

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<v Speaker 1>no good cusses. They were Billy Clayborne, brothers Ike and

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<v Speaker 1>Billy Clinton, and brothers Frank and Tom McClory, and these

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<v Speaker 1>two groups hated each other. Long story short. Between eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>seventy nine and eighteen eighty, Tombstone's population exploded with prospectors

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<v Speaker 1>searching for silver ore and the town needed law enforce sment.

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<v Speaker 1>The town leaders wanted men like Virgil and Wyatt Earth

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<v Speaker 1>because they had solid reputations as gunfighters and lawmen, but

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<v Speaker 1>the Clayton and mclory families, who were prominent ranchers, formed

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<v Speaker 1>their own coalition known as the Cowboys. The Cowboys didn't

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<v Speaker 1>recognize Virgil Earp as marshal or his legal authority, and

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<v Speaker 1>the Cowboys despised the fact that eurpened his lawmen often

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<v Speaker 1>used possibly extra legal methods to enforce the law. In

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<v Speaker 1>late eighty one, it was against the law to carry

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<v Speaker 1>weapons within the Tombstone town limits. A Virgil earp let

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<v Speaker 1>that be known to the cowboys, and that's how things

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<v Speaker 1>started that day. After some threats and two pistol whippings

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<v Speaker 1>by the Earps, the two groups squared off at about

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<v Speaker 1>three pm on October. Most estimates put the two groups

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<v Speaker 1>not much farther than six ft or two meters apart.

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<v Speaker 1>There were plenty of handguns present. Holiday carried a shotgun

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<v Speaker 1>before the article. This episode is based on How Stuff Works.

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<v Speaker 1>Spoke with Marshall Trimble, Arizona's official state historian. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>when the cowboys came into town and Billy Clinton saw

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<v Speaker 1>his brother Ike had been hit, and Frank saw his

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<v Speaker 1>brother Tom had been cocked, they were spoiling for a fight.

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<v Speaker 1>Then they made open threats that they were going to

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<v Speaker 1>kill the Earth's They were overheard, and that's what saved

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<v Speaker 1>the earps and Doc from maybe going to a murder trial.

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<v Speaker 1>And here we jump ahead to the first hand witness

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<v Speaker 1>account of John H. Bean. He was the sheriff of

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<v Speaker 1>Cochise County, a political rival to the Earps, and a

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<v Speaker 1>friend too many of the cowboys, and one of many

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<v Speaker 1>interviewed afterward during a hearing into the gunfight. This transcript

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<v Speaker 1>is courtesy of the Arizona Memory Project. Quote when they

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<v Speaker 1>got to the party of cowboys, they drew their guns

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<v Speaker 1>and said, you sons of you have been looking for

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<v Speaker 1>a fight, and you can have it. Someone of the party,

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<v Speaker 1>i think Marshall Arp, said throw up your hands. We

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<v Speaker 1>are going to disarm you instantaneously. With that, the fight

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<v Speaker 1>commenced and there was around some thirty shots fired. Dozens

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<v Speaker 1>and dozens of accounts have been written on the fight,

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<v Speaker 1>and many relying on firsthand accounts like this. Some say

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<v Speaker 1>that at least one of the cowboys was unarmed. Others

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<v Speaker 1>refute that claim. The questions arose as to who fired

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<v Speaker 1>the first shot and who shot whom, but the toll

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<v Speaker 1>of the gunfight is not in question. Once everything had

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<v Speaker 1>quieted down, three cowboys, Billy Clinton, just eighteen or nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>years old at the time, and both McClory brothers were dead.

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<v Speaker 1>The fight lasted no more than thirty seconds. The lawmen

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<v Speaker 1>weren't without their injuries, though Tremble said In the end,

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<v Speaker 1>Morgan Earp almost had a fatal wound. The bullet just

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<v Speaker 1>missed his spine, but it went right clear through his back.

