Mining the Myths

Wyatt Earp died at the grand age of 80 in 1929 in Los Angeles—not Tombstone, Deadwood, Dodge City or any of the other Old West towns he’d called home and AND not in some dramatic gun fight. He was living in L.A., working as an adviser on Hollywood Westerns.

His lawman gig ran for just a short span of his long life (it was his brother Virgil who was the long time marshal and the main player at the O.K. Corral). Wyatt was, incredibly, never wounded in a gunfight.

Earp was a gambler, a cardsharp, brothel keeper (AKA pimp) and occasional horse thief. He mined for gold in both Alaska and Idaho (where he also ran saloons), refereed boxing matches in San Francisco and tried to get Hollywood to tell his story on the silver screen.

There’ve been tons of books written about Earp—ones that mythicized and others debunking those fairy tales. Which ones are closest to fact?

And why is this all coming up for me now?

At weekend High Tea, we’ve been watching the teevee show Wynonna Earp. It’s loosely based on a comic book series by Beau Smith.

The books follow Wynonna Earp, descendant of the famous lawman Wyatt Earp and top special agent for a special unit known within the US Marshals as The Monster Squad, battling supernatural threats, and taking care of some outstanding Earp family business along the way, alongside her fellow Marshals.

Sort of like a Buffy the Vampire Slayer for adults.

Doc Holliday (who had, on the show, been made immortal by a witch) is Wynonna’s partner in monster fighting.

In real life, Holliday—a dentist, gambler, cardsharp and gunman—never made it, like Earp, into the 20th century. He died of tuberculosis in Glenwood Springs, Colorado at the age of 36. He’s been fictionalized as a good, gentlemanly dude.

Holliday first killed a man in Georgia during a racial dispute. Holliday and a few friends were at a watering hole when a group of African-American men joined them as well. Holliday did not approve and told them to leave. They didn’t. He produced a gun and shot one to three men (reports vary) to death. (source)

Ah…NOPE!

I’d like to read more about Doc’s common law wife, Mary Katherine Horony (AKA Big Nose Kate) who died in 1940 at 89(!).

Big Nose Kate is often seen as a “sidekick” to Doc Holliday — if she’s mentioned at all. But she lived a life worthy of the annals of the frontier. Kate could drink, shoot a gun, and fend for herself. Like the men who populate pioneer tales, she was flawed, passionate, and eager to live life on her own terms. (source)

Wyatt Earp’s fourth wife (they were together 47 years), Josephine Earp (AKA Josephine Marcus, AKA Sadie Mansfield, AKA Josephine Behan), also sounds like a real pistol. She died in 1944 at the age of 84.

By the by, had The Amazing Bob lived, he would be 80 years old today. Happy Birthday Hunny Pie!