Jeff Savage - Quick-Draw Gunfighters. True Tales of the Wild West

DRAW!

Jesse James. Billy the Kid. Butch Cassidy. When these bold men walked into town with six-shooters in their holsters, most people fled quickly. That is, except for the lawmen willing to take them on. Although lawmen and outlaws stood for different ideals, they did share one common traitgunfighting. To live in the Wild West as a bank robber or a sheriff, handling a gun was a necessary survival skill. Although these men and women often died young, their legends spread far and wide. Author Jeff Savage discusses the dangerous world of the gunfighter.

About the Author

Jeff Savage has written more than two hundred books for students. Jeff lives with his wife, Nancy, and sons, Taylor and Bailey, in El Dorado Hills, a stone's throw from where gold was discovered in California.

The four notorious men walked slowly down Fourth Street. They were dressed in black. Each was carrying a gun. They were Doc Holliday and the Earp brothersWyatt, Morgan, and Virgil. They were out for blood.

Around the corner, on Fremont Street, four other men were waiting for them. They were the Clanton brothers and the McLaury brothers. They also had guns. It looked like terrible trouble.

It was a cold, blustery day in Tombstone, Arizona, on October 26, 1881. Ike and Billy Clanton, with Tom and Frank McLaury, had ridden horses into town to drink in the saloons. Virgil Earp was the city marshal of Tombstone, and he and his brothers didnt care much for rowdy cowboys like the Clantons and the McLaurys. Morgan Earp didnt appreciate it a month earlier when Frank McLaury challenged him to step into the middle of the street to fight. Five months before that, Wyatt Earp caught Billy Clanton in the saddle of his stolen horse. Each time, the Earps could have fought. Instead, they kept their cool.

It would be different this time. Ike Clanton, who did most of his fighting with his mouth, was drinking shots of whiskey in the Alhambra Saloon. He hated the Earps, and he claimed that Tombstone would be a better town without them in it. Doc Holliday, a friend of the Earps, overheard Ikes boasting. Holliday swore at Ike, then challenged him to a shooting match. Ike backed down.

Virgil Earps responsibility as city marshal was to keep the peace; Wyatt and Morgan served as his assistants. When Virgil heard that Ike Clanton was threatening the Earps, he went out to find him. Virgil spotted Ike in an alley, approached him from behind, and grabbed his rifle. Ike tried to draw his six-shooter, but Virgil hit him over the head with a revolver. Then he arrested Ike for carrying guns within city limits.

Ike was wiping blood from his head when Wyatt Earp found him outside the courthouse a short time later. Youve threatened my life two or three times, Wyatt said. I want this thing stopped.

Ike muttered a few words.

You... dirty cow thief, Wyatt said. If youre anxious to fight, Ill meet you.

Ill see you after I get through here, Ike answered, as he stepped into the courthouse.

Later that day, Cochise County sheriff John Behan was getting a shave in a barbershop when he noticed a crowd gathering on the corner. The barber said it looked like trouble, and Sheriff Behan hurried outside.

The Earp brothers were marching down Fourth Street. Because he was the marshal, it was Virgils duty to disarm the coswboys. Sheriff Behan was a friend of the cowboys, mostly because he needed cowboy votes to be reelected sheriff. Sheriff Behan asked the Earps to hold on a minute. The sheriff said he would get the Clantons and McLaurys to give up their guns. The Earps agreed to wait. Sheriff Behan disappeared around the corner.

The Clantons and McLaurys were huddled around the corner on Fremont Street. Billy Clanton, Ikes little brother, didnt want to fight in the first place. He was mad at Ike for being such a loudmouth, but he had to stand beside his brother.

Boys, you must give me your arms, Sheriff Behan said.

The Clantons and McLaurys refused. The Earps resumed their march. Doc Holliday ran up from behind. The Earps were his best friends; he insisted on helping. Virgil accepted Hollidays help. He temporarily deputized Holliday right there in the street. Then Virgil handed Holliday a shotgun.

Holliday and the Earps turned the corner. They peered down Fremont Street and spotted the Clantons and McLaurys on the sidewalk next to the O.K. Corral. Sheriff Behan came running up to Virgil. He pleaded with Virgil not to go down there. The Earps didnt listen. They headed toward the cowboys.

A crowd looked on as Doc Holliday and the Earps reached the Clantons and McLaurys. The two groups stood less than ten feet apart. They stared each other down. The silence was broken with a click, click, as Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury cocked their six-shooters. Somebody yelled, and the shoot-out began.

After the first shot was fired, Ike Clanton tossed away his pistol and ran up to Wyatt Earp. Ike begged Wyatt not to shoot him. Wyatt told Ike to fight or clear out. Ike ran away down the street.

Wyatt pulled a six-shooter out of his coat pocket and shot Frank McLaury in the stomach. Frank, wounded badly, stumbled into the street. Billy Clanton aimed his pistol at Wyatt, but before he could shoot, Morgan Earp fired a bullet through Billys chest. Earp shot Billy again, in the wrist and stomach. Billy slumped to the ground.

Tom McLaury had been hiding behind a horse, but the horse bolted into the street. Doc Holliday took aim with the shotgun, and he blasted buckshot into Toms right side. Tom staggered down Fremont Street to the corner where he collapsed, dead.

Virgil Earp had not fired a shot. Suddenly, he felt a bullet tear into his leg. Billy Clanton was on the ground, bleeding but still shooting. Billy fired again, and this time a bullet ripped into Morgan Earps shoulder. Morgan and Wyatt turned toward Billy and shot togetherand Billy was dead.

Frank McLaury clutched his stomach and fired once more from the street. The shot struck Doc Hollidays holster, then grazed his side. Morgan Earp took aim, and he shot Frank just below the right ear.

The shoot-out was over. It had lasted less than a minute. Three men were dead, and three more were wounded. The three dead cowboys were displayed in caskets behind a storefront window, under a sign that said: MURDERED IN THE STREETS OF TOMBSTONE. They were later buried at Boot Hill.

The gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona, on October 26, 1881, ended bloodily, with three men dead and three wounded. The bodies of the dead were displayed in a storefront window. Pictured here from left are the bodies of Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury.

Holliday and the Earp brothers were put on trial for murder. The trial lasted a month, and the defendants were declared not guilty. That didnt keep friends of the cowboys from seeking revenge. Two months after the gunfight, Marshal Virgil Earp was ambushed in the dark by unseen assailants in front of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. His left arm was shattered forever. He tried to console his wife by saying, Never mind. Ive got one arm left to hug you with.

Gunfighters in the Wild West were a flashy, self-confident breed. They did not try to avoid troublethey looked for it. They considered gunfighting to be an art, like painting or writing poetry.

There were two distinct classes of gunfighters: outlaws and lawmen. They often squared off against one anotheroutlaws on the side of wrong, lawmen on the side of right. Whichever side of the law they were on, the gun was their most prized possession.