The Cowboys (Cochise County) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Cowboys were a loosely associated group of outlaw

Outlaw

In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...

cowboy

Cowboy

A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...

s in Pima

Pima County, Arizona

-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*74.3% White*3.5% Black*3.3% Native American*2.6% Asian*0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.7% Two or more races*12.4% Other races*34.6% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

and Cochise County

Cochise County, Arizona

-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*78.5% White*4.2% Black*1.2% Native American*1.9% Asian*0.3% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*4.0% Two or more races*9.6% Other races*32.4% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

, Arizona Territory

Arizona Territory

The Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state....

in the late 19th century. They were cattle rustlers

Cattle raiding

Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle.In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the person as a duffer...

and robbers who rode across the border into Mexico and rounded up cattle that they then sold in the United States. When the Mexican government lowered tariffs and added forts along the border, cross-border rustling and smuggling became less attractive, they continued to steal livestock and horses from neighboring ranches. They also held up stagecoaches, robbing the strongboxes

Safe

A safe is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or damage. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face removable or hinged to form a door. The body and door may be cast from metal or formed out of plastic through blow molding...

and strong-arming passengers for their valuables. In some instances they killed drivers and passengers. Modern media, such as the film Tombstone
Tombstone (film)
Tombstone is a 1993 American action film set in the Old West directed by George P. Cosmatos, along with uncredited directorial efforts by actor Kurt Russell and writer Kevin Jarre. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Jarre....

, have repeatedly depicted The Cowboys as a formally organized gang. The roughly 200-300 Cowboys were in fact a loosely organized band of friends and acquaintances who teamed up for various crimes and came to each others' aid.

When Virgil

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...

, Wyatt

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...

and 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...

arrived in Tombstone

Tombstone, Arizona

Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...

on , the town had already exploded in less than 18 months from about 100 miners living in tents and shacks to more than 7000 at the end of 1879. Virgil had been appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal for eastern Pima County

Pima County, Arizona

in Prescott, Arizona. U.S. Marshal Dake directed him to relocate to Tombstone so that he could focus his efforts on the Cowboys' illegal activities. Virgil arrived in Tombstone with his brothers Wyatt

Wyatt Earp

and Morgan

Morgan Earp

. He appointed Morgan as an undersheriff while Wyatt went to work looking for business opportunities. When those didn't work out for him later on, he took a temporary job riding shotgun

Shotgun messenger

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a shotgun messenger was a private "express messenger" and guard, especially on a stagecoach but also on a train, in charge of overseeing and guarding a valuable private shipment, such as particularly the contents of a strongbox or safe...

for Wells, Fargo & Co.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...

, guarding their bullion shipments. Wyatt was an assistant Pima County sheriff for a period, and Virgil became Tombstone's city marshal in the middle of 1881. They were Republicans

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

from the Union states

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

up against the formidable will and might of the largely Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

sympathizers who resisted the Earps' efforts to identify and arrest them for their crimes.

Origins and background

Tombstone was one of the last frontier towns in the 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...

. Outlaws from all parts of the Western territories were crowded by growing populations of farmers and citizens desiring law and order. Virgil told the Arizona Daily Star on May 30, 1882, that "they know that Arizona is about the only place left for them to operate in as an organization. With a complete breaking up of their company threatened in event of losing their hold where they are now, they resist official interference with the greatest desperation."

The outlaws' crimes and their reputation grew such that during the 1880s in Cochise County

Cochise County, Arizona

it was an insult to call a legitimate cattleman

Cowman (profession)

A cowman is a person who works specifically with cattle.-Usage:Usage of the word "cowman" has significant geographic variation, though is sometimes used interchangeably with terms such as "stockman", "cattleman", "rancher" and "grazier."...

a "Cowboy." Tombstone resident George Parsons

George W. Parsons

George Whitwell Parsons was a licensed attorney turned banker during the 19th century Old West. He is remembered due to his having kept an accurate diary of his days in the west, which gave detailed accounts of his interaction with Old West notables such as Wyatt Earp and "Curly Bill"...

wrote in his diary, "A Cowboy is a rustler at times, and a rustler is a synonym for desperado

Outlaw

—bandit, outlaw, and horse thief

Horse thief

-United States:The term horse thief came into great popularity in the U.S. during the 19th century. During that time the Great Plains states, Texas, and other western states were sparsely populated and negligibly policed. As farmers tilled the land and migrants headed west through the Great...

." The San Francisco Examiner wrote in an editorial, "Cowboys [are] the most reckless class of outlaws in that wild country ... infinitely worse than the ordinary robber." Legal cowmen were usually landowners and generally called herders or ranch

Ranch

A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...

ers.

