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P.O. Box 19423
Lenexa,
KS 66285
913-708-5119
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Virgil Earp
- Upholding the Law of the
West |
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Later that year, on October 26th,
Tombstone and the
Earps
would become famous for the well publicized
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. When
Virgil, temporarily deputizing brothers,
Wyatt and
Morgan, and
Doc Holliday,
went to disarm the
McLaurys
and
Billy Clanton, all hell broke loose resulting in
the most famous
gunfight of the
Old West. The affair made
Wyatt a legend, but it
was actually Virgil who was the most experienced. Up to that point,
Wyatt had
only been in one
gunfight,
Morgan in none, while Virgil had years of
lawman
experience plus that of the
Civil War. When the smoke cleared,
Frank
and
Tom McLaury
and
Billy Clanton
were dead.
Virgil Earp
took a shot to the leg and
Morgan suffered a shoulder wound. |

Re-creation of the
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Kathy Weiser, April, 2007. |
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Sheriff
John Behan arrested
Virgil Earp,
Wyatt Earp,
Morgan Earp and
Doc Holliday
for murder of
Billy Clanton,
Tom McLaury and
Frank McLaury.
Three days later, the city council suspended Virgil, pending the outcome of the
shooting investigation. After a trial, all of the members of the
Earp faction
were found to have acted within the law.
Over the next few months, the
Earps struggled to retain
control over
Tombstone, as word was spreading that the
Cowboy faction would take
their revenge on the
Earps for the killings. For safety, Virgil moved to the
Cosmopolitan Hotel. A couple of months later, on December 28th, when
Virgil was
walking from the Oriental Saloon to the hotel, he was ambushed. Shots were fired
from the second story of a building across Allen Street, hitting the Crystal
Palace Saloon and the Eagle Brewery, breaking windows and narrowly missing
customers. Virgil was hit in the back and left arm by buckshot. Though his arm
would be permanently crippled, he would survive. The shooters were never
positively identified. Though Ike Clanton’s hat was found at the shooting site,
one of his friends gave him an alibi and no arrests were made.
Upon learning of Virgil's mishap, territorial U.S. Marshal
Crawley P. Dake appointed
Wyatt Earp as a
U.S. Deputy Marshal.
On March 18, 1882, the
cowboy gang struck again while
Morgan Earp was playing pool at Campbell and Hatch's
Saloon. A shot was fired from the darkness of the alley striking
Morgan in the back.
Morgan's body was dressed in one of
Doc Holliday's suits and shipped to the parents in Colton,
California for burial. The entire
Earp party, including Virgil and his wife, Allie, accompanied
Morgan's body. Also accompanying them out of town were a number of “body
guards,” including
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