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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Earp Papers,
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This review is from: The Earp Papers: In a Brother's Image (Hardcover)
As are many authors writing of this period, Chaput sometimes gets his opinion in the way of fact. However, this is an interesting offering that adds to one's understanding of the time, places, and the people involved.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well researched and presented for easy reading,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Earp Papers: In a Brother's Image (Hardcover)
Having grown up watching Wyatt Earp on TV, I finaly went to Tombstone. I never knew there were that many books out on Wyatt and his brothers. That is until I went to Tombstone, and saw plenty of books on the Earps and Holliday. Mr. Chaput's book is a well researched book and easy reading. There are many interesting footnotes and plenty of background information. A must for any Earp fan.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Connect the Dots: If you can,
By
This review is from: The Earp Papers: In a Brother's Image (Hardcover)
Those familiar with Wyatt Earp and the facts behind his modern day celebrity will, in all probability, already be aware of much of this book's contents --- at least that part which has any direct bearing on his legend --- and in all probability will already have made up their minds about him. Those who know nothing about Wyatt Earp other than what is presented here, however, will be forced to piece a puzzle together using their own best judgment, and will then be left to make up their own minds as to where the truth of Wyatt's legend may lie. For Wyatt Earp is not only the best known figure to come out of America's western frontier days, but he is also the most controversial. And, this book, if nothing else, will certainly add to the controversy.
Clearly, the book's compiler/editor and brief annotator, Don Chaput, has made up his own mind and, at least in my view, has selected a great many articles and documents which support his point of view. But having read any number of books concerning western history, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Tombstone, the "Gunfight at the OK Corral," the post-gunfight inquest, etc., I'm not entirely convinced that Chaput's opinion is the correct one. The material he presents simply leaves too many holes in the evidence to be convincing; most notably the memoirs and recollections of those who knew the Earps and, with them, lived through those turbulent times. True, Wyatt Earp didn't devote his life to law enforcement, only serving in that capacity off-and-on and primarily from the mid 1870s until the early 1880s when he was forced to flee from Arizona; and he was a gambler. But he certainly made an impact. It is equally true that Wyatt's brother Virgil's legacy has been so intertwined with Wyatt's in many minds that it has diminished his well earned reputation as a law officer. But that wasn't Wyatt's fault. In any case: the most compelling evidence to support whatever claim to fame Wyatt may have doesn't depend on what his brother did. He earned it in Dodge City and he more than earned it in Tombstone; and based on the recollections of those who knew him it is difficult to doubt that Wyatt was the larger figure and the leader of the Earp clan regardless of who might have worn the bigger badge at any given time. In my view: Wyatt Earp's reputation stands in large measure on his actions at the OK Corral, but more so on what he did following the ambush which mutilated Virgil and the cold-blooded murder of his younger brother, Morgan. What if it had been Wyatt, instead of Virgil, who had been shot to pieces? Would Virgil have gone on a vendetta ride, seeking vengeance, as Wyatt did? We'll never know, but if he had done so their positions in the minds of the those who care about such things may very well be reversed today. If not, they both may now be simply forgotten heroes of a long gone day. So, in my view: This is a book which should be of interest to anyone seeking to learn a bit more about Wyatt Earp and/or his brothers, particularly Virgil; but as I read it I couldn't help thinking about the puzzles I enjoyed as a child. They were called, "Connect the Dots," and if you connected all the numbered dots you would be able to see the picture. In this case, however, I'm not sure that all the dots are there, nor am I convinced that this is a true picture. Casey Tefertiller's excellent biography "Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend" and Jane Candia Coleman's "Tombstone Travesty: Allie Earp Remembers," might be a useful precursors to reading this one; then you will be in a much better position to fill in the blanks and put your own picture together.
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