Within the gambling community, however, some other establishments had ties to Rickabaugh and his associates. James Earp was working at Vogan & Flynn’s. Earp, in turn, had connections to Robert J. Winders and Oregin C. “Charlie” Smith, who controlled the gambling concession at Danner & Owen’s Saloon. The Alhambra, another upscale saloon, owned by Thomas H. Corrigan and operated by John Meagher and Joseph Leonard Mellgren, was the saloon where Doc settled in as a faro dealer. Together with the Oriental group, these men represented what might have been called the gambling establishment in Tombstone.14 Naturally, there were others who envied what seemed to them to be the control exercised by these men.
By August 1880, a group of them were bent on disrupting the gambling arrangements in Tombstone. Apparently, they were led by John E. Tyler, a veteran gambler who hailed from Jackson County, Missouri, and who had gained experience in Kansas and California. At least he was the most visible of the Slopers. He was also a troublemaker who had killed a man in California before coming to Tombstone. Tyler took a job as a dealer working for Smith and Winders soon after his arrival, but he was more often associated with men like Elliot Larkin Ferguson (known in Tombstone as Pete Spence or Peter Spencer), Thomas J. Duncan, Andrew Ames, and Andy McCauley, a shift miner who apparently ran with a faster crowd when not working in the mines.15
Perhaps it was coincidental that Doc Holliday arrived in Tombstone soon after the disruptive behavior of Tyler and company began. Perhaps Bill Harris spotted him in Tucson and invited him to Tombstone. At any rate, Holliday hit town just as the trouble between the gamblers heated up. On September 23, 1880, only days after Doc’s arrival, Tyler and Tony Kraker, another gambler with ties to the Easterners, got into a fracas at Vogan & Flynn’s Saloon, and weapons were drawn. Before things got out of hand, “friends interfered and further hostilities were prevented.”16 Less than three weeks later, Doc would have his turn with Tyler.
On Sunday evening, October 10, Holliday got into an argument with Tyler near the Oriental “which boded a shooting scrape.” Marshal White or Officer James Bennett disarmed both men to defuse the situation and deposited their pistols behind the bar at the Oriental. Later, both men returned to the Oriental, where the argument was renewed. Milt Joyce asked Tyler to leave the saloon, “as he didn’t want trouble.” Tyler left, but when Joyce “remonstrated with Holliday,” Doc, who was apparently intoxicated, got into an argument with Joyce, during which Joyce “bodily fired” Doc out of the saloon. Doc was no physical match for the burly former blacksmith, who easily threw him into the street. Uncowed, Doc returned and demanded the return of his pistol from behind the bar. Joyce refused to give it to him.
Infuriated and humiliated, Holliday left again, found another pistol, and returned. He approached Joyce, who was coming out from behind the bar, “and with a remark that wouldn’t look well in print, turned loose with a self-cocker.” Joyce pulled his own pistol and charged Doc, perhaps firing at him once, before using it to knock Doc to the floor with a blow to his head. As they struggled, Marshal White and Officer Bennett arrived and separated them. In the melee, several shots were fired. Joyce was wounded in the hand, and William Parker was shot in the big toe of his left foot. Gus Williams, a bartender, also had fired a shot, which hit no one. Doc was bleeding badly from the blow to his head, and observers thought at the time that he “was severely, if not fatally, hurt.” He was lifted into a chair, and Joyce was escorted out of the saloon. When it was clear that Holliday was not critically injured, he was arrested.17
The following day, Fred White secured a warrant against Holliday sworn out by Joyce on a charge of “assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill,” before Justice of the Peace James Reilly. The next day Doc pleaded guilty to assault and battery even though no witnesses appeared against him in Reilly’s court. He was fined $20 plus $11.25 in court costs.18 Doc got off light, but the episode generated animosity between him and Joyce.
Milton E. Joyce, saloonkeeper and member of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors, who became Doc Holliday’s bitter foe after an incident in the Oriental Saloon in which Holliday shot Joyce and Joyce severely beat Holliday.
