Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend
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"Quite impressive. I doubt if there has been or will be a more deeply researched and convincing account." —Evan Connell, author Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn "The book to end all Earp books—the most complete, and most meticulously researched." —Jack Burrows, author John Ringo: The Gunfighter Who Never Was "The most thoughtful, well-researched, and comprehensive account that has been written about the development and career of an Old-West lawman." —The Tombstone Tumbleweed "A great adventure story, and solid history." —Kirkus Reviews "A major contribution to the history of the American West. It provides the first complete and accurate look at Wyatt Earp's colorful career, and places into context the important role that he and his brothers played in crime and politics in the Arizona territory. This important book rises above the realm of Western biography and shows the development of the Earp story in history and myth, and its effect on American culture." —John Boessenecker, author Gold Dust and Gunsmoke "The ultimate Wyatt Earp book." —Professor Richard Brown University of Oregon Publishers Weekly As Terfertiller's biography establishes, Earp's legend endures vividly in books and films, especially in John Ford's classic My Darling Clementine (1946), which is not burdened by the facts. Earp spent many more years as gambler and saloonman than as frontier marshal. The saga of the Earp brothers in Dodge City and Tombstone in the 1880s is a sleazy one, Terfertiller shows, as they operated on both sides of the law, enforcing order as maverick marshals. If there were profits to be made, principle became insignificant. One vendetta, the notorious O.K. Corral shootup, takes up much of the story. Yet there were few pistol duels, none of them cinematically romantic, and Earp, with his Sadie, would drift in search of income as far north as Nome, Alaska. Down on his luck, he lived into his 80s, dying in 1929 after decades of handouts from his wife's family. Although he had already become a legend in print, his gunslinger period was unrewarding, and his years after Tombstone proved to be even more so. Terfertiller, a former journalist for the San Francisco Examiner, is meticulous in his research, with the net effect of diminishing the Earp image. Photos. (Oct.)
Cowtown Justice.A New Town, A New Badge.Murder and Madness.A March to Destiny."I Think We Can Hang Them." Tombstone in Terror.Vendetta.Law versus Order.A Fight for Honor.The Last Frontiers.Long May His Story Be Told.Notes and Sources.Bibliography.Index.
