Visiting Wyatt Earp's Cottage and Earp, California

[@armandmontano6243]

We used to own the house across they highway that was next to the gas station. And a friend of my dad actually owned the Earp house for a while. Had some good times out there as a kid!

[@kathleenfisher6449]

I lived in Earp in 1949/1950 and attended Parker ES. I learned a bit from your video. Thank you. I passed mustangs, coyotes, and road runners on my way to school. Parker's General store had swinging doors and the barber shop had a cracker barrel.

[@ahashdahnagila6884]

Did you ever cross the railroad trestle "on a dare"? (I hear that some kids were killed by a train that came along behind them, before they could get across, and out of the way.) >>> I don't remember what year or decade this happened, though.) When I lived there, I had a horse I kept, south of town. (I rented a really nice home on C.R.I.T. land, on the river, below Parker Dam.)

[@garycampbell7846]

Wow! I grew up at Iron Mountain Pump Station in the 70’s. Our mailing address was to Earp, CA. Thanks for this video!

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Thank you for watching.

[@leedee4968]

Awesome

[@sueantoniotti8520]

Thanks for driving so far to make this video. I live in southern Arizona so I have been to Tombstone several times.

[@shable1436]

Tucson used to be a wonderful place to live

[@davidmecucci7348]

@@shable1436 now it's full of losers and bad people

[@Eliel7230]

My Grandfather once worked for Wyatt Earp at the St.Michael's Hotel on whiskey row, Precott, Az. Of course that was quite a while back.

[@RonW4684]

Wyatt never worked in Prescott. He arrived in Sept-October of 1879 to meet up with Virgil and go to Tombstone. They left at the end of November 1879. The St. Michael's was built after the 1900 fire. Before that it was the Burke Hotel, and when Wyatt and Virgil were there it was the Diana Saloon. Sorry to burst your bubble.

[@ahashdahnagila6884]

Prescott (pronounced "PRESS-cut") is a "mormon town". I guess they built saloons, though, for the drinkers...and, in Salt Lake, they also built brothels.

[@brianmccarthy5557]

My grandfather knew Earp slightly in those years, as they were either residents or frequent visitors to the high end hotel he worked in as a bell hop and bell captain. He was a nice guy, but always armed.

[@josephbingham1255]

My G.G.Grandfather used to grow crops in St. David and sell them to Tombstone while the Earps were there. During Apache troubles they would collect at Fairbanks which had a little army post. My Grandfather's obituary says he came to the Gila Valley of Arizona in a covered wagon (probably as a baby or small child) Thank you for this video. I always read Earp went on to live in Parker, Arizona. Now I know his home was actually in California across the river from Parker. He also lived in San Bernardino or Rialto and this can be looked up online.

[@DucatiPaso750]

Wyatt Earp's death certificate is online. It lists his address at the time of his death as 4004 W. 17th Street, Los Angeles, CA (90019). That street's name was changed about 5 years ago. The exact location is now occupied by a school. Supposedly, Wyatt Earp's house was moved across the street when that school was constructed. The school used to be named Mt. Vernon Junior High School. It was renamed Johnny Cochran Junior High School (after the attorney who defended O.J. Simpson when his ex-wife and Ron Goldman were murdered). The house Wyatt Earp lived (and died) in supposedly now has the address: 4007 Johnny Cochran Vista, Los Angeles, CA 90019. There was supposedly consideration in naming that school Wyatt Earp Junior High School, but Wyatt Earp had both good and bad events in his life and that was the deciding factor.

[@josephbingham1255]

@@DucatiPaso750 Good Research. And of course the political and demographics of Los Angeles that would have honored a Western Cowboy are long gone. Now it's more that honoring a Black attorney that pulled some tricks to get a Black Celebrity murderer off the hook is more appropriate for today's L.A. youth. Times change.

[@davidmecucci7348]

@@josephbingham1255 what a joke the bible says in the end times bad will be good and good will be bad

[@shable1436]

@@davidmecucci7348 well it's end times then

[@wmjohns881]

Wyatt Earp had a small mining shack located across the road from the Earp Post Office. There is (or was) a picture of it inside of the Earp Post Office.

[@ram3130]

Cool video. I've been to Wyatt Earps childhood home in iowa. Incredible history

[@ep61611]

Wyatt still has family living in Monmouth, IL. I knew his niece - she worked for a (now-defunct) trucking company (in a management capacity).

