The Story of the Gunfight at the OK Corral

The must famous gunfight in the history of the West occurred on October 26, 1881 in a vacant lot behind the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona when the Earp brothers and Doc Holiday fought the Clantons and the McLaurys. Virgil Earp was the marshall of Tombstone at the time and his brothers Morgan Earp and Wyatt Earp were his two deputies. They represented law in Tombstone and were joined on October 25th by their friend, Doc Holiday. The Clantons and the McLaurys were cowboys who the Earps believed were responsible for cattle rustling.

The Earps and the Clantons and the McLaurys were powerful factions in Tombstone and their famous gunfight was not the first conflict they had with each other. The cowboys had many run-ins with the law which brought them into conflict with the Earps on a regular basis. They also interfered with the Earps’ political ambitions, including Wyatt Earps attempt to set up a successful campaign for sheriff. Even without their political conflicts, however, conflict between the two groups seemed almost inevitable. The Clantons and the McLaurys represented lawlessness while the Earps represented the law.

Tombstone had a city ordinance at the time preventing anyone from carrying firearms. The Cowboys’ unwillingness to abide by this ordinance proved a source of much conflict between the two groups. It was why the Earps pistol whipped a drunken Ike Clanton on the 26th of October. This event was largely responsible for the famous gunfight. It made the Cowboy faction resent the Earps even further and made the Earps more determined than ever to disarm any Cowboys in the city. Thus, they marched over to where the Clantons and the McLaurys had congregated behind the OK Corral and demanded that they disarm. They did not, and a gunfight ensued.

On the one side, Virgil Earp acted as city marshall and deputy US marshall for the area. He was assisted by his deputy Morgan Earp, Wyatt Earp who was acting as special deputy marshall, and Doc Holiday who had come back into town because of the looming threat of an open conflict between the two factions. Holiday was armed with a shotgun and pistol while the other men carried only pistols. They met Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Ike Clanton, and Billy Claiborne. Billy Clanton responded to Virgil’s demands that he disarm by shooting at Virgil. In the ensuing gunfight, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury were mortally wounded. Billy Claiborne and Ike Clanton survived after running away (since they were unarmed). Virgil Earp, Morgan, Earp and Doc Holiday also received minor wounds. In all, about 30 shots were fired in about 30 seconds.

After the gunfight, Wyatt Earp and Holiday were arrested and charged with murder since they had acted without being official deputies. They were eventually acquitted, however. The fight weakened the Cowboy position in Tombstone, but it was not the end of their resistance to the Earps. They orchestrated an attempted assassination on Virgil and succeeded in killing Morgan. In response Holiday and Wyatt tracked down and murdered those they believed were responsible before fleeing Arizona for good.