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Your Question

Wyatt Earp and his brothers had a long-standing feud between the McLaurys and the Clantons over their belief that they were rustlers and stagecoach robbers. Wyatt formed a deputized posse comprised of his brothers and Doc Holliday to confront Tom McLaury, his brother, and the Clantons at the O.K.Corral where Wyatt, Virgil, and Doc Holliday killed Tom and Frank McLaury and Bill Clanton.

List The Evidence

Wichita Weekly Beacon (12 th May, 1875)
Wichita Weekly Beacon (5 th April, 1876)
Dodge City Times (7 th July, 1877)
Dodge City Times (26 th July 1878)
Ford County Globe (26 th October, 1881)
Ford County Globe (8 th November, 1881)
Dodge City Times (8 th December, 1881)
Judge Wells Spicer, statement at the trial of Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, James Earp and Doc Holliday (December, 1881)

Weigh The Evidence

TheMcLaurys and Clantons were members of a gang called “The Cowboys” who rustled cattle, stole horses, robbed banks, and were implicated in the killing of a Wells Fargo stagecoach driver and passenger.

Court testimony concerning previous physical and verbal altercations among the McLaury’s, Clanton’s, and Earps.

Court testimony that the “cowboys” were armed versus unarmed.

The Earps should have at least been charged with manslaughter.

Earps deliberately provoked the “cowboys” to instigate a shootout.

Earps were innocent of all charges and were almost killed by dangerous criminals.

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A Thesis Statement

The Earp brothers and Doc Holliday assassinated innocent ranchers who were desperately trying to surrender.

Thesis Statement Pathfinder

Choose Your Main Arguments

1. Testimony revealed that the Earps had verbally and physically threatened various members of the “cowboys’.
2. Testimony given at the trial by eyewitnesses indicated unwillingness on the part of the Earps to let the Clantons and McLaurys leave town as they were planning.
3. Sheriff Behan testified that he had “disarmed the men”.
4. The Earps had motive to kill the men because of previous crimes that were attributed to them (i.e stage coach robberies, cattle rustling, mule stealing, etc.)
5. The Earps gave little time between their request to surrender and firing their guns.

Support Your Arguments with Evidence

Newspaper articles from local newspapers at and around the time of the shootout.

Testimony excerpts from the trial hearing.

Wyatt Earp’s written defense statement.

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An Outline

I. Introduction

A. Supply background information concerning the primary players in the shootout at the O.K. Corral.

II. First encounter among the Earps, Clantons, and McLaurys

A. Cite evidence showing that the Earps considered the Clantons and McLaury’s to be outlaws.

B. Cite evidence of Virgil Earp finding stolen mules on the McLaury brothers’ ranch. This discovery reinforced the idea that the McLaury brothers were professional criminals in need of arrest and imprisonment.

1. Frank McLaury confronts Virgil Earp and threatens him concerning Earp’s allegations of mule stealing.
2. The McLaurys threaten further violence if they are accosted by the Earps.

III. Second encounter with Frank McLaury and Morgan Earp

A. Describe Frank McLaury’s anger at the arrest of fellow outlaws Stilwell and

B. Relate McLaury’s warning to the Earp’s of further violence.

1. Encounter in street between F. McLaury and M. Earp
2. Governor John Gosper called in for personal investigation.

IV. Third Encounter between Virgil Earp and Ike Clanton

A. Describe the clubbing down of an unarmed Ike Clanton by Virgil Earp

B. Relate the Earp’s unwillingness to the McLaury’s and Clanton’s desire to leave town without further incident.

V. Final Encounter: Shootout at the O.K. Corral

A. Describe the gathering of all the participants

B. Cite evidence that the McLaurys and Clanton boy were unarmed.

C. Cite evidence that there was little time between the order to surrender and discharging of weapons.

1. No weapons found on Billy Clanton
2. All men shot more than once

D. Discussion and analysis of Wyatt Earp’s defense statement

1. Discuss statement discrepancies about armed versus armed “cowboys”
2. Discuss Earp’s claim that he drew his weapon only after one of the “cowboys” fired first.

E. Conclusion

1. Summarize evidence supporting thesis statement.
2. Draw appropriate conclusions about the civic dangers of barnyard justice
3. How can society institute laws that will prevent vigilante justice?

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An Introductory Paragraph

In American popular culture there may be no more enduring character than the western gunfighter. Popularized in dime novels, glamorized in Hollywood films, and serialized on television, his image is nearly synonymous with the frontier itself. The gunfight at the O.K. Corral occupies a unique place in American History. At the time of the gunfight, however, Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and Doc Holliday were not universally acclaimed as heroes. Among the people who knew them best in Tombstone, Arizona, many considered them renegades and murderers. On October 26, 1881, The Earps brothers and Doc Holliday assassinated innocent ranchers.

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Larger Historical Issues

Wild West myths, including the “Shootout at the O.K. Corral”, not only reshape the past but also influence the values of the current generation. Today our nation leads the world in civilian gun ownership and fatal incidents of handgun violence. By not studying all the evidence about this case, many Americans have been led to believe that the West was won with guns. Glorifying the lives of killers such as Wyatt Earp and his gang does not advance the cause of civilization. Instead, it perpetuates a myth that vigilante justice is acceptable and even praiseworthy.

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Your Sources

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