[@stacytad7162]

My dad has Earp, California, as his entrance into WWII.

[@williambliss6087]

My uncle was working as a state surveyor in this area in the 1920s and would sit in the evening and listen to Earp spin stories. He would exclaim, "I outlived them all!" Which meant his friends and brothers. Virgil Earp died of pneumonia while serving as marshal of Goldfield, Nevada.

[@jamesdickinson1397]

Very cool info. My story told to me by my mother was that her dad, my grandpop drove a stage between Goldfield and Tonopah in the very early 1900s (he was born in 1872 and 30 years older than my grandma). He told my mom that he had played poker with Wyatt Earp and maybe Virgil in his many trips between both towns.

[@williambliss6087]

@@robtorres Goldfield was once the biggest city in Nevada. It has a rich history of labor strikes led by the Industrial Workers of the World. Virgil Earp probably had something to do with that situation. However he died shortly after arriving to take the job. I used to pass through there delivering cars from Portland to Las Vegas and would stop at the cafe for lunch. They had a town history booklet and I bought one.

[@TheVatonaught]

I always wanted to visit and learn about Earp CA.. I lived at Ft Huachuca near Tombstone where history is under your feet and in front of your face in all directions. The spirit of the place out in the field is haunting and I lived outdoors for most of my service period. My grandparents and parents grew up in Gold Mining villages and I always wanted to see it as it was...but that doesn't happen even in my imagination...

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Check out Bodie in California if you get a chance. Its an old mining town that's been left in a state of arrested decay. It looks a lot like it would have in the late 1800s still.

[@Hogger280]

I lived in Parker AZ for 5 years - great area for desert 4 byin millions of acres and unusual geologic features.

[@DennisCaffey]

I always learn something new watching your unique videos. Thanks for taking the time to put this one together!

[@leedee4968]

Excellent and the passing - thru 18-wheeler reflection on store window is intriguing to the mind 😎

[@DeeMoback]

Great vid. ...... Vidal used to be known as Vidal Junction ..... been to Earp many many times ..... just on other side of river at Parker

[@jerroldkazynski5480]

There used to be both place names on maps. The jct was hiway intersection near former "town."

[@richardweaver9682]

VJunction is at the intersection of CA-62 and US-95 but the TOWN of Vidal is about five miles south on US95 which is where you fid the RR tracks and the giant water tank shown on the video.

[@johnnyfreedom3437]

I always enjoy your Sidetrack adventures, and sometimes I learn so much like I did on this one! Being an old man I grew up on cowboy stories, and Wyatt Earp always top them all!

[@stevescott8060]

Nice to see a place I was once stranded at during the start of Summer, 108 I F. Post Office had a water faucet on the left back corner of the building that was in the 1970's and there was a water tower indicating the townsite of Earp Ca. going west out of Parker Az. It is excellent that the area can now be shown to people who are skeptical that it once existed.

[@mickey1849]

Short, nice. I like the narration and the narration voice. 👍

[@jeffmorse645]

"What do you want Wyatt?" "To live a normal life" "There's no normal life Wyatt. It's just life".

[@mickimc2883]

Best movie ever! :OD

[@moritz-4742]

@@mickimc2883 Whats it called ?

[@johnlafever3162]

@@moritz-4742 1993 movie Tombstone, starring Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday, with Sam Elliott as Virgil Earp, Bill Paxton as Morgan Earp, Powers Boothe as Curly Bill Brocius, Michael Biehn as Johnny Ringo along with Dana Delany as Josephine Sarah "Sadie" Marcus, Stephen Lang as Ike Clanton, Joanna Pacula as Big Nose Kate Elder, Jason Priestley as Deputy Billy Breckinridge, Michael Rooker as Sherman McMasters, Jon Tenney as Sheriff Johnny Behan, Billy Zane as Mr Fabia, Charlton Heston as Henry Clay Hooker in supporting roles, as well as narration by Robert Mitchum.

[@johnlafever3162]

Quote is from Doc Holliday on his death bed. Doc Holliday: What do you want Wyatt? Wyatt Earp: Just to live a normal life. Doc Holliday: There is no normal life, there's just life, ya live it. Wyatt Earp: I don't know how. Doc Holliday: Sure ya do, say goodbye to me, go grab that spirited actress and make her your own. Take that and don't look back. Live every second, live right on through the end. Live Wyatt, live for me. Wyatt, if you were ever truly my friend, or if ya ever had just the slightest of feelin' for me, leave now, leave now, please. Wyatt Earp: Thanks for always being there, Doc.

