Tag: Testimony

A Brief History

The gunfight at the O.K. Corral summary refers to an infamous shootout in the American West in the streets of Tombstone Arizona at at 3:00pm, October 26,1881. Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, and Wyatts brothers Virgil and Morgan confronted Ike Clanton, Billy Clanton, Billy Claiborn and brothers Frank and Tom McLaury in a vacant lot next to the uninteresting O.K. Corral over death threats made in recent days.

The thirty second gunfight caused witnesses to see nine men fire dozens of times at distances of under twenty feet. The aftermath left three men dead and became the most notorious gunfight of the wild west.

Following the trial, murder charges were filed against the Earp brothers and Doc Holiday. I preliminary hearing in front of Justice of the Peach Wells Spencer. The thirty day trail held court in the Tombstone Mining exchange and heard testimony from both sides of the confrontation. The defendants were found not guilty and only promoted a deadly feud between the Earps and the Clantons.

Statement of E F Boyle

The transcribed testimony and statement of E. F. Boyle regarding the gunfight on Fremont Street in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. E. F Boyle is one of six people who testified that they heard Ike Clanton making threats to kill the Earps and Holiday. Boyle testified on November 17th and 23rd, 1881.

On this seventeenth day of November, 1881, on the hearing of the above entitled cause, on the examination of Wyatt Earp and J. H. Holliday; E. F. Boyle, a witness of lawful age being produced and sworn, deposes and says as follows:

E. F. Boyle, November 17, 1881. Barkeeper. To questions, relates that he knows Ike and that he met Ike in front of the telegraph office, about 8:30 or 9 A.M., October 26. They had a talk. Ike had a pistol with him.

(Q) State what if any threats were then made by him in respect to Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp or Doc Holliday, and if any threats were made, whether or not you communicated the same to W. Earp, V. Earp, M. Earp or Doc Holliday before the difficulty [later in the day]. Objected to. Objection sustained. Unanswered.

[Signed] E. F. Boyle

E. F. Boyle, a barkeeper, of Tombstone, November 23, 1881.

(Q) As to any threats he had heard from Ike. Objected to by prosecution. [Overruled.]
(A) After I went off watch at 8 o’clock in the morning, I met Ike Clanton in front of the telegraph office in this town. His pistol was in sight and I covered it with his coat and advised him to go to bed. He insisted that he wouldn’t go to bed: that as soon as the Earps and Doc Holliday showed themselves on the street, the ball would open-that they would have to fight. He started to Kelly’s saloon and I went down to Wyatt Earp’s house and told him that Ike Clanton had threatened that when him and his brothers and Doc Holliday showed themselves on the street that the ball would open. Then I left and went home to bed.

(Q) Did you see any weapons [on Ike] except the rifle?

(A) Yes the pistol.

(Q) Do you know Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton?

(A) I know them all.

(Q) Do you know their reputation for courage and how expert they were in the use of firearms?

(A) Only by hearsay.

(Q) To what extent is that hearsay?

(A) The hearsay is that they are the finest in the country.

CROSS EXAMINATION

(Q) [Not written].

(A) Ike Clanton was the only one present at the time of our conversation.

(Q) [Not written].

(A) Learned of their reputation last year before the difficulty.

(Q) [Not written.]

(A) Knew Tom McLaury about 18 months, never knew him to be in a difficulty with anybody. Learned of Tom McLaury’s reputation from old James Sweeny of Pick-‘Em-Up. I learned that Tom was one of the best shots in the country. I never questioned his courage.

(Q) Now tell me, who else told you about his reputation as a courageous and fine shot?

(A) Well, there [were] several sitting together down at Pick-‘Em-Up, and Jim Sweeny and Ned Fielder were speaking of his courage and being a fine shot, all I know of his reputation is from these men.

(Q) [Not written].

(A) Knew Billy Clanton about the same length of time. Never was on intimate terms with him. Never knew him to be in any difficulty.

(Q) How do you come to state he had a general reputation for courage and was an expert shot?

(A) From the association of men he traveled with.

(Q) [Not written].

(A) I can’t tell any of the men from whom I heard their reputation. I have known Ike Clanton about two years. Knew Frank McLaury about 18 months. Ed Shipman, he now lives in Los Angeles, and it is from his statement that I got his general reputation, and no other.

(Q) [Not written].

(A) Will Hicks and Frank McLaury were in Kelly’s saloon and a man named Smith that keeps a store in Galeyville and Frank McLaury went out. This all happened one morning about two months ago. I came to open up the saloon for Kelly, and when I opened the saloon, I met this big [sic] Ed Byrnes, Frank McLaury, and John Ringo; and Byrnes started to tell me what-[all crossed out with lines, but no notation of the same.]

(Q) Did you ever of your [own] knowledge know of Frank McLaury to be in any difficulty?

(A) No sir.

Refereces

• Famous Trials

The transcribed testimony and statement of Virgil Earp regarding the gunfight on Fremont Street in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. The gunfight on Fremont street, infamously known as the Gunfight at the O K Corral, is referred to initially by the Earp’s as “the difficulty.”

On this nineteenth day of November, 1881, on the hearing of the above entitled cause on the examination of Wyatt Earp and J. H. Holliday; Virgil W. Earp, a witness of lawful age, being produced and sworn, deposes and says as follows:

My name is Virgil W. Earp; I reside in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory. My occupation: Chief of Police of Tombstone and Deputy U. S. Marshal.

(Q) State what official position, if any, you occupied on the 25th and 26th of October last.

(A) Chief of Police of Tombstone and Deputy United States Marshal, and was acting as such on those days?

(Q) State what official or other position, if any, with respect to the police department of Tombstone, was occupied on the 25th and 26th of October last by Morgan Earp.

(A) He was sworn in as Special Policeman and wore a badge with “Special Police” engraved on it, and he had been sworn and acted as a “Special” for about a month.

(Q) State what official or other position, if any, with respect to the police department of Tombstone, was occupied on the 25th and 26th of October last by Wyatt Earp.

(A) Wyatt Earp had been sworn in to act in my place while I was in Tucson, and on my return his saloon [Oriental) was opened and I ap­pointed him a “Special,” to keep the peace, with power to make arrest, and also called on him on the 26th, to assist me in disarming those parties: Ike Clanton and Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury.

(Q) State what position or deputization, if any, with respect to assisting you as Chief of Police, was occupied on the 26th of October last, or anytime during that day by John H. Holliday.

(A) I called on him that day for assistance to help disarm the Clantons and McLaurys.

(Q) State fully all the circumstances of and attendant upon the difficulty which resulted in the death of Frank McLaury, Thomas McLaury, and Billy Clanton, commencing on the day of the difficulty and confining your answers for the present entirely to what occurred within your sight and hearing on the day of the difficulty, on the 26th of October.

(A) On the morning of the 26th, somewhere about six or seven o’clock, I started to go home, and Ike Clanton stopped me and wanted to know if I would carry a message from him to Doc Holliday. I asked him what it was. He said, “The damned son of a bitch has got to fight.” I said, “Ike, I am an officer and I don’t want to hear you talking that way at all. I am going down home now, to go to bed; I don’t want you to raise any disturbance while I am in bed.”

