The Last Gunfight book

Authored by Jeff Guinn

Product # ISBN-10: 1439154244

Product  Article by Hal Marshman Sr on Sept 28 2011

 

     I realize this is a little off topic for model builders, but it is history, and I hope will be of interest to some of you. I personally have been a fan of Wyatt Earp since I was about 9, and saw "My Darling Clementine", a movie about the Earps and the OK Corral fight. The movie played loosely with the facts for sure, but it did spark my interest. Since that time, I've read every book about the characters and the battle I could put my hands on. I've also seen every movie about the subject from "Clementine" to "Tombstone". I've even visited Tombstone twice. In any event, I bought this book through the Military Book Club for $19.95. Since the book was published by Simon & Schuster in 2011, I knew it would contain the latest research. I was not wrong. All the characters we love and hate are here, from Wyatt and his brothers, Doc Holliday, the Clantons, the Mclaurys, Curly Bill Brocius, Johnny Ringo, Johhny Behan, Frank Stillwell, and on down through the lesser lights of the outlaw cowboys, and the politicos of Arizona, Cochise and Pima counties, and of course, Tombstone itself. 

     All the major characters are dealt with as individuals, to include what is known of their origins, family circumstances, and those events that shaped their lives. The origin of Tombstone itself are also covered, along with its founder, Ed Schieffelin. There is a several page photographic section, with photos of all the major characters, and of the town and its surroundings. First time I've ever seen a picture of Johhny Ringo. In the back of the book, there's a rather extensive section of author's notes, and references to other material he researched. One has to bear in mind, these events occurred roughly 130 years ago, so public records, court documents, and diaries were combed to accrue whatever factual material could by found. 

     Guinn doesn't sugar coat anything, but portrays his characters as they seem to actually have been. The main character has to be Wyatt Earp, and he doesn't come off as the stalwart goody goody hero he's always been portrayed as, but as a normal man, with faults, an ego, and a desire for fame and fortune. In spite of his drawbacks, one thing does shine through, and that's his magnanimity in allowing Ike Clanton to excape the gunfight, even as the guns were going off. His black and white vision of the law also comes through all the muddle of his active life. Down side, He was a consort of prostitutes and a gambler, although on the frontier, these activities didn't elicit the distaste of society, as it would have in more genteel surroundings. There was a scarcity of female companionship in the West, and prostitution was found to be a necessary evil, and legally controlled with licenses, taxes, and such. Everyone gambled, and that was also an accepted fact in the early days, with many making their living as gamblers. Doc Holliday, the tubercular dentist turned gunman, was certainly devoted to the tables, as he was to hard liquor. Most of the Earps appear to have had common law wives, as did Doc. Little is mentioned of females in relationship to most of the opposing cowboys, so perhaps they lived celebate lives, partaking of the soiled doves when they felt the need. Speaking of the cowboys, Guinn also doesn't paint them all as bad guys, but seems very understanding of some of their premises. Mind you, he makes no bones about the deadliness of such as Curly Bill and Johhny Ringo, nor the loud mouthed bragadoccio of Ike Clanton, whose loud rantings and ill temper probably was a prime cause of the battle, although the author is careful to show how the tension built over a period of time, to the point where deadly confrontation was inevitable, needing only the spark to ignite the tinder. 

     Naturally, the 30 second fight itself is dissected, with what is known of who shot whom, and so on. Further, the aftermath of the battle is well covered, with all the inquests, hearings, and trials it precipitated. The bloody aftermath with Virgil earp's wounding and Morgan Earp's murder, not to mention the failed attempt on Mayor Clum's life is related. Now we see a Wyatt Earp who throws aside the legal trappings of lawful action, and sets out on his "Vendetta Ride", avenging those wrongs with outright murders of his own. The author then rounds out the story with Wyatt's life up to his death at a ripe old age. There is discussion of the various books written, and the movies and television  offerings that have been made in regard to the subject. Guinn has done a very good job of rounding out his work, and what he has done must surely be appreciated by any fan of the Old West. 

     If the reader has any interest in the happenings in southeast Arizona in the early eighteen eighties, he should know that I heartily recommend this book as a factual, highly readable, and most exciting work. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Hal Marshman Sr

      

Photos and text © by Hal Marshman Sr