The Gunfight At The OK Corral - What Was It And Who Bit The Dust?
When the Earps got together with the Clantons, it was moider!
Of all the incidents we associate with the American West, none is more (in)famous than the Gunfight At The OK Corral. But while the skirmish might have inspired any number of dime novels and smash-hit movies, it's fair to say most people are unaware of what really occurred on the afternoon of Wednesday 26th October 1881 on the mean streets of Tombstone, Arizona.
From pictures like My Darling Clementine, Hour Of The Gun and Tombstone, not to mention John Sturges's Gunfight At The OK Corral, you could be forgiven for thinking that the legendary shootout lasted many minutes, saw dozens of rounds fired and claimed many lives. In actual fact, the 'battle' lasted a little over 30 seconds.
During that time, some 30 shots were fired by the participants - Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp plus their consumptive ally Doc Holliday on the one side, Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom McLaury on the other - and since the rivals were but six feet apart when the firing started, it's no great shock that the outnumbered Cowboys - as the Clantons and McLaurys were known - all went to the great saloon bar in the sky.
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