I started to go home, and when I got ten feet from him he said, “You won’t carry the message?” I said, “No, of course I won’t.” I made four or five steps more. He said, “You may have to fight before you know it.” [Here, counsel for the prosecution reserves the right to strike out at the close, any portion of the answer]. I made no reply to him and went home and went to bed. I don’t know how long had been in bed. It must have been between 9 and 10 o’clock when one of the policemen came and told me to get up, as there was liable to be hell.

I did not get up right away, but in about half art hour I got up. I cannot tell exactly what time it was. Along about 11 or 12 o’clock I came up on the street and met a man by the name of Lynch. I found Ike Clanton on Fourth Street between Fremont and Allen with a Winchester rifle in his hand and a six-shooter stuck down in his breeches. I walked up and grabbed the rifle in my left hand. He let loose and started to draw his six-shooter. I hit him over the head with mine and knocked him to his knees and took his six-shooter from him. I ask him if he was hunting for me. He said he was, and if he had seen me a second sooner he would have killed me. I arrested Ike for carrying firearms, I believe was the charge, inside the city limits.

When I took him to the courtroom, Judge Wallace was not there. I left him in charge of Special Officer Morgan Earp while I went out to look for the Judge. After the examination I asked him where he wanted his arms left, and he said, “Anywhere I can get them, for you hit me over the head with your six-shooter.” I told him I would leave them at the Grand Hotel bar, and done so. I did not hear, at that time, any quarrel between Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton. The next I saw them, they were, all four; Ike Clanton, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury in the gun shop on Fourth Street. I saw Wyatt Earp shooing a horse off the sidewalk and went down and saw them all in the gun shop, filling up their belts with cartridges and looking at the pistols and guns.

There was a committee waiting on me then and called me away to one side. I turned to Wyatt Earp and told him to keep peace and order until I came back and to move the crowd off the sidewalk and not let them obstruct it. When I saw them again, all four of them were going in Dunbar’s Corral. They did not remain long there. They came out and went into the O.K. Corral.

I called on Johnny Behan who refused to go with me, to go help disarm these parties. He said if he went along with me, there would be a fight sure; that they would not give up their arms to me. He said, “They won’t hurt me,” and, “I will go down alone and see if I can disarm them.” I told him that was all I wanted them to do; to layoff their arms while they were in town. Shortly after he left, I was notified that they were on Fremont Street, and I called on Wyatt and Morgan Earp, and Doc Holliday to go and help me disarm the Clan tons and McLaurys. We started down Fourth Street to Fremont, turned down Fremont west, towards Fly’s lodging house. When we got about somewhere by Bauer’s butcher shop, I saw the parties before we got there, in a vacant lot between the photograph gallery and the house west of it. The parties were Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury, Johnny Behan, and the Kid.

Johnny Behan seen myself and party coming down towards them. He left the Clanton and McLaury party and came on a fast walk towards us, and once in a while he would look behind at the party he left, as though expecting danger of some kind. He met us somewhere close to the butcher shop. He threw up both hands, like this [illustrating] and said, “For God’s sake, don’t go there or they will murder you!”

I said, “Johnny, I am going down to disarm them.” By this time I had passed him a step and heard him say, “I have disarmed them all.” When he said that, I had a walking stick in my left hand, and my right hand was on my six-shooter in my waist pants [verbatim], and when he said he had disarmed them, I shoved it clean around to my left hip and changed my walking stick to my right hand.

As soon as Behan left them, they moved in between the two buildings, out of sight of me. We could not see them. All we could [see] was about half a horse. They were all standing in a row. Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury had their hands on their six-shooters. I don’t hardly know how Ike Clanton was standing, but I think he had his hands in an attitude where I supposed he had a gun. Tom McLaury had his hand on a Winchester rifle on a horse.

As soon as I saw them, I said, “Boys, throw up your hands, I want your guns,” or “arms.” With that, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton drew their six-shooters and commenced to cock them, and I heard them go “click-click.” Ike Clanton threw his hand in his breast, this way [illustrates]. At that, I said, throwing both hands up, with the cane in my right hand, “Hold on, I don’t want that!” As I said that, Billy Clanton threw his six-shooter down, full cocked. I was standing to the left of my party, and he was standing on the right of Frank and Tom McLaury. He was not aiming at me, but his pistol was kind of past me. Two shots went off right together. Billy Clanton’s was one of them. At that time I changed my cane to my left hand, and went to shooting; it was general then, and everybody went to fighting.

At the crack of the first two pistols, the horse jumped to one side, and Tom McLaury failed to get the Winchester. He threw his hand back this way [shows the motion]. He followed the movement of the horse around, making him a kind of breastwork, and fired once, if not twice, over the horse’s back.

[TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1881, EXAMINATION RESUMED]

(Q) When you met Lynch on the morning, or noon, of October 26th, what did he tell you?

(A) He told me to look out for Ike Clanton that he was hunting me, and allowed to kill me on sight.

(Q) State what threats, if any, were made by Isaac Clanton, William Clanton, Thomas McLaury, or Frank McLaury, to you, or in your presence, and what threats if any, by either of the aforementioned persons were communicated to you as having been made in the presence of others, giving the name of the persons making the communications to you, in detail.

(A) The first man who spoke to me about any threats was Officer Bronk. I was down home in bed when he called. He came down after [a] commitment I had for a party that was in jail. It was about 9 o’clock I should think, on the 26th of October. While he was getting the commitment, he said, “You had better get up. There is liable to be hell!” He said, “Ike Clanton has threatened to kill Holliday as soon as he gets up.” And he said, “He’s counting you fellows in too,” meaning me and my brothers. I told him I would get up after a while, and he went off.

The next man was Lynch; I’ve stated what he said. The next I met, was Morgan and James Earp. One of them asked me if I had seen Ike Clanton. I told them I had not. One of them said, “He has got a Winchester rifle and six-shooter on, and threatens to kill us on sight.” I asked Morgan if he had any idea where we could find him. He said he did not. I told him then to come and go with me, and we could go and arrest him, and disarm him.

Several men came on Allen Street between Fourth and Fifth; miners whose names I do not know. This was after Ike Clanton’s arrest and before the fight. There was one man in particular who came and said, “Ain’t you liable to have trouble?” I told him I didn’t know, it looks kind of that way, but couldn’t tell. He said, “I seen two more of them just rode in,” and he said, “Ike walked up to them and was telling them about you hitting him over the head with a six-shooter.” He said that one of them rode in on a horse [and] said, “Now is our time to make a fight.” This was after the arms of Ike Clanton were returned to the Grand Hotel.

Just about the time the man was telling me this, Bob Hatch came and beckoned to me, as though he wanted to speak to me, and said, “For God’s sake, hurry down there to the gun shop, for they are all down there, and Wyatt is all alone!” He said, “They are liable to kill him before you get there!” The other man told me to be careful, and not turn my back on them or I would be killed, that they meant mischief. Lynch remarked­ [paragraph not completed.

