The Aftermath of the OK Corral

After the shootout at the OK Corral was over, Frank and Tom McLowery were dead, Billy Clanton was dead.  Ike Clanton, being the coward that he was, ran screaming away and escaped. Morgan was shot in the shoulder and Virgil was also wounded.

According to record, Tom McLowery was shot by Doc Holliday using his double barreled shotgun, while the Earp preferred the Colt single action peacemakers.

On Billy's deathbed in Dr. Goodfellow's office he is said tohave told the doctor, " Pull off my boots.  I promised my mother than I'd never die with my boots on".  And so he did.

Next time...the feared Apache.

The Legend of the OK Corral

Finally the stuff that movie legends are made of - the OK Corral where the single most bloody and most celebrated episode in Tombstone's rugged history took place.

Wyatt Earp and his brothers, Virgil and Morgan, along with Doc Holliday ended once and for all the murder sprees, cattle rustling and highway robbery of the Clanton/McLowery Boys.  Along with the James Gang in Minnesota, the OK Corral remains the classic massacre of western outlaws.

Prior to the OK Corral shootout, Tombstone was known mostly for its mines, and millionaire-citizen Ed Schieffelin.  In one single day, it became the gunfire capital of the Southwest, and legendary as the place where the gunsmoke never clears.

Then Earp as city Marshall and the Clanton had been feuding for the longest in American history.  Earp's brothers along with Marshall Williams, the Tombstone agent for Wells Fargo and the ailing Doc Holiday went up against Ike and Billy Clanton, John Ringo, Frank and Tom McLowery, and Tombstone's crooked sheriff, John Behan.

The Earps were dressed as any professional law enforcer would have been - in single breasted black frock coats, flowing black ties, and slouch hats.  Short hair, clean shaven, except for their handlebar mustaches, they were the epitome of the good guys.

Next time...the outcome at the OK Corral