The Earps shoot it out at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona - Oct 26, 1881 - HISTORY.com The Earps shoot it out at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Share this: The Earps shoot it out at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Author The Earps shoot it out at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona URL Publisher A+E Networks After years of feuding and mounting tensions, on this day in 1881, the “law and order” Earps and the “cowboy” Clanton-McLaurys engage in their world-famous shoot-out near the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, leaving three men dead and three more wounded. Both sides in the conflict were ostensibly looking for revenge for what they perceived as malicious attacks and insults, but on a larger level the conflict revolved around which side would control the fate of Tombstone and Cochise County.

That hot Arizona day, the Earp brothers—Wyatt; Virgil, the town marshal; and Morgan—along with their friend Doc Holliday, spotted a group of cattle rustlers—Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury, and Billy Claiborne, at the other end of Fremont Street, standing in a vacant lot behind the OK Corral. Standing nearby was Cochise County Sheriff John Behan, who rushed up the street to tell the Earps that the Clantons and McLaurys were mostly unarmed and just wanted to leave town peacefully. But the Earps ignored the sheriff and moved ahead to confront their enemies. “You sons of bitches,” Wyatt Earp reportedly said, “you re looking for a fight and now you can have it.” The question of which side actually drew their guns first is still debated today, but it s believed that Virgil Earp pulled out his revolver and shot Billy Clanton in the chest at point-blank range, while Doc Holliday killed Tom McLaury with a blast from his double-barreled shotgun. Wyatt Earp shot Frank McLaury in the stomach, and the wounded man staggered out into the street but managed to pull his gun and return fire.

Meanwhile, Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran for their lives. The wounded Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton both managed to get off several shots before collapsing, and Virgil, Morgan, and Doc were all hit. But when the 30-second gunfight was over, there was no doubt which side had triumphed: the Earps were bloodied but alive, while Billy Clanton and Tom and Frank McLaury were dead or dying. Sheriff Behan, who witnessed the entire shoot-out, charged the Earps and Holliday with murder. However, a month later the Tombstone justice of the peace found the men not guilty, ruling “the defendants were fully justified in committing these homicides.” Related Videos View All Photos (3) Movie Info Of the many filmed versions of the October 26, 1881, O.K. Corral shootout in Tombstone, Arizona, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was one of the most elaborate and star-studded.

Burt Lancaster plays Wyatt Earp, the renowned lawman, while Kirk Douglas is consumptive gambler (and gunfighter) Doc Holliday -- the two meet in difficult circumstances, as Earp discovers that Holiday, for whom he initially feels little but loathing, is being held on a trumped up murder charge and being set up for a lynching, and intercedes on his behalf. The action shifts to Dodge City, Kansas, where Earp is marshal and Holiday, hardly grateful for the good turn, shows up right in the middle of all kinds of trouble, this time mostly on Earp's side of the ledger. And, finally, the two turn up in Tombstone, Arizona, where Wyatt's brother Virgil is city marshal, and where Wyatt finally gets to confront the Clanton/McLowery outlaw gang (led by Lyle Bettger as Ike Clanton). Since the time-span of the actual gunfight was at most 90 seconds, the bulk of the film concerns the tensions across many months leading up to the famous battle.

As scripted by Leon Uris (from a magazine story by George Scullin), the story involves two unrelated but parallel plot-lines -- a long-standing vendetta against Holliday and the efforts of Earp to bring the Clanton/McLowery gang to justice -- that are eventually drawn together on the streets of Tombstone. Woven into these proceedings are Earp's and Holliday's romantic dalliances with lady gambler Laura Denbow (Rhonda Fleming) and Kate Fisher (Jo Van Fleet), whose switch in affections from Holiday to outlaw fast-gun Johnny Ringo (John Ireland) only rachets up gambler's rage and the reasons behind the bloody climax. There are plenty of bribery attempts, terse dialogue exchanges and "Mexican standoffs" before the inevitable gunfight takes place. Director John Sturges takes some dramatic license with this confrontation, as well, stretching things out to nearly six minutes, but this is after all an "A" production, and a minute-and-a-half of gunfire just wouldn't cut it.

The huge cast of western veterans includes Earl Holliman as Charles Bassett, Dennis Hopper as Billy Clanton, Kenneth Tobey as Bat Masterson, Lee Van Cleef as Ed Bailey, Jack Elam as Tom McLowery, and John Hudson, DeForest Kelley and Martin Milner as Virgil, Morgan, and James Earp, respectively. And there's that Dimitri Tiomkin score, pushing the movie's momentum as relentlessly as the two driven heroes, complete with a song (sung by Frankie Laine) underscoring the major transitions of scenes that's impossible to forget, once heard. Sturges himself would produce and direct a more fact-based and realistic version of the story -- focusing mostly on its aftermath -- a decade later, entitled Hour of the Gun, starring James Garner, Jason Robards, Jr., and Robert Ryan, which wasn't nearly as attractive or successful. But after Gunfight At The OK Corral, there would not be so impressive a lineup of talent at the OK Corral again until the twin Earp biopics of 1994, Wyatt Earp and Tombstone. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi Rating: Gunfight at the O.K.

Corral | Wyatt Earp Story | Tombstone AZ Gunfight at the OK Corral By Stephanie Tallman Smith Arguably the most famous gunfight in the history of the American west, the Gunfight at the OK Corral is more than just the clash between Wyatt Earp and the Clanton brothers. It is now recognized as a symbolic cultural battle between old and new, hired lawmen versus outlaw gunmen, western values against eastern business. Even so, the Gunfight remains an exciting example of western lore, entertaining and educating generation after generation of western aficionados. Depicted countless times in books and on film, the historic 30 shots that rang out across the town of Tombstone, in the Arizona Territory, ring as loud today as they did on October 26, 1881. The Beginning Tombstone at the time of the Gunfight was undergoing rapid expansion. The discovery of silver in the Goose Flats area of the territory by prospector Ed Schieffelin had turned the once desolate landscape into a bustling boomtown complete with saloons, a theater, gambling halls, fine hotels and restaurants that would rival those of San Francisco or New York.