There was a man named W. B. Murray and a man named J. L. Fonck came at separate times and said, “I know you are going to have trouble, and we have got plenty of men and arms to assist you.” Murray was the first man to approach me, on the afternoon of the 26th. I was talking to Behan at the time in Hafford’s Saloon, trying to get him to go down and help me disarm them. Murray took me to one side and said, “I have been looking into this matter and know you are going to have trouble. I can get 25 armed men at a minutes notice.” He said, “If you want them, say so.” I told him, as long as they stayed in the corral, the O.K. Corral, I would not go down to disarm them; if they came out on the street, I would take their arms off and arrest them. He said, “You can count on me if there is any danger.”

I walked from the comer of Fourth and Allen Streets, west, just across the street. J. L. Fonck met me there, and he said, “The cowboys are making threats against you.” And he said, “If you want any help, I can furnish ten men to assist.” I told him I would not bother them as long as they were in the corral; if they showed up on the street, I would disarm them. “Why,” he said, “they are all down on Fremont Street there now.” Then I called on Wyatt and Morgan Earp, and Doc Holliday to go with me and help disarm them.

Frank McLaury made a threat to me one day on the street. It must have been about a month before the shooting and it might have been a week after the notice in the paper of the formation of a vigilance committee. Frank McLaury stepped up to me in the street between the Express Office and the Grand Hotel. He said, “I understand you are raising a vigilance committee to hang us boys.” I said, “You boys?” He said, “Yes, us and [the] Clantons, Hicks, Ringo, and all us cowboys.” I said to him, “Frank, do [you] remember the time Curly Bill killed White?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “Who guarded him that night and run him to Tucson next morning to keep the vigilance committee from hanging him?” He said, “You boys.” I said, “Now do you believe we belong to it?” He said, “I can’t help but believe the man who told me you do.” I said, “Who told you?” He said, “Johnny Behan,” “Now,” he says, “I’ll tell you, it makes no difference what I do, I never will surrender my arms to you.” He said, “I’d rather die fighting than be strangled.” I made some remark to him, “Alright,” or something-and then left him.

[Counsel for the Prosecution moves to strike out all the proceeding conversation with Frank McLaury on the ground that it is irrelevant and contains no threats against this de fen dent. Objection taken under advisement.]

(Q) State any conversation had by you, if any, with Isaac Clanton or Frank McLaury in this town with respect to obtaining information from them, or either of them, that should lead to the capture or killing of the parties suspected to have been engaged in the killing of Bud Philpot and the attempt to rob the Benson Stage.

[Objected to by Prosecution on the ground that the question is too broad and enquires into conversations with Frank McLaury which are more hearsay and irrelevant and for which no foundation had been laid. Objection sustained as to Frank McLaury, but overruled as to Ike Clanton and admitted to contradict his statement.]

(A) About last June, in Tombstone, Ike Clanton asked me where we could go to have a long talk, where nobody could hear us excepting those who were along at the time. We turned around the corner of Allen and Fifth Streets, alongside of Danner and Owen’s Saloon. He said, “I’ve had a long talk with Wyatt in regard to Leonard, Head, and Crane,” and he said, “I believe I can trust you.” He said, “I am going to put up a job for you boys to catch them.”

I said, “How can I know you are in earnest and can trust you?” “Well,” he said, “now I’ll tell you all about it.” He said that Leonard had a fine ranch over in the Cloverdale County [New Mexico]. He said, “As soon as I heard of him robbing the stage, I rounded up my cattle on the San Pedro here, and run them over and jumped his ranch.” And he said, “Shortly after you boys gave up the chase who should come riding up but Leonard, Head, and Crane.” And he said, “By God, they have been stopping around there ever since, and it looks as though they are going to stay.” He said, “They have already told me that I would either have to buy the ranch or get off of it. I told them that I supposed after what they had done, they would not dare to stay in the country and I supposed you would rather your friends would get your ranch than anybody else.” He said, “But if they were going to stay in the country he would either get off or buy the ranch. Now you can see why I want these men either captured or killed, and I would rather have them killed.” I said, “There are three of you and there is only three of them. Why don’t you capture or kill them, and I would see that you get the reward?” He says, “Jesus Christ! I would not last longer than a snowball in hell if I should do that!” He says, “The rest of the gang would think we killed them for the reward and they would kill us.” “But,” he says, “We have agreed with Wyatt to bring them to a certain spot, where you boys can capture them.” And he said, “As soon as Wyatt gets a telegram he is going to send for, in regard to the reward dead or alive, and they will give it, dead or alive, we’ll start right after them, to bring them over.” I said, “Where will you bring them to?” He said, “Either to McLaury’s ranch or Willow Springs.”

“Now,” he said, “I want you never to give us away or say a word about it, except [to] the party you take along.” There were some few more remarks made-I don’t remember what they were-and we broke up for that time. This is about 3 o’clock in the morning after [the] conversa­tion Ike Clanton had with Wyatt Earp. I had another conversation with him when he said Wyatt showed him the dispatch saying that the Wells, Fargo would pay the reward dead or alive.

(Q) In reference to the statement made by Isaac Clanton in his testimony, I ask you: Did you ever, at any time, tell Isaac Clanton to tell Billy Leonard not to think that you were trying to catch him when you were running him, or to tell Billy Leonard that you had thrown Paul and the posse off Leonard’s track when he left Helm’s ranch at the foot of the Dragoon Mountains, or to tell Billy Leonard that you [had] taken the posse in pursuit of him on to a trail in New Mexico, or to tell Billy Leonard you had done all you could for him, or to tell Billy Leonard that you wanted him to get Crane and Head and get them out of the country, because you were afraid one of them might get captured and get all his friends into trouble?

(A) I never did.

(Q) State now, Mr. Earp, any threats communicated to you that you have omitted to state heretofore.

(A) There was a man met me on the corner of Fourth and Allen Streets about 2 o’clock in the afternoon of the day of the shooting. He said, “I just passed the O.K. Corral,” and he said, he saw four of five men all armed and heard one of them say, “Be sure to get Earp, the Marshal” Another replied and said, “We will kill them all!” When he met me on the corner he said, “Is your name Earp?” and I told him it was. He said, “Are you the Marshal?” and I told him I was. I did not know the man. I have ascertained who he was since. His name is Sills, I believe.

CROSS-EXAMINATION

(Q) Where does Sills live, and what is his business?

(A) I never met him until that day. I do not know what his business is I don’t know where he resides.

(Q) At what house in Tombstone does he live?

(A) I don’t know, only by say-so.

(Q) Can you give us any information as to where he lives?

(A) I understand he is stopping at the hospital.

(Q) When did you last see him?

(A) Yesterday. I saw him here.

(Q) Who, if anybody, was present when he made that communication to you, on the corner of Fourth and Allen Streets?

(A) I don’t think anybody was close enough to hear the conversation.

(Q) How long did that conversation take place, before you started for Fremont Street?

(A) Somewhere in the neighborhood of a quarter or half an hour not over half an hour; it might not have been that long.

(Q) Was it before or after Behan left Hafford’s Saloon?

