Earp Historical Timeline Page 3

Tombstone and Increasing Tensions

• 1880, July 21 - Six government mules are stolen and hidden at the McLaury Ranch, Babocomari. The theives are probably Curly Bill, Zwing Hunt, Sherm McMasters and Pony Deal.
• 1880, July 28 - Sheriff Shibell appoints Wyatt Earp Deputy Sheriff.
• 1880, July 30 - The Epitaph prints a reward notice for the return of the government mules, paid for by First Lieutenant J.H. Hurst. Frank McLaury is named as an accomplice.
• 1880, August 5 - Frank McLaury retaliates in The Nugget, calling Hurst a "coward, a vagabond, a rascal, and a malicious liar."
• 1880, September 15 - The Tombstone Epitaph comments on J.H. Behan staying at the Grand Hotel. This is his first appearance in Tombstone records.
• 1880, October 24 - The Tombstone Epitaph reports an interesting arrest in light of later events. Pete Spence was bound over as a witness and participant in grand larceny; the theft of some mules.
• 1880, October 28 - Virgil Earp is appointed assistant marshal for Tombstone. Curly Bill Brocius shoots marshal Fred White as White attempts to disarm him. Wyatt buffaloes Curly Bill. Was the shooting an accident or not? Another interesting note was only that morning Virgil applied for position of constable. He withdrew the application on October 31, since he has been appointed marshal.
• 1880, October 29 - Fred White seems to be recovering. He states, under oath, that it was an accident. Meanwhile there is a rumor going around that White will die and that there will be a necktie party for Curly Bill. Wyatt and a well-armed group, including his brothers Virgil and Morgan, spirit Bill to safety.
• 1880, October 30 - Fred White dies and Ben Sippy is appointed marshal in his place.
• 1880, November 9 - Wyatt Earp steps aside in the race for Sheriff of Cochise County, perhaps in deference to Bob Paul?
• 1880, November 13 - Virgil loses the election for City Marshal to Ben Sippy.
• 1880, November 15 - Virgil resigns as assistant marshal.
• 1880, December - Sherm McMasters informs Wyatt Earp that his horse, Dick Naylor, is in the possession of Billy Clanton in Charleston. While McMasters is a cow boy associate, Wyatt was to claim that he worked as an informant. Wyatt has some difficulty getting his horse back from nineteen year-old Billy until Warren Earp arrives to back his play.
• 1878, June 18 - Wyatt receives favorable reviews in the press for his job.
• 1881, January 4 - John Clum is elected Mayor of Tombstone and John H. Behan is appointed Deputy Sheriff of Pima County, replacing Wyatt Earp. Meanwhile Curly Bill and his friends 'hurrah' the town, racing down Allen Street and shooting off their guns in the Alhambra Saloon.
• 1881, January 14 - Chief engineer of the Corbin Mill in Charleston is shot dead by Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce during a lunchtime altercation. Johnny is a local gambler and he is quickly taken into custody. A mob of miners quickly forms, and there are rumors of Johnny's cow boy friends coming to free him so he is rushed off to Tombstone. For some reason they run into Virgil Earp exercising Wyatt's stud, Dick Naylor, and Virgil is able to speed for help on the thoroughbred. Ben Sippy has been alerted of the situation by telegraph and gets together a guard of himself, Wyatt, Virgil, and deputy sheriff Behan. They are able to safeguard their prisoner against the mob and get him to trial in Tuscon.
• 1881, February 5 - Wyatt Earp files water rights in the Huachuca Mountains with Doc Holliday, Rich Clark, and James Leavy.
• 1881, March 15 - En route to Benson, the Tombstone stage is robbed, and the driver Bud Philpott is killed, along with a passenger. Bob Paul is the shotgun messenger. Wyatt Earp and Johnny Behan (now Sheriff of Cochise County) form a posse and Frank King is jailed. The posse continues after Bill Leonard, Harry Head, and Jim Crane.
• 1881, March 19 - Frank King escapes from jail in Tombstone. Wyatt and posse is informed by Wells Fargo Chief Special Officer Jim Hume. Behan informs the angry Wyatt that the escape was none of his business and that's way he didn't inform him or the rest of the posse.
• 1881, March 21 - Warren Earp fined for discharging a firearm within city limits.
• 1881, April - Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce breaks jail and escapes. Tombstone has a population of 5,000.
• 1881, June 2 - Wyatt offers Ike Clanton the Wells Fargo reward for Leonard, Crane, and Head, if he will turn lead Wyatt to the men. The reward is $6,000. Wyatt admits he wants to catch the men and win the race to be elected sheriff.
• 1881, June 6 - Ben Sippy, Chief of Police asks for a two week leave of absence. Virgil Earp is voted to temporarily replace him.
• 1881, June 6 - Ike returns with Frank McLaury and Joe Hill to inquire if the reward from Wells Fargo will be for Dead or Alive.
• 1881, June 7 - Wyatt wires Wells Fargo office in San Francisco. The answer is affirmative. Things get ugly when Wells Fargo agent Marshall Williams (who later turns out to be crooked, can this be connected) lets Ike know that he knows about the deal. Ike panics. He thinks Wyatt must have told Doc Holliday. There is an argument and the deal falls apart.
• 1881, June 22 - Fire destroys two square blocks which includes 66 businesses and homes. Immediately after, the ashes still hot, Tombstone starts to rebuild.
• 1881, June 28 - Ben Sippy fails to return and Virgil is appointed permanently.
• 1881, September 8 - The stage from Tombstone to Bisbee is held up and robbed of $2,500 from the mail and the Wells Fargo box. The driver, Levi McDaniels, identifies one of the masked raiders as Pete Spence.
• 1881, October 5 - Sheriff Behan, Mayor Clum (ex-Indian agent), and Marshal Virgil Earp form a posse to chase hostile Apaches supposedly in the vicinity of Tombstone.
• 1881, October 17 - Morgan Earp is appointed Special Police Officer for Tombstone.

  27 seconds, the gunfight ...

  Back in time ...

  Historians : Found an error? Please feel free to email me at wyatt@panhistoria.com with corrections.

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  Sources:
  The Illustrated Life and Times of Wyatt Earp by Bob Boze Bell, Boze Books, 1993
  Wyatt Earp and the Coeur d'Alene Gold!: Stampede to Idaho Territory, by Jerry Dolph and Arthur Randall, Eagle City Publishing, 1999
  Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend, by Casey Tefertiller, John Wiley & Sons, 1999
  Wyatt Earp: The Missing Years, San Diego in the 1880's, by Kenneth R. Cilch and Kenneth R. Cilch, Jr., Gaslamp Books, 1998
  The Earp Papers : In a Brother's Image by Don Chaput
  The Truth About Wyatt Earp by Richard E. Erwin