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mahatmakanejeeves

(57,418 posts)
Wed Oct 26, 2016, 02:37 PM Oct 2016

For something that lasted only thirty seconds, this event certainly is well known.

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a 30-second shootout between lawmen and members of a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cowboys that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881 in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. It is generally regarded as the most famous shootout in the history of the American Wild West. The gunfight was the result of a long-simmering feud, with Cowboys Billy Claiborne, Ike and Billy Clanton, and Tom and Frank McLaury on one side and town Marshal Virgil Earp, Special Policeman Morgan Earp, Special Policeman Wyatt Earp, and temporary policeman Doc Holliday on the other side. All three Earp brothers had been the target of repeated death threats made by the Cowboys, who objected to the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers were killed. Ike Clanton claimed that he was unarmed and ran from the fight, along with Billy Claiborne. Virgil, Morgan, and Doc Holliday were wounded, but Wyatt Earp was unharmed. The shootout has come to represent a period of the American Old West when the frontier was virtually an open range for outlaws, largely unopposed by law enforcement officers who were spread thin over vast territories.

The gunfight was not well-known to the American public until 1931, when Stuart Lake published the initially well-received biography Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal two years after Earp's death. The book was the basis for the 1946 film My Darling Clementine, directed by John Ford, and the 1957 film Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, after which the shootout became known by that name. Since then, the conflict has been portrayed with varying degrees of accuracy in numerous Western films and books, and has become an archetype for much of the popular imagery associated with the Old West.
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For something that lasted only thirty seconds, this event certainly is well known. (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Oct 2016 OP
I always liked Star Trek's ridiculous interpretation. CBGLuthier Oct 2016 #1
Never Knew Illinois Irishman Oct 2016 #3
If you're looking for a watchable movie... discntnt_irny_srcsm Oct 2016 #2
Im afraid the strain was more than he could bear. aidbo Oct 2016 #4
"Doc, you oughta be in bed, what the hell you doin this for anyway?" discntnt_irny_srcsm Oct 2016 #5

CBGLuthier

(12,723 posts)
1. I always liked Star Trek's ridiculous interpretation.
Wed Oct 26, 2016, 03:14 PM
Oct 2016

Made it look like the Clantons were just misunderstood victims.

discntnt_irny_srcsm

(18,479 posts)
2. If you're looking for a watchable movie...
Wed Oct 26, 2016, 03:25 PM
Oct 2016

...I suggest Tombstone http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108358/?ref_=nv_sr_1
...with Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott and several other great actors.
Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday stole the show.

discntnt_irny_srcsm

(18,479 posts)
5. "Doc, you oughta be in bed, what the hell you doin this for anyway?"
Thu Oct 27, 2016, 12:28 PM
Oct 2016

Doc Holliday: Wyatt Earp is my friend.

Turkey Creek Jack Johnson: Hell, I got lots of friends.

Doc Holliday: I don't.

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