Several store across my platform are selling the paperback of Tom Clavin's Tombstone: The Earp Brother, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride From Hell, and since I really enjoyed the Kurt Russel movie, I wound up checking the book out of the library.
What I found was a well researched book that goes into a much deeper depth than many tellings of the tale.
I mean, the first section of the book, before we even get into the Earp brothers getting to Arizona, centers on a bit of the history of the territory, the silver mines in the SE part of the territory, the natives of the area fighting for their territory vs being shipped off the the reservation, and the strangely hand off politicians of the era.
By the time we get into the arrival of the Earps, we have a good idea of how the stage was set for catastrophe before they even got there. We also know quite a bit about the ranches in the area, many of whom were raiding nearby Mexican ranches for cattle to rebrand and sell, as well as the Cowboy gangs who were doing the rustling.
My basis for comparison here is mostly the aforementioned movie, which, using this book as a yardstick had the events mostly correct, but not in the correct order.
One of Clavin's main contentions in here is that many of the issues between the Earps and the Clantons had to do with a deal between Virgil and Ike to arrest other Cowboys with a fake stagecoach with the Clantons getting the reward money and Virgil getting the recognition. Since that deal, if discovered would have lost a lot of face for everyone involved...
Also, Bat Masterson's role, although he wasn't around for the gunfight and the vendetta, was new to me. (He was in Tombstone, but wound up returning to Dodge City to help his brother before the feud got ugly.)
It would also seem that the big confrontation that everyone loves between Doc and Johnny Ringo happened long after the Shootout at the OK Corral, and some of the had to do with Doc's girlfriend, Big Nose Kate, getting romanced by Johnny, or at least being encouraged to get out of Tombstone. Also, given Doc was in Colorado when Ringo died, it's highly unlikely he shot him. Most likely, according to Clavin, Ringo died by his own hand.
On the other hand, Mattie, Wyatt's commonlaw wife, does seem to love her laudanum, in every story, including real life.
One thing I really enjoyed here was quotations from records of people not directly involved in the feud writing diaries or articles for the society pages in San Francisco.
While the author does let his personal prejudices show a bit in his recounting, he does manage to point out how morally gray the entire affair was for all parties, and how it wasn't just the criminal element who didn't think the Earps Vendetta Ride was justified.
Fun read, although like many things, sometimes the legend is more interesting than the truth.
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