 The Gird Block containing the Mining Exchange Building where the hearing was held. | |
| Date | October 30, 1881 – March 19, 1882 |
|---|---|
| Location | Tombstone, Arizona Territory, United States |
| Participants | Virgil, Morgan, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday vs. Ike Clanton, Florentino "Indian Charlie" Cruz, Curly Bill Brocius, Johnny Barnes, Pete Spence, Frank Stilwell, Frederick Bode, Johnny Behan |
| Outcome | Holliday, Earps exonerated; Virgil ambushed, Morgan assassinated |
| Deaths | Morgan Earp |
| O.K. Corral gunfight |
|---|
| Principal events |
| Lawmen |
| Outlaw Cowboys |
The O.K. Corral hearing and aftermath was the direct result of the 30-second Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, on October 26, 1881. During that confrontation, Deputy U.S. Marshal and Tombstone Town Marshal Virgil Earp, Assistant Town Marshal Morgan Earp, and temporary deputy marshals Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday shot and killed Billy Clanton, and Tom and Frank McLaury. Billy's brother Ike, who had repeatedly threatened to kill the Earps for some time, had been present at the gunfight but was unarmed and fled. As permitted by territory law, he filed murder charges against the Earps and Doc Holliday on October 30.
In an unusual preliminary hearing, Justice of the Peace Wells Spicer heard testimony from a large number of witnesses during the next 30 days. Friends of the Cowboys, most notably Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan, testified that the Cowboys had thrown up their hands or opened their coats and been shot in cold blood. Initially persuasive, his testimony motivated Spicer to jail Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday who had been free on bond. (Virgil and Morgan were recuperating from their wounds.) Friends of the lawman and several key neutral witnesses then testified that the Cowboys had drawn their guns and that Virgil Earp had called out, "Hold, I don't want that!" or words to that effect. In a lengthy ruling, Spicer concluded there was no basis for a trial. Although he criticized Virgil Earp's use of Wyatt and Holliday as deputies, he concluded that no laws were broken by the lawmen. He said the evidence indicated that the Earps and Holliday acted within the law and that Holliday and Wyatt had been properly deputized by Virgil. He described Frank McLaury's insistence that he would not give up his weapons unless the marshal and his deputies also gave up their arms as a "proposition both monstrous and startling!"
The Earps were freed from jail, but the blood feud between the lawmen and their friends and the Cowboys and their allies escalated. On December 14, Justice Spicer received a threatening letter from "a miner" who threatened to kill him and told him to leave Tombstone. On the same day, someone tried to kill Tombstone Mayor John Clum, who was a member of the Citizens Safety Committee and publisher of The Tombstone Epitaph that had consistently supported the Earps. On December 28, 1881, Virgil Earp was ambushed and hit by a shotgun round that crippled his left arm. The Earps thought they knew who the perpetrators were, but witnesses provided alibis for them. On March 18, Morgan was killed while playing billiards. An assassin shot him through the window of a door that opened up into an alley. A bullet intended for Wyatt struck close above his head. Once again, the Earps believed they knew the men responsible, but the testimony of a key witness was inadmissible and the Cowboys were not charged.
Wyatt assumed Virgil's duties as Deputy U.S. Marshal for eastern Pima County. He concluded that he could not rely on the courts for justice and decided to take matters into his own hands. He believed that the only way to deal with the Earp's enemies was to kill them. He assembled a federal posse that intercepted Frank Stilwell laying in wait near the train station in Tucson and killed him. They then scoured the countryside looking for others they believed responsible. During early April 1882, Wyatt and his posse tracked down and killed Florentino "Indian Charlie" Cruz, Curly Bill Brocius, and Johnny Barnes, three of the men they believed were responsible for their brothers' ambush and murder. The ride for vengeance came to be called the Earp Vendetta Ride. Five of the Earp party were wanted on a warrant for killing Frank Stilwell, and they left Arizona Territory and never returned.