Chinese immigrant construction workers couldn't work fast enough to keep up with the demand for new shops and buildings by the hundreds of businessmen flooding the town with eastern big money. Innovations such as refrigeration and limited telephone service brought even more boomers to the town, seeking their fortune among the many mines and other industries popping up around Tombstone. While the newcomers marveled at the progress of their newfound home, the area remained a desert landscape, home to cattle ranches and cattle rustlers, bank robbers and outlaws. Many of the stagecoaches bringing investors to the town were robbed on a regular basis, and the rowdy behavior of the cowboys in the saloons and gambling halls terrorized citizens and scared away business. The business owners, fearing the outlaw's behavior would drive away the miners and even the families that had moved west to join them, protected their interests by bringing in the law. The Earps Although he carried no badge, Wyatt Earp became the unofficial Chief of Police of Tombstone, partly because of his astute business sense, partly because of his friendship with the rather successful gambler and well-connected John "Doc" Holliday and partly because his brother, Virgil Earp, was already a deputized U.S. Marshal.

Together with their brother Morgan, the Earps and Holliday set out to rid the town of the outlaws, often provoking gunfights under the authority of Virgil's badge until one day, the outlaw bandits had had enough. The Clantons Ike and Billy Clanton (Billie on his Boot Hill grave marker) were cattle rustlers and bandits who, with their cowboy partners Tom and Frank McLaury were responsible for much of the saloon fights, stagecoach robberies and even murders in the western backcountry surrounding Tombstone. It was a direct confrontation with the Clantons and McLaurys that led to the fateful Gunfight. It Began With a Gun Although Tombstone was the heart of the Wild, Wild West, the carrying of firearms or other deadly weapons inside the City limits was against the law. This was an attempt by the Earps to control violence when the cowboys came to town and got drunk, and eliminate the threat that they themselves would be shot in a standoff between the interests of the business owners and the interests of the bandits.

For several days leading up to October 26, 1881, the Clantons were in and out of jail and court for flagrantly violating the gun ordinance. The last straw came at noon on the 26th when Ike Clanton was spotted by several townspeople being fully armed and going from saloon to saloon, getting drunker by the minute. The Earps arrested Ike Clanton and after a visit before the judge, Clanton paid his $25 fine and set out to find his brother and the McLaurys. Death threats between the two sides grew louder and more credible; leading both the Clantons and Earps to believe a showdown was inevitable. Finally, around 3:00 p.m on October 31, 1881. the Earps caught up with the Clantons and McLaurys at the OK Corral, and the shooting started. Thirty seconds later thirty shots had been fired and three men were dead. Billy Clanton and both Tom and Frank McLaury were killed, while Morgan and Virgil Earp were wounded. Witnesses were confused as to who started shooting first, and people loyal to each side had their own ideas about what happened that day.

Visit The OK Corral Today, visitors to Tombstone can retrace the steps of the Clantons as they make their way across Fremont Street, or the Earps and Holliday as they approach the OK Corral looking for the outlaws. After reenacting the shootout, take a trip to the outskirts of town and visit Boot Hill , the final resting place for the McLaurys and Billy Clanton. Judge for yourself what happened over 125 years ago. Whatever the truth may be, the Gunfight at the OK Corral remains the most legendary gun battle in the history of the American west. Suggested Reading What Happened at the OK Corral? - Seeker Oct 26, 2012 05:38 AM ET What Happened at the OK Corral? The Gunfight at the OK Corral is perhaps the best-known incident in the Old West. But what happened? And why is it famous? On Oct. 26, 1881, four men met at the corner of Fifth and Allen Streets in the bustling silver mining town of Tombstone, Arizona .

They walked north on Fifth, turned left on Fremont Street and headed toward a vacant lot next to the OK Corral . Minutes later, three men would be dead, and the four men who had walked to the corral and killed them – Tombstone marshal Virgil Earp, his brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and Wyatt’s friend Doc Holliday – had unknowingly secured their places in history. The Gunfight at the OK Corral is arguably the single most famous incident in the Old West. But what was it about? And why has it, above all the many other gunfights that took place in the era of frontier justice, achieved such infamy? To understand the gunfight, you have to first understand the town. Tombstone in 1881 was a thriving, bustling silver mining community. WATCH VIDEO: Science mysteries you may not have heard of. PHOTOS: World's Rarest Gemstones “There’s a huge misconception about Tombstone in the 1880s: that it was a violent, dangerous place,” says local author and historian Don Taylor. “It was extremely sophisticated and massively wealthy.

Thirty-seven million dollars in 1880s dollars of silver was mined here; that’s $8.25 billion today. They had everything. “They had fresh seafood every day. They would catch it in Baja California; pack it in barrels of salt, ice and seaweed at dusk; freight it by train to Benson or Contention City, immediately pack it on to wagons and bring it here by dawn every day. It was a very opulent town. But again, people don’t understand – especially if they come today – Tombstone was open 24 hours a day. The miners worked rotating 10 hour shifts; everything had to be open when they got off, including banks. They were also pumping 2.5 million gallons of water out of the mines every day to keep them dry; so you had all the mining activity, all the milling activity, all the water rushing down Toughnut Street, and the town open 24 hours a day.

It must have been noisy as hell.” BIG PIC: The Mega Crystals of Naica Mine As the mines thrived, so did all manner of supporting businesses: banks, bars, restaurants, hotels – and prostitutes, many of whom worked out of small ‘cribs’ that lined Sixth Street. The riches to be, had attracted plenty of would-be entrepreneurs — among them Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan, James and Warren Earp, and Doc Holliday. Both Virgil and Wyatt had been lawmen; Virgil had recently been appointed deputy marshal for the part of the Arizona Territory that included Tombstone, and although some record-keeping at the time was poor, it is possible that Wyatt may have been a deputy marshal as well. Certainly, it appears as if all the brothers were anxious to join the list of those profiting from Tombstone’s booming business: they invested in one of the mines, James tended bar, Wyatt rode as a stagecoach guard and dealt faro – the popular card game of the time – in a local saloon. But Tombstone’s growth and growing sophistication grated with one segment of society: the ‘cowboys’, a loose confederation of ranchers and cattle rustlers.