Joyce’s physical wound healed slowly. At one point he feared he might lose his hand, but eventually he fully recovered. He did not forget Doc Holliday, however, and the incident seemed to sour his relationship with the men who ran the Oriental’s gambling concession, driving him into the Slopers’ camp, and, critically, predisposing him against the Earps in the months that followed. The witnesses called to testify in Holliday’s hearing had included not only Joyce but also John Behan and West Fuller. Like Joyce, they failed to appear, and both of them would figure prominently in the troubles to come. John Tyler, who must have taken some pleasure in the trouble he had caused, continued to deal for Smith and Winders for a time, and the owners of the gambling concession at the Oriental, concerned about the situation, hired Luke Short to protect their interest. The fall passed with tension in the air, but October ended with a sensational affair that drew attention away from the gamblers’ war.19
Shortly after midnight on the morning of October 28, a group of revelers were gathered at the Alhambra Saloon. Four cowboys from the San Simon Valley, Curly Bill Brocius, Frank Patterson, Edward Collins, and Dick Lloyd, had been discussing a cattle deal with the stockman Jerome E. “Jerry” Ackerson. Business ceased being an issue as the liquor flowed. The cowboys fell in with three part-time miners and hangers-on with the cowboy crowd: James Johnson, a resident of Charleston; Andy McCauley, an associate of Pete Spence and Johnny Tyler; and Andrew Ames. Together, this band of celebrants spilled out of the saloon into the street. Near Sixth, some of them began to fire their pistols in the air. At that point, Patterson apparently tried to quiet the situation, and two of the group, McCauley and Johnson, ran to the south side of Allen Street to get away from the fuss. As they ran, they heard Curly Bill shout, “This won’t do,” as he followed them behind a cabin off Sixth halfway to Toughnut Street.20
At the first sound of gunfire, Marshal Fred White headed for the scene. Deputy Sheriff Wyatt Earp left his card game at the Bank Exchange Saloon and sprinted toward the sound of the guns as well. Near the scene he encountered his brother, Morgan, and Fred Dodge, borrowed a pistol from Dodge, and continued on. He spotted Marshal White just as White approached Brocius demanding that he surrender his pistol. Curly Bill was pulling his pistol out of its holster when Wyatt threw his arms around him from behind. At that point, White shouted, “Now, you Goddamn son-of-a-bitch, give up that pistol!” As he jerked the pistol from the cowboy’s hand, it discharged, sending a bullet into the marshal’s groin and tearing into his intestines. Wyatt Earp buffaloed Brocius and, with the help of his brothers Virgil and Morgan, arrested most of the others in the party. Once the prisoners were deposited in the jail, Wyatt left Morgan and Dodge standing guard, and with Virgil, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson, and Doc Holliday he sought the others, not sure if there would be more trouble. Dodge recalled that “we passed through the night without another killing. And in the morning everything was quiet and orderly, as all things were that Wyatt Earp had anything to do with.”21
The following day, Ames, Collins, Johnson, and Lloyd were fined $10 each on weapons charges, and Patterson was released without charges for his effort in trying to quiet the revelers. McCauley had not been arrested, and Ackerson, after presenting his credentials as a cattle dealer, had posted a cash bond the night of the shooting. Sentiment was building against Brocius as White’s condition deteriorated, so much so that Judge Michael Gray ordered the case transferred to the county seat at Tucson. Wyatt Earp took charge of the transfer. With Virgil, Morgan, George “Shotgun” Collins, and a few others, including Holliday, he took Brocius to Tucson.22
On the day of the shooting, Virgil Earp had been appointed assistant city marshal at a salary of $100. Two days later, Fred White died, and Virgil became marshal temporarily until elections could be held. On October 31, White was followed by a large cortege represe
nting “all classes and conditions of society, from the millionaire to the mudsill” to his final resting place.23 Ironically, as White was laid to rest, word reached Tombstone that Jerry Ackerson, the cattle buyer who had been one of the revelers that night, had been found murdered and robbed of $100 thirty miles away on the Southern Pacific line at Groton Springs.24 Brocius, whose reputation was not well known in Tombstone at the time, was eventually discharged in December, based largely on White’s deathbed statement that the shooting had been accidental, which was supported by the testimonies of Wyatt Earp and Jacob Gruber, a gunsmith who testified that Brocius’s pistol was defective, allowing it to fire at half-cock. Others testified that Brocius had tried to quiet the revelers before the encounter with White occurred.25
Doc would later claim that Curly Bill had been part of the Fort Griffin crowd and had an unsavory reputation even then, and during the course of his trip to Tucson in the custody of Wyatt Earp, Bill had admitted to being a fugitive from Texas. None of that was relevant at the time, though, and Curly Bill was set free to play a greater role in the unfolding Tombstone story. Within a matter of weeks, his antics once again would have him in the news, but for the moment, Curly Bill was a free man and of no concern to Doc Holliday.
