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History Forum / General / British History / May 2007The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral -- 26 October 1881
The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, on 26 October 1881, has often been billed as "The Last Great Gunfight In The West". Is there any truth to that? DSH Lux et Veritas et Libertas -------------------------------------------------- "D. Patterson" <proamer@legypt.net> wrote in message news:135sveji7ue8u7d@corp.supernews.com... >>> "D. Spencer Hines" <panther@excelsior.com> wrote in message >>> news:TEO5i.34$1G.251@eagle.america.net... >>> "I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on, I >>> don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from >>> them." >>> >>> The Shootist >> the reason the OK corral is so famous was that it was unique. the >> hollywood gunslinger was just that, hollywood. -- [SOP] > > No, on the contrary, gunfights or gun duels were quite real, quite common, > and not just a much later Hollywood fantasy. The only thing which made the > Gunfight at the O.K. Corral famous, notorious, and/or unique was the very > exceptional amount of publicity it was given. Many lesser known gunfights > were considerably deadlier, and many casualties resulted from gun duels > rather than ambushes by backshooters. However, it was backshooters like > Frank Stilwell whose treacherous acts caused the public to regard the > Earps, Doc Holliday, and other gunfighters with a measure of awe and > respect in recognition of their apparent fearlessness or bravery in > comparison to the backshooters and bushwhackers. > The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, on 26 October 1881, has often been billed > as "The Last Great Gunfight In The West". [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > respect in recognition of their apparent fearlessness or bravery in > > comparison to the backshooters and bushwhackers. No. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-Gunfights.html et. seq. That is a question only a brain-dead effete Easterner with an education based entirely upon movies and television would ask. > The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, on 26 October 1881, has often been billed > as "The Last Great Gunfight In The West". [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > - Show quoted text - probably not--you still have such occurrences like the Dalton Brothers trying to rob two banks at once; the activities of Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and the Hole in the Wall Gang out in Colorado; and a lot of things happening in Indian Territory (Oklahoma) but the story of the fight at the OK Corral (which technically wasn't at the OK Corral, but next door) has been hyped all out of proportion, primarily by Wyatt Earp, who outlived nearly everybody involved with it, and after a long and not particularly distiguished career as gold miner, saloonkeeper, gambler, boxing referee and self-promoter, settled in Los Angeles around WWI and got the ear of a few Hollywood types like Tom Mix and William S. Hart and gave them his version of the story. And the rest is history (or legend, anyway, and in that context we use the precept voiced in John Ford's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence")... However, in recent years, other voices have been heard--collateral descendants of the Clantons and McLaurys (originally McClaury or McClaughry or McLowery from County Longford via Ayrshire) have gone online with their version of the proceedings and makes Wyatt's version less credible in some instances--it may be worth a look--google them. For example it would appear that Frank (Robert Findlay) and Tom McLaury's older brother Will, a prominent attorney of Fort Worth, Texas, may have orchestrated and bankrolled the activity that subsequently chased the Earps and Doc Holliday out of Tombstone. However, for a pretty good pictorial depiction of the incidents in Tombstone try this: http://members.aol.com/ChipCooper/okcorral.html JML > The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, on 26 October 1881, has often been billed > as "The Last Great Gunfight In The West". > > Is there any truth to that? its certainly the most famous gunfight. > > The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, on 26 October 1881, has often been billed > > as "The Last Great Gunfight In The West". > > > Is there any truth to that? > > its certainly the most famous gunfight. Not really. It is the one made into more movies because Wyatt Earp was an advisor for movies until he died in 1929. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-Gunfights.html et. seq. Blackwell, Oklahoma Gunfight (1896) Cherokee Courtroom Shoot-out (1872) Dalton Gang at Coffeyville, Kansas (1892) El Paso Gunfight (1881) Frisco Shootout (1884) Harrison-Levy Shootout (1877) Bill Hickok-David Tutt Shootout (1865) Hunnewell, Kansas Gunfight (1892) Las Vegas, NM Saloon Shootout (1880) Long Branch Saloon Shootout (1879) O.K. Corral Gunfight (1881) Owens-Blevins Shootout (1887) Sandbar Fight (1887) Luke Short-Jim Courtright Duel (1887) Spokogee Gunfight (1902) Trinidad, Colorado Saloon (1882) and doesn't even mention the Gunfight at Hide Park--Newton, Kansas Newton's General Massacre 19 August 1871 http://www.kansasheritage.org/gunfighters/hidepark.html >> > The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, on 26 October 1881, has often been >> > billed [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Not really. It is the one made into more movies because Wyatt Earp was > an advisor for movies until he died in 1929. THAT is why it is the most famous gunfight. Most people never heard of the gunfights below. > http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-Gunfights.html et. seq. > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > http://www.kansasheritage.org/gunfighters/hidepark.html > >> > The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, on 26 October 1881, has often been > >> > billed [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > > >http://www.kansasheritage.org/gunfighters/hidepark.html I should have said it is the most famous gunfight for people who depended upon the movies and television for their history. Newton is more famous among western buffs and I would judge the Coffeyville and Great Minnesota (Northfield) Raid are actually better known. The only way you can tie this thread to a Naval Theme is the frequent use of the Navy Colt by participants. > I should have said it is the most famous gunfight for people who > depended upon the movies and television for their history. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > The only way you can tie this thread to a Naval Theme is the frequent > use of the Navy Colt by participants. Amusingly, one of the better known gunfighters was a man named Clay Allison, once a rancher near Cimarron, NM. He wouldn't have made it in Hollywood. A club-footed epileptic, his alcoholism raised eyebrows even among saloon-crawlers of the time. John Wesley Hardin was the son of a Methodist circuit rider who read the law late in life after a murder conviction. Admitted to the bar, he later returned to shooting folks... TMO > > I should have said it is the most famous gunfight for people who > > depended upon the movies and television for their history. [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > TMO It's a hobby that can pay off for you in certain circumstances. I had the interesting fortune to have an uncle who was the number two undertaker in Dodge City from about 1960 to 1985. Two of his local tourist sites were the still extant swath of the Santa Fe trail just outside Dodge and the brass plate in the Dodge House Hotel that marked five miles from Fort Dodge and delineated where you could buy and drink whiskey. > > I should have said it is the most famous gunfight for people who > > depended upon the movies and television for their history. [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > TMO yeah and bat masterson became a sports writer . > > >> > The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, on 26 October 1881, has often been > > >> > billed [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] > The only way you can tie this thread to a Naval Theme is the frequent > use of the Navy Colt by participants. famous is famous. it doesn't matter how it got that way. i've read books on the west too. i know billy the kid was a goodguy, that doesn't make it the general opinion. > The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, on 26 October 1881, has often been billed > as "The Last Great Gunfight In The West". [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Lux et Veritas et Libertas > -------------------------------------------------- No, there were plenty of duels and gunfights after that date in which there were more participants and more casualties. They involved such gunfighters as Bat Masterson and suchm gangs as the Wild Bunch. The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, on 26 October 1881, has often been billed as "The Last Great Gunfight In The West". So, it wasn't the LAST. BUT, it's the one most documented in Liberty Valance Legend -- SO it resonates in the Popular Mind -- with Freudian overtones. DSH Lux et Veritas et Libertas > The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, on 26 October 1881, has often been billed > as "The Last Great Gunfight In The West". > > Is there any truth to that? No way. Los Angeles bank robbery, late '90s. Robbers were using AK's- more people involved, better weapons, great fun to watch. And I'm sure that given a little time, even better sh.t will happen. > DSH > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >> respect in recognition of their apparent fearlessness or bravery in >> comparison to the backshooters and bushwhackers. |
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