How Close Did Wyatt and Doc Come to Being Lynched After the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral?

[@buddylobos5277]

That was great! My dad 95, a former cop will love this. Thanks Bob. Especially the line about the "past is a foriegn country..'

[@davidfolts5893]

During the hearing, it was fortunate that an unbiased witness came forward to testify on behalf of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday about how the events played out before the gunfight.

[@dks13827]

I think H.F. Sills was a paid liar, not a witness to the fight. The lawyers paid him off to lie.

[@davidandrew1078]

If the cowboys were unarmed how did two Earps get shot?

[@conway5481]

"Only two, Frank McLowry and Billy Clanton had a weapon and the weapon was in their holster" (1:34)

[@Sirharryflash82]

That's the cowboy version.

[@rons4297]

Maybe they were magic Kennedy bullets!

[@carolinadog8634]

And Doc

[@bethbartlett5692]

A question that is never addressed and begs to be answered.

[@RavenGent]

Excellent Bob!! There is a reference to the Lynching actually can be seen in the 1994 Wyatt Earp film. You can see it in the aftermath of the ok corral gunfight.

[@TheSpaghetti64]

Funny that Harry Woods, editor of the Tombstone Nugget newspaper was not in town on October 26th. When the original account came out it in the Nugget it agreed with the Epitaph version of the fight and that the Earps were in the right. When Harry returned to Tombstone, he changed the following Nugget reports to favor the Cowboys. Woods was also Johnny Behan's deputy. That speaks volumes to me that The Cowboys (Ike in particular) picked the fight, and they were given plenty of time to give up their weapons (which they wore openly around town) and refused to leave town.

[@r1a1p1AllenPogue]

Bob is an entertaining guy but he's biased in favor of the Cowboys because of his upbringing. If he discusses their obvious thievery and murder it's a nod and a wink. If he discusses the Earps, he brings up irrelevancies like prostitution and gambling when they were not acting as law enforcement. The Earps were not perfect men but they never robbed a stage coach, or dry gulched anybody, nor stole cattle from Mexico. [edited for a typo]

[@TheSpaghetti64]

@@r1a1p1AllenPogue I replied to Bob yesterday on Facebook about this episode and he's a good guy and is willing to listen to objections. I reminded him that he said the Tombstone vigilantes from the Tombstone mines guarded Doc and Wyatt 24 hours a day until they were released from the jail. There was no way the cowboys would even think about trying to break them out and lynch them. Like you said Allen the cowboys were basically cowards as gunmen. They were back shooters, ambushers and bullied the weak and defenseless. If they had tried to lynch Doc and Wyatt the rest of the vigilantes would have been alerted and the Cowboys would be planted on boot hill.

[@NickRN7-rr2ti]

The Nugget account on Oct 27, did not agree with the Epitaph. It stated that Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday were the first two shooters, going after the Mclaurys. There is plenty of evidence that points to only two of the cowboys being armed. And two were already pistol whipped. There is really no good reason to believe under those circumstances that they intended to make a fight with the Earps. If that were their motive, they would have picked off Wyatt when he was alone at Spangenbergs. The difference that turned altercations into fatalities was the presence of Doc Holliday. It wasn't the cowboys.

[@TheSpaghetti64]

@@NickRN7-rr2ti I've always read that the Nugget and Epitaph's reporting on the gunfight were very close to the same story. It was only changed to support the Cowboys was when Woods returned to town.

[@NickRN7-rr2ti]