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<v Speaker 1>Virgil took a hit in his leg, and Doc just

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<v Speaker 1>got a scrape. Why it came through without a scratch,

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<v Speaker 1>just like he does in the movies. Four days after

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<v Speaker 1>the fight, Mike Clayton, who had fled once bullets started flying,

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<v Speaker 1>accused the Earps and Holiday of murder and Tombstone Justice

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<v Speaker 1>of the Peace Wells Spicer held a hearing into the

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<v Speaker 1>throw down being back to the cowboys, but others supported

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<v Speaker 1>the Earps and Holiday. The verdict may have hinged on

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<v Speaker 1>the testimony of one Addie Borland, a local dressmaker, who

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<v Speaker 1>contradicted the cowboys claim that they had their hands up

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<v Speaker 1>and should not have been fired upon. The Spicer eventually

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<v Speaker 1>found that the Earps and Holiday were well within their

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<v Speaker 1>rights and declared that no trial was necessary. Mike Clayton,

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<v Speaker 1>bent on revenging the death of his brother and the

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<v Speaker 1>other cowboys, is generally thought to be behind the assassination

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<v Speaker 1>attempt on Virgil Earp in December of that year and

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<v Speaker 1>the murder of Morgan Earp, who was gunned down in

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<v Speaker 1>a Tombsdown billiard club in early two After Morgan's killing,

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<v Speaker 1>Wyatt Earp tracked down some of the Clayton's cohorts when

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<v Speaker 1>killing a couple. Clayton was killed by a detective in Springerville,

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<v Speaker 1>Arizona Territory in eighteen eighty seven while resisting arrest. Wyatt

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<v Speaker 1>was the last of the Ok Corral survivors. He died

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<v Speaker 1>in Los Angeles in nineteen twenty nine at age eighty.

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<v Speaker 1>The gunfight gained near mythic status in nineteen thirty one

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<v Speaker 1>after Stuart Lake, a former press agent for President Theodore Roosevelt,

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<v Speaker 1>and a Hollywood writer, interviewed Wyatt and published a loose

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<v Speaker 1>biography titled Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshal. Then came the movie

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<v Speaker 1>and a TV series on Why Earp's life and times

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<v Speaker 1>ran from nineteen fifty five to nineteen sixty one. Among

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<v Speaker 1>the actors who have portrayed Wyatt are Henry Fonda in

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<v Speaker 1>My Darling Clementine from nineteen forty six, A Burt Lancaster

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<v Speaker 1>in the nineteen fifty seven movie James Garner An Hour

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<v Speaker 1>of the Gun in nineteen sixty seven, Kurt Russell in

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<v Speaker 1>Tombstone in ninetee, Kevin Costner in Wide Earp in ninety four,

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<v Speaker 1>and Bell Kilmer in wyatt Earp's Revenge in twelve. Trimble said,

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's the psychology that people like to believe

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<v Speaker 1>that a good guy can't be that good and why

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<v Speaker 1>it wasn't why it had a little shady past all

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<v Speaker 1>of them? Did I tell people these were sporting men.

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<v Speaker 1>They ran around with prostitutes, gambled, hung out with an

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<v Speaker 1>unsavory lot. But why it came from a good family

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<v Speaker 1>A why it was a whole lot better than the

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<v Speaker 1>others and he was just a product of his time.

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<v Speaker 1>Tourists now streamed Tombstone to see re enactments, and beyond Tombstone,

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<v Speaker 1>that face to face showdown between a lawless bunch of

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<v Speaker 1>cowboys and a hardened bunch of law men has given

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<v Speaker 1>Arizona and the entire West a huge part of its identity,

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<v Speaker 1>a larger even than that for many visitors, the gunfight

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<v Speaker 1>is a snapshot of America. A Tremble said, A gunfighters

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<v Speaker 1>are America's rendition of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table.

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<v Speaker 1>People are fascinated by them because they had a code

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<v Speaker 1>of their own and It's an independence, of free spirited independence.

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<v Speaker 1>It's what everybody wishes they could be, but aren't y.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article The Okay Corral,

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<v Speaker 1>the Gunfight of All Gunfights on how stuff works dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>written by John Donovan. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com and

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<v Speaker 1>is produced by Tyler Klain. Four more podcasts from my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.