The cowboys – who were predominantly rural, southern Confederates – eyed the primarily Yankee mercantile class that was dominating Tombstone, and which the Earps typified, with suspicion. And the feeling was mutual. It didn’t take long after the Earps’ arrival in late 1879 for tensions between them and the cowboys to develop, particularly with Virgil and Wyatt spending time in law enforcement positions. That tension reached boiling point when Wyatt helped in the identification and arrest of some cowboy members in a pair of stagecoach robberies, and the cowboys in turn asserted that Wyatt and Holliday had in fact been the ones responsible for the holdups. BIG PIC: Rare Billy the Kid Photo to go on Auction On the night of Oct. 25, 1881, one of the cowboy leaders, Ike Clanton , got into a heated, drunken argument with Holliday, and the next morning he wandered drunkenly up and down Allen Street, threatening to kill him and the Earps. A series of confrontations steadily escalated until Virgil was informed that a group of armed cowboys had gathered outside Fly’s Boarding House – where Holliday was living – in a vacant lot close to the OK Corral.

Carrying guns inside city limits was a violation of a town ordinance, and it provided Virgil, who was now town marshal, with an opportunity to arrest the cowboys. But there may also have been other considerations at play. As the self-identified Dr. Jay, who leads historical tours of Tombstone, explains: “Ike Clanton had openly threatened to kill the Earps. And why are they in that alley? Because it’s right outside Fly’s Boarding House. So if you’re Doc Holliday, you show up and here’s a bunch of guys with guns outside your house. You might want to think about, ‘Are they going to get me tomorrow if I don’t get them today?’” Virgil deputized his brothers and Holliday and they set off for the vacant lot. “Throw up your hands,” shouted Virgil as they reached the alleyway’s entrance. “I mean to disarm you.” There was a pause, and the click-click of a gun – or guns – being cocked. “Hold on, I don’t want that!” shouted Virgil, but it was too late.

There were two shots fired simultaneously – it is uncertain by whom – and then, as Wyatt later testified, “the fight then became general.” Ironically, Ike Clanton, who had instigated the confrontation, fled the scene, grabbing Wyatt and screaming that he was unarmed. “The fight has commenced,” snarled Earp. “Get to fighting or get away.” Clanton promptly took off, as did another cowboy, Billy Claiborne. Within seconds, two of the cowboys – Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton – lay mortally wounded, Virgil Earp had been shot in the calf, and Morgan Earp shot through the shoulder blades. A third cowboy, Frank McLaury, shot in the stomach, staggered into Fremont Street and leveled his gun at Holliday. “I’ve got you now,” he said, mistakenly believing Holliday was out of ammo. “Blaze away,” taunted Holliday. “You’re a daisy if you do.” At that point both Holliday and Morgan Earp fired almost simultaneously; bullets from one or both of their guns struck McLaury in the head, killing him. The entire gunfight lasted approximately 30 seconds.

The following day, the headline in the 'Tombstone Epitaph' newspaper read, “Three Men Hurled into Eternity in the Duration of a Moment.” The cowboys’ supporters insisted their men had been killed in cold blood. The Earps and Holliday stood trial for murder, but were cleared . A hundred and thirty years later, the gunfight has been the focus of numerous motion pictures, and a part of many more – and was even pivotal to an episode in the original series of Star Trek . So we ask again: why has the slaying of three men on a misdemeanor firearms violation endured through history? Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) - IMDb IMDb Community LATEST HEADLINES There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Gunfight at the O.K.

Corral ( 1957 ) Approved | From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC Lawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Director: Leon Uris (screenplay), George Scullin (suggested by an article by) Stars: a list of 31 titles created 07 Nov 2013 a list of 35 titles created 07 Apr 2014 a list of 26 titles created 08 Apr 2014 a list of 49 titles created 04 May 2015 a list of 41 titles created 11 Nov 2015 Title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) 7.2/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations.

See more awards » Videos A marshal tries to bring the son of an old friend, an autocratic cattle baron, to justice for the rape and murder of his wife. Director: John Sturges During the Mexican Rebellion of 1866, an unsavory group of American adventurers are hired by the forces of Emporer Maximilian to escort a countess to Vera Cruz. Director: Robert Aldrich The journey of a prized rifle from one ill-fated owner to another parallels a cowboy's search for a murderous fugitive. Director: Anthony Mann An arrogant Texas millionaire hires four adventurers to rescue his kidnapped wife from a notorious Mexican bandit. Director: Richard Brooks A Western retelling the tale of the Shoot-out at the OK Corral. Director: John Ford A drifter working as foreman for an iron-fist female rancher must chose sides between his attractive employer and the other neighboring settlers who are mistreated by her. Director: King Vidor Ranch owner Katie Elder's four sons determine to avenge the murder of their father and the swindling of their mother.

Director: Henry Hathaway A fiercely independent cowboy arranges to have himself locked up in jail in order to then escape with an old friend who has been sentenced to the penitentiary. Director: David Miller A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smoldering settler/rancher conflict forces him to act. Director: George Stevens When a town boss confiscates homesteader's supplies after gold is discovered nearby, a tough cowboy risks his life to try and get it to them. Director: Anthony Mann A famous gunman becomes the marshal of Warlock to end a gang's rampages, but is met with some opposition by a former gang member turned deputy sheriff who wants to follow only legal methods. Director: Edward Dmytryk A bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers. Director: Anthony Mann Edit Storyline After a long career as a lawman that made him a legend, Wyatt Earp decides to quit and join his brothers in Tombstone, Arizona. There he would see them in a feud with the Clantons, a local clan of thugs and cattle thieves.

When the showdown becomes inevitable, the help will come from Doc Holliday, a terminally-ill gambler who happens to be another Wild West legend. Written by Dragan Antulov <dragan.antulov@altbbs.fido.hr> Taglines: The Fiery Brilliance of 8 Great Stars... The Double-Barreled Excitement of 2 Mighty Action Spectacles! See more » Genres: 30 May 1957 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Hall Wallis' Production of Gunfight at the O.K. Corral See more » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia In his 1988 autobiography "The Ragman's Son", Kirk Douglas wrote that while playing Doc Holliday, he planned exactly how many and what kinds of coughs he would have in each scene so that continuity wouldn't be a problem once the film was edited together. See more » Goofs When Wyatt takes Billy back to the Clanton Ranch, Billy's mother leads him into the house, closing the screen door, but not the solid door as they enter. Wyatt then picks up Billy's hat and goes into the house.