(A) To the best of my recollection, it was just after.

(Q) At the time you took Isaac Clanton’s rifle and pistol from him, did you approach in front or behind him?

(A) Behind him.

(Q) Did you speak to him before you seized his rifle?

(A) I think not.

(Q) With which hand did you take his rifle?

(A) With my left hand.

(Q) Where was your pistol when you seized his rifle?

(A) In my right hand.

(Q) Was he facing you, or was his back towards you when you struck him?

(A) He was turned about halfway around. I don’t know whether his body was turned; his head was.

(Q) Which of the Clantons or McLaurys did you see putting cartridges in their belts at the gun shop on the occasion you have spoken of in your direct examination?

(A) William Clanton, Frank McLaury was standing right beside him. I don’t think I saw any of the others putting cartridges in their belt. It looked like Frank McLaury was helping Billy Clanton.

(Q) Where was Tom McLaury at the time and what was he doing?

(A) I can’t say. They were all in a bunch, and I could not see what each was doing.

(Q) Were Isaac Clanton and Frank McLaury in the gun shop at that time?

(A) I am positive that Billy Clanton, Ike Clanton and Frank McLaury were in there, and am under the impression that Tom was there.

(Q) Where was Wyatt Earp at the time?

(A) He was standing on the edge of the sidewalk when I first discovered him in front of the gun shop.

(Q) Was that during the time that Billy Clanton and the other persons you have named were in the guns hop?

(A) It was. I first saw Wyatt Earp as I turned the comer of Allen and Fourth Streets, in front of the gun shop, on the edge of the sidewalk. I noticed him step into the crowd and take hold of a horse and “shoo” him off the sidewalk.

(Q) What crowd do you allude [to]?

(A) There was a dozen or more on the sidewalk, gathered in a knot. I can’t call to mind who they were.

(Q) Where were Morgan Earp and Holliday at this time?

(A) I don’t remember seeing him at that time. I saw them on the comer of Allen and Fourth Streets about five or ten minutes before that. I can’t say whether Holliday was armed at that time. Morgan Earp was.

(Q) At the time spoken of, when you were in Hafford’s Saloon, did you have a shotgun or rifle?

(A) I had a shotgun and six-shooter.

(Q) When and where did you get that shotgun?

(A) [Verbatim as in original document] Got it in the Express Office of Wells Fargo, on Allen Street, at the time they were down at the gun shop. It had been at my service for six months. No one handed it to me at the time. I got it myself.

(Q) What did you do with it?

(A) When I called Morgan Earp, Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holliday to go and help me disarm the McLaurys and Clantons, Holliday had a large overcoat on, and I told him to let me have his cane, and he take the shotgun, that I did not want to create any excitement going down the street with a shotgun in .my hand. When we made the exchange, I said, “Come along,” and we all went along.

(Q) You speak of a committee that called on you when you were in front of the gun shop. Who composed that committee?

(A) I don’t know their names. They were miners, I should judge.

(Q) At the time when Behan met you on Fremont Street and said, “For God’s sake, don’t go down there or they will murder you!” where were Wyatt and Morgan Earp?

(A) They were right behind me.

(Q) Where was Holliday?

(A) We were all in a bunch. I think he was also right behind me.

(Q) You say at the commencement of the affray, two shots went off close together, and that Billy Clanton’s was one of them. Who fired the other shot?

(A) Well, I’m inclined to think it was Wyatt Earp that fired it.

(Q) How many shots did you fire, and at whom?

(A) I fired four shots. One at Frank McLaury, and I believe the other three were at Billy Clanton. I am pretty positive one was at Frank McLaury and three at Billy Clanton.

(Q) What is Lynch’s first name, and place of residence?

(A) I don’t know his first name. After the fight he was put on the police force.

The transcribed testimony of J H Behan regarding the gunfight on Fremont Street in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.

A Brief History

The gunfight at the O.K. Corral summary refers to an infamous shootout in the American West in the streets of Tombstone Arizona at at 3:00pm, October 26,1881. Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, and Wyatts brothers Virgil and Morgan confronted Ike Clanton, Billy Clanton, Billy Claiborn and brothers Frank and Tom McLaury in a vacant lot next to the uninteresting O.K. Corral over death threats made in recent days.

The thirty second gunfight caused witnesses to see nine men fire dozens of times at distances of under twenty feet. The aftermath left three men dead and became the most notorious gunfight of the wild west.

Following the trial, murder charges were filed against the Earp brothers and Doc Holiday. I preliminary hearing in front of Justice of the Peach Wells Spencer. The thirty day trail held court in the Tombstone Mining exchange and heard testimony from both sides of the confrontation. The defendants were found not guilty and only promoted a deadly feud between the Earps and the Clantons.

Testimony of J H Behan

On this thirteenth day of November, 1881, on the hearing of the above entitled cause of the examination of Wyatt Earp and J. H. Holliday; John H. Behan, a witness of lawful age, being produced and sworn, deposes and says as follows: 

My name is John H. Behan. I reside in Tombstone. I am Sheriff of Cochise County. I know the defendants, Wyatt Earp and John H. Holliday. I know the defendants, Virgil Earp and Morgan Earp. In their lifetime I knew Thomas McLaury, Frank McLaury, and William Clanton. I know Isaac Clanton. I was here in Tombstone on the 26th of October, when a difficulty took place and a shooting occurred between the parties mentioned.

(Q) Will you state what you know about this difficulty?

(A) The first that I knew that there was likely to be any trouble; I was sitting in the barber’s chair, getting shaved-Barron’s Barber Shop. It was about half-past one, I think. It might have been later. I saw a crowd gathering on the comer of Allen and Fourth Streets. Someone in the barber shop said there was liable to be trouble between the Earps and Clantons. There was considerable said about it by parties sitting around. I asked the barber to hurry up, that I was anxious to go out and disarm and arrest the parties. I then went over to Hafford’s Comer. I saw Marshal Earp standing there and asked him what was the excitement. This was Virgil Earp, the marshal. He said there were, “a lot of sons-of-bitches in town looking for a fight.” I don’t think he mentioned any names.

I said to him, “You had better disarm the crowd.” He said he would not, that he would give them a chance to make a fight. I said to him, “It is your duty as a peace officer instead of encouraging a fight to disarm the parties.” I don’t remember that I said exactly, “cowboys,” but I meant, “the boys,” I meant the parties to the fight; I meant any parties connected with the cowboys who had arms.

Marshal Earp and Doc Holliday were standing out at the middle of the intersection of the streets-Allen and Fourth Streets. I only saw Virgil Earp and Doc Holliday in the middle of the streets, between Smith’s Corner and Hafford’s.

Virgil Earp had a shotgun, with the muzzle touching the doorsill, down by the side. I did not see any arms on the others at the time. I left Hafford’s  Comer and walked down on the east side of Fourth Street and crossed over to the southwest comer of Fremont and Fourth where I met Frank McLaury holding a horse and talking to someone? I greeted him and said to him. . . [Defense makes objection to any conversation of Frank McLaury being related. Overruled] I told McLaury I would have to disarm him; that there was likely to be some trouble and I proposed to disarm everybody having arms. He said that he would not give up his guns; that he did not intend to have any trouble. I told him he would have to give [up] his gun all the same, or his pistol. [The following two lines were illegible in the hand-written original.] About that time I saw Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury down below Fly’s building. I said to Frank McLaury, “Come along with me.” We went to where Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury were standing. I said to them, “Boys, you must give up your arms.” [Defense objects. Overruled.]