The Epitaph took the eyewitness account of R F Coleman (to which they later criticized knowing full well he was full of hot air, especially his account that he yelled at Holliday who yelled back at hm). The Nugget report stated that Frank made the comment, "We will", which was a response to Virgil's command to disarm. However, Frank wasn't inclined to do so before. So it may have in fact been him saying "We will not", amd he didn't finish his comment, because, even according to the nugget he made a motion towards his revolver. Frank may have been reacting to Holliday cocking or unfurling the shotgun Virgil gave him. Which is where we get Virgil crying out, "Hold! I don't want that!" According to the nugget, Wyatt shot Frank and about the same time, Doc shot Tom McLaury who was in the act of running to get out of danger. The biggest difference between the two papers the following day, was the discrepancy regarding Morgan's back wound. Nugget said he was shot left to right by Billy Clanton. Epitaph stated it went right to left and said the ball was in his shirt sleeve. I'm more inclined, Epitaph was correct for 3 reasons. 1. They were more friendly to the Earps and would seemingly have better info regarding specifics. 2. The fact that the ball was described as being found in his short sleeve. 3. Virgil and Doc were hit in the right side. That implies to me that Frank McLaury, from his position in the road, did all of the damage that day. Billy was described as firing erratic and in the air, no doubt in shock from his wounds. He was also a 19 year old kid, and not someone with a dangerous reputation as Frank was.

[@tresilewis5925]

"Jerked to Jesus".....what a fabulous quote!

[@jeff9104]

Great stuff BBB, thanks

[@nealhathaway2004]

It's all about perspective. Good work! Thanks.

[@GrandpaFumblefingers]

Good points Bob. I think a good interview for True West would be Terry Clanton. He owns a business in Tombstone and works in California as a race track announcer. As a little 2 degrees of seperation , back in the late 1970s, I printed True West. Back then it was on news print and very cheaply done. Almost a throw away for Steck-Warlick. Before your time.

[@gunner4375]

Thank you some much for this different approach to the story. It is about time!!!

[@tomsletter9472]

Bob, thanks,keep up the good work! Abrazo from Madrid! T

[@lavvgiver]

Love the flipside of the story being shared. Thanks for this content. Still have respect for the Earps, but they weren't nearly as squeaky clean as Hollywood implies.

[@rickypierce1028]

really enjoy your videos!

[@alonzovillarreal4666]

Thanks Bob!

[@arailway8809]

Bob Boze Bell is one of the best. I didn't realize Wyatt and Doc were in jail for 16 days. What we have to examine is population size and who was on what side. When the notorious shootout happened, they said that the miners boiled out of the ground like ants. They were on the Earp's side. There were always more miners than cowboys in Tombstone's heyday. So a town lynching was purty much out of the question. Bushwhacking as happened to Virgil was about the only option, or a confrontation as happened at the OK Corral. I don't believe the cowboys were expecting that many Earps and Doc. One or two Earps would have suddenly had Billy Claiborne and perhaps others sending them to the happy hunting ground. I want to thank Bob for mentioning the Bisbee shootout. The gunfight at the OK Corral did not end lawlessness around Tombstone. Texas John Slaughter was still chasing outlaws years after. In Texas ranches during that time and on into the 1910's, you purty much had to be on the side of whoever showed up in your front yard. They often outnumbered you. Sometimes the next party hanged you for passing out your hospitality to the last bunch. I suspect that the Earps were not as good as guests as the cowboys were. And when they left, the old lady of the ranch with a chaw of tobacco in her cheek, got back around to her biscuits and said in exasperation, "Yankees!"

[@richardliles4415]

Quite the story. Thank you.

[@jeffreygraf3358]

Difference between the Bisbee lynching and what happened with the Earps, is that the townspeople were solidly behind the Earps as evidenced by the 70 men coming to their aid after the fight, and protecting them from lynching while they were in jail.

[@gus473]

Guess it pays to know a few good writers! Thanks Bob! 😎✌️

[@chrishickey7502]

There was an episode of Star Trek, S3 Ep 6, Spectre of the Gun. The crew are put into the fight as the Clantons and McLaurys. The planet denizens are affronted by the crew’s presence on their planet. They take a memory from one of the crew and set up the horrifying event. Ironically DeForest Kelly played Morgan Earp in the 1957 movie, Gunfight at the OK Corral.

[@oletimer5853]

I absolutely love your videos… thank you so very much!!!!!!!

[@stevemccoy8138]

Thats great history there Bob. I have to say that if I was there back then I probably would have been on the side of the Cowboys. I think your Grandma was right. Thanks for Sharing 😊

[@charlesmaximus9161]

This is really fascinating. I’ve been to Tombstone many years ago and never would have even considered the fact that, as you previous mentioned, there would still be some slight factionalism over the fight to this very day.

