Dan Tipton
Encyclopedia
Dan Tipton was a sailor, miner, gambler, and member of a federal posse
led by American Old West
lawman Wyatt Earp
. He participated in Earp's vendetta
during which four outlaw Cowboys
were killed.
during the American Civil War
and drifted west afterward. He showed up in Tombstone in March 1881. When Morgan Earp
was assassinated on March 19, 1881, Tipton was present in the billiard parlor where Virgil was killed. Tipton joined Earp's posse after it returned from Prescott. While escorting Virgil Earp
and his wife Allie to the train bound for California, Wyatt killed Frank Stilwell
who had been named as a suspect in Morgan's murder.
Tipton rode with Wyatt, Warren Earp
, Doc Holliday
, Texas Jack Vermillion
, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson and Sherman McMaster as they searched for the other Cowboys thought responsible for attacking the Earps. He was with the Earp posse when it rode out to Pete Spence
's wood camp where they found Florentino Cruz, a.k.a. Indian Charlie, who had been implicated in trying to kill the Earps. He returned to Tombstone to obtain more funds for the Earps and was arrested on trumped up charges by Cochise County Sheriff and Earp enemy Johnny Behan
. While in jail he missed the shootout at Iron Springs on March 24 during which Wyatt Earp killed Curly Bill Brocius
because he was bringing money to the Earp posse.
After Tipton was released on March 25, he brought $1,000 donated by E.B. Gage, who was part owner of the Tombstone-based Grand Central Mining Company and superintendent of the Grand Central Mine. He was also a prominent Republican and a member of the Citizens Safety Committee
. He took the money to the Earp party at Henry Hooker
's Sierra Bonita Ranch north of Willcox. Gage The posse members looked for more members of the outlaw Cowboys for a few more days before leaving Arizona on April 15 to avoid arrest warrants. Tipton remained with the group through New Mexico and into Colorado, where most of the posse stayed to avoid arrest warrants from Cochise County.
.
The 53-year-old inmate lasted just four months behind bars before dying of Bright's Disease
on February 25, 1898. He left no known kin. His body was buried in an unmarked grave at the Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
led by American Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
lawman Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
. He participated in Earp's vendetta
Earp vendetta ride
The Earp Vendetta Ride, lasting from March 20 to April 15, 1882, was a manhunt for outlaw Cowboys led by newly appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp. He was searching for men he held responsible for maiming his brother Virgil, the Tombstone Marshal and Deputy U.S. Marshal, and assassinating his...
during which four outlaw Cowboys
The Cowboys (Cochise County)
The Cowboys were a loosely associated group of outlaw cowboys in Pima and Cochise County, Arizona Territory in the late 19th century. They were cattle rustlers and robbers who rode across the border into Mexico and rounded up cattle that they then sold in the United States...
were killed.
Life in Arizona
Tipton served aboard the USS MalvernUSS Malvern (1860)
USS Malvern was a large steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was then used by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.Malvern was built in 1860 as William G...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and drifted west afterward. He showed up in Tombstone in March 1881. When Morgan Earp
Morgan Earp
Morgan Seth Earp was the younger brother of Deputy U.S. Marshals Virgil and Wyatt Earp. Morgan was a deputy of Virgil's and all three men were the target of repeated death threats made by outlaw Cowboys who were upset by the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. This conflict eventually...
was assassinated on March 19, 1881, Tipton was present in the billiard parlor where Virgil was killed. Tipton joined Earp's posse after it returned from Prescott. While escorting Virgil Earp
Virgil Earp
Virgil Walter Earp fought in the Civil War. He was U.S. Deputy Marshal for south-eastern Arizona and Tombstone City Marshal at the time of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the Arizona Territory. Two months after the shootout in Tombstone, outlaw Cowboys ambushed Virgil on the streets of...
and his wife Allie to the train bound for California, Wyatt killed Frank Stilwell
Frank Stilwell
Frank C. Stilwell was an outlaw Cowboy who murdered at least two men in Cochise County during 1877-1882. For four months he was a deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Arizona Territory for Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan...
who had been named as a suspect in Morgan's murder.