When I arrived there, I found Ike Clanton, Tom McLaury, William Clanton, and William Claiborne there. Frank McLaury went along with me. I said to the boys, “You have got to give up your arms.” Frank McLaury demurred. He did not seem inclined at first to be disarmed. Ike Clanton told me that he had nothing, that he was not armed. I put my arm around his waist to see if he was. I found that he was not. Tom McLaury showed me by pulling his coat open that he was not armed. I saw five standing there. I asked them how many there were of their party. They said, “Four.” Claiborne said he was not one of the party that he was there wanting them to leave town. I then said, “Boys, you must go up to the Sheriff’s Office and layoff your arms, and stay there until I get back.” I told them I was going to disarm the other party.

At that time I saw [the] Earps and Holliday coming down the sidewalk on the south side of Fremont Street. They were between the Post Office and Bauer’s Butcher Shop. I mean Morgan Earp, Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, and Doc Holliday. I said to the Clanton party, “Wait here. I see them coming down. I will go up and stop them.” I walked up the street about 22 or 23 steps. I met them at Bauer’s Butcher Shop, and told them not to go any further, that I was down there for the purpose of disarming the Clantons and McLaurys. They wouldn’t heed me, paid no attention. And I said, “Gentleman, I am Sheriff of this County, and I am not going to allow any trouble if I can help it.” They brushed past me. I turned and went with them. I was probably a step or two in the rear as we went down the street. I was expostulating with them all this time.

When they arrived within a very few feet of the Clan tons and McLaurys I heard one of them say-I think it was Wyatt Earp-“You sons of-bitches, you have been looking for a fight, and now you can have it!” Also, about this time I heard a voice say, “Throw up your hands!”

During this time, pistols were pointed. I saw a nickel-plated pistol in particular [which] was pointed at one of the party. I think at Billy Clanton. My impression at the time was that Holliday had the nickel plated pistol. I will not say for certain that Holliday had it. These pistols I speak of were in the hands of the Earp party.

When the order was [given] to “Throw up your hands!” I heard Billy Clanton say, “Don’t shoot me. I don’t want to fight!” Tom McLaury at the same time threw open his coat and said, “I have nothing,” or “I’m not armed,” or something like that. He made the same remark and the same gesture he made to me when he showed me he was not armed, by catching hold of his coat on both sides and throwing it out that way [illustrating]. When Billy Clanton made the remark about not wanting to fight, I did not see the position of his hands. My attention was directed to the nickel-plated pistol for a couple of seconds. The nickel-plated pistol was the first to fire, and instantaneously a second shot3-two shots right to­gether simultaneously-these two shots couldn’t have been from the same pistol-they were too near together. The nickel-plated pistol was fired by the second man from the right; the third man from the right fired the second shot, if it can be called a second shot. Then the fight became general. After the first two shots, there were two or three shots fired very rapidly-I couldn’t tell by whom. The first two shots were fired by the Earp party. I can’t swear by whom the shots immediately after the first two shots were fired. My impression at the time was that the next three shots came from the same side as the first two shots-that is, the Earp party. [Defense counsel objects to witness stating his impressions. [Overruled] This was my impression at the time, from being on the ground and seeing it.

After the remark, “Throw up your hands!” was made; the nickel plated pistol went off. I think it was V. [Virgil] W. Earp who said, “Throw up your hands!” There was a good deal of fighting and shooting going on. The next [a few words here are illegible] that I saw, Frank McLaury [was] staggering on the street, with one hand to [his] belly and his pistol in his right. I saw him shoot at Morgan Earp, and from the direction of the pistol, I should say he hit the ground. Frank McLaury shot twice towards Fly’s building, and [as] he started across the street, he was shooting at Morgan Earp at the time. I heard a couple of shots from that direction. I didn’t see him after he got about halfway across the street. My attention was directed in another direction. I looked then in that direction and saw Frank McLaury running and a shot was fired and he fell on his head, and I heard Morgan Earp say, “I got him!”

That’s about the end of the fight. There might have been a couple of shots afterwards, but I don’t remember. I can’t say that I saw the effect of the first two shots. The only parties I saw fall in the fight were Morgan Earp and Frank McLaury. I saw Morgan Earp fall and recover himself. I did not see any movement of any person that indicated any effect from the first two shots. I didn’t notice any indication [illegible].

The first man I was satisfied was hit was Frank McLaury. I saw him staggering and bewildered and I knew he was hit. This was shortly after the first five shots. I never saw any arms in the hands of anyone of the McLaury party, excepting Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton. I saw Frank McLaury on the sidewalk, within a very few feet of the lil1e of the fronts of the lots opposite the vacant lot between Fly’s building and the boarding house below it.

I suppose there was as many as eight or ten shots before I saw arms in the hands of any of the McLaury or Clanton party. Frank McLaury is the first man of that party in whose hands I saw a pistol. Ike Clanton broke and run after the first five shots were fired. I saw him at the back corner of Fly’s house, the last I saw of him there. I should judge he ran into an addition on the back of Fly’s building.

[COURT ADJOURNED UNTIL TOMORROW MORNING AT 9 O’CLOCK]

[EXAMINATION OF JOHN H. BEHAN RESUMED]

 
I couldn’t tell where he [Ike Clanton] was going to. I found him on Toughnut Street, at Judge Lucas’ old office. I saw him at the comer of the Photograph Gallery. I never saw him after he passed the comer of the gallery. He seemed to be trying to get away. I should judge he went through the house. I saw a shotgun before the fight commenced. Doc Holliday had it. He had it under his coat. I do not know of my knowledge that it was fired, as I did not see it go off. I could not distinguish it from the other shots. I did not notice it afterward. I do not know what became of it. I saw the bodies of the deceased after they were dead. Clanton was not quite dead. I saw Clanton lying on the sidewalk. I heard him say, “Go away and let me die.” He said it after being taken in the house. I saw him lying on the sidewalk, and I saw him when he shot at Morgan Earp, while lying down. Quite a number was in the room. I do not know who they were. I saw Dr. Giberson in the room. He said nothing would do him, Clanton, any good he was dying. I was not in the house when he died. I left before he died. Tom McLaury was in the same room. Clanton’s feet were toward the door. I do not remember McLaury’s position.

CROSS-EXAMINATION

(Q) Did you receive the first information of the anticipated difficulty between the Earp party and the Clanton party at the barber shop, of which you have spoken?

(A) My recollection is that I heard of it first in the barber shop.

(Q) Had you previous to that time heard of a difficulty between Wyatt Earp and Tom McLaury in the neighborhood of Wallace’s office?

(A) I had not.