[@todmarks175]

Interesting take. Never really thought about what the cowboys version would have been. I know some of facts suggested that the cowboys were well liked by some of the surrounding areas.

[@davidtaylor5204]

Before he was an Arizona senator, Barry Goldwater, whose family owned the Goldwater Mercantile in Bisbee, wrote an article for Desert Magazine entitled 'Bisbee Massacre'. (August 1941)

[@robertwildes7550]

You are the best Bob.

[@terryschiller2625]

Thank you Bob love the history of the old West.

[@rendezvous5784]

My gut says the cowboys version of the event seem extraordinarily fantastic!

[@sombra6153]

Glad to see your video after all the puff AI videos on the topic. I learn something from yours.

[@dvdbluraydude3038]

Fun fact- The Earp’s started a gunfight with a bunch of men they knew to be hungover.

[@NickRN7-rr2ti]

Who was hing over? Ike. But Frank and Billy were new in town. In fact, when they arrived, they went to Grand to have a drink. Will Claiborne showed up and filled them in with the day's events. Frank put down his glass and said, "We won't drink". I think lack of sleep would be a more accurate description.

[@Rick_King]

The big question is whether the Earps went down Fremont Street to enforce the law, or to exterminate the Cowboys. At the Spicer hearing, an out-of-towner named H.F. Sills testified that the people in that vacant lot were threatening the life of Marshal Virgil Earp. Here's what I believe happened. Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury had been buffaloed by Virgil and Wyatt Earp, respectively, earlier that day. I think Tom said something like "My head still hurts. I swear I'm gonna kill Wyatt Earp." To which Ike replied "Yeah, and I'm gonna kill Virgil." I think it was empty talk, just two injured men blowing off steam. But it sounded serious enough to H.F. Sills, who reported the alleged threats to Virgil. I believe that the lawmen went down to that vacant lot to disarm the Cowboys, and that things just got out of hand. I do not believe they went down there to murder them.

[@JT-rx1eo]

Yes my conclusion is the same, but there were many ear witnesses to them threatening the Earp's life, not just that out-of-towner testimony. But since he didn't have the potential of bias like town residents did, the judge weighed his testimony heavily. I've always suspected that it was the 19 year old Billy Clanton who got trigger happy and started the dominoes falling at the shootout.

[@NickRN7-rr2ti]

Virgil wasn't. Wyatt and Morg could go either side of the fence. It would be a foolish thing to openly fire on and murder the cowboys in broad daylight on a busy street with so many eyewitnesses around. But from Holliday's perspective, it was different. These men were gathered in his side yard. And according to Kate, Ile had already been there earlier that morning. What was Holliday to suppose? Fair grounds at the moment or wait until they might come back and get him in the dark and alone. He wasn't wrong on that account. Because that's exactly what their friends did to Virg and Morg just months later.

[@Rick_King]

@@NickRN7-rr2ti You know, I really appreciate when someone can make a point using sound reasoning, as well as proper grammar and punctuation! Prior to this street fight, Wyatt had only ever shot one man. It was a trouble making cowboy named George Hoyt in Dodge City, and Wyatt killed him out of what he believed to be necessity. But Wyatt was not prone to gun play, other than occasionally buffaloing some miscreant. As for Morgan, not a lot is known about the years prior to his coming to Tombstone. I've heard he was a hothead, but I've also heard that he was not. I doubt he was as naive as portrayed in *Tombstone,* however. But the most misunderstood of all of them was Doc Holliday. As with Wyatt, prior to the Tombstone incident, he had only ever killed one person, Mike Gordon, who had been shooting up Doc's saloon in Las Vegas, New Mexico. But yes, they were gathered right outside the boardinghouse where he'd been staying. So he might have been a bit more on edge than the others.

