Thirty Seconds in Tombstone: 15 Fascinating Facts About the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

1. It happened on October 26, 1881.

At around 3:00 p.m. on a cold Wednesday afternoon, lawmen Virgil, Wyatt and Morgan Earp, together with their friend Doc Holliday, faced a group of cowboys in Tombstone, a booming silver-mining town in what was then Arizona Territory. On the other side were brothers Ike and Billy Clanton, brothers Tom and Frank McLaury, and Billy Claiborne.

2. It didn't actually take place in the O.K. Corral.

Despite its name, the fight took place in a narrow vacant lot on Fremont Street, next to the boarding house and photography studio of C. S. Fly, a short distance from the rear entrance of the O.K. Corral. The name stuck only years later, probably because it sounded better than "the Gunfight in the Vacant Lot."

3. The whole fight lasted about 30 seconds.

Around 30 shots were fired in roughly half a minute, at a distance of only a few feet. Witnesses disagreed about who fired first, and that question remains unresolved. What is clear is that the gunfight was over almost before most of Tombstone's residents knew it had begun.

4. Wyatt Earp wasn't the lawman in charge.

Although Wyatt is the most famous name in the story, the man in charge was his older brother Virgil, Tombstone's city marshal and a deputy U.S. marshal. Virgil had temporarily deputized Wyatt, Morgan and Doc Holliday to help him confront the cowboys.

5. It started over a gun-control law.

Tombstone had a city ordinance that banned carrying deadly weapons within the town limits. Visitors were expected to leave their guns at a hotel or stable. Virgil Earp went to disarm the cowboys, who had been seen armed in town after making threats against the Earps. The attempt to enforce the law ended in bloodshed.

6. Doc Holliday was a trained dentist.

John Henry "Doc" Holliday earned a degree in dental surgery in Philadelphia in 1872 and practiced in Georgia and Texas. After he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, he moved west for the dry climate and turned to gambling. During the gunfight, he carried a short shotgun that Virgil had handed to him and used it to kill Tom McLaury.

7. The man who started the trouble ran away.

Ike Clanton had spent the previous night and morning drunkenly threatening to kill the Earps and Holliday. When the shooting began, he grabbed Wyatt, who reportedly told him to fight or get away. Ike, who was unarmed, ran from the scene and survived without a scratch. Billy Claiborne also escaped unharmed.

8. Three men died, and three were wounded.

Billy Clanton, just 19 years old, and both McLaury brothers were killed. Virgil was shot through the calf, Morgan was hit in the shoulders and Doc Holliday was grazed on the hip. Wyatt Earp was the only man who stood in the fight from beginning to end without being hit.

9. The dead were displayed in a shop window.

The bodies of Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers were dressed in fine suits, placed in open coffins and displayed in a shop window, beneath a sign that read "Murdered in the Streets of Tombstone." About 300 people joined their funeral procession, and the town split bitterly over whether the Earps were heroes or killers.

10. The Earps and Holliday were charged with murder.

Ike Clanton filed murder charges against the Earps and Holliday. Justice of the Peace Wells Spicer held a preliminary hearing that lasted about a month. In the end, he ruled that the lawmen had acted within the law, and the case never went to trial.

11. The cowboys took revenge.

In December 1881, Virgil Earp was ambushed on a Tombstone street and hit by shotgun blasts that left his left arm permanently crippled. In March 1882, Morgan Earp was shot and killed through a window while playing billiards. He died within an hour.

12. Wyatt then went on a deadly "Vendetta Ride."

After Morgan's murder, Wyatt led a posse that hunted down the men he believed were responsible. Over the next few weeks, they killed at least three men, including Frank Stilwell at the Tucson train station and the outlaw "Curly Bill" Brocius. Wyatt and Holliday then left Arizona for good.

13. The gunfight was almost forgotten for 50 years.

For decades, the shootout was little known outside Arizona. That changed in 1931, when Stuart Lake published a highly romanticized biography, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, based partly on interviews with Earp. Movies followed, including Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), Tombstone (1993) and Wyatt Earp (1994).

14. Wyatt Earp later refereed a controversial heavyweight boxing match.

In December 1896, Wyatt served as referee for a heavyweight bout in San Francisco between Bob Fitzsimmons and Tom Sharkey. When Fitzsimmons appeared to be winning, Earp disqualified him for a low blow and awarded the fight to Sharkey. Many suspected the fight had been fixed, and newspapers across the country attacked Earp.

15. Western movie stars carried his coffin.

Wyatt Earp spent his later years in Los Angeles, where he befriended actors and advised on early Western films. He died on January 13, 1929, at the age of 80, the last surviving participant of the gunfight. Among his pallbearers were the cowboy film stars William S. Hart and Tom Mix.