The Lawman & His Guardian Angel Who Cleaned Up Tombstone Territory
By Brad Steiger
2-28-8
Contrary to popular Western mythology, Wyatt Earp did not clean up Tombstone Territory. The controversial Mr. Earp, in spite of his secure position in the legends of the West as a gallant lawman, was a gambler, a racketeer, and a part-time road agent who made a profit by dealing on both sides of the law. The fiction of Earp as the virtuous defender of law and order was largely the creation of Ned Buntline, a prolific dime-novel writer.
When Wyatt, his brothers, Morgan and Virgil, and his pal, Doc Holliday, left Tombstone after the famous gunfight at the OK Corral, the Arizona community was far from “clean.” If anything, crime was more rampant than before the Earp regime. The saga of Wyatt Earp epitomizes the essence of the marvelous quote from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: When legend conflicts with reality, print the legend.
The man who pinned on a tin star and really mopped up the territory was “Texas” John Slaughter. Slaughter was quick with his wits, fast on the draw with his pearl-handled revolver and repeating shotgun, and doggedly determined to make Tombstone a decent city. Texas John had one very important advantage over all the previous lawmen who had tackled Tombstone and failed–he was absolutely fearless because he had a very active guardian angel and the promise that he could not be killed by an outlaw’s bullet.
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