[@jimmymacias6335]

You damn right you keep going, you never take another man's word, you always make sure yourself or you pay in the end same then same today

[@Deathintheair89]

This fascinates me plus all the other little things that went on leading right up to it,

[@KMN-bg3yu]

It's real simple folks, whenever a BBB video shows up in your recommended viewing you watch it

[@delphinazizumbo8674]

it's like choosing between the Crips or Bloods

[@scrappydoo7887]

No it really isn't

[@delphinazizumbo8674]

@@scrappydoo7887 yeah, it is..Cowboys were a CARTEL, the Earps ran WHORE HOUSES

[@delphinazizumbo8674]

@@scrappydoo7887 yeah it is....the Cowboys were a horse stealing CARTEL....the Earps were PIMPS, PANDERERD and card sharps....they dealt RENO, a game DESIGNED to take a person's money

[@scrappydoo7887]

@@delphinazizumbo8674 you cannot apply today's standards to people who lived in days where law was malleable, prostitution was legal as was gambling and then compare them to serial murderers. Not all cowboys were created equal. Also the bloods and crips are filth. The are a bad comparison from top to bottom.

[@scrappydoo7887]

@@delphinazizumbo8674 shocking. My reply is gone. It'll be in your notifications

[@jimmymacias6335]

Wish you could give us more vids Mr. B.B.B

[@vernonclement]

Question ❓ did lawmen or poses shoot wanted Men in the back? Thanks

[@woodennickel6148]

"Van Cleef's Favorite Irish Whistling Ballads" Count your way through these timeless Irish whistling favorites while True Blue Balcksmitty School churns out your Horseshoe Cigar Holder as a free gift.

[@woodennickel6148]

When Frederick Remington Museums were Frederick Remington Museums and showig the ropes whilst travelling by boat was only for those Editor's Masterpiece had overlooked come time to promote.. Paid for by La Guadalupe Hidalgo Helo Pad Hotels along the stagecoach route of the Ol' Fargo Wells. We'll be around, Mr. Bell.

[@woodennickel6148]

Whaddya say, Beall? Pull some strings and get ya in on the ground flor of this? (hav a fine Patriot's Day weekend)

[@santossalinas4221]

Howdy Bob, I have a question. Do you know if it's true that Doc Holliday spent time in Saranac Lake New York?

[@Steveaustin007]

Try arresting them or lynching them - The cowboys were best at ambushing or shooting in the back . Oh Virgil was ambushed and lost his arm : Morgan was shot in the back . Wyatt and Doc were no angels either but their lives were threatened several times by the cowboys & they got their chance and died.

[@artisaprimus6306]

So many layers to this story. The truth is somewhere in the middle as usual. I knew about the trial, but not about the primitive jail.

[@alswann2702]

My great great granddaddy was strung up in a mulberry tree by some irate citizens in Polk county, Florida, a mining and ranching neck of the woods, for rustling horses. Later the town that grew up there was named Mulberry after the ever popular and frequently used tree.

[@CwL-1984]

Outstanding 👍👍

[@outdoorlife5396]

I totally agree

[@georgetaylor8591]

Great version of the OK Corral Shoot Out!!! But the Court Ruled!!!

[@SwanseaTitanFan]

St Louis is the ‘Gateway to the West’ do you know of any good outlaw stories from here?

[@NickRN7-rr2ti]

Shouldn't this resolve the debate of whether or not the Earps and the defense has enough reason to commit perjury on the stand?

[@alanhope1190]

The film, Doc, starring Stacy Keach was given from an anti Earp POV.

[@johnfun3394]

When you hear the real version of our history you can understand today better. Half the people in the world are on 1 side and half on the other. It’s that simple.

[@charangoguy]

If the cowboys at the OK corral were in violation of a misdemeanor city ordinance that prohibited carrying weapons within the city limits of Tombstone and if Wyatt Earp were a deputy US Marshall, what jurisdiction did he have in confronting the cowboys?

[@mpetersen6]

There were no saints involved here.

[@zutrue]

How do you get from a lurid tale to American nobility??? ...this is the West, out here when the legend becomes fact, print the Legend.