"The term cow-boy, once applied to all those in the cattle business indiscriminately, while still including some honest persons, has been narrowed down to be chiefly a term of reproach for a class of stealers of cattle, over the Mexican frontier, and elsewhere, who are a terror in their day and generation."

The notoriety and power of the Cowboys spread from coast to coast. Harper's magazine announced in ,
Virgil Earp

Virgil Earp

thought that some of the Cowboys had met at Charleston, Arizona

Charleston, Arizona

Charleston is a ghost town in Cochise County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It was occupied from the late-1870s through the late-1880s, and was located in what was then known as the Arizona Territory...

, and taken "an oath over blood drawn from the arm of Johnny Ringo

Johnny Ringo

John Peters "Johnny" Ringo was an outlaw Cowboy of the American Old West who was affiliated with Ike Clanton and Frank Stilwell in Cochise County, Arizona Territory during 1881-1882.-Early life:...

, the leader, that they would kill us.' Three Cowboys died in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States. Outlaw Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed, but Ike's brother...

and others were accused afterward of attempting to kill Virgil Earp

Virgil Earp

and assassinate Morgan Earp

Morgan Earp

. Four more Cowboys were killed by Wyatt Earp's posse when they ran down

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...

those who had been identified as participants in the attacks.

In May 1882, Virgil Earp

Virgil Earp

estimated that the Cowboys numbered nearly 200, and that during his time in Cochise Territory about 50 had been killed. A modern estimate put the number of Cowboys at about 300.

Business owners vs. Cowboys

Many of the ranch

Ranch

ers and Cowboys who lived in the countryside were resentful of the growing power of the industrialists from the Northern states who increasingly influenced local politics and law in the county. The ranchers largely maintained control of the country around Tombstone, due in large part to the sympathetic support of Cochise County Sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

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...

who favored the Cowboys and rural ranchers and who grew to intensely dislike the Earps. Behan tended to ignore the Earp's complaints about the McLaury's and Clanton's horse thieving and cattle rustling. As officers of the law, the Earps were known to bend the law in their favor when it affected their gambling

Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

and saloon interests, which earned them further enmity with the Cowboy faction.

Political and regional conflicts

Under the surface were other tensions aggravating the simmering distrust. Most of the Cowboys, including the Clantons and McLaurys, were Democrats

Democratic Party (United States)

and Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

sympathizers from Southern states, especially Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, who saw the business owners and the lawmen, especially the Earps, as Northern

Union (American Civil War)

Republican

Republican Party (United States)

carpetbaggers. The Republican Earps were politically oriented as well. There was also the fundamental conflict over resources and land; of Northern-style capitalism contrasted against the traditional, Southern-style, "small government

Small government

A Small government is one which minimizes its own activities. It is a concept important to classical liberalism and libertarianism.-In Hong Kong:...

" agrarianism

Agrarianism

Agrarianism has two common meanings. The first meaning refers to a social philosophy or political philosophy which values rural society as superior to urban society, the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values...

of the rural Cowboys.

Economic conflicts

According to Virgil Earp, the Cowboys were saddlers, men who lived in the saddle. Their primary occupation was raiding haciendas in Sonora

Sonora

Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....

, Mexico. They then sold the cattle in Tombstone to cooperative butchers. When they couldn't find cattle to steal, they robbed stages and engaged "in similar enterprises". He said that as soon as they had money to spend, they roared into Tombstone to spend it freely in the saloons, dance houses, and faro banks. Their generous spending habits earned them friends among the business men, who welcomed them but when the Cowboys broke the law, they hesitated to speak and remained quiet for fear of alienating their business.

They also failed to back up the lawmen when they confronted the cattle thieves or stage robbers. The Cowboys freely expressed their opinion publicly, loudly, and with little opposition. The lawman, Virgil said, "doing his duty must rely almost entirely upon his own conscience for encouragement. The sympathy of the respectable portion of the community may be with him but it is not openly expressed."

Known criminal associates

The lines between the outlaw element and law enforcement were not always distinct. 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...

had a reputation as a killer, though modern research has only identified three individuals he shot. He was also friends with Bill Leonard

Bill Leonard

William R. Leonard is a Republican U.S. politician who served as a member of the California State Board of Equalization from 2002 until his resignation in March 2010.-Life and career:After earning his B.A...

, who was implicated in a stagecoach robbery. On , 1881, three cowboys attempted to rob a Kinnear & Company stagecoach

Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...

carrying USD$26,000 in silver bullion (about $ in today's dollars) near Drew's Station, just outside of Contention City

Contention City, Arizona

Contention City or Contention is a ghost mining town in Cochise County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It was occupied from the early-1880s through the late-1880s in what was then known as the Arizona Territory...

