The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, one of the most iconic events in American Wild West history, unfolded on October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. This brief but deadly confrontation pitted lawmen—led by the Earp brothers and their ally Doc Holliday—against a group of outlaws known as the Cowboys, including the Clanton and McLaury brothers. What began as an attempt to enforce local gun laws escalated into a hail of bullets that left three men dead and others wounded, symbolizing the raw tensions between order and lawlessness on the frontier. The following is a full transcript of a contemporary newspaper article reporting on the incident, preserved with its original wording, misspellings, and grammatical quirks to reflect the journalism of the era. Published just days after the event, it offers a vivid, firsthand perspective on the chaos and its immediate aftermath.
https://humblymybrain.substack.com/p/the-gunfight-at-the-ok-corral-an
In the turbulent aftermath of the Lincoln County War in 1878, Billy the Kid emerged as one of the most notorious figures of the American Old West, blending fact with legend in tales of gunfights, escapes, and vendettas. This 1881 newspaper article, reprinted from a correspondent’s report, recounts a purported triple murder committed by the Kid as an act of revenge against cattle baron John Chisum, whom he accused of withholding promised wages for his services during the conflict. While the story’s details may include exaggerations typical of sensational frontier journalism, it illustrates the Kid’s fearsome reputation and the violent ethos of the era, where personal scores were settled with bullets.
https://humblymybrain.substack.com/p/billy-the-kids-vengeful-triple-murder