[@johnpierce2095]

tombstone movie, they were never put in jail, guessed they messed that part up

[@garyandrews1486]

I wish that Wyatt and his brothers left Tombstone it was an evil town filled with citizens who were crooked and in league with the scumbag cowboys all and I mean every single one of them were cowards and back shooters, Tom McClaury had a pistol several witnesses saw it in his pants pocket and he shot Morgan no question also it is known that Wes Fuller’s father picked up Tom’s pistol and Wes was shooting from behind Fly’s back entrance proving he was a coward! I also know that Virgil being crippled and Morgan murdered were not the acts of brave men it was the acts of cowardly lowlifes! The Earp’s troubles were not worth the price they paid and the citizens of Tombstone at that time were not worth what the Earp family went through!

[@izzybobkelley4465]

The only threat the cowboys posed was earps mafia gambling ring

[@stevescott8060]

History creates tourism. Tourism is money. The Story of Justice, which is questionable, very entertaining. True or not.

[@janmartintietjens3909]

Very good but often wondered, if only a couple of the cowboys were armed and the Earps opened fire first how did Virgil, Morgan and Doc wounded? You would think the Earps would open up on the armed ones first. Just sayin'🤔😁

[@larry1824]

They faced a grand jury. After the excesses of the ride of the alleged immortals they were kicked out of Arizona andbtold never to come back. Wyatt was stripped of his badge

[@bethbartlett5692]

It would be a challenge to erase the Personal emotions from the event m, although they had the value of the Law behind them in oroceeding 9n to the OK Corral. Understandable how Sheriff Behan gets depicted, since the fact is "he did not have the Clantons and associates unarmed".

[@larry1824]

Eventually they were ordered out of Arizona

[@stephenyoung2742]

When you run your mouth threatening someone and do it on your opponents home turf then your died due to stupidity!

[@freddycastillo1312]

When do you think they're going to make movie just on doc holiday

[@bethbartlett5692]

Ike Clanton was apparently a great deal like how he is portrayed in the movie Tombstone. (I wonder if the Clanton's are related to the Trump family?) Probably should have not said that out loud.

[@davidhobbs5421]

Wasn't the beef between the factions also political? I believe most of the "cowboys" were from Texas and the Earps, sans Holliday, were Yankees.

[@JT-rx1eo]

Yes that's been mentioned many times. The ranchers in the surrounding area, and some town residents considered the Earps carpet baggers. And the Cowboys would steal cattle in Mexico and sell beef to Tombstone butchers which was cheaper than the beef bought from Mexico with its tarrifs. There were allegiances built like that. Interestingly, many years later an elderly Wyatt Earp said that when he hears criticism of their actions in Tombstone and surrounding areas, he reminds them that after their actions the politically-covered crimes in and around Tombstone fell to near zero.

[@davidlarned4315]

The Cowboys weren’t angels but the Earps were shady characters even before they got to Tombstone. If the didn’t commit murder at the famous gunfight they certainly did in their vendetta ride…

[@JT-rx1eo]

I think you got the character assessments backward. But yes, the vendetta ride was extra-judicial. I read somewhere that Wyatt Earp expressed his frustration to the Tombstone judge prior to the shootout that the Cowboys were getting off on false alibis and technicalities. The judge, knowing that the cowboys had lots of sympathizers who would come out of the woodwork and testify for them, and that it was likely they were guilty, told Earp that his hands were tied, and that "it might be better for you to just leave them in the bush". Frontier justice.

[@NickRN7-rr2ti]

Wyatt Earp is an icon in an American mythology. Most historians amd authors today grew up from the generation of watching Hugh play Wyatt on television. So it is heavily ingrained in them from an early age that Wyatt was this paragon of virtue. There's nostalgia attached to that too. Everyone needs a hero. But that's honestly and factually looking at things with rose tinted glasses. With that said, it absolutely was murder in the street ffight . The cowboys were armed but that didn't give the law enforcement cart blanche to open fire on them nilly willy. They DID have the authority to arrest them or disarm them by other means such as laying the barrel or the other end of their pistol across them to achieve that end. And that's what Virgil did early that day to Ike. However, a sincere and careful examination of the day's events show that there was a lot of violence and close calls. However, there were no fatalities and anyone getting shot until Doc Holliday was involved and present. That fact alone speaks volumes. And there was absolutely no coincidence that this is the reason that Holliday himself didn't testify in the hearing after. The evidence is overwhelming that Tom McLaury was unarmed. Doc cut him down unarmed. And whether that was confusion or nerves, the bottom line is it was murder. Tom's fatal wound matched eyewitness testimony that he was in the act of running when Holldiay fired the fatal blast. And he knew he was in hot water. Because, according to Kate., immediately after the fight he sat on the edge of his bed and said, "This is awful".