(Q) You being in town and assumedly mingling with the people, if those difficulties were a matter of common comment, how did it happen that a report of it did not reach you? [Objected to by Prosecution. Sustained.]

(Q) Were you not in Hafford’s Saloon some 15 or 20 minutes before the fight?

(A) I was in Hafford’s Saloon some 10 or 15 minutes before the fight.

(Q) Did you not cross the street in company with one Shibell?

(A) I did, with Charles A. Shibell.

(Q) Did you see Virgil Earp?

(A) I do not remember whether I did or not.

(Q) Did you not say to Virgil Earp at the time, “We are going to take a drink. Won’t you join us?”

(A) I do not remember whether he took a drink or not.

(Q) Do you not remember that while the parties were drinking, that Captain Murray came in and called Virgil Earp to the lower end of the counter?

(A) I do not remember.

(Q) Do you remember that when Virgil Earp came back from Murray’s to where you were standing, you said to him: “What does that son-of-a-bitch stranger want?”

(A) I do not remember, and I do not think such words passed my lips as Captain Murray and I are on the best of terms.

(Q) Do you remember that you then asked Virgil Earp what he was going to do?

(A) No, I do not.

(Q) Do you recollect Virgil Earp replying: “I am going to disarm them.”?

(A) No.

(Q) Do you recollect replying to that remark: “Don’t undertake to do that,” or: “They will kill you”-referring to the Clanton crowd. “They were just down in my corral having a gun talk against you and threatening your life?”

(A) No such conversation happened. I made no such reply. I had not been down in my corral.

(Q) Do you recollect further saying: “I will go down where they are; they won’t hurt me, and I will get them to layoff their arms”-this was said to Virgil Earp?

(A) This conversation did not take place at that time.

(Q) Did you, subsequent to the fight, somewhere in the city of Tombstone, and upon the day of the fight and speaking of the fight between the Earp crowd and the Clanton crowd, say to Charles Shibell that it was a dead square fight and that you could not tell who shot first?

(A) No sir.

(Q) Did you not make that remark, or [one] of similar import to Wyatt Earp after the fight, on the comer of Fremont and Fomth Streets, and upon the day of the fight?

(A) No sir.

(Q) If anything, how much have you contributed or have promised to contribute to the associated attorneys who are now prosecuting this case?

(A) I have not contributed a cent, nor have I promised to.

(Q) Were not you and Wyatt Earp applicants to General Fremont for the appointment of Sheriff of Cochise County, and did not Wyatt Earp withdraw his application upon your promise to divide the profits of the office and did not you subsequently refuse to comply with your part of the contract? [Objected to by the Prosecution. Overruled.]

(A) In the first place we were both applicants for the office. I was, and I understood Mr. Earp was. When I became satisfied that I would get the appointment, I went to Mr. Earp and told him that I knew I would get the appointment of Sheriff, and that I would like to have him in the office with me. I also told him that I did not want him to cease his efforts to get the office if he could. I told him I was sure I could get it and that if I did, I would take him in, that in case he got the office, I did not want anything to do with it. He said it was very kind of me, that if he got the office he had his brothers to provide for, and could not return the compliment if he got it. I said I asked nothing if he got it, but in case I got it, and I was certain of it, I would like to have him in the office with me. I said, “Let this talk make no difference with you in your efforts to get the office.” Something afterwards transpired that I did not take him into the office.

(Q) Up to the time of this difficulty under consideration, have you not regarded Wyatt Earp as an aspirant for the office of Sheriff of Cochise County?

(A) I have not.

(Q) [Question not written.]

(A) I did not see anyone take a pistol from William Clanton.

(Q) After the fight was over, how soon did you leave the battleground and where did you go?

(A) I cannot say how long; probably four or five minutes. I came up Fremont Street, thence to Hafford’s Corner.

(Q) Did you meet Wyatt Earp at the corner of Fremont and Fourth Streets?

(A) I did. 

(Q) Did you have any conversation with him?

(A) We had some conversation.

(Q) After the fight, were you upon the stoop in the passageway between the lodging house and the photograph gallery, and how long?

(A) I was on the stoop a very [few] seconds after the fight.

(Q) Did you not at the time suppose that you were [the] only, or about the only witness, outside of the parties concerned in the difficulty, who witnessed the difficulty? [Objected to on the ground that it is irrelevant and immaterial. Objection sustained. ]

(Q) Did you not, at the time and place, say to one of the Fly’s: “I’m about the only witness to that fight, am I not?”

(A) I don’t remember. I told him I saw it all. He was trying to get Claiborne out of the house. I told him to let him stay, as he was not to blame and might get killed.

(Q) After you followed or accompanied the Earps from under the awning of the butcher shop, and the fight commenced, did you occupy one position until the shooting ceased?

(A)No sir, I did not stand still. I moved around pretty lively.

(Q) When you heard the expression: “You sons-of-bitches, etc., hold up your hands, etc.” locate on this diagram [diagram shown] the exact position of the Clanton crowd.

(A)[Here witness makes use of diagram marked “Exhibit A,” and the witness indicates the position of the parties as follows: 1.Frank McLaury; 2. Billy Clanton; 3. Thomas McLaury; 4. Ike Clanton.] Claiborne was standing back of them, farther into the lot. I cannot state exactly where. The four numbered were not standing in as straight a row as the figures on the diagram. [Here witness corrects the positions.]

(Q) How long was it after the expressions of, “You sons-of-bitches, etc.,” and “throw up your hands!” was it that the firing commenced?

(A) I don’t think it was more than a second interval.

(Q) What interval of time between the expression, “You sons-of-bitches,” and “Throw up your hands!”?

(A) One expression followed the other-it was almost simultaneous.

(Q) At the time of those two expressions, I understand you to say you had your eye on a nickel-plated pistol. Did you see the nickel-plated pistol before you heard the expressions?

(A) I saw the nickel-plated pistol at the same time the expressions were made.

(Q) Did you see it in any interval before the expressions were made?

(A) I saw it at the same time.

(Q) Was it pointed, the first time you saw it?

(A) Yes, it was pointed at Billy Clanton.

(Q) Was it the commencement of the expressions, “You sons-of-bitches, etc.,” that diverted your attention from the Clanton crowd and concentrated it upon the Earp crowd?

(A) My attention was on the Earp crowd.

(Q) How long had your attention been especially on the Earp crowd?

(A) From the time I turned to go with them.

(Q) Did you see a shotgun in the hands of the Earp party, and if so, which one of them?

(A) The last time I saw the shotgun [it] was in the hands of Doc Holliday-he had it under his coat.

(Q) Did you see the shotgun employed in that difficulty?

(A) I did not.

(Q) Holliday having a shotgun just preceding the difficulty, and on the way to the difficulty, and your attention being especially directed to the Earp party, how does it happen that you do not know what became of the shotgun?

(A) I do not know-it might have been used and I not know of it.

(Q) Locate Holliday at the time, as you say, you think he discharged the nickel-plated pistol.

(A) [Witness marks on the diagram marked “Exhibit A”, by the figure 5, the position occupied by Holliday at the time he thinks Holli­day fired the shot.

(Q) And at what distance from the nearest of the Clanton Party?