When Wyatt enters the house (inside shot) a few seconds later, he opens the solid door. See more » Quotes Wyatt Earp : [to Billy Clanton] You think you're pretty tough, don't ya, son? I never knew a gunslinger yet so tough he lived to celebrate his 35th birthday. I learned one rule about gunslingers. There's always a man faster on the draw than you are, and the more you use a gun, the sooner you're gonna run into that man. (Ile-de-France / Paris Region, France) – See all my reviews This film has everything going for it : magnificent music score introduced at regular intervals throughout, superb sets and lighting, deep blue skies, parched yellow fields, cactus, mountainous backdrop, gunfights, romance, tension, saloon bars ..... what more could a western lover want ? In spite of it two hours' duration, this is a magnificent archetypal western, if I wanted to criticise negatively something in it, I would say that the female presence, and consequently romance could have been a little stronger with more romantic and passionate scenes to offset the shooting and violence !

I notice that some jerks on IMDb are criticizing "historical inaccuracies" the film ! This mad me laugh to death. Who really cares a TINKER'S CUSS whether the film is historically accurate ? This is not a documentary about the Wild West, it is CINEMA !! And good cinema it certainly is ! The final shoot-out at OK Corral is magnificent ( better that that of OPEN RANGE ! ). The combination of Frankie Lane's theme tune plus those deep blue skies and yellow parched fields will always remain foremost in my memory as regards this film. Kirk Douglas plays an interesting character, not always easy to fathom out as compared with the straight and righteous character of Burt Lancaster, who looks magnificent in this film. Unfortunately we do not know whether he meets up with his loved one at the end but we suppose he will ( Cf Doc Holliday "She'll Be Waiting For You ....... ). So far only available from the USA on DVD with English subtitles, it cannnot be found in Europe unfortunately, though I have seen it a couple of times on both English and French TV. No doubt Paramount will probably bring it out on DVD over here too in the coming months ..... 14 of 19 people found this review helpful.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes Gunfight at the OK Corral (WILD WEST HISTORY DOCUMENTARY) - YouTube Gunfight at the OK Corral (WILD WEST HISTORY DOCUMENTARY) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jun 6, 2014 Gunfight at the OK Corral (WILD WEST HISTORY DOCUMENTARY) In 1881 Virgil Earp,marshal of Tombstone, suspects Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers of stealing cattle and,backed up by his brothers Wyatt and Morgan and 'Doc' Holliday,challenges them to surrender near the OK corral. In the following thirty second shoot-out the suspected and unarmed thieves are shot in the back,leading to the Earps standing trial for murder - though they are exonerated by the judge,who also happens to be a relation.

This retelling,along with commentaries,is a far darker version of the story in which the Earps are usually represented as the unequivocally good guys. Category Shootout at the OK Corral - Oct 26, 1881 - HISTORY.com This Day in History: 10/26/1881 - Shootout at the OK Corral In this "This Day in History" video clip learn about different events that have occurred on October 26th. Some of the events include the last case of small pox and the first baboon to human heart transplant. Also, the Patriot Act was passed and the Earps had their showdown at the OK Corral. Lead Story Shootout at the OK Corral Share this: Shootout at the OK Corral Author Shootout at the OK Corral URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1881, the Earp brothers face off against the Clanton-McLaury gang in a legendary shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. After silver was discovered nearby in 1877, Tombstone quickly grew into one of the richest mining towns in the Southwest.

Wyatt Earp, a former Kansas police officer working as a bank security guard, and his brothers, Morgan and Virgil, the town marshal, represented “law and order” in Tombstone, though they also had reputations as being power-hungry and ruthless. The Clantons and McLaurys were cowboys who lived on a ranch outside of town and sidelined as cattle rustlers, thieves and murderers. In October 1881, the struggle between these two groups for control of Tombstone and Cochise County ended in a blaze of gunfire at the OK Corral. On the morning of October 25, Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury came into Tombstone for supplies. Over the next 24 hours, the two men had several violent run-ins with the Earps and their friend Doc Holliday. Around 1:30 p.m. on October 26, Ike’s brother Billy rode into town to join them, along with Frank McLaury and Billy Claiborne. The first person they met in the local saloon was Holliday, who was delighted to inform them that their brothers had both been pistol-whipped by the Earps. Frank and Billy immediately left the saloon, vowing revenge.

Around 3 p.m., the Earps and Holliday spotted the five members of the Clanton-McLaury gang in a vacant lot behind the OK Corral, at the end of Fremont Street. The famous gunfight that ensued lasted all of 30 seconds, and around 30 shots were fired. Though it’s still debated who fired the first shot, most reports say that the shootout began when Virgil Earp pulled out his revolver and shot Billy Clanton point-blank in the chest, while Doc Holliday fired a shotgun blast at Tom McLaury’s chest. Though Wyatt Earp wounded Frank McLaury with a shot in the stomach, Frank managed to get off a few shots before collapsing, as did Billy Clanton. When the dust cleared, Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers were dead, and Virgil and Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday were wounded. Ike Clanton and Claiborne had run for the hills. Sheriff John Behan of Cochise County, who witnessed the shootout, charged the Earps and Holliday with murder.

A month later, however, a Tombstone judge found the men not guilty, ruling that they were “fully justified in committing these homicides.” The famous shootout has been immortalized in many movies, including Frontier Marshal (1939), Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957), Tombstone (1993) and Wyatt Earp (1994). Related Videos "Star Trek" Spectre of the Gun (TV Episode 1968) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error As punishment for ignoring their warning and trespassing on their planet, the Melkot condemn Capt. Kirk and his landing party to the losing side of a surreal recreation of the 1881 historic gunfight at the OK Corral. Director: Gene Roddenberry (created by), Gene L.

Coon (as Lee Cronin) Stars: a list of 9718 titles created 08 Jan 2012 a list of 32 titles created 19 Mar 2013 a list of 287 titles created 04 Jan 2014 a list of 30 titles created 27 May 2014 a list of 10 titles created 2 months ago Title: Spectre of the Gun (25 Oct 1968) 7.4/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Edit Storyline When the Enterprise trespasses into uncharted territory, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott and Chekov are transported to a location that has all the trappings of the American Old West. It's October 26, 1881, and Kirk soon realizes they are in Tombstone, Arizona, on the day of the famed gunfight at the OK Corral between the Clanton gang and the Earps - with Kirk and company representing the ill-fated Clantons.