[@moritz-4742]

@@johnlafever3162 sounds nice im gonna watch it and thanks for writing all that And that quote is great too I hope u have a great day and stay safe mate

[@jacksonrich6398]

Never knew!! Thx for sharing!!

[@mikeanderson1316]

yeah my mom lives in earp, ca but she gets her mail in Parker Arizona.

[@demetriuscooksey7147]

My family is related to Wyatt Earp through his Mother, Virginia Ann Cooksey. My son is named after Wyatt.

[@psychosneighbor1509]

My brother has a dog named after Wyatt.

[@mericavids]

I grew up in Spearville, Kansas east of Dodge City and our son is also named Wyatt

[@stevenwaring1111]

i was born march 19..

[@jmsmikey]

Love it~ I live in Vegas & I'll difinitely visit on my way to Tombstone.

[@joestephan1111]

If you go north up 95 to Goldfield, Nevada, you can visit the once boom mining town of Goldfield & the Santa Fe Saloon where Wyatt Earp was a bartender. When we ran the Parker 400 desert race Earp was the start & end of the western loop. We stayed with a friend's parents in a house in Earp which was part of a housing development. It was good country & good people then.

[@jamesdickinson1397]

Very cool info. My story told to me by my mother was that her dad, my grandpop drove a stage between Goldfield and Tonopah in the very early 1900s (he was born in 1872 and was 30 years older than my grandma). He told my mom that he had played poker with Wyatt Earp and maybe Virgil in his many trips between both towns. I still need to go visit Goldfield and Tonopah.

[@terrystephenson984]

Steve, I subscribed a few months back, and I’ve been totally addicted to your videos. Amazing how much I’m learning from them. A suggestion if I may: the background music that you use, personally I would prefer that you weren’t bringing that volume up higher than your voice overs. Just a suggestion. Thank you for the videos!

[@kevinedwards8330]

Many don't know that you can rent Wyatt earps house 100$ a night I've been all around the area nice place great history 🤙

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Wow, I didn't even know that. Really cool.

[@mickbray4195]

I stood on hollow ground where Wyatt Earp stood in Tombstone. I also stood on hollow ground where his friend Bat Masterson stood at Adobe Walls in the Texas Panhandle. Billy Dixon was with Bat Masterson at the second battle of Adobe Walls on June 24, 1874. I met an older gentleman at the museum in Borger Texas whose father had bought a gun from Billy Dixon. It was donated to the Borger Museum. Wyatt Earp probably knew Billy Dixon. They were all Buffalo hunters.

[@domingodeanda233]

That was pretty damn good, thanks

[@lifewithjosef]

My Great Aunt lived in Earp for years, back in the 80s-90s

[@billygoat4591]

Wow! That’s awesome because we all asked.....NEXT! 🙄

[@itruck96]

Cool story bro 👍🏽

[@mike73383]

With our gang problem we sure could use some Earps now.

[@rayfriend7450]

Up until a few years ago there was a mural of Wyatt Earp on the side of the Post Office. For some reason it was painted over. Maybe it offended someone.

[@riverratrvr9225]

Wouldn't be surprised 🙄

[@largelarry2126]

I bet it was the dam Canton gang.

[@Katy-ul9bj]

They would like to destroy all of our American history good or bad. They would like to destroy the American people , but we know that , they aren't foolin anyone .

[@glennfernandez8978]

@@Katy-ul9bj who is they??? Who is trying to destroy us?? I want to know , so I can stay away from them

[@mikefitchNYC1971]

Fascinating exploration. Awesome job!

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Thank you very much!

[@wmjohns881]

Some years ago, my oldest son and myself hiked from Vidal to Earp California. Calzona is a about halfway between the two sites. Our route was on most of what’s left on the old Parker Road. We also visited the Earp goldmine which is about 6 miles away from Earp. The road to the goldmine is about 3 miles west and north of the big river community entrance on highway 62. I would suggest only driving there using a high clearance 4x4 vehicle. More than a few people have bogged down in the fine textured sand and roads. AAA is unlikely to rescue you. BTW.. the town of Vidal California electrical generating station ruins are located about 500 meters east of the Earp Cottage at the junction of the old Parker road and Main Street. It’s situated atop a small hill. Easy to travel to in a regular vehicle.