The White killing led to a temporary increase in law enforcement in Tombstone. A public outcry about the “epidemic of shootings” was matched by demands in the press that local gun ordinances be strengthened. The town council appointed a new group of policemen and scheduled a special election for marshal on November 12, with Virgil Earp, James Flynn, and Ben Sippy as candidates. Interestingly, the council also appointed Buckskin Frank Leslie as a special deputy authorized to keep the peace and make arrests in the Oriental Saloon.26 And perhaps unnoticed at the time was that the relatively unknown John Henry Holliday was playing a backup role whenever the Earp brothers needed men they could depend on in a fight. In fact, in light of subsequent events, his new role appeared short lived at best. Politics took care of that.
In the general election that was held on November 2, 1880, the race for sheriff of Pima County was closely watched. Charlie Shibell, the incumbent and a Democrat, had a spotless record, but his Republican opponent, Robert H. “Bob” Paul, had an imposing career as a law enforcement officer and Wells, Fargo detective. At first, Shibell appeared to be reelected by a slim margin of 42 votes, but when the results from Precinct No. 27, the San Simon district, showed 103 votes for Shibell and only 1 for Paul, the Republicans cried foul. Balloting had taken place at the home of Joe Hill, a Texan with a questionable reputation whose real name was Joseph Greaves Olney, and poll officials included Isaac Clanton and John Ringo, other men with less than sterling reputations, even though their appointments had been revoked days earlier.27
Paul challenged the outcome, but his suit was not scheduled to be heard until January 1881. In the meantime, Shibell was sworn in for a second term. On November 9, 1880, Wyatt Earp resigned his post as deputy sheriff because, as he put it, he did not think it proper to work on Paul’s behalf in the election dispute while serving under Shibel. The Tombstone Nugget lamented his departure, stating, “Wyatt Earp’s resignation as deputy sheriff was noted by his many friends with regret. During the time he has held the office he has been active and prompt in the discharge of all duties and every citizen had the consciousness that his life and property were as well protected as they could be by any single officer.”28
There were suggestions, however, that he had resigned under pressure from Shibell because of his perceived disloyalty to the man who had hired him in the first place. A local observer noted that the Earps’ “ingratitude to one who had always been their friend has been marked by his many friends in Tombstone, and retribution has already reached one.”29 Virgil was the victim of retribution referred to by the correspondent. On November 12, Ben Sippy defeated him in the special election for city marshal of Tombstone by a vote of 311 to 259, after James Flynn dropped out of the race to go into business with T. E. Fitzpatrick at the Cosmopolitan Saloon. Virgil resigned as assistant marshal shortly thereafter.30
These developments left the Earps without official credentials except for Virgil’s role as deputy U.S. marshal and Wyatt’s continued work with Wells, Fargo. Wyatt also began to work on Paul’s behalf in the election dispute. Their election problems prompted the Earps to sell some of their properties. After selling land lots in Tombstone for $6,000 earlier in the year, Wyatt and Andrew Neff, who was a partner in some of his investments, sold the Comstock mine for $3,000 and an option on the Grasshopper claim next to it; while both were undervalued, they eventually became profitable to Alfred H. Emmanuel, who developed them.31
Perhaps the sales underscored the lack of experience of the Earps and their partners, but the quick sales did not end their speculations. A few days after Wyatt resigned as deputy sheriff, Doc witnessed the survey of the Mountain Maid mine by Wyatt and Bob Winders. The Earps and their partners still owned mines called the Long Branch, the Dodge, and the Mattie Blaylock, and they were dabbling in other projects with several partners, including Albert Steinfeld and C. G. Bilicke.32
John H. Behan replaced Wyatt as Shibell’s deputy sheriff in Tombstone. The appointment was scarcely a surprise, and it was welcomed by Democratic observers throughout the territory. At the time, his appointment seemed tenuous and wholly dependent on the outcome of the Pima County sheriff’s suit. Behan was well connected, however, and he almost certainly took the position with full knowledge of the movement afoot in Prescott to create new Arizona counties. He understood, if Wyatt had not, that holding the position of deputy sheriff of Pima County would be an asset if Tombstone became part of a new county. And with his connections in Prescott and his political skill, Behan had the inside track for appointment as sheriff if a new county were created.
