We are almost at the 125th Anniversary of the Shootout at the OK Corral. I am in Tombstone, at a location where, 125 years ago, the owner of the property heard the shots and stepped outside his door and watched much of the incident. That’s how close I am to the OK Corral right now.
So, let’s get with it.
In many ways the story of Tombstone is the story of three families: the Earps, the Clantons, and the McLaurys. They all grew up in the mid-west. They came from big, extended, loving families. They grew up cherished, with parents who truly loved and adored them. Of the three families, there is no doubt the McLaurys were the most stable. Perhaps that is the reason that to this day, McLaury decedents (not of Tom and Frank, though) still don’t believe their guys went bad.
Did they?
At the time of their deaths Frank was 32 and Tom was 28. They were men, not boys. They were free moral agents who knew exactly what they were doing. After their deaths Cochise County Coroner Henry Matthews discovered quite a bit of cash and bank notes totaling nearly $3,000. Today that amount of money would be worth about $60,000. There's a theory that they had ‘cashed out’ and were planning to move back to Iowa. Another theory is that they were heading back for a family celebration but would return.
Bad blood was brewing between Wyatt Earp and the McLaury brothers for quite some time. Mules belonging to the Army went missing from Camp Rucker. The Earps were part of a group of lawmen who went to the McLaury ranch to ‘request’ their prompt return. The “What mules? We don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no mules” pros realize that Frank and Tom were deeply involved with the Cowboys and were close, personal friends of the Clantons, especially Ike and Billy. Is this enough to implicate them as outlaws? Or is this enough to implicate them as having very bad taste in friends? We will never know.
Maybe the problem was Ike Clanton.
Article comments