Gunfighters
of the old west
Wyatt Earp was a man of action. He was a thinking man, whose mental processes were quick and direct. The man was the hearts of all and was frontier-wide recognized as the most proficient peace officer, the greatest gunfighting marshal that the Old West knew. Wyatt Earp attained his fame through the only method he knew how. Whether it be through womanizing, his play against Clay Allison at Dodge City, his protection of Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce against a Tombstone mob, the battle of the O. K. Corral, his gun duals with Curly Bill, and one of his most famous actions, killing Billy the Kid, all show how he made himself a legend. In themselves these things that Wyatt Earp did made him a myth and legend of his own era. The continuation of his story through the years has awarded a higher honor to the man. He no longer stands simply as an unbelievably courageous figure distinguished by fabulous feats with extraordinary domination over men. In perspective, he is recognized as something more, a symbol of power. The Old West cannot be understood unless Wyatt Earp also is understood. He is a myth and I am here to solve him.
The frontier breeds men. Good or evil; law abiding or lawless. For two blood run countries in which North America was spreading westward, Wyatt Earp was a hardy, self-reliant pioneer. To Earp, fearless confidence was his strength; his own judgments; his own courage; gained him his respect from other commoners. Wyatt Earp was the sixth American-born generation of his family. He grew up where there was no law west of Kansas City, and no God. Most of his family members moved many times across the east coast in search of good farming land. Others became lawyers. Where Wyatt Earp fits into that family, I don’t know. He said of his father, “Father’s love for the soil and for making things grow was fanatical.” Earp says he can remember all through his boyhood, his father was quit the pioneer in the farming industry. His father’s love for the earth was so strong, it makes me wonder what he had against moving west; other than the soil is not as rich for planting. Like in many households, the children grow into adults and form their own opinions. Wyatt and his brother strongly disagreed with their father, although they were able to convince him on some things. He was open to freeing the slaves; even though they already owned some themselves. Their father was strictly with the south and growing his farms but knew that until the war was over, their family would continue to fight. Wyatt’s father, Nicholas, planned the trip out to California by train. Wyatt, barely sixteen, was in charge of the weaponry. After some discussion, Nicholas gave Wyatt his first weapon for keeping. Being so young, moving, owning a weapon, and having mainly adult relations, it forced him to mature quicker than most young men. Wyatt’s gunfighting career started when him and his brother were sent out for supplies in Omaha, 1864. Two men walked out in front of them from a saloon with two guns drawn at each other. Wyatt recalls he was speechless, felt sick to his stomach, and ran.
As time when on, the family continued on their journey. As shoot outs were not uncommon in the Old West, Wyatt Earp was exposed to them at a very young age. The west changed Wyatt from a small town farm boy, to an Old West gunfighter. Though Wyatt’s beginning was quite different from those of Billy the Kid and Doc Holliday, his story still started him to become one of the most famous. Earp was raised in a stable home, but politics and tension in the family forced them to move, ultimately exposing him to a whole new life.