The West’s Greatest Gunslingers

Wyatt Earp has long been regarded as the embodiment of the Wild West. Considered the “toughest and deadliest gunman of his day”, Earp symbolized the swagger, the heroism, and even the lawlessness of the West, notorious for being a law enforcer, gambler, saloon keeper, and vigilante. The Western icon is best known for being a sheriff in Tombstone, but before that he had been arrested and jailed several times himself, in one case escaping from prison, and he was not above gambling and spending time in “houses of ill-fame”.

The seminal moment in Earp’s life also happened to be the West’s most famous gunfight, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which famously pitted Earp, his brothers Morgan and Virgil, and Doc Holliday against Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury and Frank McLaury. Though the gunfight lasted less than a minute, it is still widely remembered as the climactic event of the period, representing lawlessness and justice, vendettas, and a uniquely Western moral code. For Earp, the aftermath led to assassination attempts on his brothers, one of which was successful, touching off the “Earp Vendetta Ride”.

By the end of the 19th century, Earp was already a poignant symbol of that time and day, having permanently etched his name in the folklore of the West, but he stayed out west, engaging in everything from gold mining to vigilante justice on the Mexican border. A living legend, he even served as an advisor to early Hollywood, which was already pumping out Western movies. When he died in 1929 at the age of 80, one of the West’s toughest fighers and one of its longest survivors had finally passed.

Of all the colorful characters that inhabited the West during the 19th century, the man who has earned an enduring legacy as the region’s quirkiest is John Henry “Doc” Holliday (1851–1887), a dentist turned professional gambler who was widely recognized as one of the fastest draws in the West. In fact, the only thing that might have been faster than the deadly gunman’s draw was his violent temper, which was easily set off when Holliday was drunk. By the early 1880s, Holliday had been arrested nearly 20 times.

That said, there were plenty of men in the West who gambled, drank, and dueled, and Holliday may have been lumped in with those whose names were forgotten but for his association with Wyatt Earp. It was this friendship that led to Holliday’s role in the West’s most famous shootout, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corrall, as well as the Earp Vendetta Ride. For those two events alone, Holliday’s legacy has endured, and his unique characteristics have added a mystique, legendary quality to it.