The Earp Brothers of Tombstone: The Story of Mrs. Virgil Earp [Paperback]

Frank Waters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1976

The Earp Brothers of Tombstone and the famous fight at the O. K. Corral are well known to American history and even better known to American legend. This composite biography of Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil, James, and Warner Earp is based on the recollections of Mrs. Virgil Earp, dictated to the author in the 1930s, and amplified by documents he unearthed in 1959. In his review of the book for Library Journal, W. S. Wallace stated that he considered The Earp Brothers of Tombstone "the most authoritative account ever to be published on the subject."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A particularly interesting piece of Americana which will appeal especially to readers of westerns in spite of the fact that it topples several television and folklore idols."—Booklist

(Booklist )

"The dashing legend surrounding the Earp brothers—Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan—has been debunked before, but not from this special feminine viewpoint. . . . Yet if he has deflated one dream, Waters, unlike most debunkers, has offered a pleasant vision in its place: that of a gay, gallant old lady in her rocking chair, dreaming of corn-tall buffalo grass and a dead, handsome lover."—Time

(Time )

About the Author

Since he began his writing career in 1935, Frank Waters has published many books, among them The Man Who Killed the Deer, The Colorado in the Rivers of America series, Book of the Hopi, and Mexico Mystique.

Product Details

• Paperback: 247 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books; Second edition edition (April 1, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803258380
• ISBN-13: 978-0803258389
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,287,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A real Tombstone travesty, May 18, 2002

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Earp Brothers of Tombstone: The Story of Mrs. Virgil Earp (Paperback)

In the last few years with the discovery of Frank Waters' original manuscript for this book, scholars of Western American History now understand how much Waters distorted the memoirs of Allie Earp (wife of Virgil Earp and sister-in-law of Wyatt) in this later, published version. It is shocking to realize that literally every negative thing Allie Earp was alleged to have said about Wyatt Earp in "The Earp Brothers of Tombstone" was absent in Waters' earlier manuscript. The conclusion that Waters altered Allie Earp's words to fit his strongly anti-Earp prejudice is inescapable. "The Earp Brothers of Tombstone" was highly influential in the 1960's and 1970's in creating the image of Wyatt Earp as basically an adulterous criminal far removed from the 1950's television portrayal as a peerless hero. In fact, Allie Earp's memoirs presented in the original manuscript show Wyatt Earp in a rather favorable light, as a stern and taciturn man, but honorable. Frankly, I think that the University of Nebraska should be ashamed to continue to publish this book in the light of the discovery of Waters' original manuscript -- it is not history, only a fictionalized smear.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A PACK OF LIES, BASED ON IRREFUTABLE AUTHORITY, December 26, 2003

By 

Socialcomment "LQCLamar" (Western U. S.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Earp Brothers of Tombstone: The Story of Mrs. Virgil Earp (Paperback)

"Aunt Allie" was a dead-honest original, and didn't deserve to have Frank Waters misuse the authority of her name to unload on an unsuspecting public this duplicitous melange of lies about her life, especially that part lived with the Earps.

Allie denounced this book in her own inimitable profane manner. In my possession are the letters of Hildreth Halliwell, Aunt Allie's grand niece, saying only that Allie threatened to "sue" Waters. (She actually threatened to kill him.) As Hildreth went on to say, "I get so mad every time I think of what Frank Waters wrote after spending hours with Aunt Allie I go berserk . . . he published a lot of lies . . . "

I make that clear in my Epilogue to I MARRIED WYATT EARP and did on two other occasions while Waters was still alive, thus giving him an opportunity to sue me for libel if he chose. Naturally he didn't.

Before Frank realized what I knew for sure, I visited him when he was writer-in-residence at Colorado State U. at Ft. Collins, in 1966, ten years before my I MARRIED WYATT EARP was published. I asked him what Aunt Allie had said about his book. He said, "She said it was the truth." I still have extensive notes from that meeting." He naturally said that, but it wasn't true, of course.

This book certainly is a "travesty" as Bruce Trinque comments in an adjoining review, and it is far worse than that. Of course Bruce is referring to Frank Waters' initial title, TOMBSTONE TRAVESTY. Travesty is mild, however, this book is an outrage. It is my opinion that principle requires that it no longer be published.

In sum, Waters' book is garbage, although many passages are pure gold. The book's value is as a source for the more knowledgeable to attempt to separate the gold from the garbage. It certainly is a curiosity. But it isn't a dependable memoir.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Libelous at best or worst, October 13, 2003

By 

J. Pagliero (Carmichael, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Earp Brothers of Tombstone: The Story of Mrs. Virgil Earp (Paperback)

The author must have had a no-so-hidden agenda to debunk the man and the myth of Wyatt Earp. I have read a number of books on the Earp brothers, especially the Tombstone days. I have also read the transcript or at least what is reported to be the transcript of Judge Spicer's ruling on the murder charges brought against the Earps as a result of THE gunfight. The author in my opinion has badly and intentionally distorted the facts. I threw away my copy of this book.