If history is to be repeated, they will fairly all be killed so must use whatever resources availed to them to defeat the threat and survive. The solution, however - and the only way of escape - lies within them. Written by garykmcd 25 October 1968 (USA) See more » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia A scene that was never filmed included McCoy/McLowery ( DeForest Kelley ) offering to share his medical expertise with Doc Holliday ( Sam Gilman ) to treat his progressing tuberculosis. See more » Goofs Although the OK Corral is swept by wind and flying debris in the last act, this effect ceases during the close-up shots where Spock mind-melds with the crew. See more » Quotes (Buffalo, New York) – See all my reviews Once again Star Trek writers went back into an earth identification to come up with a story about that great western event the gunfight at the OK Corral in outer space. To be fair here this was a race that had great power of illusions and set this all as a trap for the cast members and crew of the USS Enterprise.

The Melkotians whom we get a glimpse of and who Abraham Sofaer gives voice to have had a strict isolationist policy having ventured forth into the universe and not liking what they see. So when the Enterprise comes calling on a diplomatic mission like Commodore Perry was in Japan the aliens take their weapons, give them old Colt 45 six guns and set them down in a replica of Tombstone, Arizona where everyone calls, Kirk, Spock, Chekhov,Scotty, and McCoy the names of the participants in the famous gunfight with the Earp family. Sad to say that Blazing Saddles came around a half dozen years later and seeing the 'Tombstone set' I was reminded of the fake town that Cleavon Little had the townspeople of Red Rock make. It does take away from the serious aspect of the episode, but not exactly Gene Roddenberry's fault. Of course they pass the Melkotian test, but as to how, let's say that Leonard Nimoy's abilities as a Vulcan come in mighty handy here. 1 of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes Cowboys - Gunfighters - Gunfight at the OK Corral - VOA Special English 2014 - YouTube Cowboys - Gunfighters - Gunfight at the OK Corral - VOA Special English 2014 Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Apr 7, 2014 From VOA Learning English, welcome to This is America. I'm Steve Ember. The United States has thousands of "ghost towns." These are communities that once were successful but all the population moved to other places. Today on our program, we visit a town in the western state of Arizona that was saved from being a ghost town by a violent history. It is called Tombstone. Come along with us! The town that is now Tombstone, Arizona was first a mining camp. Silver miner Ed Schieffelin named the town. In 1877, Mr. Schieffelin was searching for silver in the Arizona territory.

The area at the time was extremely dangerous. Apache Indians considered it to be their land and were all too ready to fight for it. Ed Schieffelin used the army's Camp Huachuca as a base for his search for silver. The soldiers there once asked him why he went out into Apache country every day. He answered: "To collect rocks." One soldier then told him: "You keep fooling around out there amongst them Apaches and the only rock you'll find will be your tombstone!" A tombstone is the stone that marks a person's grave in a large burial place. One day not long after, Ed Schieffelin finally did discover valuable silver ore in the area. He decided to call his claim "Tombstone" because of the soldier's warning. Soon, people heard about his silver discovery and arrived in the area. Others found more silver and established other mines. And they used the name Tombstone for the town they built nearby. And a gunfight had already taken place that would forever include Tombstone among the famous stories told about the American Wild West. It was the Gunfight at the OK Corral.

The famous gunfight took place on October 26, 1881 between the town's top lawman, or marshal, and his deputies on one side and an outlaw group called the Cowboys on the other. The town marshal in Tombstone was Virgil Earp. His brothers, Wyatt and Morgan, also lived in the town. In fact, Wyatt was deputy city marshal, and Morgan had been named as a special policeman. The Earps had a long-standing dispute with the Cowboys. They had tried to arrest group members in the past for crimes such as robbery and murder. Members of the group included Billy Claiborne, Ike Clanton, Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury and Frank McLaury. On the day of the famous fight, those men were gathered near the OK Corral, an enclosed area used to keep horses and other animals. They were armed, in violation of a town ban against carrying guns. They were also drinking alcohol and threatening to kill the Earp brothers. Virgil Earp decided that it was his duty to disarm them. His two brothers and a friend, the gunfighter Doc Holliday, went along to help. The four walked down the street toward the corral.

Virgil Earp told the cowboys to surrender their weapons. Billy Claiborne ran away. And the fight began. It did not last long. Historians say 32 shots were fired in the space of about 23 seconds. No one really knows who fired first. But Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton died of gunshot wounds. Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday were wounded but survived. Only Ike Clanton and Wyatt Earp were not hurt. The Earps and Doc Holliday were arrested for murder and tried in the courthouse. A judge decided they had acted within the law. Some people still dispute this. They say the Earps and Doc Holliday did not fire in self-defense, but used the law as an excuse for murder. Experts say one of the reasons the gunfight is so interesting to many people is that no one knows who shot first or why. But we do know that the violence between the Earps and the Cowboys did not end at the OK Corral.

Gunfighters and others who died in those early Tombstone years are buried in the local graveyard, "Boot Hill." It was named "Boot Hill" because many of those buried there died violently, or, as the saying goes, "with their boots on." Burials there ended after 1884, but the cemetery was restored in the 1930s. Only a few headstones survive, but small metal signs mark the graves. Many simply say "unknown," but others include short sayings. One that has been repeated many times says: "Here Lies Lester Moore, Four Slugs from a 44, No Les, No More." The people of Tombstone are only too happy to welcome them to a place known as "the town too tough to die." Category O.K. Corral: A Gunfight Shrouded in Mystery By Casey Tefertiller and Jeff Morey Cowboy Billy Clanton still lay dying, his face contorted with pain, when the press began the difficult task of piecing together the details of an October 1881 street battle in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. In later years it would become known as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Richard Rule, veteran city editor of the Tombstone Nugget, helped carry Clanton into the house where the young man would pass into history, then returned to the streets to go to work. With the canny eye of an experienced newsman, Rule began collecting the details of the gunfight, interviewing witnesses and trying to get a handle on what transpired during that fateful half minute and what led up to the battle. It would be a model of frontier journalism and vital to future understanding of perhaps the most debated event of the American frontier. The saga of the O.K. Corral has been told repeatedly and from many perspectives, often with fictional intrusions and biased analysis. Now, for the first time in 120 years, we may have an authentic understanding of the events that led to the gunfight and what actually occurred in the streets of Tombstone — with a great deal of help from Richard Rule. Read More in Wild West Magazine Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!! Through the tense summer of 1881, emotions had grown explosive.