[@MichaelTitera]

I always thought it was strange that Wyatt Earp was buried in Colma until I found out that his common-law wife Josephine Marcs, who was Jewish, had Earp's body cremated and secretly buried his remains in the Marcus family plot at the Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, a Jewish cemetery in Colma, California.

[@jamesdickinson1397]

WOW! Another place just a couple hours (just looked it up almost 4 hours trip) from where I live that I did not know about. I wanted to share a story about Wyatt Earp. My mother told me that her father, my grandfather born in 1872 (who was 30+ years older that my grandmother, 1903) drove a stage coach between Goldfield and Tonopah Nevada in the early 1900s (about 1903 give or take). My mother told me that her father had told her when she was a child that he had played poker numerous times with Wyatt Earp in one or both of those towns. One of these days I will make the trip (386 miles) to visit both towns, in the spring or fall of course. I have been to Perris, CA several times and I know the Earps (Wyatt and/or some of his family) lived there for a time. Jim

[@huckleberryfinn338]

The movie "Tombstone" with Kurt Russell depicts the story of Wyatt. Very well done clip.

[@brianyoung2268]

I read that the Earp family lived in Colton, Ca and his Brother was the sheriff and is buried there

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Yes, Virgil Earp was a constable in Colton.

[@stevetilk4926]

I think you’re right. I listened to an author on the Earps years ago and I remember him saying so too. I think video is incorrect.

[@brianyoung2268]

@@stevetilk4926 I know the Earps parents lived in Colton and I read Wyatt used to haul firewood to LA that means he rode through a town I lived in for many years!

[@RonW4684]

@@SidetrackAdventures Virgil was elected town Constable and then town marshal for 2 terms.

[@ahashdahnagila6884]

Right across from the Earp, CA Post office were the foundation stones of a residence that the locals say Wyatt Earp owned and lived in, for a time. The story goes that, before a bridge was built for early automobiles to cross the river between Parker (AZ) and Earp (CA), the old, retired lawman would walk across the railroad trestle that spanned the Colorado River, to play cards with his friends on the "more populated side" of the river. I lived within view of that trestle 30+ years ago, on land owned by C.R.I.T. (which you also see written below Earp's name on that water tower). By the way, C.R.I.T. stands for "Colorado River Indian Tribes": and land-- there on the banks of the river-- is tribal land, owned by them. There's a long story about how CRIT came to be...

[@wmjohns881]

My friend Terry “Ike” Clanton bought and renovated the Earp Cottage some years ago including plumbing improvement. Kinda ironic that a Clanton descendent currently owns the property including a vacant property west of the Earp Property

[@kdhyde1980]

It’s crazy that his home there looks so much like the one he lived in at Tombstone.

[@ACEDIAMOND666]

I live 40 miles south of Vidal, in Blythe.

[@richardweaver9682]

The mural on the side of the post office is pretty neay also. Nothing real exciting in the minimart. Just a mile or two north of Earp on the California side are the ruins of a work camp/town that was active when Parker Dam was being built. Also the drive accross the dam is fun also. I have family in Havasu so I'm out that way a few times a year.

[@SidetrackAdventures]

We checked out the ruins of the store at the camp town. It was pretty cool.

[@davidlogan4259]

my dad worked for the Holt's growing cotton in the 50's and 60's o n the reservation farms CRIT, he would go there to Earp to buy beer on Sunday and sometimes gamble behind the station with other farmhands

[@MrJDOaktown]

MORE PLEASE

[@jflow5601]

WELCOME TO EARP -- NO TRESSPASSING

[@jake9705]

I regularly drive 4+ hours from Los Angeles to the town near Earp to get shitty drunk on the Colorado River 🥳🇺🇲🥳🇺🇲🥳🇺🇲🥳

[@owntor1]

The post office grave is creepy. Why? Just Why?

[@Corgis175]

Cute cottage, glad its on private land or it would probably be vandalized.

[@Cheez1979]

Wow had no idea good shit man !

[@mickey1849]

How can shit be good? Isn't it smelly and tastes foul?

[@duanelohr1869]

Wow, I see an awkward conversation coming from this. "Hi, where are you from"? "I am from Earp California. " complete silence, then he says "sorry , I don't understand, did you say Burp California?". "No, no Earp California.!" Then totally confused, he says , "I don't see the difference between an Earp and a Burp". Agghhh!