(A) About five and a half or six feet, I should judge.

(Q) Do you still insist that the first shot was fired from the nickel plated pistol?

(A) Yes.

(Q) Is it not a fact that at the time of the firing of the first shot, Holliday was in the street, at least 25 feet from where you have located the Clanton crowd?

(A) No, it is was not.

(Q) Is it not a fact that the first shot fired by Holliday was from a shotgun; that he then threw the shotgun down and drew the nickel-plated pistol from his person and then discharged the nickel-plated pistol: Pre­suming Holliday to be number 5 on the diagram, is it not a fact that he fired the shotgun first

(A) [Question not answered.]

[COURT HERE RECESSES UNTIL 1 O’CLOCK] [HEARING RESUMED]

(Q) Had not the Clanton party, meaning the parties named as engaged in the conflict, a reputation for courage and determination?

[Objection by the Prosecution. Overruled.]

(A) They have that reputation. That is Frank McLaury and Ike Clanton-I never heard the reputation of the other two discussed.

(Q) Have not the Earp party the same reputation as to courage and determination?

(A) They have.

(Q) With your knowledge of the character of the two parties, were you not satisfied after the first hostile demonstration that the contact would proceed to a bitter end, and beyond the power of ordinary or extraordinary interference?

[Question objected to. Question overruled on the ground that it is mere opinion of the witness, upon the acts, that he has already related, and as being such opinion, is immaterial and irrelevant.]

(Q) With Allen fleeing into an alleyway, Claiborne, or the Kid, hiding in the photograph gallery, [and] Ike Clanton running away, why did you hover around there, exposing your person and life?

[Question overruled in its present form.]

(Q) What was the exterior dress of Doc Holliday at the time you saw him with a shotgun?

(A) He had on a heavy overcoat of gray color which came below his knees.

(Q) Did he change the overcoat from the time you first saw him until you think he discharged the nickel-plated pistol?

(A) I don’t think he changed it. He did not have time.

(Q) Did any other of the Earp party have a similar garment on?

(A) I think not.

(Q) What space of time was occupied between the first and last shot?

(A) I don’t think the fight lasted over 20 or 30 seconds.

(Q) Were you satisfied when you put your arm around the waist of Ike Clanton, Tom McLaury threw the lapels of his coat aside, and Billy Clanton said he did not want to fight, that these parties had no arms?

(A) When I left the Clanton party to meet the Earps, I was satisfied that Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury had no arms on them.

(Q) Could they not have had arms and you not know it?

(A) Ike Clanton could not without my knowing it. Tom McLaury might have had a pistol and I not know it.

(Q) As you examined him simply around the waist, could he not have had a pistol in his pocket?

(A) He could not have had a pistol in his pocket, as I examined him very closely with my eye.

(Q) Did you see a horse in that neighborhood?

(A) Yes sir.

(Q) Where exactly-noted on the diagram.

(A) I cannot designate precisely on the diagram where the horse was.

(Q) At what time connected with the hostilities did you see Frank McLaury hold that horse?

(A) He had hold of the horse when the Earp party first went down there.

(Q) What became of the horse when Frank McLaury occupied the position designated on the diagram as Figure I7?

(A) As long as I saw him occupy that position, he was holding the horse.

(Q) Then was the horse inside or outside the vacant lot?

(A) Inside the vacant lot.

(Q) How long before the difficulty did you see the horse in that position?

(A) They were occupying that position when I left to meet the Earp party and walked 21 or 22 steps and back, and the party all seemed to be in the same position.

(Q) Where was the horse immediately previous to and during the shooting?

(A) At the beginning of the shooting he was occupying that position.

(Q) Did the horse intervene between the Clanton party and Doc Holliday?

(A) I think not. It is possible that Frank McLaury may have stepped back behind the horse.

(Q) Did you see Tom McLaury discharge one or more pistol shots toward the Earp party-or, in other words, did you see Tom McLaury shoot over the horse’s back?

(A) No sir.

(Q) Did you see or hear any evidence of a shot proceeding from the alleyway between Fly’s house and the building east of it?

(A) No.

(Q) Did you not know that Tom McLaury shot Morgan over the horse’s back?

(A) No.

(Q) Have you ever heard any threats within the last few months on the part of the Clan tons and McLaurys against the defendants in this prosecution?

(A) I never heard any threats at any time.

(Q) Once or twice in your direct examination, you spoke of cowboys. What is a cowboy?

(A) My idea of a cowboy is men who deal in cattle Stockmen.

(Q) Do you regard the Clantons and McLaurys as cowboys?

[Question overruled on the ground that it is eliciting the opinion of the witness and is immaterial and irrelevant.]

(Q) Do you know the reputation of the Clantons and McLaurys in the section of the county in which they live and roam for turbulence? [Objected to on the ground that it is not cross-examination and is immaterial. Answer delayed. Objection sustained on the ground that it is not cross-examination and is immaterial.]

(Q) Have not the disturbances and main difficulties, breaches of the peace, and killings in this city and county been, in your opinion and knowledge, or either, connected with Clan tons or their confederates? [Prosecution objects on the same grounds as above. Overruled.]

(A) I never knew the McLaurys to be in any trouble or rows. Ike Clanton I have seen in one row here, and Billy Clanton I know nothing about.

(Q) Do you know William Allen?

(A) Yes sir.

(Q) Did you see him that day at or near the difficulty or shooting, at or near the time of said shooting?

(A) I don’t remember seeing him there.

(Q) Were you, during the time of the shooting, in the alleyway between Fly’s Gallery and the building on the east?

(A) I was not in any alleyway during the progress of the fight. (Q) When you left the Clanton party, as you stated, and ascended Fremont Street to meet the Earps, did you not say, addressing Wyatt Earp and Morgan Earp: “I have got them disarmed.” Or words to that effect?

(A) No sir.

(Q) Did not the Earp party, after some remark made by you to them, put their pistols farther back in their pants and did not Holliday pull his coat over his gun?

(A) No sir. Holliday pulled his coat over his gun before I spoke to him.

(Q) Have you, since the difficulty, had any interview with William Allen, to compare your recollections with him in regard to the difficulty?

(A) I had no interview with Allen about the matter; have met him and talked about it on the street. [Verbatim as in original.]

(Q) During the progress of the fight, did you see Ike Clanton take hold of Wyatt Earp’s left arm and hear Wyatt Earp say to him, “This fight has commenced either fight or get away!”?

(A) No sir.

(Q) Indicate on the diagram the position of the Earp party at the time of the firing of the first shot.

(A) I can locate the party but cannot give the position of each particular one [here witness marks on diagram “A”]. [The figures] 6, 7, and 8 represent three of the Earp party, and number 5 represents the one with the nickel-plated pistol. The Earp party was facing the Clanton party.

(Q) To the best of your belief, how far apart were the two parties?

(A) About five and a half or six feet; very close together.

(Q) Which represents [number] 8, to the best of your knowledge?

(A) I can’t tell exactly; my impression is that number 8 represents Virgil Earp.

(Q) What party is number 7, to the best of your knowledge?

