Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was born on March 19th, 1848 in Monmouth, Illinois. His family later migrated to Southern California by wagon train. He worked as a teamster early in his career and on the 10th of January 1870, married Irilla H. Southerland. Less than a year later, his wife died from typhoid and he drifted for a while.
Earp took up buffalo hunting in Kansas and was offered a job as the marshal of Ellsworth in 1873 but he refused it. The next year in Witchita, he hired on as a policeman and worked for several years patroling the redlight district, during which time he arrested the Texas cattleman Able "Shanghai" Pierce. Earp was kicked off the force and moved to Dodge in 1876.
Wyatt Earp and Dodge City
In Dodge City, Earp served two terms on the town's police force, during which time he became friends with Luke Short and Bat Masterson. Earp joined the "Dodge City Gang," where he met John Henry "Doc" Holliday.
It was in Dodge that Earp was responsible for killing his first man. On July 26, 1878, Earp fired a shot George R. Hoyt, a rowdy Texas cowboy as he left town. Hoyt fell off his horse, injured his arm and died from an infection a month later.
Wyatt Earp Goes to Tombstone
In December of 1879, Earp arrived in the silver mining town of Tombstone, Arizona. Cecila Ann "Mattie" Blaylock arrived in Tombstone with Earp. Blaylock was a laudanum addict who lived with Earp as his wife. Earp became deputy sheriff of Pima County and his brothers Jim, Morgan, and Warren settled nearby.
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
After establishing themselves among Tombstone's upper class, Earp and his brothers butted heads with a band of outlaws known as "the Cowboys." The tension between the two factions began when Curly Bill Brocius shot and killed town marshal Fred White. Earp pistol whipped Curly Bill and threw him in jail.
Earp telegraphed Doc Holiday and Luke Short, asking them to join him. He got them jobs at the Oriental Saloon, in which he owned a quarter interest. The stakes were raised when Earp and Billy Clanton got into an argument over the ownership of a horse.
In a seperate incident, Doc Holiday tried three times to get Ike Clanton to draw on him, but Clanton insisted he was unarmed.
On Wednesday October 26 1881, the Earps were informed that the Clantons were gathering in the street. Virgil Earp arrested Ike Clanton for carry a weapon within the city limits and hauled him to a police court, where Clanton was fined $25. In the meantime, Tom McLaury literally ran into Wyatt Earp outside the police court and Earp responded by hitting him over the head with his pistol.
Virgil Earp, currenty serving as city marshal deputized Wyatt, Morgan and Doc Holiday. The four men then went looking for their adversaries and found them on Fremont Street, next to the O.K. Corral. Doc Holiday opened the ball with a shotgun blast at Ike Clanton, then the Earps begin firing. Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton were killed while the Earps suffered only minor wounds.
Source:
Lewis, Jon E., The Mammoth Book of the West. New York. Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc. 1996