[@joestephan1111]

I went thru this when I lived in the small California mountain town of Cool. "Where ya from? Cool. That's cool but where ya from?"😁

[@billofrightsamend4]

My parents took us to Tombstone when I was 11 or 12. It was hot, and I wasn't really interested. Something must have resonated, because I have watched both movies about Mr. Earp. I heard he worked on the railroad going west, if that's true my relatives probably met the man in passing. Oddly my grandfather painted his house white with blue trim when he moved to California in the 50's.

[@Scott-got-caught]

Why is he buried in colma. I was born and raised one town next to his burial site. Levi Strauss also has his burial site in one of the colma cemeteries

[@SidetrackAdventures]

His wife's family plot was in Colma so she had him buried there.

[@robertfansler7800]

Interesting fact, was that since his wife was Jewish, Wyatt was buried there with her.

[@40wyattearp]

I remember this house.

[@kimnguyen-lw7oj]

the house is now turned into an airbnb. my mistake, it's the tombstone's house

[@garybaldwin1061]

Its Vi-dale

[@YahshuaLovesMe]

dogs happy, wagging their tails intensely.

[@mikestirewalt5193]

Exrememly short on history. Why was he buried in NoCal?

[@halucio]

Before he died, Wyatt had agreed to be buried in his wife's family plot in the Hills of Eternity Cemetery in Colma, just south of San Francisco. He was given a funeral service (which included Tom Mix as a pallbearer) in Los Angeles before he was cremated and his ashes buried in Colma. When Josephine died in 1944, she was also cremated and placed in the plot alongside her husband. Both of their names are on the one gravestone.

[@billygoat4591]

Nor Cal.....

[@mikestirewalt5193]

@@halucio Thanks for that detailed description of where and how and why. I know he lived and worked in San Diego so he was all over the place - very American trait. A history of him would be an interesting read. Thanks again.

[@brianmccarthy5557]

Josephine Marcus' family were from San Francisco. People from San Francisco are buried in Colma, as burial within the city limits is forbidden due to the limited real estate. All the cemeteries, except the small one at the Mission, were emptied long ago and moved to Colma. This has led to stories of curses on buildings on hallowed ground, ghosts and poltergeists, and a general curse on the city since. There are also tales of graves that were missed in the transfer and the unquiet dead. The Marcus family were Reform Jews. There's no evidence Josephine, or Wyatt, ever followed even the lax standards of that group. Burial in the Marcus family plot, in a Jewish section of the cemetary, was an obvious attempt at family reconciliation. Of course, cremation is wholly non-Jewish and non-Christian.

[@brianmccarthy5557]

@@billygoat4591 Thanks. NoCal might be a very light beer?

[@cochisecounty_travels]

The house is now owned by the Clanton Family.

[@garysandburg8199]

I lived in Parker AZ. in the 60s and the name Earp was for Rail Road Super who build the R.R> ! Someone wrote Earp on a wall . It was NOT named after Wyatt Earp

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Hello. That is not true at all. It is 100% named after Wyatt Earp. Not sure if you commented without watching the video, but the plaque on the post office even confirms this. You can also just Google it.

[@MCastleberry1980]

Just checked this out on the way home to San Diego from Parker, AZ. Apparently a cult basically ran Vidal and owned all the businesses there until a child abuse scandal ran them out and the town basically died after that. Bizarre sidenote there

[@garryferrington811]

Shouldn't Earp's house be a state monument? Somebody's just going to tear it down.

[@alonzocalvillo6702]

0:54 that looks like Joel McCrea!

[@DeeMoback]

Yes!!! ..... I don't think that is a picture of Earp either

[@josiel152]

Why does anyone even live there now, looks like it will be a ghost town sooner rather than later

[@glorygracek.1841]

Because of the history?

[@lindamiller4247]

Because it's along the beautiful Colorado River, I retired out here and love it!!!

[@RonW4684]

So the house in Tombstone known as "Wyatt Earp's House" is actually NOT his house. It was believed so for many years. Virgil lived where the "Virgil's corner" B&B is now located (his house burned down in the 1990s). Wyatt and Morgan both had houses BEHIND Virgil's, in what is now the vacant lot behind Virgil's corner.

[@davidabbott7270]

I do just for the history

[@litiviousspartus4611]

Seems like going to either place is a waste of time especially the town.

[@kukukev]

Wyatt Earp makes me burp...