Wyatt Earp: Lawman or Outlaw
 | Strong. Fearless. Leader. Confident. Focused. Patient. Outlaw? Are these the traits you think of when you think what is required of a good lawman? Are these the same qualities that come to mind when you hear the name Wyatt Earp? When you hear the name Wyatt Earp, you probably think of Tombstone and OK Corral. You think about how he and his posse took down some of the most feared outlaws in the West. You think about how he was able to escape gun fight after gun fight and walk away without a scratch time after time after time. But you probably don’t think of Wyatt Earp as an outlaw? He wasn’t always the fearless lawman the stories are told about. He was on the other side of the law on multiple occasions. |
Wyatt Earp was a notorious lawman in the Old West. In 1873 in Ellsworth, Kansas, Earp was able to capture an outlaw named Ben Thompson by using reputation alone. Thompson had been involved in a bar fight in which the Sheriff had gotten killed. As Ben was trying to leave town, Wyatt Earp jumped on his horse and took off after Ben. He soon caught him and Ben immediately threw down his gun and surrendered to Earp. Ben later stated that he felt that Wyatt would have killed him if he hadn’t thrown down his gun. The story of Wyatt Earp and Ben Thompson spread, marking the beginning of the legend of Wyatt Earp. (Weiser)
After leaving Kansas and moving around several times, Wyatt Earp ended up in Dodge City. In 1876, he was offered the position of Chief Deputy Marshal in Dodge City. Before Earp’s arrival, numerous officers had been either ran out of Dodge City or shot and killed. Earp hired four assistant deputies in an effort to place order back in the town. One of the first rules implemented by Earp and his deputies was to draw a line through the city. North of the line, guns could not be carried. South of the line, business continued to operate as before with the Outlaws running the town. Anyone caught wearing a gun north of the line was immediately jailed. In 1877, Wyatt Earp became the new marshal, deputizing his brother Morgan. The two immediately took action and began cleaning up the streets. They requested harsher sentences for crimes, organized a committee to help watch the streets, and even banned some men from coming into the town. (Weiser)
Wyatt left Dodge City and moved to Tombstone in 1879. Over the next two years he had multiple issues when trying to keep the Clanton’s and McLaury’s in line. In October 1881, Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, Morgran Earp, and Doc Holliday took on the Clanton’s and McLaury’s near the now famous OK Corral. The sheriff tried to disarm Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury, but they refused to put down their guns until Wyatt and the others put down theirs. A gunfight broke out between the two sides. In the 30-second gunfight, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury were killed and Virgil and Morgan were both wounded. Wyatt walked away from the fight with only a hole in his coat tail where a bullet barely missed its mark. (Simkin)
Numerous books and movies have been written about the life of Wyatt Earp portraying him as the good guy lawman and hero. Like many others of the Old West, Wyatt Earp rode both sides of the fence. He was being arrested by the authorities in one state only to move across state lines and uphold the law. Wyatt Earp wasn’t always the feared lawman of the West that he is known as today. There are numerous other stories of how he captured or killed various individuals. However, some of these stories have yet to be proven with documents from the time. Most of them came directly from Earp when telling his story to his biographer shortly before his death (Gatto). The truth about Wyatt is that he was also an Outlaw.
In 1871, Wyatt Earp was accused of horse theft in the Indian Territory and arrested on April 6, 1871. Wyatt escaped from jail in May 1871 and a warrant was issued for his arrest. The arrest was never made and the warrant was returned unserved in November 1871. It was never determined whether he actually stole the horses or not, but its cause for some to wonder what is there about the early life of Wyatt Earp that we don’t know. (Gatto)
In 1872, while continuing to hide from federal authorities, Wyatt Earp went to Peoria, Illinois where his brother Virgil was working as a saloonkeeper. Wyatt began working as a pimp. Wyatt and Virgil were arrested for being found in the prostitution house. They were each fined and released. The fine was no deterrent for Wyatt as he continued his business. He was arrested several times for similar offenses. Each time he was arrested, the fine increased until finally Wyatt had enough and left the area. (Gatto)
Wyatt moved around several times after leaving Illinois in 1872. In 1876 he was a member of the Wichita police force. Following an altercation with one of the men running for Sherriff, Wyatt was fined and dismissed from the police force. He was also charged for stealing money he collected while serving as a constable (the same charge brought against him five years earlier in Missouri). Wyatt left Wichita and headed for Dodge City, where he once again joined the police force. (Gatto)
Following his time in Tombstone and the OK Corral, Wyatt’s brother, Morgan, was shot in the back and killed. Wyatt, sought the men responsible in search of revenge, caring nothing about the law. This was the beginning of what was known as the Earp Vendetta Ride. Wyatt tracked down Florentiono Cruz and forced him to give names of all of the people involved in killing Morgan. Wyatt shot and killed Cruz then headed out to find the remaining individuals. In over a year, Wyatt and his posse killed nearly everyone that was involved in the murder of Morgan. One of the men, Pete Spence, turned himself into the authorities so that he could hide in jail from Wyatt. (Weiser)
Wyatt Earp was and will always be a legend. He had all of the qualities of a good lawman. Some of them were also good qualities of an Outlaw. The way things were handled in the Old West is a lot different than now, so it was sometimes hard to distinguish between a lawman and an Outlaw. With the things we know about Wyatt, what else is there that we don’t know? Was he really a horse thief? Did he really steal money from the town in Wichita? If the movies portrayed Wyatt as something more than just a hero, then what type of legacy would he have in modern times? “Today many writers and historians continue to view Wyatt Earp through rose-colored glasses….. Typically, when all is said and done the unrealistic superstar of Stuart Lake’s 1931 biography (Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal), and the numerous Tombstone movies is the Earp who emerges from their books and articles.” (Gatto).
Works Cited
Gatto, Steve. “Wyatt Earp History Page” WyattEarp.net. WyattEarp.Net, n.d., Web. 16, Jan. 2011.
Simkin, John. “Wyatt Earp” Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. Spartacus Educational. n.d., Web. 16, Jan. 2011.
Weiser, Kathy. “Wyatt Earp – Frontier Lawman of the American West” LegendsofAmerica.com. Legends of America. Feb. 2010, Web. 14, Jan. 2011.
