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 An angry
Doc
Holliday,
who had heard of the boasts, confronted him. "I heard you’re going to kill
me,
Ike,"
he said. "Get out your gun and commence."
Virgil, a U.S. Deputy Marshall,
Wyatt, an
appointed an acting city marshal by
Virgil, a nd
Morgan, also a
sworn officer, were present during this confrontation.
Virgil told Doc and
Ike
that he would arrest both of them if they continued the argument. Though boasting violence throughout the day, Clanton was unarmed and
finally,
Virgil drew
Holliday
away. But
Clanton
followed, promising "to kill you tomorrow when the others come to town."
Spotting
Wyatt on
the streets, the fired-up
Clanton
continued. "Tell your consumptive friend, your
Arizona nightin’gale, he’s a dead man tomorrow!" To which,
Wyatt just turned and replied "Don’t you tangle with
Doc
Holliday
-- he’ll kill you before you’ve begun."
Ike's
parting shot was "Get ready for a showdown!"
Wednesday, October 26, 1881
was an overcast windy day. The
Earps,
in anticipation of trouble, woke early. As
Virgil watched from
his hotel window, he saw
Billy Clanton ride into town, accompanied by friend
Billy Claiborne. They met the
McLaury
brothers and
Ike Clanton
on
Allen Street.
Ike
was looking for
Holliday
but before he could find him,
Virgil and
Morgan
confronted him.
Ike,
bracing a shotgun, exchanged words with the two but when Clanton raised
his rifle.
Virgil subdued him,
impounded his rifle, and dragged him before Justice of the Peace Wallace,
who fined
Ike
$27.50 for carrying firearms in the city.
Wyatt and
Tom McLaury, both hearing what had happened, met at the judge’s door
at the same time, literally bumping into each other. Though
Wyatt
apologized,
McLaury insulted him and, in return,
Wyatt
brought his gun down on
McLaury's head.
Later that morning, the
Cowboys met at Spangenbergs, a gunsmith shop. Then
Frank McLaury rode his horse onto the boardwalk,
frightening pedestrians off its path outside the gunsmith shop.
Wyatt
grabbed the reins of the horse, leading it to the streets as
McLaury yelled profanities. After this latest
confrontation, the outlaws retreated in a group around the corner off
Allen Street. With all of the tension, there was bound to be a
fight. Several members of the town’s Citizens’ Committee offered
their assistance to the
Earp
brothers, but thanking them,
Wyatt said
it was his and his brothers’ responsibility as law officers.
 Then
John Behan, the County Sheriff, appeared pronouncing, "
Ike
Clanton
and his crew are on Fremont Street talking gun-talk." Evidently,
Ike Clanton,
the two
McLaurys,
Billy Clanton
and
Billy Claiborne
were meeting in a vacant lot planning to bushwhack
Doc Holliday,
who passed that way every morning.
Virgil,
as Chief Marshal, agreed to go down there to break them up, but
contended that
Behan
should accompany him.
Behan
only laughed. "Hell, this is your fight, not mine."
However, the
Cowboys were surprised when the
Earps
showed up and
Doc
was with them. As they made their way to the
O.K. Corral, witnesses said that the three
Earp
brothers were all dressed in black with firm, mean grimaces on their
faces while
Doc
was nattily clad in grey and was whistling. Where the two forces
finally met was actually 90 yards down an alley from the
O.K. Corral. The actual gunfight took place off Fremont
Street between Fly’s Photo Gallery and Jersey’s Livery Stable. The
Earps
passed by the
O.K. Corral, but cut through the alley where they found the
troublemakers waiting at the other end.
"You are under arrest for attempting to disturb the
peace,"
Virgil announced.
As senior officer, he displayed only a non-threatening walking stick,
having given his shotgun to
Doc
to carry. The rustlers tightened and
Morgan
and
Doc
simultaneously braced for action. "Hold on, I don’t want that!" cried
Virgil.
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What happened next was a blur, occurring in about 30
seconds. The shooting started when
Billy Clanton and
Frank McLaury
cocked their pistols. It is not really known who fired the first
shot, but
Doc’s
bullet was the first to hit home, tearing through
Frank McLaury's
belly and sending
McLaury's
own shot wild through
Wyatt’s
coattail. Billy Clanton
fired at
Virgil, but his
shot also went astray when he was hit with
Morgan's
shot through his rib cage.
Billy Claiborne
ran as soon as shots were fired and was already out of sight.
Ike Clanton,
too, panicked and threw his gun down, pleading for his life. "Fight or get out like Claiborne!"
Wyatt
yelled and watched
Ike
desert his brother Billy, as he ran towards the door of the
photography shop.
But,
Ike
then withdrew a hidden gun firing one more round towards
Wyatt
before disappearing. The sound distracted
Morgan, enough so that
Tom McLaury
sent a bullet into
Morgan's side.
Doc
instantly countered, blowing
Tom away with blasts from both barrels of his
shotgun. Desperately, wounded and dying,
Billy Clanton
fired blindly into the gun smoke encircling him, striking
Virgil's leg.
Wyatt
responded by sending several rounds into Billy.
Then it was silent
and the townspeople ran from their homes and shops, wagons were to convey
wounded
Morgan and
Virgil to their
respective homes, and doctors followed.
The 30-second shootout left three
Billy Clanton,
Frank McLaury and
Tom McLaury
dead. Virgil Earp took a shot to the leg and
Morgan suffered a shoulder wound. As
Wyatt
stood, still stunned, Sheriff
Behan appeared advising him he was under arrest. The
Earps and
Doc Holliday
were tried for murder but it was determined that the
Earps
acted within the law.
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