Bands of rustlers roamed the backcountry, stealing cattle mostly in Mexico or from Mexican ranchers in Arizona and New Mexico territories and then selling them to apparently legitimate ranchers for resale. The Clanton and McLaury families owned ranches reputed to be headquarters for receiving stolen cattle. This great cattle scam drew little ire from an American population more interested in acquiring wealth in the rich new mining areas than investigating international relations. In addition, Mexico had assessed high taxes on alcohol and tobacco, and smugglers came to southern Arizona Territory to purchase the goods cheaply for resale south of the border. The cash- and jewel-laden smugglers provided an easy target for American bandits. As that fateful year of 1881 progressed, the situation changed. The Mexican government dropped taxes on alcohol and tobacco and then lodged numerous protests with federal and territorial officials to try to stop the outlawry against Mexican citizens. Territorial Governor John C. Frémont, the old pathfinder and the first Republican presidential candidate in 1856, suggested in February that the territorial Legislature fund a state militia to ride against the outlaws and stop the rustling. Legislators hooted down the visionary plan.

The Mexican government built a series of forts along the border and began to fight back against the American outlaws. American rustlers George Turner and Alfred McAllister were killed in Mexico during a raid on May 13. Back on the U.S. side of the border, citizens also began to grow agitated over outlawry, particularly because of what happened on March 15. Three robbers that day attempted to intercept a stagecoach traveling from Tombstone to Benson, Arizona Territory. Driver Eli ‘Budd’ Philpot and passenger Peter Roerig were killed. Jim Crane, William Leonard and Harry Head were identified as the robbers. With Frémont’s militia plan discarded, there was little to counter the rustling and other crimes that gripped southern Arizona Territory. Cochise County Sheriff John Behan and his deputies were charged with battling the rustlers, who became known as the ‘Cowboys.’ But Behan was at best ineffective and at worst crooked. His deputy Billy Breakenridge would tell how he deputized Cowboy leader ‘Curly Bill’ Brocius (or ‘Curley Bill’ Brocious) and used him to help collect taxes.

And Wells, Fargo detective James Hume was quoted as saying, ‘Even the sheriff of the county?is in with the cowboys and he has got to be or his life would not be worth a farthing.’ The federal government was represented by U.S. Deputy Marshals Virgil Earp and Leslie Blackburn, with Earp in charge of most of the fieldwork, backed by his brother and deputy Wyatt Earp. Virgil also served as city marshal of Tombstone, which left Wyatt with most of the federal work. Wyatt Earp coveted Behan’s well-paid job as sheriff, and the election would be coming up in the fall of 1882. According to Wyatt, he tried to make a deal with Frank McLaury and Ike Clanton, the most visible of the Clanton brothers and a known friend of the rustling crowd, to tell him the whereabouts of the three stage robbers. This would bolster Earp’s chances in the election, and Ike would receive the reward. Before the deal could be completed, two bartender brothers killed Leonard and Head in a remote New Mexico Territory mining village. An army of Cowboys rode down and killed the brothers in retribution.

In August, another cattle raid in Mexico caused Commandant Felipe Neri to dispatch troops to the border, where they found a group of Americans bedded down on the U.S. side of the crossing at Guadalupe Canyon. The Mexicans crept the few feet across the border and opened fire, killing five, among them stage robber Jim Crane and Newman Clanton, scion of the Clanton clan, who left behind sons Ike, Fin and Billy. With no deal left for him, Ike Clanton grew increasingly worried. Wyatt Earp knew Ike had made a deal to turn on his Cowboy buddies, information that could have ruined Ike’s standing in the rustling community. With the borders closed, outlawry against Americans grew more commonplace in the backcountry. The Earps emerged as the leading law officers, taking an aggressive stand against the region’s criminal elements. The Cowboys resented their actions. ‘They met at Charleston and took an oath over blood drawn from the arm of John Ring[o], the leader, that they would kill us,’ Virgil Earp said. With emotion running stronger than the best saloon whiskey, Ike Clanton came to Tombstone to confront Wyatt Earp and learn whether Earp had been leaking the secret.

According to Earp, Ike accused him of telling the secret to his friend John Henry ‘Doc’ Holliday, a heavy-drinking dentist with a quirky sense of humor. Earp denied the accusation and sent for Holliday, who was in Tucson. Holliday met with Clanton on the night of October 25 in the Occidental Saloon. By the Earp account, Holliday was angry that Clanton had made a false accusation against him. As Ike told it, Holliday called him a ‘damned liar [who] had threatened the Earps….He told me to pull out my gun and if there was any grit in me, to go to fighting.’ Clanton, who was unarmed, said that Holliday ordered him to retrieve his gun. Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp appeared to break up the fight, with Wyatt walking Holliday back to his room at Fly’s lodging house. Then came perhaps the most improbable event of the day. Ike Clanton, after retrieving his six-shooter, sat down to a poker game with Virgil Earp, Tom McLaury, John Behan and one other player.

It would be like ‘Ike’ Eisenhower pitching pennies with Adolf Hitler before the Battle of the Bulge. The game broke up around 7 a.m., with Ike Clanton requesting that Virgil deliver a message to Holliday: ‘The damned son of a bitch has got to fight,’ Ike supposedly told Virgil. Virgil said he responded: ‘Ike, I am an officer, and I don?t want to hear you talking that way at all. I am going down home now to go to bed, and I don?t want you to raise any disturbance when I am in bed.”You won?t carry a message?’ Ike asked. Virgil said he would not. ‘You may have to fight before you know it,’ Ike said as Virgil walked away. Through the rest of the morning, Ike fueled his anger with whiskey, lurching from saloon to saloon to talk tough and make threats against the Earps. ‘He said that as soon as the Earps and Doc Holliday showed themselves on the street, the ball would open and that they would have to fight,’ said Ned Boyle, bartender at the Oriental Saloon, who went to awaken Wyatt and tell him of the threat.

Deputy Marshal Andy Bronk also heard of the threats and woke Virgil. Injudiciously, both Wyatt and Virgil went back to sleep and ignored Ike’s ire. About noon on the 26th, Virgil and Morgan Earp spotted Ike carrying a six-shooter and a rifle. Virgil crashed his revolver into Ike’s head, then led the bloodied Cowboy to Judge Albert O. Wallace’s courtroom. Wyatt Earp entered the room and said: ‘You damn dirty cow thief. You have been threatening our lives, and I know it. I think I would be justified in shooting you down any place I would meet you. But if you are anxious to make a fight, I will go anywhere on earth to make a fight with you — even over to San Simon among your crowd.’ ‘Fight is my racket, and all I want is 4 feet of ground,’ Clanton responded. ‘If you fellows had been a second later, I would have furnished a Coroner’s Inquest for this town.’ Morgan Earp held up Ike’s gun and taunted him, saying he would pay the fine if Ike would make a fight. Ike refused, saying he did not like the odds.

