Person:Wyatt Earp (1)

See also John Henry "Doc" Holliday for information about the relationship between the two men.

Photos of Wyatt Earp's grave on FindAGrave.com.

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was a city policeman ("assistant city marshal") in Wichita, Kansas and Dodge City, Kansas. He also served as a deputy sheriff and deputy U.S. marshal in Tombstone, Arizona. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, buffalo hunter, bouncer, saloon-keeper, gambler, miner, and on one occasion a boxing referee. He was never a cowboy or drover. He is best known for his part in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral during which three outlaw Cowboys were killed. The 30-second gunfight defined the rest of his life. Earp's modern-day reputation is that of the Old West's "toughest and deadliest gunman of his day."

Earp spent his early life in Iowa. His first wife Urilla Sutherland Earp died while pregnant less than a year after they married. Within the next two years he was arrested, sued twice, escaped from jail, then was arrested three more times for "keeping and being found in a house of ill-fame". He landed in the cattle boomtown of Wichita, Kansas where he became a deputy city marshal for one year and developed a solid reputation as a lawman. In 1876 he followed his brother James to Dodge City, Kansas where he became an assistant marshal. In the winter of 1878 he went to Texas to gamble where he met John Henry "Doc" Holliday whom Earp credited with saving his life.

Continually drawn to boomtowns and opportunity, Earp left Dodge City in 1879, and with his brothers James and Virgil, moved to Tombstone, Arizona. The Earps bought an interest in the Vizina mine and some water rights. There, the Earps clashed with a loose federation of outlaw cowboys. Wyatt, Virgil, and their younger brother Morgan held various law enforcement positions that put them in conflict with Tom and Frank McLaury, and Ike and Billy Clanton, who threatened to kill the Earps. The conflict escalated over the next year, culminating on October 26, 1881 in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which the Earps and Holliday killed three of the Cowboys. In the next five months, Virgil was ambushed and maimed and Morgan was assassinated. Pursuing a vendetta, Wyatt, his brother Warren, Holliday, and others chased down the Cowboys they thought responsible.

After leaving Tombstone, Earp continually invested in various mining interests and saloons. He and his third wife, in their later years, moved between Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert, where the town of Earp, California was named after him. Although his brother Virgil had far more experience as a sheriff, constable, and marshal,^[1] Wyatt, who outlived Virgil, and was made famous by a largely fictionalized biography by Stuart Lake, has been the subject of and model for a large number of films, TV shows, biographies and works of fiction that have increased his mystique. Unlike his brothers and his ally Doc Holliday, who participated in several gun battles with him, Wyatt was never wounded by gunfire.

1. ↑ United States. 1850 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   
1850 U.S. Census, Lake Prairie Twp, Marion County, Iowa (Roll M432 187), p. 290A; Dwelling 150, Family 156.
Earp N.P. 37 [abt 1813] M North Carolina Cooper & Farmer
Earp Virginia A. 29 [abt 1821] F Kentucky
Earp Newton J. 13 [abt 1837] M Kentucky [attended school]
Earp James C. 7 [abt 1843] M Kentucky [attended school]
Earp Virgil W. 6 [abt 1844] M Kentucky [attended school]
Earp Martha E. 5 [abt 1845] F Illinois
Earp Wyatt B. 2 [abt 1848] M Illinois


2. ↑ United States. 1860 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   
1860 U.S. Census, Pella, Marion County, Iowa (Roll M653 335), p. 230; Dwelling 1671, Family 1572.
Earp Nicolas P. 45 [abt 1815] M North Carolina Farmer (re=$800; pe=$200)
Earp Virginia A. 38 [abt 1822] F Kentucky
Earp James C. 19 [abt 1841] M Kentucky Farmer [attended school]
Earp Virgil W. 17 [abt 1843] M Kentucky Farmer [attended school]
Earp Wyatt S. 12 [abt 1848] M Illinois [attended school]
Earp Morgan L. 9 [abt 1851] M Iowa [attended school]
Earp Warren 5 [abt 1855] M Iowa
Earp Virginia A. 2 [abt 1858] F Illinois
Davis Lucinda 17 [abt 1843] F Kentucky [attended school]


3. ↑ United States. 1870 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   
Dwelling 214, Family 214
Earp Wyatt 22 [abt 1848] M W Farmer (re=$75; pe=$100) Illinois
Earp Rilla 21 [abt 1849] F W Illinois


4. ↑ United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule.

   
1880 U.S. Census, Tombstone Village, Cochise County, Arizona (Roll 36), ED 2, p. 163C; Dwelling 119; Family 165.
[among more than 80 people all apparently living in Holly Levine's hotel & saloon]
Earp Virgil W. W M 36 [abt 1844] Married Farmer Kentucky Virginia Kentucky
Earp Alley W F 22 [abt 1858] Wife Married Keeping House Nebraska Ireland [blank]
Earp Wyatt S. W M 32 [abt 1848] Brother Single Farmer Illinois Virginia Kentucky
Earp Mattie W F 22 [abt 1858] Wife Married Keeping House Wisconsin [blank] [blank]
Earp James C. W M 39 [abt 1841] Brother Married Saloon Keeper Kentucky Virginia Kentucky
Earp Bessie W F 36 [abt 1844] Wife Married Keeping House Missouri [blank] [blank]
Earp Hattie W F 16 [abt 1864] Daughter Single At Home Iowa Kentucky Missouri


5. ↑ United States. 1910 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication T623).

   
1910 U.S. Census, Los Angeles Assembly District 71, Los Angeles County, California (Roll T624 81), ED 154, p. 5B; Dwelling 137; Family 145.
Earp Wyatt S. Head M W 62 [abt 1848] M.2 (25 yrs) Illinois Virginia Virginia Miner (gold & copper)
Earp Josephine Wife F W 41 [abt 1869] M.1 (no ch) New York Germany Germany


6. ↑ United States. 1920 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication T625).

   
1920 U.S. Census, Los Angeles Assembly District 61, Los Angeles County, California (Roll T625 105), ED 109, p. 12B; Dwelling 306; Family 313.
Earp Wyatt S. Head M W 72 [abt 1848] Married [n.d.] Illinois Virginia Virginia Miner (copper mine)
Earp Josephine Wife F W 57 [abt 1863] Married [n.d.] New York Hamburg Hamburg


7. ↑ 1875 Kansas State Census.

   
1875 Kansas State Census, Wichita, Sedgewick County (Roll KS1875 18), p. 32, Line 25.
[no family no.] W. S. Earp 26 [abt 1849] M W [no occupation, no property] Illinois (to KS from Illinois)