Ride With The Clantons

By Gary Ledoux – Western History Author

Tombstone Epitaph  October 2006

 

One needn’t ask Terry “Ike” Clanton how the OK Corral gunfight affected his life 125 years later.  They only need to look at his web site, www.TombstoneArizona.com to see that his ancestral history is very much alive over a century later.  “I live and breathe this stuff every day” said Terry in a phone interview.  “I’m acutely aware of my family heritage, and how it has been tarnished by Hollywood and some writers.”  Terry’s web site receives a purported 60,000 hits per day, many stopping to sign-on and “Ride With The Clantons” in a virtual excursion through history.

 

Terry describes his Clanton relationship as the 5th cousin, four times removed of Joseph Isaac “Ike” Clanton.  His web site follows the Clanton pedigree all the way back to John Clanton, born 1610, and who came to America from England on a ship named the Abraham.  Terry’s great-grandfather, John Wesley Clanton was named after Newman Haynes “Old Man” Clanton’s first son, John Wesley Clanton.

 

Terry is very passionate about the old-west in general, Tombstone history in particular and his family history most specifically.  His web site is filled with references to the gunfight and pictures of Tombstone, both past and present.

 

When asked when, during his life, he became aware that he had some famous ancestors; Terry noted that his grandfather was aware of the family history inasmuch as how they were portrayed by writers and movies of the time – as the “bad guys”.  His grandfather didn’t want young Terry to be traumatized by the association and so tried to shield him from it.  “Today, if you were related to Charles Manson, you probably wouldn’t want to make that public” notes Terry.

 

Terry’s father, Carl Clanton took a different but still “uninformed” view of the family history.  In the early 1960’s during the height of the TV westerns craze, Carl began to follow the Tombstone saga.  Terry notes, “My father liked the notoriety of being associated with Tombstone and the Clantons, but still accepted the then-writer’s version of the Clantons, not digging into the real history of the family.  Early writings, save that of Billy Breckenridge, were very pro-Earp showing the Clantons and McLaury’s in less than the best light.”

 

Father and son began making pilgrimages to Tombstone.  During the 1964 Helldorado celebration, Carl Clanton was made an honorary Tombstone Sheriff, an honor of which he was most proud – despite the irony of it all.  Terry would receive the same accolade 38 years later.

 

Today Terry, along with help from his mother, Mary Ann, sponsor their own event in Tombstone; the “Clanton Days Rendezvous” where he leads a dedicated posse of followers through various events including a narrated walk through the “Town Too Tough To Die”.  Past year’s events have seen trips to the former Clanton ranch and Johnny Ringos’ gravesite.  2006 will mark the event’s 13th year.

 

Terry notes that he is the first of the Clantons to really dig into the family history.  He notes, “Once I began learning that the Clanton’s and McLaury’s weren’t as bad as they were portrayed, and the Earps and Holliday weren’t exactly the saints that they were supposed to be, I began talking about it at speaking events.  I enjoy hearing all the different stories from all the different book writers and screenwriters.  But Tombstone II will add a new dimension to the saga.”

 

Tombstone II is a movie that is still in the conceptual stage, the brainchild of Terry “Ike” Clanton.  He writes on his web site, “For many years Hollywood movies have made the Clantons, especially Ike Clanton, out to be Wyatt Earp’s fall guy, nothing more than a drunken cow thief that hasn’t had a bath in three months, however reality is much different. Justice is now coming alright, its called Tombstone II.”

 

Terry sees his movie as the antithesis of the 1993 cult favorite, Tombstone starring Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp, Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday and Stephen Lang as Ike.  Terry notes, “The movie would depict the Clanton side of the story; not that it would change the outcome of the OK Corral gunfight, but it could shed new light on a complicated set of circumstances.  There are two sides to every story.  The world deserves to see the other side of this one.”

 

Terry writes on his web site, “I have to admit, I was appalled at the film’s portrayal of my cousin Joseph ‘Ike’ Clanton's drunken, illiterate, cowardice, buffalo hunter who hadn't had a bath in three months character! Taking nothing away from the actor Stephen Lang, who I highly respect as an actor, I feel that Ike Clanton's character was badly mis-represented from his true life persona.”

 

Despite his disappointment with the movie Tombstone and it’s portrayal of his ancestor, Terry still liked the film, so much so that he wrote actor Kurt Russell to ask his opinion of his “Tombstone II” concept.  Kurt graciously returned a note saying, “It sounds like you've got an interesting idea there. It's true that not all Hollywood productions focus on both sides of the story, but hey, every now and then there's one or two that focus on either both sides or the lesser known point of view.”  Kurt ended the letter with, “Maybe we'll work along side one another someday.”

 

That’s a distinct possibility as Terry has done a fair amount of acting.  Most recently he appeared as his ancestor, “Ike” in a Doc Holliday bio produced by Greystone Productions for the History Channel.  Not a stretch for Terry in the acting department since it was a part he knew well, having been researching his family history since 1979.

 

Terry has appeared in other historical shows and documentaries such as “Showtime at the OK Corral” produced for the Showtime Network - and a spot in the short-lived sci-fi show “Sliders” in yet another old-west themed episode.

 

Tie his acting abilities along with his penchant for cowboy poetry, voice-over work, sports-casting and real-estate salesmanship, and Terry is one talented cow-boy.  And yes, not only does he sell real estate in and around southern California (an area he calls home) but he also works with other agents to promote real estate sales in, you guessed it, Tombstone.

 

Near the end of the film Tombstone (ironically, the movie that seems to define, for the general public, the entire Tombstone saga) a voice-over by actor Robert Mitchum proclaims that Ike Clanton was killed in the mid-1880’s while committing a botched hold-up.

 

When asked about Ike’s demise, Terry proclaimed, “That information, commonly accepted because it was in the movie, is totally false.  Two men who will remain nameless for the moment murdered Ike in northern Arizona on June 1, 1887.  The whole story will come out in my movie.”

 

Being that he is so passionate about the public knowing the truth about Ike Clanton, I asked Terry why he didn’t write a book; which would be infinitely easier and more immediate than producing a movie.  Terry replied, “Perhaps a few thousand people would read a book about Ike Clanton.  Based on the box-office success and subsequent cult following of the movie Tombstone, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people would flock to see Tombstone II.  That’s the kind of exposure I want – a blockbuster movie.”

 

Kurt Russell was right – Tombstone II is a fascinating concept.  Perhaps one day we will all get to Ride With The Clantons.