All right, I’ll admit it. This isn’t going to end nuclear proliferation or result in a two state solution in the Middle East. But the original records from the Coroner’s Inquest into the shootout at the OK Corral have been found. Two Cochise County clerks, Bonnie Cook and Michelle Garcia, were assigned to clean out a storage closet of archived county records. Stuffed in a corner they found an old box marked “juvenile”. Inside the box was a manila envelope, and inside the envelope were the handwritten transcripts of eye witness testimony from the famous shootout.
On October 26, 1881, Wyatt Earp, together with his brothers Virgil and Morgan, joined by John (“Doc“) Holliday confronted Ike and Billy Clanton and their associates, Frank and Tom McLaury. After the 30 second shootout, Billy Clanton and both McLaury’s were dead. Ike survived and, within days, testified at the inquest ordered by County Coroner Henry Matthews. Other witnesses included a housekeeper who was in town shopping and William Claiborn a friend of the dead men. No charges were filed.
The recent Cochise County spring cleaning assignment resulted in the documents being seen for the first time in nearly 50 years. Last touched in approximately 1960, thermofax copies were made of the 36 pages at the time. The 1960 copies are difficult to read and margin notes in those copies are illegible. Plans for the documents include scanning for internet posting and historic preservation.
Well, there you have it. Osama bin Laden hasn’t laid down his arms or declared a truce. The lost city of Atlantis didn’t rise from the ocean populated by aliens. It’s just a small piece of our history that has been found and can now be preserved…another bit of information that can be circulated on the web. Some are wont to find ironic correlation between Doc Holliday having a concealed weapon under his long coat and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signing a bill allowing concealed weapons to be carried without a permit. Not me. I just think history matters.
The next movie or television documentary may be more accurate. Historians will get to engage in more revisionism. We will once again debate whether the Earp group acted in self defense, as they claim, or whether they murdered Billy Clanton and the McLaury’s in cold blood. Maybe it will give us a brief diversion from health care reform and Supreme Court appointments and financial reform and the upcoming mid terms. God knows, we need one.
{Author’s Note: The photo above is a slightly darkened, to cover inappropriate exposure, version of the famous semi-nude photograph of Josephine Marcus Earp, actress and wife of Wyatt. According to some, the photograph was taken the same day as the shootout.]
Cross posted at Elijah’s Sweete Spot, where COMMENTS/DISCUSSION are Disqus™ enabled.
Contributor, aka tidbits. Retired attorney in complex litigation, death penalty defense and constitutional law. Former Nat’l Board Chair: Alzheimer’s Association. Served on multiple political campaigns, including two for U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR). Contributing author to three legal books and multiple legal publications.