On October 26, 1881, the Earp brothers faced off against the
Clanton-McLaury gang in a legendary shootout at the O.K.
Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.
After silver was discovered nearby in 1877, Tombstone quickly
grew into one of the richest mining towns in the Southwest.
Wyatt Earp, a former Kansas police officer working as a bank
security guard, and his brothers, Morgan and Virgil, the town
marshal, represented “law and order” in Tombstone, though
they also had reputations as being power-hungry and ruthless.
The Clantons and McLaurys were cowboys who lived on a ranch
outside of town and sidelined as cattle rustlers, thieves and
murderers.
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp
(March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929)
Tombstone, Arizona in 1881.