(A) I don’t know.

(Q) Mark the position of the horse as number 9.

(A) Number 1, Frank McLaury was holding the horse. I cannot designate on the diagram the position of the horse, for I have forgotton; there may have been two horses there for all I know.

(Q) If one or two horses, were they inside of the vacant lot?

(A) They were inside of the vacant lot.
 

RE-DIRECT EXAMINATION

 (Q) When you first saw the Clanton and McLaurys on the day of the difficulty were they, or either of them, making any noise or disturbance?

(A) No sir. They were not.

(Q) When you saw the Earp party going down Fremont Street towards the Clanton party, what noise or disturbance were they making, if any?

(A) They were making no noise or disturbance.

(Q) Did you personally know Billy Clanton, and if so, how long, and about how old was he, if you knew him?

(A) I knew him, have known him about three or four months. He was a boy; I should not take him to be of age.

(Q) During the time you knew him; did you know or hear of his being in any difficulty?

(A) I never knew or heard of his being in any rows. I knew very little about him.

(Q) In your cross-examination you state that Isaac Clanton had been in some difficulties. Please state the number, with whom, and where, and when.

(A) The only difficulty that I know of his being in, was with Danny McCann, in Tombstone, about a month or two ago.

(Q) In your cross-examination you were asked if you know of Isaac Clanton being in any difficulties, please state if you heard of his being in any difficulties; if so, with whom, and where?

(A) I heard he had a difficulty with the Deputy Sheriff at Charleston some months ago, and then again I heard he had some trouble with Holliday the night before the shooting. I can’t call to mind any other.

(Q) Did you hear of any difficulty on the morning of the 26th of October?

(A) I heard of a difficulty on the morning of the 26th, with Morgan and Virgil Earp.

[COURT ADJOURNED UNTIL FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1881, AT 9 O’CLOCK A.M.]
[FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1881, EXAMINATION RESUMED]

[On motion of L. [yttleton] Price, District Attorney, W. R. McLaury was admitted as associate counsel on the party of the prosecution.]

[All answers of witness Behan touching [the] character of the deceased were stricken out, on the ground that they were not proper matters of cross-examination.] [The following question [was] asked witness Behan by the defense, by consent.]

(Q) Did you visit Virgil Earp at his residence the evening after the fight?

(A) I did.

(Q) Did not some discussion ensue between you and Virgil Earp about the fight?

(A) There was some.

(Q) Did you not make use of this language: “I went to see the Clanton crowd and told them to disarm? They would not do it. I went back and met you and spoke to you and you did not stop. I heard you say, ‘Boys, throw up your hands, I have come to disarm you.’ When one of the McLaury boys said, ‘We will,’ and drew his gun, and the shooting com­menced. I am your friend, and you did perfectly right. “Or language of such substance or like import.

(A) I went down that evening and when I got in the house, Virgil Earp said, “You better go slow, Behan, and not push this matter too far.” I told him I did not come there to have any words-which I intended to do my duty as an officer. Then he said he heard I tried to get the vigilance committee to hang them. I told him I did nothing of the kind that I never called for them. He said about the same thing that Wyatt Earp did, about me deceiving them or throwing them off. Then is when I explained to him about stopping him and telling them to stop. In the conversation he told me he was my friend. I told him I had always been his friend. That seemed to settle the matter about the vigilance committee. I suppose I told him that I heard him say, “Throw up your hands!” I never told him I heard McLaury say anything or that I saw him draw a pistol.

 RE-EXAMINATION

 (Q) On your cross-examination you stated that you promised Wyatt Earp a position in your office, and that something subsequently occurred that caused you not to do it. Please state what that something was.

(A) It was this: Shortly after I had the conversation with Wyatt Earp, I received a telegram from Charles A. Shibell, Sheriff of Pima County to subpoena Ike Clanton. I was Deputy Sheriff [in Tombstone, before Cochise County was formed] under Shibell. I didn’t know where Clanton lived at the time. I went to Virgil Earp and asked him. He told me where [Ike] lived. I hitched up a team and started to Charleston. I had gotten about halfway to Charleston, and a man dashed by me on horseback, on the run; and about five minutes afterwards another passed me on the run. I got to Charleston and found a man going out to Clanton’s place. I gave him the dispatch and told him to hand it to Ike Clanton, and stayed around Charleston an hour or so and met Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. I think I asked them what they were doing or what they were on. Wyatt Earp told me he was down after a horse that had been stolen from him sometime before.

Nothing more was said and I returned to Tombstone. I went over to Tucson a few days afterwards and was told by Clanton that I came near getting myself in a hell of a scrape-[Defense counsel objects to the witness testifying to verbal statements of Clanton not connected [with] or a part of the circumstances of the homicide. Objection overruled and objected to.] He, Ike, said Earp sent him word that I had taken a posse of nine men down there to arrest him and send him to Tucson, and then he told me he had armed his crowd and was not going to stand it, and they got out [a word here is illegible] guns and was not going to Tucson.

(Q) Who was the first and the second man that passed you on the [Charleston] road of whom you spoke?

(A) It was dark, and my impression was that it was Virgil Earp, I did not know, but thought it his form, and the next [man] I thought was Holliday. When I got to Charleston, I saw Wyatt Earp instead of Virgil, and concluded I had made a mistake.

(Q) Who was with you, if any person?

(A) Les Blackburn and a man named Laurence Geary.

(Q) Who did you send the dispatch by, from Charleston to Ike Clanton?

(A) I think by a man named Oates.

(Q) Can you tell anywhere near about the time of month it was, or what case the subpoena was in?

(A) No, I cannot tell the time; [it was] in [the] case of Paul vs. Shibell.

(Q) Was there any conversation between you and Wyatt Earp immediately after the difficulty as to your deceiving him about the McLaurys and Clantons being armed, and if so, what was the conversation?

(A) There was a conversation on Fremont Street near the Butcher Shop on the sidewalk. Wyatt Earp said, “Behan, you deceived me,” or, “threw me off. You said you had disarmed them.” I told him he was mistaken, I did not say anything of the kind. Then I related to him what I had said. I said, “Earp, I told you I was there for the purpose of arresting and disarming them.” He said he thought I had said I had disarmed them.

(Q) What was the distance you were from the Clanton and McLaury party, and how near the Earp party when you told the Earps to stop, and that you were there for the purpose of disarming and arresting the Clanton party?

(A) I was within 9 or 10 feet of the Earp party when I commanded them to stop, and about 19 or 20 yards from the Clantons and McLaurys.

(Q) Where did this difficulty occur?

(A) In Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory.

(Q) [No written question appears.]

(A) The [man] named, spoken of as Captain Murray is known as Billy Murray and is a partner of F. A. Tritle.

(Q) At the time you demanded [his arms] of Frank McLaury, at the comer of Fremont and Fourth Streets, and he demurred to giving them up, was the demurrer a conditional one or an absolute refusal?

(A) He did not want to give up his arms unless the other party was disarmed.

[The defendants reserved the right to further cross-examine the witness after they opened their case for the defense.]

References

• Arizona Memory Project
• University of Missouri