Wallace fined Ike $25 for carrying firearms in the city limits. As Wyatt stepped out of the courtroom, he encountered Tom McLaury and engaged in an argument that led to Earp slapping the cowboy with his left hand, then beating him over the head with a six-shooter. Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton rode into town and stopped at the saloon in the Grand Hotel. Cowboy pal Billy Claiborne told them of the beatings delivered to their brothers, and Frank dropped his whiskey glass without taking a sip. As the afternoon continued, the town grew more and more agitated, buzzing with trepidation that a conflict was brewing. The Earps congregated at the corner of Fourth and Allen, in front of Hafford’s Corner Saloon, and watched as Ike and Billy Clanton, along with Frank McLaury, entered Spangenberg’s gun shop. Frank and Billy purchased ammunition, but the proprietor refused to sell a gun to Ike. The Clantons and McLaurys left the gun shop and split up. The McLaurys went off to make collections for cattle they had sold, while Claiborne and Billy Clanton went to retrieve Billy’s horse.

They would meet up again a few minutes later, at the O.K. Corral, where witnesses would overhear them making threats against the Earps. Back at Hafford’s, townsmen came to the Earps offering assistance and telling of the cowboy threats. City Marshal Virgil Earp said he asked Sheriff Behan to assist him in disarming the Cowboys. Instead, Behan offered to go down and talk to the Clantons and McLaurys to see if he could peaceably disarm them by himself. After Virgil had waited nearly 20 minutes for Behan to make his talk, local businessman John Fonck came to tell the marshal of the Cowboys? actions. Virgil said he would not interfere if they were getting their horses and leaving town, but if they were armed and walking the streets he would have to arrest them. ‘Why,’ Fonck responded, ‘they are all down on Fremont Street now.’ Read More in Wild West Magazine Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!! Virgil Earp turned to his two brothers, and to Holliday. He handed a short-barreled shotgun to Holliday to conceal under his long gray coat.

Holliday then gave his walking stick to the marshal, and the four began the fateful walk that would become part of history. As they strode down Fremont Street, Behan rushed up to them and, according to the Earp brothers, said, ‘For God’s sake, don?t go down there or you will get yourself murdered.’ Virgil replied that he was going to disarm them. What the sheriff said next is uncertain. Behan would say that he told the Earps, ‘I was there for the purpose of arresting and disarming them.’ The Earps believed the sheriff said he had already disarmed them, and they then — apparently disregarding the warning that they would get murdered — made the mistake of relaxing a little. Wyatt Earp put his six-shooter back in his coat pocket; Virgil shifted his six-shooter off his hip into a more difficult position to draw and held the walking stick in his right hand. When they arrived at the 15-foot-wide vacant lot on Fremont Street where the Cowboys had congregated, the Earps were surprised to see that at least two of the opposition — Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton — still carried revolvers, and rifles were visible on the horses.

Virgil raised his walking stick and growled, ‘Throw up your hands, boys, I intend to disarm you.’ The shooting began quickly. Two shots, a pause, then the gunfight burst out on different fronts. Holliday surged forward to stalk Tom McLaury, partially hidden by a horse, then fired a shotgun charge into McLaury’s chest. At about the same moment, Ike lurched forward to grab Wyatt Earp. Clanton said he heroically tried to push him out of the way. Earp said he told Ike, ‘The fight has commenced, get to fighting or get away.’ Ike, whose mouth had aroused the town and inflamed the Earps, then dashed from the scene. Virgil took a shot through the calf, most likely from Frank McLaury’s six-shooter. Billy Clanton took a bullet in the chest, probably from Morgan, then a shot in the right wrist. He switched gun hands, leaned back against a building and slowly crumpled to the ground as he continued firing. Morgan stumbled and fell, yelling, ‘I am hit,’ as a bullet entered one shoulder blade and passed out through the other.

He rose, but soon fell again, probably tripping on a mound on Fremont Street where the town was putting in new water pipes. Badly wounded, Frank McLaury tried to use his horse for cover as he lurched into the street. He fired at Morgan, causing his horse to bolt. Unprotected and exhausted, Frank squatted in the street, but when Holliday pursued him, Frank stood, aimed and said, ‘I?ve got you now.’ ‘Blaze away. You?re a daisy if you have,’ Holliday responded, according to the Nugget. McLaury fired, grazing Holliday’s side. ‘I?m shot right through,’ Holliday yelled. Frank McLaury staggered farther into the street as Morgan Earp and Doc both fired, Morgan’s shot crashing into the right side of McLaury’s head, Holliday’s into the Cowboy’s chest. McLaury continued to breathe as Holliday ran up and shouted, ‘The son of a bitch has shot me, and I mean to kill him!’ But it was too late. The fight had been shot out of Frank McLaury.

His brother Tom had made it to the corner of Third and Fremont, where he lay dying at the base of a telegraph pole. Frank died in the street. Tom and Billy were carried into a nearby house, where they would survive for only minutes. With Morgan and Virgil Earp both wounded and Holliday grazed across the side, Wyatt Earp remained the only participant standing, untouched by lead. Behan strode over to Wyatt and said, ‘I will have to arrest you.’ A witness recalled Earp’s reply: ‘I won?t be arrested. You deceived me, Johnny, you told me they were not armed. I won?t be arrested, but I am here to answer what I have done. I am not going to leave town.’ And Earp was not arrested — not then, at least. Almost immediately, journalist Richard Rule and his rivals at the Epitaph began scurrying to collect the news. Both stories were dramatic, colorful and tinged with blood. In the style of the day, they did not present many direct quotes, instead making journalists? assessments of the material. By the Epitaph report, the battle began when two Cowboys pulled their guns and fired the first two shots.

The Nugget had it different, saying Frank McLaury made a motion for his gun, which prompted Wyatt Earp to quickly draw and shoot McLaury. Both stories led to a belief that the law officers had been in the right. Within 48 hours, the situation would change dramatically. As the coroner’s inquest began, well-liked Sheriff Behan, along with Ike Clanton, Claiborne and several Cowboy friends, testified to a much different beginning to the gunfight. They would report that the Earp party fired the first several shots of the conflict. Clanton filed murder charges against the Earps, and a month-long preliminary hearing began at which both sides would air their versions of the events. By the Earp version, it was self-defense; by the Cowboy account, it was murder. Behan would serve as the most significant witness for the prosecution, which tried to have the Earps bound over for a murder trial. Key witnesses at the hearing in advancing the Cowboy version were Wesley Fuller, Billy Allen, Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne, who was under a murder indictment himself for an unrelated incident.

