The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was an event of legendary proportion which has been portrayed in numerous Western films. The actual event occurred on October 26, 1881, in a vacant lot, known as lot 2, in block 17, behind the corral, in Tombstone, Arizona (a corral is like a livery stable; the analogous location in Denver was called the Elephant Corral). Thirty shots were fired in thirty seconds.

Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp, and Doc Holliday fought against Billy Claiborne, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Clanton, and Ike Clanton. Both McLaurys were killed, as was Billy Clanton.

After the gunfight, the Earps and Holliday were tried and acquitted. However, one of Wyatt's brothers was assassinated and the other was severely wounded, completely losing the use of his left arm. After these incidents, Wyatt, accompanied by Doc, undertook a vendetta in which they tracked down and killed the men whom they believed had been responsible for these acts against Wyatt's brothers. After their vendetta, Wyatt and Doc parted company. Soon after, Doc died of tuberculosis.

An episode of Discovery Channel's Unsolved History uses modern technology to reenact the incident concluding that this was a misuse of police power, although the issue has been hotly debated over the years.

Films and Television

• Frontier Marshal (1939)
• Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die (1942)
• My Darling Clementine (1946)
• The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955) (television)
• Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
• Doctor Who - The Gunfighters (1966)
• Hour of the Gun (1967)
• Doc (1971)
• Tombstone (1993)
• Wyatt Earp (1994)

Bianchi International produced a short documentary on the "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" that was shown at their, now closed, Wild West Museum in Temecula, California.

In "Spectre of the Gun", an episode of Star Trek, aliens placed the crew in the roles of several of the Claiborne-McLaury-Clanton gunmen in a surreal recreation of the gunfight to execute them. They however manage to survive with a minimum of violence.

External link

• A more detailed account of the Gunfight