. It was en route from Tombstone to Benson, Arizona

Benson, Arizona

-Transportation:Benson Airport is located 3 miles north west of the city.Benson is served by Interstate 10 to the north, which travels directly to downtown Tucson....

, the nearest rail terminal. The Cowboys were later identified as Bill Leonard

Bill Leonard

, Harry "The Kid" Head, and Jim Crane

Jim Crane

James Robert "Jim" Crane is a businessman from Houston, Texas. Crane is chairman and chief executive of Crane Capital Group and he is also the owner and chairman of the MLB team Houston Astros -Early life and education:...

, assisted by Luther King.

Frank and Tom McLaury had a ranch outside of Tombstone that they may have used to receive and re-sell stolen Mexican cattle. When six U.S. Army mules were stolen from Camp Rucker

Camp Rucker

Fort Rucker, or Camp Rucker, is a former United States Army post in Cochise County, Arizona. First known as Camp Supply and Camp Powers, its name was changed on October 1, 1878 in honor of Lieutenant John Anthony "Tony" Rucker...

, Wyatt assisted the U.S. Army and they found the animals on the McLaury's Ranch on the Babacomari River. They also found the branding iron

Branding iron

A branding iron is a tool which uses the process of pressing a heated metal shape against an object or livestock with the intention of leaving a mark....

used to change the "US" brand to "D8". Cowboy Frank Patterson

Frank Patterson

Frank Patterson was an internationally renowned Irish tenor following in the tradition of singers such as Count John McCormack and Josef Locke. He was known as "Ireland's Golden Tenor".- Early life :...

and other Cowboys promised to return the mules, but showed up two days later without the animals and laughed at the lawmen.

Pony Diehl

Pony Diehl

Charles "Pony" Diehl was an Old West outlaw who crossed paths and associated with some of the most famous western characters in American history. His origins are unknown, although he is believed to have been part Cherokee....

was mentioned in the records of the events leading up to, and after, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

. He was suspected of being involved in numerous robberies

Robbery

Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....

and cattle rustling, and was suspected of being involved in the theft of US Army mules, alongside Sherman McMasters

Sherman McMasters

Sherman McMaster was an outlaw turned lawman, who was one of the six men involved in the Earp vendetta ride.-Early life:Sherman W. McMaster was born in 1853 in Rock Island, Illinois, the son of Sylvester W. McMaster. Not much is known of his life before heading out west, but he was believed to...

.

The Clanton family led by Newman Haynes Clanton had a ranch in a valley outside Tombstone that was likely used as a point for selling stolen Mexican beef. He was assisted by his son Ike

Ike Clanton

Joseph Isaac Clanton was born in Callaway County, Missouri. He is best known for being a member of group of outlaw Cowboys that had ongoing conflicts with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan Earp and Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday. The Clantons repeatedly threatened the Earps because they interfered with...

, Billy, and Phin Clanton

Phineas Clanton

Phineas Fay Clanton was the son of Newman Haynes Clanton and the brother of Billy and Ike Clanton. He was witness to and possibly played a part if a number of illegal activities during his life...

. Old Man Clanton was involved in the robbery, murder and torture of a number of Mexican smugglers on their way to Tucson in the Skeleton Canyon Massacre

Skeleton Canyon Massacre

The Skeleton Canyon Massacres refer to two separate attacks on Mexican citizens in 1879 and 1881. Skeleton Canyon is located in the Peloncillo Mountains , which straddles the modern Arizona and New Mexico state line border...

. He was killed by Mexican soldiers in a retaliatory raid along the Mexican border at Guadalupe Canyon

Guadalupe Canyon Massacre

The Guadalupe Canyon Massacre was an incident that occurred on August 13, 1881 in the Guadalupe Canyon area of the southern Peloncillo Mountains – Guadalupe Mountains. The canyon straddles the modern Arizona and New Mexico state line and connects the Animas Valley of New Mexico with the San...

. Ike Clanton repeatedly threatened the Earps and Doc Holiday in the days leading up to the shoot out on . Unarmed, he ran from the gunfight.

Cowboys and the law

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 previously been accused of and acquitted of two murders, was named a deputy county sheriff by Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan

Johnny Behan

beginning in April 1881. He was dismissed four months later for "accounting irregularities" relating to the collection of taxes. Law enforcement officers that came into conflict with the Cowboys included Fred White, killed by Curly Bill Brocius in what was ruled an accidental shooting. Virgil Earp was at times both U.S. Deputy Marshall for the Southeast Arizona Territory and Tombstone City Marshall. Wyatt Earp had been the Pima County deputy sheriff from August to .

