Earp Vendetta

After the O.K. Corral Gunfight criminal activity got worse in Tombstone. Virgil Earp got ambushed in December and became permanently injured. He was supposedly shot in the arm and lost use of it. On March 18, 1882 Morgan was assassinated by the Cowboys when playing pool in a saloon. He was shot in the back and died in the saloon. The shot came from the dark alley way. Morgan was buried in one of Doc Holliday's suits and was shipped to his parents in Colton, California for burial.After the death of Morgan, and the disability of Virgil Wyatt went crazy for justice. Earp Vendetta ride started with the lawless killing started with Frank Stillwell.

Frank Stillwell was a former deputy to Johnny Behan's, who was in Tucson to answer a stage-robbery charge, but ended up dead on the tracks in the train yard near the Earp's train. No one knows why Stillwell was there. but Wyatt Earp thought Stillwell was there to harm Virgil, and the wives that were taking Morgan to California. In biographies Wyatt admitted to shooting Stillwell with a shotgun. He shot him 2 but there were 3 bullet wounds.After the Earp families had left for California and safely, Doc, Wyatt, Warren, Sherman McMaster’s, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson "creek Johnson", Texas Jack Vermillion "Texas Jack" all rode on a vendetta that went for 3weeks to find Morgan’s killer and up to a year to elimate the Cowboys.

They where after the people who killed Morgan and that was known to be Curly Bill Brocius and 3 other men. The killing Stillwell was just the beginning of the bloody trail of vengeance. March 24, 1882 were riding near the Iron Springs when the encountered Curly Bill Brocious and eight of his men.

They killed Curly Bill and Johnny Barnes along with a few others.After 1 year the Cowboys that were killed where: "Old Man" Clanton, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Frank Stilwell, Indian Charlie, Dixie Gray, Florentino Cruz, Curly Bill, Johnny Barnes, Jim Crane, Harry Head, Bill Leonard, Joe Hill, Luther King, Charley Snow, Billy Lang, Zwing Hunt, Billy Grounds and Hank Swilling. Pete Spencer, volunteered for the penitentiary for his own safety. Doc Holliday accounted for more than his share of the Cowboys, and when he and Wyatt Earp left Tombstone for good, they rode their horses to Silver City, New Mexico, sold them, rode a stage to Deming, and boarded a train for Colorado.

After the vendetta ride, neither Doc nor the rest of the vendetta party ever went back to Arizona to live. In Doc's case, Colorado refused to extradite him (due to lack of evidence) when he was arrested for the Stilwell killing in Denver in May, 1882 (Doc spent the last two weeks of that month in jail while that issue was decided). Doc and Wyatt would meet again in June of 1882 in Gunnison, after Doc was released. There is controversy about whether or not any of the Earp vendetta posse slipped briefly back to the Tombstone area to kill Johnny Ringo on July 12-13, 1882.