The Old West's most famous gunbattle lasted all of about thirty seconds， but it left three men dead， three other men shot， and enough questions to occupy historians for more than a century. The gunfight also led to criminal charges being filed against the three Earp brothers （Wyatt， Virgil， and Morgan） and Doc Holliday who， near the O. K. Corral on October 26， 1881， decided to enforce the law against four notorious "cowboys." The hearing that followed the shoot-out considered the question of whether the Earps and Hollidays killed out of a justifiable fear for their own lives or simply to rid themselves of troublemakers and personal enemies. After listening to weeks of testimony， Judge Spicer gave his answer——but whether his answer was the right one remained a subject of considerable debate long after the silver mines that gave birth to Tombstone， Arizona had vanished.

　　Background

　　In 1877， in the dry washes of the San Pedro Valley at the foot of the Huachuca Mountains in southern Arizona about thirty miles from the Mexican border， a prospector discovered an outcropping of high grade silver. Soon that same summer another prospector named Ed Schieffelin would venture into the same hot， dry Apache country after being warned by a soldier， "The only rock you'll find out there will be your own tombstone！" Schieffelin found more than that——though the warning he received would inspire the naming of a town laid out less than two years later near his silver strike.

　　Tombstone grew from 40 cabins， and a population of 100， when it was organized in March of 1879 to more than 7，000 two years later. By late 1881， the classic boomtown had more saloons， more gambling houses， and a larger "boothill" and "red light" district than any town in the southwest.

　　Tombstone was wild even by the standards of the wild West. Horse rustlers and bandits plagued the town. Shootings were frighteningly commonplace. George Parsons， a Tombstone resident who kept a detailed diary in the town's early years， complained of the "hard crowd." He wrote that "killing such men" would be like killing "wild animals." Parsons opined， "The law must be carried out by the citizens， or should be， when it fails in its performance as it has lately done."

　　Into this anarchic environment came the Earp brothers. Wyatt Earp arrived in late 1879 after serving for four years as a lawman in Dodge City， Kansas. Coming into town with Wyatt were his brothers James and Virgil. Morgan， the youngest of the Earp brothers， reached Tombstone the following summer. （Another man whose name would come to be associated with the Earps， Doc Holliday， pulled into town a few months after Morgan.）

　　Like so many other Tombstone residents， the Earps saw money to be made in the boomtown. They staked mining claims. Wyatt acquired a 25% interest in a faro game at the Oriental Saloon in return for providing the saloon's security. James took a job as a faro dealer and bartender， while Virgil and Morgan found employment guarding stagecoach shipments for Wells Fargo. Virgil also worked as deputy U. S. marshal and about a half year after his arrival， Wyatt began serving as a deputy sheriff for Pima County.

　　In 1881 in the area around Tombstone， "cowboys" was a pejorative term used to describe a rootless group of roughnecks， many from Texas， who rustled horses and sometimes engaged in other forms of lawbreaking. George Parson wrote in his diary， "A cowboy is a rustler at times， and a rustler is a synonym for desperado——bandit， outlaw， and horse thief." The San Francisco Examiner editorialized， "Cowboys [are] the most reckless class of outlaws in that wild country……infinitely worse than the ordinary robber."

　　Historians generally consider the men killed in the O.K. Corral gunfight， the Billy Clanton and Tom and Frank McLaury， to be Cowboys. Among the Cowboys， the Clanton family stood out. Clantons rustled cattle， making raids on both sides of the border， and the Cowboys used Old Man Clanton's ranch a a center for their illegal business operations. The McLaurys worked closely with rustlers， either purchasing stolen stock or serving as "fences of the frontier."

　　Events Leading to the Shoot-Out

　　The Earps and Cowboys began their confrontational relationship in the summer of 1880 when deputy marshal Virgil Earp asked Wyatt and Morgan to hunt down the horse thieves who had stolen six mules from a nearby Army outpost. Following a tip， Wyatt and Morgan discovered the stolen mules at the McLaury ranch with their "US" brand changed to "D8." Frank McLaury reacted angrily to the Earp's intervention in the case， considering them to be acting as "citizens" rather than as lawmen， and warned them to stay clear of his ranch and his operations.

