Best book on Tombstone, the Earps, etc..

[Dead I]

My father was given Lake's book on his eighty birthday by his dad.  They lived in a little town that was 26 miles from Dodge City. No one at the time knew anything about Wyatt Earp.  When my dad was young he met several men who had lived in Dodge City during its hay day.  None recalled Earp or Holliday.  They all remembered Bat Masterson and Chalk Beeson. A few recalled Luke Short.

Holliday was only in Dodge for three months - four?.  Wyatt was there longer, but since most of the good people of the town never when down to Front Street or even less to the wrong side of the tracks,  he wasn't generally known.

When the Earps lived in Tombstone they would not allow their wives to go downtown.  The women were ordered to stay home and they did, but they didn't like it much.  Nor did Wyatt openly see Josie, whom he called "Sadie" until after the OK Corral fight.  He eventually went to San Francisco and spoke with Sadie's folks to see if it was okay for him to see her.  I think they were embarrassed to death about their daughter and were happy to have her out of their household.  However she and Wyatt would go back and visit from time to time.  They'd also beg for lloans.  Wyatt and Josie never could manage their money, even when they came back from the Klondike, rich.  They brought $87,000 back with them....lotta money then.  They gambled it away.  Both had a bad gambling problem.   

 

 

[Old Doc]

Watching the Westerns Channel and caught the tail end of "Doc" with Stacey Keach in the title role. I tuned in just in time for the OK Corral shootout.I learned that Morgan was not ambushed, while shooting pool. Nope he was killed at the OK Corral. Not only did Doc look awful healthy for someone with chronic TB, I never heard him cough once. It's no wonder that the bad guys came out on the short end of the stick, when one of them pointed his pistol at Doc, I noticed that the muzzle was square instead of round ?? I would expect that to have an adverse effect on your groups

[M McCracken]

Just finished the May 2011 published book "THE LAST GUNFIGHT: The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral - And How It Changed the American West" by Jeff Guinn. If you were to read only one book on the subject, I'd choose this one. It's based on the most recent research and is not just about Wyatt Earp. It's about the West, Arizona, Tombstone, the Cowboy faction, the Earp faction, the shootout and its aftermath. Easy to read and demythologizes the legend of Earp, Holliday, and the shootout.

Another is 1989's "AND DIE IN THE WEST: The Story of the O.K. Corral Gunfight" by Paula Mitchell Marks. From what I understand, it's been considered the standard for years.

If you read either of these books, you'll get a much more mature and realistic view of what happened. Hollywood is certainly not the place you'll get that. Nor, will you get it from Stuart Lake.

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[HolliferADollar]

Just finished the May 2011 published book "THE LAST GUNFIGHT: The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral - And How It Changed the American West" by Jeff Guinn. If you were to read only one book on the subject, I'd choose this one. It's based on the most recent research and is not just about Wyatt Earp. It's about the West, Arizona, Tombstone, the Cowboy faction, the Earp faction, the shootout and its aftermath. Easy to read and demythologizes the legend of Earp, Holliday, and the shootout. 

+1 on this book, I was really impressed by it.  The politics of the sheriff's race was never mentioned in any of the theatrical accounts.  The time line is also a lot longer than presented in any of the movies.

[44caliberkid]

I'm about two thirds of the way through The Last Gunfight now and have to say it is one of the best.  I always try to determine the authors agenda in these historical books (anti-Earp or pro-Earp) and Jeff Guinn is pretty even handed in his treatment and non-judgmental considering what was sociologically normal for the time.
   I have always told people the OK Corral was about Democrats verses Republicans and Guinn makes this point very well.  I also saw many things that weren't told or explained in other books.  I think this book is the best overall view, with Teffertiller's book a close second.

[bowiemaker]

I just finished "The Last Gunfight". Thanks for the recommendation. The best reading I have found on the Earps and the real motivations leading up to the gunfight. Excellent book.

[Cinnamon Kid]

After reading these posts I ordered "Bloody Season", and am now almost finished with it. It is easy to see that the movie "Wyatt Earp", with Kevin Costner playing Wyatt follows this book closely. They do take some liberty by changing some of the facts, but I believe it was to make a better movie. The book deffinately tells a story of a Wyatt that wasn't all about law an order, and that the two "gangs" were really fighting over the same thing; money and power.

I highly recommend this book.