The real story behind the myth

Jeff Guinn writes books about seminal events in American history/culture and tries to find the truth behind the myths and explain the context. I have a number of his books including Go Down Together about Bonnie and Clyde, Manson about the man and his followers who committed terrible crimes in the 1970s (see my review here), The Road to Jonestown about Jim Jones and the People’s Temple massacre in Guyana and Our Land Before we Die about runaway slaves who become incorporated in Native American history and culture.

In The Last Gunfight the author talks about the standoff at the OK Corral in 1881 and the history of the Earp family and the Clantons. It’s not an edifying tale and it’s obvious from the beginning that there are no heroes among the participants – some of this is because of the environment of Tombstone, Arizona at the time and some of it is because of the type of people who were drawn into the area and who were best able to thrive.

The Earp family were a family of men who often worked in law enforcement and who were drawn to the pioneer areas because it provided an opportunity for them to make their name and to become more wealthy than otherwise. The book leads us through their varied history and shows how narrow the line was between the two sides of the law. The author also fills us in on the history of other well-known characters such as Doc Holliday and the tension between those who lived in town and the cowboys who descended on civilisation occasionally to spend all their money and who created mayhem in their wake. Gunfights as we know them from the films were not that common and cowboys were feared and hated for their lawlessness but loved for their money.

The gunfight which did occur actually happened in a disused area of land near to the OK Corral and was the result of some poor decision making on both sides. As a result of the conflicts the Earp brothers had to flee the town and were later tracked down by the participants with some tragic results.

The author follows the history of the main participants into the twentieth century and then examines how the story became a legend and how Wyatt Earp especially attempted to use it for his own fame and glory.

This is an excellent book which is well written and is accessible to those of us who are challenged about the facts of American history. The narrative is clear and the author brings alive those times and helps the reader to understand the motivations and actions of the participants.

Mary Doria Russell has written two novels set around these events, Doc and Epitaph. They are brilliant novels and the events and history are well portrayed but her imagining of the characters of the participants very much varies from this, factual book. I still think that her novels are worth reading for the atmosphere and storytelling, as long as you remember that they are fiction.