Tipton rode with Wyatt, Warren Earp
Warren Earp
Baxter Warren Earp was the youngest brother of Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil, James, and Newton Earp. He was not present during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. After Virgil was maimed in an ambush, he joined Wyatt and was in town when Morgan was assassinated. He helped Wyatt in the hunt for the outlaw...
, Doc Holliday
Doc Holliday
John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
, Texas Jack Vermillion
Texas Jack Vermillion
John Wilson Vermillion , alias "Texas Jack" and later as "Shoot-Your-Eye-Out" Vermillion, was a gunfighter of the Old West known for his participation in the Earp vendetta ride and his later association with Soapy Smith.- Early life :...
, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson and Sherman McMaster as they searched for the other Cowboys thought responsible for attacking the Earps. He was with the Earp posse when it rode out to Pete Spence
Pete Spence
Pete Spence , suspected of robbery in 1878 in Goliad County, Texas, changed his name from Elliot Larkin Ferguson. He was later a suspect in a stagecoach robbery outside Bisbee, Arizona and was known for his association with outlaw Cowboys Frank and Tom McLaury and Ike and Billy Clanton of...
's wood camp where they found Florentino Cruz, a.k.a. Indian Charlie, who had been implicated in trying to kill the Earps. He returned to Tombstone to obtain more funds for the Earps and was arrested on trumped up charges by Cochise County Sheriff and Earp enemy Johnny Behan
Johnny Behan
John Harris Behan was from April, 1881 to November, 1882 sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona Territory. Behan was appointed the first sheriff of the newly-created county in February, 1881. The mining boomtown of Tombstone was the new county seat and Behan's headquarters...
. While in jail he missed the shootout at Iron Springs on March 24 during which Wyatt Earp killed Curly Bill Brocius
William Brocius
William "Curly Bill" Brocius was a gunman, rustler and an outlaw Cowboy in the Cochise County area of Arizona Territory during the early 1880s. He had a number of conflicts with the lawmen of the Earp family, and he was named as one of the individuals who participated Morgan Earp's assassination....
because he was bringing money to the Earp posse.
After Tipton was released on March 25, he brought $1,000 donated by E.B. Gage, who was part owner of the Tombstone-based Grand Central Mining Company and superintendent of the Grand Central Mine. He was also a prominent Republican and a member of the Citizens Safety Committee
Vigilance committee
A vigilance committee was a group formed of private citizens to administer law and order where they considered governmental structures to be inadequate. The term is commonly associated with the frontier areas of the American West in the mid-19th century, where groups attacked cattle rustlers and...
. He took the money to the Earp party at Henry Hooker
Henry Hooker
Henry Clay Hooker was a prominent and wealthy rancher of the American Old West, and personal friend to lawman Wyatt Earp during the early 1880s.-Life:Henry Clay Hooker was born January 10, 1828 in Hinsdale, New Hampshire....
's Sierra Bonita Ranch north of Willcox. Gage The posse members looked for more members of the outlaw Cowboys for a few more days before leaving Arizona on April 15 to avoid arrest warrants. Tipton remained with the group through New Mexico and into Colorado, where most of the posse stayed to avoid arrest warrants from Cochise County.
Later life
In 1897, Tipton ran afoul of the law. Customs agents arrested him for smuggling forged Chinese immigrant labor certificates. He was convicted in October and sentenced to 20 months in the Ohio Federal PenitentiaryOhio Penitentiary
The Ohio Penitentiary, also known as the Ohio State Penitentiary, or less formally, the Ohio Pen or State Pen, was a prison operated from 1834-1983 in downtown Columbus, Ohio, in what is now known as the Arena District. The prison housed 5,235 prisoners at its peak in 1955...
.
The 53-year-old inmate lasted just four months behind bars before dying of Bright's Disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
on February 25, 1898. He left no known kin. His body was buried in an unmarked grave at the Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.