 |
| Ike Clanton |
Most of the people who I've known have acted the same way when it's come to dealing with people that they don't like. For the most part, they stay away from them. I know for myself, the last thing that I want to do is associate with or socialize with people that I really don't care for.
Professional obligations and working with others often requires us to be civil with individuals we personally dislike. As for social circles, that's a different story. I don't like some people and I hate having to tolerate them just because we have mutual friends or a family connection. I'm polite. At least I try to be. But, even though I like a good joke, and love to talk about history and politics, when I have to deal with a person that I don't like -- I don't say much at all.
So what does any of that about how people deal with people who they don't like have to do with the gunfight near the O.K. Corral?
Well, on October 25, 1881, the night before the now famous shootout in the vacant lot near the O.K. Corral, whilst Ike Clanton was in Tombstone, a very drunk and very loud Doc Holliday accused Clanton of lying about the Benson stagecoach robbery. Holliday didn't like being implicated in that robbery. Luckily for Ike that Tombstone City Marshal Virgil Earp was on hand. He intervened and threatened to arrest both Doc and Ike if they did not stop arguing.
Right after that, with Wyatt's help, Doc Holliday went home. The fact is that after the confrontation with Ike Clanton, Wyatt Earp took his friend Doc Holliday back to his boarding house at Camillus Sidney "Buck" Fly's Lodging House to sleep off his drinking. Then, Wyatt went home and to bed.
From that evening to dawn, four people who supposedly hated each other, socialized and drank together over cards. It's true. As hard as it is for me to understand how it played out, a group of people who history says hated each other spent the night together playing cards. As crazy as it sounds, Virgil Earp played cards with Ike Clanton, Tom McLaury, Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan, and a fifth man (unknown to history), until the early morning.
At about dawn on October 26, the card game broke up and Behan and Virgil Earp went home to bed. Ike Clanton later testified later that he saw Virgil take his six-shooter off of his lap and stick it in his pants when the game ended.
They volunteered to sit down and enjoy a night of playing cards together. That's not how people act who hate each other. Yet, the Clantons and Earps are said to have been bitter enemies. If so, why were they drinking and socializing and playing cards together all night long on the night before they had their gunfight?
Just like his brother Wyatt, who kept his revolver in an overcoat pocket, Virgil typically tucked his personal sidearm which is believed to be a Smith & Wesson revolver, into his waistband. I'm sure sitting there with a pistol in your waistband gets uncomfortable after a while. So no, it shouldn't shock anyone, including Ike that morning, that Virgil took his pistol out of his waistband and placed it on his lap while playing cards.
But, it was after Ike noticed Virgil remove a six-shooter from his lap and tuck it into his pants, that a still drunk Ike Clanton is said to have become paranoid and started brandishing a rifle and making threats that morning. It was then, when Ike Clanton started running his mouth. It was after their card game had ended, later that morning that Ike picked up his rifle and revolver from the West End Corral where he had stabled his wagon and team. He deposited his weapons after entering town just as the Tombstone City Ordinance required him to do.
So on the morning of October 26th, 1881, a loud-mouthed Ike Clanton was boasting about what he was going to do to the Earps "one of these days." He was fully armed, and shouting threats against the Earps.
Let's look at this again, from late that previous night to that morning, Ike Clanton was drinking and socializing and playing cards with Tombstone City Marshal Virgil Earp, Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan, Tom McLaury, and a fifth unidentified man in the back room of Tombstone's Occidental Saloon until early that morning. That's true.
And please, think about that. From the way they acted on the night and early morning before the shootout, I don't know if anyone can honestly say that these were people who hated each other so much that they stayed away from each other.
Let's look at this again, from late that previous night to that morning, Ike Clanton was drinking and socializing and playing cards with Tombstone City Marshal Virgil Earp, Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan, Tom McLaury, and a fifth unidentified man in the back room of Tombstone's Occidental Saloon until early that morning. That's true.
And please, think about that. From the way they acted on the night and early morning before the shootout, I don't know if anyone can honestly say that these were people who hated each other so much that they stayed away from each other.
Staying away from the people who I don't like serves as a way for me to maintain my personal peace of mind. Of course, in my professional life, I've had to treat people with common courtesy and be polite even though I didn't like them. It's not being a fake, it's just having good manners. It's just being raised right.
These weren't people who were placed in a professional situation where they had to endure each others company for the sake of a job or a project or some other pursuit. And no, these weren't enemies who avoided each other as I would have expected them to do.
In 1881, Tombstone had 110 active liquor licenses and drinking establishments to serve miners and visitors. That town had 14 dedicated gambling halls, alongside many saloons that also offered card games and gaming tables. So no, it wasn't as if they couldn't find a card game anywhere else.
They volunteered to sit down and enjoy a night of playing cards together. That's not how people act who hate each other. Yet, the Clantons and Earps are said to have been bitter enemies. If so, why were they drinking and socializing and playing cards together all night long on the night before they had their gunfight?
