Skip to main content

Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell

Review

Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell

For a 30-second gun battle, the shootout in Tombstone, Arizona --- known as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral --- has achieved a life of its own. A Google search of the term “O.K. Corral” yields more than 20,000 hits, including movies, books ranging from sycophantic to scholarly, and historical articles discussing the event. The shootout that killed three men and wounded three others is perhaps the greatest example of the words spoken by a reporter in the classic John Ford-directed film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: "This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

TOMBSTONE is not just another book about this famous gun battle that took place on October 26, 1881, and involved Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury, and Billy Claiborne facing off against Marshal Virgil Earp, Wyatt and Morgan Earp, and Doc Holliday. Author Tom Clavin uses multiple sources and his own background as a western historian to present an account that is almost an encyclopedia of Tombstone history, which he accomplishes in an enjoyable, light and effervescent style. Perhaps his most important contribution is his recognition that, more than anything, the shootings were a collision of a series of cataclysmic events that easily could have avoided violence if only the participants had taken a different path. In fact, it is an observation one can make about many historical occurrences.

"TOMBSTONE is classic western history that has all the essential elements, including a cast of characters populating one of the wildest cities in the Wild West, violence, skullduggery and shifting alliances. A stirring combination of truth and legend, this is a story that lives on in American lore."

In a book exceeding 300 pages, the actual gun battle and aftermath cover approximately the final third of the chronicle. Before that, readers are treated to a history that travels almost as far back as Genesis. Tombstone was part of the Arizona territory, created by a division of the New Mexico territory, land purchased from Mexico. During the Civil War, it was under control of the Confederate States; even today in Arizona, the Confederate flag appears in parades recognizing one of the governments that controlled Arizona land. Tombstone was founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin, a prospector who saw potential for the area as a mining center rich in silver and other ores. In the 1880s, the city grew rapidly, but this was coupled with turf battles among cowboys, ranchers, Indian tribes and businessmen. All these forces contributed to ongoing strife in the area, eventually leading to death, revenge and legends.

Like many, the Earps had come West seeking fortune. While they built reputations as lawmen, they occasionally wandered off the path of lawful conduct. Their friend Doc Holliday was a gambler and a gunman. Ironically, Clavin describes several gunfights where Holliday’s aim was far from true. Perhaps that explains why he often used a shotgun rather than a more demanding pistol as his weapon of choice.

The O.K. Corral gunfight was nasty, brutal and short. Wyatt Earp and Holliday were charged after the shooting with the death of Billy Clanton and the McLaurys. Ike Clanton survived the battle because he ran from the scene. Wyatt and Holliday were cleared after a preliminary hearing when the judge ruled that “the defendants were fully justified in committing these homicides --- that it was a necessary act done in the discharge of official duty.” But this was not the end of the dispute. The Earps would be ambushed and wounded, and Morgan was killed while playing pool one evening in Tombstone. The Earps would have their vengeance against Morgan’s killers on what became known as the “Vendetta Ride.”

TOMBSTONE is classic western history that has all the essential elements, including a cast of characters populating one of the wildest cities in the Wild West, violence, skullduggery and shifting alliances. A stirring combination of truth and legend, this is a story that lives on in American lore.

Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman on May 1, 2020

Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell
by Tom Clavin

  • Publication Date: January 5, 2021
  • Genres: History, Nonfiction
  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
  • ISBN-10: 1250214602
  • ISBN-13: 9781250214607