Frank and Tom McLaury were members of the Clanton Gang in Tombstone, Arizona, and were involved in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881. They were shot down and killed by the Earps.
Frank McLaury
Frank McLaury (1848-1881) – The eighth of eleven children, McLaury was born in Kortright, New York, in 1848. Several years later, the family moved to Iowa, where they settled in Belle Plaine. In 1878, Frank and his brother Tom moved to Hereford, Arizona, where they met the Clanton family. Three years later, they would find themselves embroiled in the bitter dispute between the Clantons and the Earps in Tombstone, Arizona. On October 26, when Virgil Earp attempted to arrest Ike Clanton, Frank and Tom McLaury, Billy Clanton, and Billy Claiborne for disturbing the peace, all hell broke loose.
In what has since forever been known as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton made the mistake of cocking their pistols when approached by the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday. 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 coat-tail. 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. Frank and Tom McLaury are both buried at Tombstone’s Boothill.
Tom McLaury
Tom McLaury (1853-1881) – The tenth of eleven children, McLaury was born in Kortright, New York, on June 30, 1853. Two years later, the family moved to Iowa, where they settled in Belle Plaine. In 1878, Tom and his brother, Frank, moved to Hereford, Arizona, and met the Clanton family. Three years later, they would find themselves embroiled in the bitter dispute between the Clantons and the Earps in Tombstone, Arizona. On October 26, 1881, Tom McLaury shot Morgan Earp in the shoulder during the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Doc Holliday instantly countered, blowing McLaury away with blasts from both barrels of his shotgun. His brother, Frank, was also killed in the gunfight. Both are buried at Tombstone’s Boothill.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated December 2022.
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