The was the reality of what took place. Despite their sharp divides, their supposed lawmen versus outlaw dynamic, taking into consideration all of the backroom deals and betrayals, all of the earlier threats made by the each group against the other, these supposed enemies sat together socializing, drinking together, and gambled in the same card game for hours throughout the night.
That's what took place the night and early morning before the gunfight in that vacant lot near the O.K. Corral. And yes, I find that incredible.
It's said that for Ike Clanton, tension started as the game went on and he lost a lot of money. He supposedly grew agitated as he lost money. Here's a bulletin for anyone who has never sat in on a game of cards expecting to win -- but that doesn't happen, it will agitate you. In fact, it shouldn't be a shock to anyone that someone would get agitated over losing money all night.
It's said that for Ike Clanton, tension started as the game went on and he lost a lot of money. He supposedly grew agitated as he lost money. Here's a bulletin for anyone who has never sat in on a game of cards expecting to win -- but that doesn't happen, it will agitate you. In fact, it shouldn't be a shock to anyone that someone would get agitated over losing money all night.
And yes, he later testified that when the game broke up around dawn, he noticed Virgil remove a six-shooter from his lap and tuck it into his pants. So, let's take a minute to talk about Tombstone City Marshal Virgil Earp sitting there playing cards with a pistol on his lap. Frankly, it shouldn't surprise anyone that he took it out of his waistband and put it on his lap.
Let's remember that Virgil Earp carried his pistol tucked into his waistband rather than wearing a traditional holster during the gunfight near the O.K. Corral. He didn't wear a holster. In fact, very few men in Old West towns actually wore holster rigs during everyday town business.
Just like his brother Wyatt, who kept his revolver in an overcoat pocket, Virgil typically tucked his personal sidearm which is believed to be a Smith & Wesson revolver, into his waistband. I'm sure sitting there with a pistol in your waistband gets uncomfortable after a while. So no, it shouldn't shock anyone, including Ike that morning, that Virgil took his pistol out of his waistband and placed it on his lap while playing cards.
But, it was after Ike noticed Virgil remove a six-shooter from his lap and tuck it into his pants, that a still drunk Ike Clanton is said to have become paranoid and started brandishing a rifle and making threats that morning. It was then, when Ike Clanton started running his mouth. It was after their card game had ended, later that morning that Ike picked up his rifle and revolver from the West End Corral where he had stabled his wagon and team. He deposited his weapons after entering town just as the Tombstone City Ordinance required him to do.
By noon that day, Ike was drinking again and he was armed. It was then that he told others he was looking for Holliday or an Earp.
At about 1:00 pm, Virgil and Morgan Earp surprised Ike on 4th Street where Virgil buffaloed (pistol-whipped) him from behind. Disarming him, Virgil and Morgan took Ike to appear before Judge Wallace for violating the city's ordinance against carrying firearms in the city. Virgil went to find Judge Wallace so the court hearing could be held.
Ike reported in his testimony afterward that Wyatt Earp cursed him. He said Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan offered him his rifle and to fight him right there in the courthouse. He said he declined. Ike also denied ever threatening the Earps. Ike was fined $25 plus court costs and after paying the fine left unarmed.
Virgil told Ike that he would leave his confiscated rifle and revolver at the Grand Hotel which was favored by Clantons when they were in town. And yes, that answers why Ike was not armed at the shootout. In fact, later Ike testified that he picked up his guns from William Soule, the jailer, a couple of days later after the shootout.
At about 1:00 pm, Virgil and Morgan Earp surprised Ike on 4th Street where Virgil buffaloed (pistol-whipped) him from behind. Disarming him, Virgil and Morgan took Ike to appear before Judge Wallace for violating the city's ordinance against carrying firearms in the city. Virgil went to find Judge Wallace so the court hearing could be held.
Ike reported in his testimony afterward that Wyatt Earp cursed him. He said Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan offered him his rifle and to fight him right there in the courthouse. He said he declined. Ike also denied ever threatening the Earps. Ike was fined $25 plus court costs and after paying the fine left unarmed.
Virgil told Ike that he would leave his confiscated rifle and revolver at the Grand Hotel which was favored by Clantons when they were in town. And yes, that answers why Ike was not armed at the shootout. In fact, later Ike testified that he picked up his guns from William Soule, the jailer, a couple of days later after the shootout.
So while this tells us what some of the key players of the whole "gunfight at the O.K. Corral" was doing the night before their 30-second shootout, it doesn't tell how these men went from playing cards all night, socializing, and drinking together all night and into the morning, to trying to kill each other later that day.
I think most people naturally choose to avoid spending time or associating with individuals they do not like. For me, it's definitely about avoiding conflict. And really, it saves us from a lot of unneeded drama and keeps our daily stress levels low if we don't socialize with people who we don't like. That's probably why people prefer being around those who share similar values and views.
That's why this is so surprising to me. As I said before, from the way they acted on the night and early morning before the shootout, I don't know if anyone can honestly say that these were people who hated each other so much that they stayed away from each other. These people didn't act like they hated each other, yet they shoot it out later that day. Imagine that.
Tom Correa