Behan had to have been impressed with Earp’s record as Pima County deputy, and, knowing that Earp would likely seek the sheriff’s appointment himself, should it become available, Behan approached him with a proposition. He proposed that if Wyatt did not apply for the position of sheriff, he would appoint Wyatt as undersheriff. Wyatt would be the chief law enforcement officer, while Behan concentrated on tax collection and politics. The arrangement had unmistakable appeal to Wyatt because it was similar to the role he had played as assistant marshal to Larry Deger and Charles E. Bassett back in Dodge City.33
Because of his friendship with Wyatt Earp—and perhaps unwittingly—Doc Holliday was being drawn into local politics. Oddly, he registered to vote before the Earps did. He was already partnered with the Earps and R. J. Winders in mining claims, and as events unfolded that fall, his sense of loyalty would involve him in other enterprises as well. He was out of town for a time in November, perhaps gambling in Tucson or Prescott or visiting Kate in Globe.
But he was back in Tombstone in December. On the evening of December 6, 1880, Shotgun Collins, another former resident of Dodge and one of those who had helped Wyatt Earp on the morning of Fred White’s fatal shooting, exchanged pistol fire with a man named Scott, which resulted in no injuries but cost both of them $10 for discharging firearms in public. By December 10, George Parsons was complaining that shooting was a nightly affair and musing that it was “[s]trange no one is killed.” Cowboys openly defied the gun ordinances and hurrahed the town on a regular basis. Doc, though, stayed clear of gunplay.34
On January 4, 1881, John P. Clum, the editor of the Tombstone Epitaph and a former Indian agent, was elected mayor after a campaign that focused on title to town lots. Clum would prove to be an important ally to the Earps in the months that followed. Ben Sippy defeated his challenger, Howard Lee, in the marshal’s race. The new year also brought the big news that Curly Bill had been acquitted for the killing of Fred White, and it was soon apparent that he had not learned much from the experience. On January 9, 1881, he “celebrated” at Charleston by shooting up the town and disrupting a church service and making the preacher dance at gunpoint. The next day he hit Tombstone, “ca
ptured the Alhambra Saloon,” and hurrahed the town. No one tried to stop him; it would be the beginning of a lively year.35 On January 14, Doc was again pressed into service by Wyatt. On that day, Michael O’Rourke, commonly called “Johnny-behind-the-Deuce,” shot and killed Richard Schneider, a local mining man, during a card game at Charleston.
Because of Schneider’s prominence, a crowd gathered, and George McKelvey, the local constable, fearing a mob, started for Tombstone in a buggy with O’Rourke. En route, he met Virgil Earp out exercising one of Wyatt’s horses. Virgil took O’Rourke up behind him and raced to Tombstone ahead of McKelvey and the Charleston crowd. He stopped at the Wells, Fargo office, where Wyatt happened to be. Although neither he nor Virgil held any official position, Wyatt took a shotgun and moved the prisoner to Vogan’s Bowling Alley, while Virgil rushed off to find Marshal Sippy. Gathering a cadre of men including Morgan, Doc, Fred Dodge, West Fuller, and a few others as guards, Wyatt sent Warren home to saddle horses for the group. By the time the mob arrived, the situation was under control. Sippy and Virgil had joined the group, and Wyatt led them through the crowd that had gathered—both curiosity seekers and the mob that had trailed Virgil from Charleston—announcing that they were taking the prisoner to Tucson. Once joined by Deputy Behan, the entourage moved out, and O’Rourke was saved.36
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