[@delphinazizumbo8674]

it's spelled "Old Man Clanton" but it's pronounced "Pablo Escobar"

[@russ2991]

I don't have a side in the Cowboy/Earp saga, but I'm BEYOND disapointed in what you said at 10:21...Stuart Lake is a hero of yours???? A "biographer" who KNOWINGLY fabricated historical facts? A man who clearly made up a story about the arrest of Ben Thompson for the Whitney murder? A writer who's only mission was to placate, absolve, and elevate the position of an old man at the demands of his wife? As an historian yourself, this man is your hero?

[@bobbell7213]

Okay, "hero" perhaps is a tad strong, but I admire Walter Noble Burns and Lake because they took a tawdry tale and made into a legend. THAT is amazing to me and I do admire the ability.

[@russ2991]

@@bobbell7213 you mean he created a fairy tale. Frame it like that, and I can say that I enjoyed Lake's fairy tale account of Wyatt's life story also. Just like I enjoy the movie Tombstone. But for the publisher of True West to imply it's anything BUT fictional BS, and the author is anything but a scoundrel is...well...so disappointing. I'm repeating myself. I'm just surprised that a contributor to what I consider a masterpiece of Wyatt storytelling (The Wyatt Earp Anthology) would hold a writer like Lake in such high regard. I'm coming in very strong here, and I apologize for that. I am enjoying these videos. My wife enjoyed my rant, and my dog liked it when my jaw dropped open and my cookie fell on the floor.

[@Sirharryflash82]

​@@russ2991Oh good God such righteousness... smh

[@Rollin_L]

Without replaying to get the exact quote, I believe what Mr. Bell attributed to Lake and Burns was their ability to write a great story. I don't think he was giving them a pass on the lack of historic accuracy. He was complimenting their writing talent. If not for Burns and Lake, most of us today would never have heard about the Earps and the Tombstone events. Or Billy the Kid. They would be known largely to historians and researchers, and maybe a few hardcore Western history enthusiasts.

[@ynotcougar]

Hey Bob. Do you ever spell your name backwards just to confuse people? Tony Boney Mosconi.......

[@rebcotton3679]

I am team cowboy. I went to the tombstone like a week ago and everyone still shits on them.

[@tylerbasler6093]

There a story in Oklahoma in the 1940 two writers asked zoe Tillman wife of Bill Tillman about about Bill having a buntline pistol. She said that he didn't have one and asked who said so. When told Wyatt earp she laughed and said Bill always stated don't believe a word Wyatt said . I can not remember where I read this as it was a few years back.

[@dks13827]

Yes I think Doc and Morgan just shot the cowboys right off. 2. Ike and Wyatt were scuffling, so Wyatt was blocked from being shot at.

[@Sirharryflash82]

No, witnesses stated that both sides opened fire virtually at the same time.

[@ChaseBoonie]

Can you turn on that “super thanks” button on your videos like other KZbin videos have so we can show our support with $. Love your content

[@Mikey420isTaken]

I believe that if the cowboys weren’t running their mouths about killing the Earps then this probably wouldn’t have happened. They were hanging out outside where Doc stayed and were carrying guns openly in town. Behan was a wuss that was afraid of the cowboys and tried to get the Earps to leave but Virgil had a job to do and they did it. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Doc was trigger happy either lol. The cowboys got an early version of the phrase “fuck around and find out”. If they were there to murder cowboys then Ike wouldn’t have been allowed to run away

[@IIVVBlues]

The Earps were flawed, but the cowboys were more so. Were not they involved in rustling cattle and robberies? We know they had bad tempers and subject to public drunkeness. They were told to not carry guns in the town limits. They were definitely in violation of the law when they participated in the shootout. Perhaps the Earps over-reacted, but facing armed belligerent lawbreakers, I have to side with the Earps.