Wyatt Earp: A Brief Biography

“Fast is fine but accuracy is everything” (Wyatt Earp) Wyatt Earp had a rough childhood but it was a good one. Earp was the only one, besides Ike Clanton, that escaped the gunfight at O.K. Corral without a scratch. During the ride Earp killed quite a few people, but it was for a good cause in his mind.
Wyatt Earp was born March 19 1848, in Monmouth Illinois. His father was Nicholas Porter Earp and Virginia Ann Cooksey is his mother. His siblings were Virgil, Morgan, James, and Warren Earp. His spouses were Josephine Earp, Mattie Blaylock, and Urilla Sutherland. His father received a land grant of 160 acres in Iowa, which was based upon his service in the Mexican War. They were living at a farm in Iowa. His older brothers joined the Union Army when he was 13. Him and his
younger brothers took care of their farm while the older brothers were gone. He ran away to join the army but was found by his father and taken back home. The Earps were moving around a lot, they moved to california when Wyatt Earp was 16. In May the Earp family headed west with a wagon train to California. His younger brothers, Morgan and Warren, were born in Iowa. Martha was born in Monmouth and was a little bit more than two years older than him. She died when she was ten. Wyatt Earp claimed that he drove wagons from San Bernardino to Arizona in 1865.He also said that throughout the next two years he traveled to Salt Lake City and Julesburg, Colorado. In November 1869, Wyatt Earp and his family were in Lamar, Missouri.
In an attempt to not frighten the townspeople Doc Holliday used a long overcoat to hide his shotgun. Doc Holliday and all of the Earps, except for Virgil, have their guns drawn. Ike Clanton starts to grapple with wyatt while he was trying to pistol whip him. Wyatt Earp’s pistol goes off accidentally which grazed Billy Claiborne who was running away. Ike ends up pushing away from Wyatt Earp and taking off to hide behind Virgil Earp. Wyatt Earp took a shot at Tom, but it missed and grazed his horse causing it to run away. Wyatt took another shot at Tom, who had just been blasted away down the street by Doc with his shotgun. Wyatt, Doc, and Morgan line up their shots on Frank Stilwell. Only Wyatt Earp and Ike escaped the gunfight unharmed.
The death of Morgan Earp began the Vendetta Ride.
In order to stop any ambush from happening Wyatt and Warren Earp, Sherman Mcmaster, Doc Holliday, and Jack Johnson escorted Virgil Earp and his wife Allie. They arrived safely in Tucson and ate dinner at the Porter’s Hotel nearby. After the meal the group helped Virgil and Allie back on the westbound train. There were two men lying on flat cars nearby with their guns pointed at the train. The two men started running away but Wyatt Earp gave chase, then Mcmaster, Holliday, and Johnson followed. Wyatt Earp closed in on one of the men and shot him using both barrels of his double barrel shotgun as the man he was chasing tried to grab it. The others arrived and shot him with their guns, the man ended up getting shot five times. The man they shot was Frank Stilwell. They did this to send a message to Ike Clanton and the other cowboys that they were not going to make any more attempted arrests and that they will be using their own form of law. They watched Virgil’s train leave and then searched the rail yard for Clanton and his men. They ended up having no luck so they walked in the darkness to the Papago Station. They rode a freight train back to
Benson.
During the ride Earp killed quite a few people, but it was for a good cause in his mind. Wyatt Earp had a rough childhood but it was a good one. Earp was the only one, besides Ike Clanton, that escaped the gunfight at O.K.Corral without a scratch. Earp never drank alcohol but instead he would go the the local parlor and order ice cream.