MILESTONES
16 MARCH/APRIL 2020HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS
MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946), MOVIE POSTERPartway into the race, Behan had con-
vinced Earp to pull out, promising him
the job of under sheriff in return. After
securing the office of county sheriff, Be-
han reneged on the deal and appointed
another man to the
position, leading to
the two men’s mutual
enmity.Guns in Tombstone
In October 1881 an ordinance was passed
in Tombstone prohibiting the carrying
of weapons in town. This riled the cow-
boys, who were used to carrying their
weapons wherever they pleased. As town
marshal, Virgil Earp was responsible for
enforcing the law and wanted to disarm
the offenders.A heated argument took place be-
tween Doc Holliday and Ike Clanton
at the Alhambra saloon on the night of
October 25, 1881. The fight was broken
up, but Clanton continued to drink into
the morning. Making threats against
Holliday and the Earps, Clanton was
armed with several guns, accounts say.
Virgil Earp disarmed Clanton, took
him before a judge, who imposed a fine
before letting him go. Ike, infuriated,
sought out a group of five cowboys, in-
cluding his brother Billy and the Mc-
Laurys, and went with them to Fremont
Street. They spread the word that they
were armed and intended to remain so.
Sheriff Behan met the cowboys and tried
to talk them into surrendering their
weapons but failed. Sources differ: Some
say the cowboys either denied having
guns on them or refused to surrender
them.
Behan then met with Virgil Earp, who
had deputized his brothers and Doc Hol-THE MOVIES HELPED MAKE a small-town shoot-out into a leg-
end. John Ford directed and Henry Fonda starred as Wyatt
Earp in the 1946 film My Darling Clementine, which was a
heavily fictionalized version of the events leading up to the
famous gunfight. Tombstone proved a popular subject for
Hollywood, which has told and retold the story of the Earps
at least 10 different times on the big screen.GRANGER/AURIMAGESTHE THREE MEN killed by the Earp brothers
and Holliday were photographed in their
caskets: (from left to right) Billy Clanton
and the brothers Frank and Tom McLaury.ALBUM