On June 28, 1881, Virgil was appointed by Tombstone Mayor John Clum

John Clum

John Philip Clum was an Indian agent for the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in the Arizona Territory. He implemented a limited form of self-government on the reservation that was so successful that other reservations were closed and their residents moved to San Carlos. Clum later became the...

as the permanent Tombstone city marshal and awarded the salary of $150.00 per month. He bore the responsibility for enforcing all town ordinances, including the city's ban on carrying a deadly weapon. John J. Gosper

John J. Gosper

John Jay Gosper was an American politician and businessman who served as Secretary of State of Nebraska and Secretary of Arizona Territory. Much of his service in Arizona was spent as Acting Governor due to Governor Frémont's virtual abandonment of his post.During the American Civil War, Gosper...

, Secretary of State for the Arizona Territory

Arizona Territory

and acting governor due to John C. Frémont

John C. Frémont

John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...

's virtual abandonment of his post, interviewed both Sheriff Behan and Deputy U.S. Marshal (and Town Marshal) Virgil Earp. Behan blamed Earp for not bringing the Cowboys under control. Gosper reported to Washington D.C. in September, 1881 that the Cowboys were out of control.
The lawmen's duty was to stop the outlaws and given the opposition of the Cowboys it became a question of which side was going drive the other out of the country first or kill them there.

Weapon ordinance

To counter the ongoing problems with weapons in Tombstone, the biggest city and county seat, Tombstone's city council passed an ordinance on April 19, 1881, that prohibited anyone from carrying a deadly weapon in town and required everyone to deposit their weapons at a livery or saloon soon after entering town. As City Marshal, Virgil Earp was charged with enforcing this ordinance.

Ordinance No. 9

"To Provide against Carrying of Deadly Weapons" (effective April 19, 1881).

Section 1: "It is hereby declared to be unlawful for any person to carry deadly weapons, concealed or otherwise [except the same be carried openly in sight, and in the hand] within the limits of the City of Tombstone.

Section 2: This prohibition does not extend to persons immediately leaving or entering the city, who, with good faith, and within reasonable time are proceeding to deposit, or take from the place of deposit such deadly weapon.

Section 3: All fire-arms of every description, and bowie knives and dirks, are included within the prohibition of this ordinance."

After the gunfight on October 26, 1881 in which three Cowboys died, the Earps and Holliday had to defend themselves against murder charges.
The ordinances were cited in the preliminary hearing held by Justice Wells Spicer. In his ruling exonerating the lawmen of murder, he described Frank McLaury's insistence that he would not give up his weapons unless the marshal and his deputies also gave up their arms as a "proposition both monstrous and startling!"

Earp and Cowboy conflict

Virgil Earp was appointed the Deputy U.S. Marshal for eastern Pima County on , 1880, before he arrived in Tombstone. Wyatt was appointed assistant sheriff for Pima County from to , 1880. When town marshal Fred White was killed on , 1880, Virgil was appointed to replace him until an election was held 12 days later, and he got the job permanently on , 1880. Virgil hired his brother Morgan

Morgan Earp

as an undersheriff, and occasionally called on Wyatt for assistance.

The Earps had repeated conflicts with Ike Clanton

Ike Clanton

, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury that eventually resulted on , 1881, in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

. Frank, Tom, and Billy Clanton were killed during that shootout.

The McLaurys and the Clantons are considered by most historians to be outlaw Cowboys. Billy Claiborne fled the Tombstone gunfight and later claimed he was unarmed. Frank McLaury was known as a good shot. Ike Clanton was not well-liked because of his drunkenness, while his brother Billy was considered level-headed and hard-working. Some townspeople were particularly fond of young Tom McLaury. Billy Clanton and the McLaurys were landowners

Land tenure

Land tenure is the name given, particularly in common law systems, to the legal regime in which land is owned by an individual, who is said to "hold" the land . The sovereign monarch, known as The Crown, held land in its own right. All private owners are either its tenants or sub-tenants...

and commanded some respect in town. The men were so popular that the Nuggett said after the gunfight that the Cowboys' funeral "was the largest ever witnessed in Tombstone."

Earp vendetta

On December 28, Virgil Earp

Virgil Earp

was ambushed on the streets of Tombstone by hidden assailants shooting from the second story of an unfinished building. The doctor removed 5.5 inches (14 cm) of humerus bone and he lost the use of his left arm. The main suspects were Ike Clanton, Phin Clanton, and Pony Diehl. Wyatt was made Deputy U.S. Marshal to replace Virgil and he deputized Sherman McMaster, "Turkey Creek" Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson (gunfighter)

"Turkey Creek" Jack Johnson was one of Wyatt Earp's possemen during his infamous "vendetta ride".-Early life:Jack Johnson was thought to be a former bookkeeper and lawyer, coming from Missouri. Wyatt Earp believed that Johnson's real name was John Blunt, but there is no evidence to support this...

