From the Deadly Dentist to the Texas Ranger who took down Bonnie and Clyde, discover the riveting stories of the most famous lawmen of the American frontier.
The Wild West is an almost mythological time period in American history. Like Arthurian legends or Greek myths, the Wild West had its own fair share of heroes and villains. The difference, of course, is that the famous figures of the Old West actually existed — but their real stories aren’t necessarily as black-and-white as they’re often portrayed in movies.
In terms of storytelling, outlaws are usually depicted as the “bad guys,” while the lawmen who pursued them are typically seen as the “good guys.” But sometimes an outlaw became a lawman, and vice versa. Other times, a “lawman” only cared about the law if others broke it. Still, despite the gray areas, the history books make note of several Wild West lawmen who were a cut above the others and much more akin to the heroes of Western films.
Below are nine famous lawmen who tried to tame the Wild West.
Wyatt Earp, The Wild West Lawman Whose Feud Led To The Gunfight At The O.K. Corral
Public DomainWyatt Earp was a central figure in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral — and the Earp Vendetta Ride.
Wyatt Earp was the quintessential frontier lawman, having worked in various places like Wichita, Dodge City, and Tombstone. Born in Monmouth, Illinois on March 19, 1848, he was the fourth child of Nicholas and Virginia Ann Earp, after his siblings James, Virgil, and Martha. He also had younger brothers, Morgan and Warren, and younger sisters, Virginia Ann and Adelia.
According to PBS, after the Civil War, which Wyatt’s older brothers fought in, the family moved to California, where Wyatt and Virgil started working as stagecoach drivers, traveling across the West. Come the spring of 1868, Wyatt Earp was hired to grade track for the Union Pacific Railroad, during which he picked up a knack for gambling. A year later, the family resettled in Lamar, Missouri, where Wyatt was appointed Constable of the Township.
In March 1871, however, Wyatt Earp was accused of stealing a horse in Arkansas, which led him to go on the run. For the next few years, he gambled and drank his way across the Wild West. He also had several relationships with prostitutes and was arrested multiple times for this. Things finally turned around for him in 1874, though, when he helped a police officer in Wichita, Kansas track down a wagon thief. The feat earned him some recognition and prompted him to become a police officer himself.
Public DomainWyatt Earp (sitting) and fellow Wild West lawman Bat Masterson.
In December 1879, Earp and former prostitute Mattie Blaylock, his partner, made their way from Dodge City, Kansas to Tombstone, Arizona, after Wyatt’s brother Virgil sent word that there was silver in the region. The couple were accompanied by Earp’s friend Doc Holliday and his partner Big Nose Kate, but unfortunately, they arrived in Tombstone too late to make any profit from the silver rush. So Wyatt Earp settled in as one of the town’s lawmen.
Then, in March 1881, a group of cowboy outlaws robbed a stagecoach and killed its driver. Earp and his posse managed to track down one of the men responsible, Luther King, but they couldn’t find the other outlaws: Bill Leonard, Harry Head, and Jim Crane. To find these men, they enlisted the help of Ike Clanton, a rancher who knew the outlaws, offering him a $6,000 reward for his assistance. But this deal quickly dissolved.
Months later, however, Holliday confronted Clanton in a saloon. After the two men fought, Clanton was soon heard making threats against Wyatt Earp and his brothers Virgil and Morgan (who were also lawmen in town). The next day, on Oct. 26, 1881, the tensions came to a head during the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which saw Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil Earp, along with Doc Holliday, involved in a shootout against Ike and his brother Billy Clanton, brothers Frank and Tom McLaury, and Billy Claiborne.
During the gunfight — which was famously dramatized in the 1993 movie Tombstone — 30 shots were fired within 30 seconds.
In the end, both of the McLaury brothers and Billy Clanton were killed, Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran away, and Doc Holliday, Morgan Earp, and Virgil Earp were all injured. Wyatt Earp emerged totally unscathed, but his troubles were far from over. Shortly after a local judge decided not to punish the Earp brothers and Holliday due to the volatile nature of the Wild West, a group of outlaws tried to kill Virgil. Though Virgil survived, another assassination plot led to the murder of Morgan in March 1882.
Since the death of Morgan was thought to have been planned by Ike Clanton, Wyatt Earp responded with a deadly rampage of his own, now known as the Earp Vendetta Ride, in which he killed multiple men who he believed were responsible for the violent attacks on his brothers.
Unfortunately for Wyatt Earp, this ended in a warrant for his arrest, so he left Tombstone and wandered the West until he settled in California. Despite his wild life, he ended up living to age 80, only dying in 1929.
