Postcard from Tombstone – Legend of the OK Corral

There is no more publicized and romanticized event in the days of the wild west than the Gunfight at the OK Corral. It is the stuff of movies, of legends, of exaggerations, and stories handed down from generation to generation. It has been wildly overblown as an event in our history, but still it holds us fascinated.

The OK Corral is located at the very end of the main street of old Tombstone, just where a horse corral should be. When one visits, you will find it surrounded by a tall, impenetrable wall…you see, you have to pay $9 to see it. For your nine bucks, you get to see the rebuilt corral, the Fly Photography studio (most interesting), the actual location of the gunfight (an empty lot behind the OK Corral), and a 1/2 hour re-enactment of the gun battle.

Being somewhat resistant to tourist traps, I wasn’t going to do it, but my curiosity got the better of me, so I slapped down my dollars and headed in. Couldn’t resist.

In the first photo, you can see the actual site where the gunfight took place, complete with some animatronics figures and a voice-over coming through speakers that tell the story of the gunfight itself.

Interesting, but the real bang for your buck comes from the re-enactment with real actors. There is an outdoor set complete with tourist seating where the drama unfolds. What makes it different is the story is told from the point of view of the Clanton Gang (also know as Cowboys) rather than the Earp’s.

The re-enactment is not actually what really happened on October 26, 1881...close, but just off a bit. In a nutshell here is how it is portrayed: Wyatt Earp, brothers Virgil and Morgan, and that most colorful of characters, Doc Holliday, go to the corral area to confront members of the Clanton Gang for carrying weapons, a criminal offense in Tucson. Virgil was the city marshal and Morgan a deputy. For that day, Virgil deputized Wyatt and Doc Holliday. The Earp faction had to be careful as the Clanton’s were part of a much larger group of outlaws called “Cowboys,” of which there were about 50 members who came in and out of Tombstone

Near the corral, they run into members of the Clanton gang…Ike, the leader, his younger brother Billy, two brothers, Frank and Tom McLaury (Billy Claiborne was also there in reality, but not in the re-enactment).

The Clanton gang goes for their guns, but Marshall Virgil tries to stop it before it gets out of hand. He almost succeeds, but Doc Holliday fires his shotgun into the air and the gunfight proceeds. First Ike Clanton runs toward Wyatt to try and stop it saying he is unarmed. He then proceeds to run away into Fly’s Photographic Studio. Then, in a hail of bullets, the two McLaury brothers are killed along with Billy Clanton. Virgil is shot in the leg, Morgan in the arm, and Doc Holliday receives a slight flesh wound. Wyatt is unscathed.

Of course, there is much, much more to the story, both before the gunfight and the aftermath that is worth reading in a very detailed entry in Wikipedia. Fascinating stuff.

Interestingly, the re-enactment is based on the movie, “Tombstone,” an excellent movie released in 1993 starring Kurt Russell as Wyatt, Sam Elliott as Virgil, and an amazing performance by Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. The characters in this re-enactment are based completely on the actor’s performance in the film, especially Doc’s. Also, the Cowboys are wearing red sashes, just like in the film…only that is not the way it was. The director of the film dreamed up the red sashes so the audience could tell who the bad guys were.

If you have not seen the movie Tombstone, I heartily recommend it. You will find other flights of fancy in the film, but it is pretty close to what really happened. By the way, the gunfight takes place fairly early in the film as there is much more that happens later.

I did enjoy this part of my Tombstone adventure and am glad I spent the nine bucks. As mentioned above, the first photo shows the actual location of the gunfight, the second photo is of the actor playing Wyatt Earp, the third is Doc Holiday addressing the audience, and the fourth shows Doc firing his shotgun in the air as Virgil tries to stop any gunplay.

For your further amusement, have put together a quick slideshow on my web site showing more pictures of the re-enactment with captions. I hope you will take a few more minutes and enjoy them (warning: it takes a minute to load…but worth it).