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38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wyatt Earp, Tombstone, and The OK Corral Defined!, September 3, 2000
This review is from: And Die in the West: The Story of the O.K. Corral Gunfight (Paperback)
Ms. Marks has written a book that fills some existing gaps in the Tombstone/Earp saga. The book makes several strong points about Earp's lawman career in Dodge City pointing out that Earp was a dependable and able deputy but performed no feats that would be rememorable in later years. However, he must have made some impression on the future mayor and marshall of Dodge City since one chose to leave the town and the other hid when Earp returned after Tombstone to ensure that a friend was not run out of business by the mayor. Wyatt Earp became the most famous western lawman for three reasons: The first was the OK Corral. Despite what many people believe, gunfights in the West were extremely rare, almost nonexistant, which is the reason that the OK Corral became a nationwide story in the major newspapers of the country. The second reason is the character of Wyatt Earp, which has been dissected by historians and writers for most of the 20th century and his character and actions have withstood their microscopes without a blemish. Throughout the narrative of the book, Earp is never found wanting unlike the other major players in the drama called Tombstone. He was not a cattle rustler such as the Clantons, McLaury's, Brocius and Ringo; he did not rob stages and he did not attack his enemies from behind and/or in the night. Those statements cannot be made by any man that he opposed in the "feud". The author points out that Earp was a lawman of "his times", meaning he enforced the law with controlled violence, ie hitting his potential prisoner with his gun, to avoid bloodshed. He should be commended for perfecting this method since he is known to have killed only one man before the OK Corral. I do not agree with several reviewers who believe the OK Corral was the result of blunders or politics. The fight was the direct result of the Earp brothers standing up against outlaws that had become used to lawman looking the other way while they shipped rustled cattle out of Tombstone. The Clantons and McLaury's were too stupid to realize that Wyatt Earp and his brothers were not going to be defeated in an open gunfight with them. I always found it interesting that Brocius and Ringo, the two outlaws that were considered dangerous gunmen, did not confront the Earps at the OK Corral. The only documented confrontation between Johnny Ringo and Wyatt Earp or Doc Holiday,(it depends on who is telling the story) occurs when Ringo is drunk and Earp refuses to take advantage of the situation. Brocius and Ringo preferred to attack from ambush at night, which resulted in the wounding of Virgil Earp and the murder of Morgan Earp. The death of Morgan Earp set the stage for the final reason for Earp's enduring reputation. Until Morgan's murder, Wyatt Earp had acted within the boundary of the law regardless of what crimes the Cowboys committed. Earp realized that the Brocius and Ringo would escape punishment for Morgan's murder and he decided that was not going to happen. His "vendetta ride" is recognized by most Americans as a necessary action against career criminals that used the legal system to avoid punishment. The book provides both detailed information about the "vendetta ride" and the geographical setting of the Tombstone area that other books about Earp do not have. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Wyatt Earp along with two other books "Inventing Wyatt Earp" and "Wyatt Earp". These three books totally define Wyatt Earp and his place in American History.
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent, balanced look at the events, July 12, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: And Die in the West: The Story of the O.K. Corral Gunfight (Paperback)
If you could read only one book about the OK Corral gunfight, this should be it. There is no attempt to make either group right or wrong; too often these days, one or the other group is portrayed as a set of complete bad guys, when "complete" is much too strong a word. There are a few other books that should be considered, Chaput's "Virgil Earp: Western Peace Officer", Tanner and DeArment's "Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait", and Bob Boze Bell's books on Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. All reach pretty much the same conclusions although there are some variations in viewpoint that will make the reader think (for example, Tanner's view on just who was the target at the Boarding House is intriguing). Anyway, Dr. Marks' book is well-written, with a style that is easy to follow and appreciate. It is my hope that she finds other western subjects to write about so that we may enjoy more of the fruits of her research and writing ability.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best discussion to date of the famous gunfight., November 15, 1996
This review is from: And Die in the West: The Story of the O.K. Corral Gunfight (Paperback)
Check the statement below that you believe to be true.
_____a. Wyatt Earp, the Lion of Tombstone, was one of the greatest lawmen the West has ever known, cleaned up the cowtowns of Kansas single-handed (usually by the mere force of his steely gaze), and in moral character was about one step below Jesus Christ Himself.
_____b. Wyatt Earp was a coldblooded, stagecoach-robbing, back-shooting murderer who deliberately and with malice aforethought killed innocent, unarmed men in at least two states, most notably in the gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, A.T.
_____c. Neither of the above statements is true (including the phrase "at the OK Corral").
The correct answer, of course, is c. If you have absorbed your fill of myths and lies (enjoyable as they may be, and many of them are!) about Wyatt Earp and his contemporaries from books, films, and television, try Paula Mitchell Marks's _And Die in the West_. For my money, Marks's book is the most detailed and objective discussion to date of the events leading up to the gunfight in the vacant lot between Fly's boarding house and the Harwood House, near the rear entrance to the OK Corral (hmm, that's not quite as catchy as "at the OK Corral," is it?); the larger setting in which they took place; the personalities of the individuals involved; the gunfight itself; and its aftermath. Her presentation of general background material about the American West, including the development of the "stand your ground and fight" mentality, the nature of boomtowns (whether cow, mining or railroad), and the business enterprises that flourished in them, lays the groundwork for a description of the two opposing politico-
economic factions in Tombstone. Thus, the stage is set for an in-depth analysis of the approximately 27 seconds of shooting that erupted in that vacant lot between two violence-prone groups of men on October 26, 1881.
My only substantive criticism of this book is that its list of end-noted references (end of the entire book, that is) for quotations (of which there are hundreds) is awkward and annoying for anyone who really wishes to use it to check sources. Footnotes would have been much more convenient, but perhaps also less aesthetically pleasing for some readers and--no doubt--more expensive for the publisher.
On a subject that remains surrounded by controversy after more than a century, Marks's is a voice of reason, demonstrating that Wyatt Earp was neither a saint nor a devil, and reminding us that truth may be more complicated than legend but is certainly no less fascinating.
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