, Origen Charles Smith and Daniel "Tip" Tipton. On , 1882, Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Earp

led his posse

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"...

and obtained arrest warrants for Ike and Phin Clanton and Pony Diehl. They searched for them in Charleston

Charleston, Arizona

but were unsuccessful. Ike's hat had been found at the scene of Virgil's shooting, but on , 1882, seven fellow Cowboys provided him with an alibi, saying that he was in Charleston at the time, and the charges were dismissed for lack of evidence. With insufficient evidence, the Cowboys were not prosecuted.

On Saturday, March 18, 1882, Morgan Earp

Morgan Earp

was killed by a shot in the back while playing billiards at . 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...

, Frederick Bode, Frank Stilwell

Frank Stilwell

, "Indian Charlie" Cruz, and an unnamed half-breed

Half-breed

Half-breed is an historic term used to describe anyone who is mixed Native American and white European parentage...

Indian were named as suspects. The judge could not indict them because the primary witness was Spence's wife. Once again the Cowboys went free.

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

, and a posse of deputies including Cowboys "Turkey Creek" Jack Johnson and Sherman McMaster guarded Virgil on his way to the train station in Tucson. McMaster had been a Texas Ranger in 1878–79 during which his unit captured and held Curly Bill Brocius prisoner for five months. He was also accused of stealing U.S. Army mule and a robbing a stage with outlaw Pony Diehl. They found Frank Stilwell

Frank Stilwell

lying in wait and killed him. A second person, possibly Ike Clanton, was also seen but escaped. When Pima County issued warrants for the Earps' arrest in the murder of Frank Stilwell

Frank Stilwell

in the Tucson railyards, Sheriff Behan deputized Johnny Ringo

Johnny Ringo

John Peters "Johnny" Ringo was an outlaw Cowboy of the American Old West who was affiliated with Ike Clanton and Frank Stilwell in Cochise County, Arizona Territory during 1881-1882.-Early life:...

, Pete Spence

Pete Spence

, Johnny Barnes

Johnny Barnes

Johnny Barnes born John James Adolphus Mills on June 23, 1924, is a Bermuda native found waving to passing traffic at the Foot of the Lane roundabout in Hamilton, Bermuda, from roughly 3:45 am to 10 am, every workday, rain or shine...

and about 17 other Cowboys to pursue and arrest the Earps.

Bat Masterson

Bat Masterson

William Barclay "Bat" Masterson was a figure of the American Old West known as a buffalo hunter, U.S. Marshal and Army scout, avid fisherman, gambler, frontier lawman, and sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph...

and Luke Short

Luke Short

Western frontiersman Luke L. Short was a noted gunfighter, who had worked as a farmer, cowboy, whiskey peddler, army scout, dispatch rider, gambler and saloon keeper at various times during the four decades of his life.- Early life :...

were faro

Faro (card game)

Faro, Pharaoh, or Farobank, is a late 17th century French gambling card game descendant of basset, and belongs to the lansquenet and Monte Bank family of games, in that it is played between a banker and several players winning or losing according to the cards turned up matching those already...

dealers for Wyatt for a while at the Oriental Saloon, but both left in . Lou Rickabaugh, the owner of the Oriental Saloon, was also from Dodge City. Other known Cowboys included Billy Claiborne, 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....

, Johnny Ringo

Johnny Ringo

John Peters "Johnny" Ringo was an outlaw Cowboy of the American Old West who was affiliated with Ike Clanton and Frank Stilwell in Cochise County, Arizona Territory during 1881-1882.-Early life:...

, Frank Patterson

Frank Patterson

, Milt Hicks, Bill Hicks

Bill Hicks

William Melvin "Bill" Hicks was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material largely consisted of general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy, and personal issues. Hicks' material was often controversial and steeped in dark comedy...

, Bill Johnson, Ed Lyle, and Johnny Lyle. In , Diehl was again running from the law, when a warrant

Warrant (law)

Most often, the term warrant refers to a specific type of authorization; a writ issued by a competent officer, usually a judge or magistrate, which permits an otherwise illegal act that would violate individual rights and affords the person executing the writ protection from damages if the act is...

was issued for his arrest relating to a stagecoach

Stagecoach

robbery. Again, he avoided capture.

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