Introduction

On the chilly afternoon of October 26, 1881, in an alley situated behind the OK Corral between Harwood’s boarding house and the photography studio of C.S. Fly, brothers Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil Earp along with their friend John “Doc” Holliday stood face-to-face with brothers Frank and Tom McLaury and their friends and cohorts, brothers Ike and Billy Clanton to settle a convoluted entanglement of political, personal and legal differences.

Acting as the lead lawman, and with his brothers and Holliday duly deputized, Virgil Earp attempted to disarm the so-called cow-boy faction.  But his plan backfired and gunplay erupted in what was then deemed a simple “street fight”.  Today, that “street fight” has come to be known as the most famous 30 seconds in old-west history, and the most contentious gun battle ever fought in America, the so-called Gunfight at the OK Corral.

“Three Men Hurled Into Eternity In The Duration Of A Moment” was the headline in the following day’s Tombstone Epitaph defining the deaths of Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton.  Unarmed, Ike Clanton, the fourth cow-boy combatant, ran as soon as the fighting started.  When the gun smoke cleared, Morgan Earp lay wounded, Doc and Virgil were slightly wounded and Wyatt remained unscathed.

The inquest and ensuing Earp “vendetta ride” made news for several weeks, and then things died down – that is – until writers began to see the potential in the story.  Writers like Stuart Lake (Wyatt Earp - Frontier Marshal), Walter Nobel Burns (Tombstone – An Iliad of the Southwest), Douglas Martin (Tombstone’s Epitaph)  and former law-man turned writer, Billy Breckenridge (Helldorado) made icons of Wyatt Earp, “Doc” Holliday and others.  It seemed that everyone who was associated with Tombstone from 1877 through around mid-1882 became famous in their own right including Mayor John P. Clum, George W. Parsons, Doctor George Goodfellow, Johnny Behan, Fred White and many others.

Looking for something special to give our readers on this, the 125^th anniversary of that most famous gunfight, we thought it would be rather unique to contact the descendants of as many of the key players as we could find, and get their perspectives on the events of that October day so long ago.  We asked each descendant for their perspective on the fight and how this has affected their lives 125 years later.

A special thank-you is in order for all those descendants that were gracious and patient enough to donate some time, energy and photos for this article.  We’re sure the readers and historians appreciate the results in this unique edition of such a unique periodical.

For some descendants, the OK Corral shootout is as distant as the moon.  For others, interest in those 30 seconds is still “roiling” over a century, and several generations later. Their replies are fascinating, and their perspective intriguing.  Read on….