　　On October 28， 1880， a more serious crime took place. When Marshal Frank White tried to disarm Curly Brocius， a notorious Cowboy， Brocius's gun fired a bullet （whether intentionally or accidentally was a matter of dispute）， fatally wounding White. The Tombstone town council appointed Virgil Earp as acting marshal. After losing an election for town marshal the following November， Virgil resumed his prior position as deputy U. S. marshal.

　　Meanwhile， a rivalry began brewing between Wyatt Earp， a friend of Tombstone's commercial interests， and Johnny Behan， a man more popular among the town's less respectable elements. Adding heat to the rivalry was that both men competed for the affections of the same pretty woman， Josephine Marcus. （Josephine， after living for a time with Behan， would eventually be won over by Wyatt Earp， and the two would marry in 1888 and live together for almost fifty years.） Earp and Behan both sought appointment from Arizona's governor as sheriff. Earp dropped his candidacy after it became apparent that Governor Fremont favored Behan and （Earp claimed） Behan promised to appoint Wyatt as undersheriff——a promise， it turned out， that Behan would not keep.

　　On March 15， 1881， outlaws stormed the Tombstone-Benson stagecoach， making off $26，000 and killing the driver and a passenger on the coach. Two posses headed out after the outlaw band， one led by Virgil Earp and including Wyatt and Morgan， as well as Bat Masterson and Doc Holliday. The other posses was led by Sheriff Behan. The Earp posse managed to track down one member of the gang， who confessed to holding horses while the holdup took place， and turned the man over to the Behan posse. The man would not remain in custody long， as he soon "escaped" from an unlocked jail house door. The Earps suspected that Behan might have been complicit in the escape， and became further irritated when the sheriff refused to pay the Earps for their posse work.

　　Wyatt Earp's determination to get the job of sheriff from Behan led him to strike a deal with Ike Clanton. Earp promised to get the $6000 in reward money offered by Wells Fargo for arrest of the ambushers of its stagecoach if he would——secretly——provide him with information that would lead to the capture of the criminals. Earp reasoned that if he could pull off arrests in this closely followed case， his popularity would soar and his prospects for becoming sheriff greatly increased. Clanton agreed to the deal， but the bargain would never come to fruition as the Cowboys responsible for the crime all were killed in a New Mexico gunfight before Clanton could spring a trap for Earp.

　　October 25-26， 1881

　　Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury arrived in Tombstone in the evening of October 25， 1881， carrying a wagon load of beef. Around midnight， Clanton showed up at the Alhambra Saloon for a meal， where he encountered Doc Holliday. Clanton， worried about being revealed to his fellow Cowboys as a snitch， might have planned to meet Holliday as part of Wyatt's plan to calm his fears that Earp would spill the beans about their secret deal. That， at least， is one theory suggested by some historians. Another theory is that the Holliday-Clanton meeting was set up by Earp to keep Clanton in line because the promise of possible reward money was no longer present to keep a lid on his activities. Holliday was a tough character， very capable of making a convincing threat.

　　Soon the meeting between Clanton and Holliday degenerated into a series of taunts and insults. Morgan Earp， who provided security at the Alhambra， intervened to get both men to leave the saloon. On the street， Clanton ran into Wyatt Earp， who he told——according to Earp——he would like to see for "a man for man" in the morning. Clanton then found his way into an all-night poker game at the Occidental Saloon， where other players included Johnny Behan， Virgil Earp， and Tom McLaury. After the game， Clanton——still simmering——threatened a fight with Holliday.

　　After a few hours sleep， the Earp brothers awoke to hear reports that Clanton had continued to threaten the Earps and Holliday through the morning. Virgil and Morgan found him near Allen Street. Virgil grabbed Clanton's rifle and used his own revolver to club Clanton to the ground. The two Earps dragged Clanton into a Tombstone courtroom and charged him with violating a town ordinance that prohibited the carrying of firearms in public places. Wyatt Earp， arriving at the courtroom to help， took to badgering Clanton， calling him a "damned dirty cow thief" and expressing a willingness to fight him "anywhere on earth." Clanton responded in kind， telling him that "Fight is my racket." After paying $25， Clanton