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| The Famous Wyatt Earp |
Wyatt Earp is the famous valiant frontier lawman of Wichita and Dodge City, Kansas, and the chief survivor of the Gunfight at the OK Corral. But the famous Marshall Earp of legend makes-up no more than 5 years of Wyatt's extensive and awe-inspiring existence. He was so much more then a lawman. Many will say he was an aspiring entrepreneur and often reached out to help his friends and others.
Wyatt occupied the majority of his years journeying and settling in the deserts of the Southwest along with his four brothers Virgil, Morgan, James and Warren, and his spouse, Josie. His all-time enthusiasm for mining, gambling and sports guided him from one boomtown to another across the extent of the western frontier and into the 20th century.
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was born in Monmouth, Illinois on March 19, 1848. In 1864 he transferred with his parents to Colton, California next to San Bernardino, where he worked as a railroad employee. Wyatt went back east and married in 1870, but after the unexpected death of his new wife, he glided onto the Indian Territory, employed as a buffalo huntsman and carriage driver.
In 1875 he entered Wichita, Kansas where he became a member of the police force. In 1876, he transferred to Dodge City, Kansas where he happened to be a Faro merchant at the well-known Long Branch Saloon and a subordinate marshal. It was here where he was introduced and became lifelong friends with Bat Masterson and Doc Holliday, in addition to establishing his character as an outstanding lawman and gambler.
Departing from Dodge City with his second wife in 1878, Wyatt took a trip to New Mexico and California, employed for a short time as a Wells Fargo Agent. In 1879 he congregated with his brothers and their spouses in the new silver mining town of Tombstone, Arizona.
Wyatt intended to launch a stage line there, but upon determining that there were already two in the city, he purchased the gambling franchise at the Oriental Saloon. His brother Virgil became town marshal, while Morgan obtained a career with the police department. That was the time when Wyatt met his third wife Josie (Josephine Marcus Earp), who stayed with him until his death.
On October 26, 1881, a grudge that had arisen involving the Earp brothers and a gang headed by Ike Clanton concluded in the most notable gunfight in western legends -"The Gunfight at the OK Corral". Three of the Clanton gang were slayed, while Ike and another wounded member ran away.
The three Earp brothers, Virgil, Wyatt and Morgan, together with Doc Holliday survived. Both Morgan and Virgil were hurt, and Virgil was later terminated as marshal for his involvement in the gunfight.
In March, 1882 Morgan Earp was killed by unidentified hired gunners. Wyatt, with his brother Warren and a few friends, went into a revenge in which all four suspects were eventually executed.
Subsequent to being charged of these killings, Wyatt and Josie escaped from Arizona to Colorado then completed their involvement with a series of western mining camps a few years later. They traveled in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho and in 1886, resided temporarily in flourishing San Diego, where Wyatt ventured and committed in real estate and saloons.
In 1897 Wyatt and Josie moved to Nome Alaska where they managed a saloon throughout the peak of the Alaska Gold Rush. They arrived back to the states in 1901 with approximately $80,000 and instantaneously proceeded to the gold strike in Tonopah, Nevada, where his saloon, gambling and mining well being, once more, was confirmed beneficial.
From then on, Wyatt acquired other gambling privileges outside Death Valley and other locations within the Mojave Desert. In 1906 he learned about a number of mines full of gold and copper in the vicinity of Vidal, California on the Colorado River and recorded various claims there at the foot of the Whipple Mountains. Folklore would say his dog "Lucky" who accompanied Wyatt on a number of walks found one of his lucky gold mines that paid off well.
Wyatt made use of the winters of his concluding years running these claims in the Mojave Desert and settling with Josie in their Vidal cottage. He and Josie spent their summer in Los Angeles, where they made friends with early Hollywood actors and carried out real estate and mining investments.
On Jan. 13, 1929 Wyatt Earp passed away in Los Angeles at a ripe age of 80. Cowboy actors Tom Mix and William S. Hart were among his pallbearers. Wyatt's cremated ashes were buried in Josie's family parcel in Colma, California. When Josie died in 1944 at the age of 75, she was buried there next to him.
When Wyatt died in 1928, Josephine, his wife, was so distraught she didn't even attend his funeral. In her memoirs, she wrote: "Wyatt's family were almost all gone and we had no children. My only home was where my parents rest so I took Wyatt's ashes to San Francisco."
Wyatt & Josephine are buried at Hills of Eternity Cemetery in Colma, California.
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| Wyatt Earp & His Wife, Colma, CA. |
Among his lasting legacies as frontiersman, lawman, gambler, miner and entrepreneur, a post office near his Mojave Desert mines down the Colorado River on Route 62 carries the name -- "Earp, California 92242." The town wanted to call itself "Wyatt Earp" but Congress wouldn't allow it as Wyatt had made himself a reputation of an outlaw. However, Congress did approve the name "Earp".
Remnants of Wyatt's home both in Earp, California and Vidal still remain. If you happen to visit the Earp, CA., U.S. Post Office you'll find inside a collection of Wyatt Earp memorabilia including some outstanding photographs of just how big the town of Earp, California was back in those days. Amazing stuff.
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