They laid out a dramatic story of how at Virgil’s command the two Clantons and Frank McLaury thrust their arms in the air to comply, while Tom McLaury threw open his vest to show he was unarmed. Immediately someone from the Earp party screamed, ‘You sons of bitches have been looking for a fight, and now you can have one!’ Barely had those words sounded when two shots were fired, the first from Doc Holliday’s nickel-plated revolver and the other from another member of the Earp party, probably Morgan. After a pause, the Earps got off several shots before Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton could pull their six-shooters and return fire. Tom McLaury was never armed and never fired. This image of men shot down in the act of surrendering would shock the community as reports appeared in the local press. Wyatt and Virgil Earp would present a much different story. Wyatt would say the fight began after Virgil’s call to disarm: ‘Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury laid 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 McLaury — commenced to draw their pistols. At that moment Tom McLaury 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 leveled his pistol at me but I didn?t aim at him. I knew that Frank McLaury had the reputation of being a good shot and a dangerous man, and I aimed at Frank McLaury. The two first shots which were fired were fired by Billy Clanton and myself; he shot at me, and I shot at Frank McLaury. I do not know which shot was first. We fired almost together.’ Neither Wyatt nor Virgil Earp mentioned the statement about the SOBs looking for a fight and getting one. By the Earp version, the fight began in self-defense when the Cowboys, armed in violation of law, made an aggressive move in defiance of a legal order.

The Earp version closely reflected the Nugget‘s report of the gunfight, while the Cowboy story was in stark contrast to the immediate reporting after the event.When the preliminary hearing ended on December 1, Justice Wells Spicer ruled the case not be bound over for trial. This was decision without exoneration, as most of the key questions were left undetermined. Spicer ruled that there was not enough evidence to assure a likelihood of conviction. The Cochise County Grand Jury would later reopen the issue and concur with Spicer. The debate has raged on for 120 years as to who fired first. The quest for a true understanding of events has been confused by a series of later writers advancing inaccurate or simply false information from supposed secret sources. Stuart Lake, in his classic Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, stated flatly that the Cowboys drew and fired on the Earps, which is contradictory to the Earps? own version in the Spicer hearing. Frank Waters, in The Earp Brothers of Tombstone, quoted alleged eyewitnesses who were never called to testify in saying the Earps fired first at surrendering Cowboys. It has since been discovered that Waters tampered with material in the book, diminishing its credibility.

The issue seemed resolved in 1976 when Glenn G. Boyer’s I Married Wyatt Earp appeared, asserting that Josephine Earp, Wyatt’s third wife, had secret information that Doc Holliday had actually fired the first shot and that Earp lied in the Spicer hearing to cover for his friend. However, Boyer has since admitted that this book is not actually Mrs. Earp’s memoir but rather a creative exercise. Boyer further confused the issue with his 1993 Wyatt Earp’s Tombstone Vendetta, in which he now claimed Holliday told a confidant that Earp himself fired the first two shots so quickly they sounded as one. Four years later, Boyer acknowledged that this was also novelistic.The fictional and fantastic later writings must be discarded in order to gain an understanding of what actually occurred on that dusty street on October 26, 1881. By returning to the original sources, we can finally gain a grasp of what started the gunfight that refuses to die. The Behan/Cowboy version of the initial gunfire is based on the first shot being fired from Holliday’s revolver at the surrendering Clantons and McLaurys.

For this to be accurate, Holliday would have needed to stage a sort of juggling act, firing the revolver, then going to the shotgun to shoot Tom McLaury, discarding the shotgun and returning to the revolver as he chased Frank McLaury into Fremont Street. And he would need to have done it without either the witnesses or survivors seeing it. Behan claimed to have his eyes fixed on the Earp party, and the other pro-Cowboy witnesses testified that the Clantons and McLaurys were lifting their hands to surrender. However, Addie Bourland, a dressmaker watching from her shop across the street, testified that she clearly saw that none of the Cowboys had their hands in the air.Behan’s credibility would emerge as an issue late in the Spicer hearing. Deputy district attorney Winfield Scott Williams testified that the sheriff had inaccurately depicted a conversation with Virgil Earp after the gunfight in which, according to Williams, Behan told Virgil that one of the Cowboys had drawn his gun to start the fight. Equally important, documents were located in 1997 showing that Behan served as guarantor of a loan to Ike Clanton during the Spicer hearing.

With Wyatt Earp seeking Behan’s job in the next election, the sheriff had much to gain from seeing his rival face a murder charge. And then there is Richard Rule. It is one of those flukes of history that the Nugget story ever appeared as it did. Publisher Harry Woods also served as Behan’s undersheriff, but he was off in El Paso fetching a prisoner at the time of the gunfight. This left the talented and experienced Rule to oversee the newsgathering and writing of a story that would be essentially pro-Earp. With the Nugget‘s connections to the sheriff’s office, it would be logical to seek out Behan as a source for the story. What makes this even more probable is that the Nugget story, without attribution, states, ‘The Sheriff stepped out and said: ?Hold up boys, don?t go down there or there will be trouble; I have been down there to disarm them.?’ Behan would repeatedly insist he told the Earps that he had been down to disarm the cowboys, not that he had actually done the disarming. The article relates details of the conversation Behan had had with the Cowboys.

The story further states that Behan ‘was standing near by commanding the contestants to cease firing but was powerless to prevent it’ — a claim that sounds as if it came from Behan’s own mouth. It is hard to imagine the Nugget not interviewing Behan for this story. By Williams? account, immediately after the gunfight, Behan told Virgil Earp a story similar to the Nugget report before changing his story at the coroner’s inquest. For the Behan/Cowboy version of the first shots to be true, Doc Holliday would have had to orchestrate an incredible revolver-shotgun-revolver shuffle, an officer of the court would have had to lie under oath and both the Nugget and Epitaph would have had to have missed the biggest story of their existences. This remarkable chain of events is so unlikely as to render it unbelievable.

Question: In which town was the famous 'Gunfight at the OK corral'?
Answer: TOMBSTONE