Lady at the O.K. Corral (44 page)

      Citizens Safety Committee, 53, 56

      city in 21st century, 9–10

      city in 1880, 28–30

      city in 1881, 42–49

      Clantons in, 45

      conventional citizens of, 39

      Cosmopolitan Hotel, 30, 45, 60, 61

      cowboys' funeral after Gunfight, 56–57

      cowboys in, 36, 43, 44–45, 169, 179

      crime in, 43, 44–45, 50–51, 53

      demimonde of (and lesbian reference), 39, 40, 47–48, 250n 40

      demise of, 1882-1886, 66–68

      doctor in, 48

      “downtown” of, 41

      Earp brothers in, 10, 209

      Earp-cowboy war, 59–64

      Earp family arrives, 24, 32, 37, 38

      Earp family departure, 66

      Earp's Vendetta Ride, 64–66, 148, 168

      eyewitness accounts of, 39–41

      factions in, 10, 50–51

      fire department formed in, 45–46

      fire of 1881, 45

      first mayor, John Clum, 29

      “Forty-Dollar Sadie,” 48, 185–86

      General Sherman visits, 66

      Grand Hotel, 30, 32, 45, 60, 251n 60

      Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, 2–3, 10, 12, 55–56, 140, 221

      Helldorado festival, 9–10, 177–79

      Hollywood and, 152, 154

      influx of people to, 29–30

      Jewish community of, 42

      Josephine Earp returns, 1937, 208–9

      Josephine Marcus arrives, 1880, 7, 13–14, 247n 13

      Josephine Marcus departs, 7, 63, 251n 63

      Josephine Marcus in acting troupe, 1879, 24–25

      killing of Morgan Earp, 61–62, 251n 61, 251n 63

      lawmen as tax collectors, 39

      Lotta Crabtree estate case, 166

      Markham “Pinafore on Wheels” Troupe in, 24–25

      McLaurys in, 45

      mining in, 29, 42–43

      newspapers, 51

      Oriental Saloon, 59, 60, 171

      origins of, 29

      politics in, 32, 44, 50–51

      prostitution in, 47–49, 144, 209, 250n 49, 258n 186, 260n 209

      ratio of men to women, 49

      Schieffelin Hall, 61, 178, 251n 61

      shooting of Virgil Earp, 61

      social stratification in, 10, 39, 40

      support for Earps following Gunfight, 57

      television series about Earp and, 222

      Union News Depot, 42, 49

      weather of, 38, 50

      Wells Fargo Company office, 29

      women in, 41, 45–46, 49

      Wyatt Earp's business ventures in, 38–39

Tombstone: An Iliad of the Southwest
(Burns), 33, 161–62, 163, 168

Tombstone Epitaph
, 51, 63, 117, 128, 144, 177, 208, 228

Tombstone
Nugget,
51, 169

Tombstone Vendetta
(Boyer), 233

Tonopah, Nevada, 135–38

      Northern Saloon, 137, 138

      Wyatt Earp's business ventures in, 137

Tonopah Bonanza
, 137

Tonopah Mining Company, 137

transportation/travel

      to Alaska's gold fields, 93

      railroads, 13, 21

      San Francisco-Los Angeles railroad completed (1876), 21

      boat travel between Nome to Seattle, 115, 119–20

      stagecoach, 13, 28

      transcontinental railroad (1869), 18

      wagontrains, 34–35

      westward via Isthmus of Panama, 17–18

      Tucson, Arizona, 28

      killing of Frank Stilwell, 63

      Old Pueblo Club, 168

Turner, Frederick Jackson, 87, 253n 87

Twain, Mark, 87, 223

Unalaska, Alaska, 95, 120

Under Cover for Wells Fargo
(Dodge), 200

Unga, Alaska, 132

Van Buren, Martin, 10

Vawter, Cornelius, 106, 125, 130, 131, 132

Vawter, Sarah, 106, 125, 131, 132

Vidal, California, 140, 165, 173, 180, 194

Virginian, The
(Wister), 88

Walsh, Raoul, 152, 153

Waters, Frank, 206, 207, 209, 228–29

Waters, Naomi, 207

Weekly Arizona Miner
, 25

Wiener, Aaron, 69, 71, 85, 142, 248n 19

Wiener, Rebecca Lewis (half-sister), 19, 20, 69, 85, 142, 147, 248n 19

Wells, Alice Earp, 200, 225

Wells Fargo Bank, 16

Wells Fargo Company

      attack on Benson stagecoach, 51–52

      Morgan Earp and, 28

      reward for Benson killers, 52

      Tombstone office, 29

      Virgil Earp and, 71

      Wyatt Earp and, 38–39, 52, 70, 75, 149

Welsh, Charlie, 140, 158, 175, 255n 120

Welsh, Christenne, 180

Welsh, Grace, 180

Wichita, Kansas, 36

Wilcox, Arizona, 127

Wister, Owen, 87–88

women,

      biographies of, 6

      life of, in Tombstone, 41, 45–46

      in Nome, Alaska, 113–14

      as prostitutes, 7, 47–49

      as “shrill or strident,” 6

      in wagontrains, 34–35, 249n 34

      Western frontier life and, 7

      in Western history, 6, 164

      working, on the frontier, 47

Wrangell, Alaska, 93

Wurtzel, Sol, 215

Wyatt Earp
(film), 234

Wyatt Earp
(ship), 197–99

Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend
(Tefertiller), 234

Yuma, Arizona, 89, 92

Ann Kirschner is University Dean of Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York. She began her career as a lecturer in Victorian literature at Princeton University, where she earned her Ph.D. A writer of wide-ranging interests, she is the author of
Sala's Gift
and an innovator in digital media and education. She lives in New York City with her family.

www.ladyattheokcorral.com

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Advance Praise for Ann Kirschner's
Lady at the O.K. Corral

“Ann Kirschner brings a fresh, lively perspective to one of the great stories of the American frontier.
Lady at the O.K. Corral
reveals a fascinating intersection of Jewish history and the Wild West; its engaging narrative both celebrates and demystifies a legendary time and place.”

—Julie Salamon, author of
Wendy and the Lost Boys

“In this remarkable feat of historical sleuthing, Ann Kirschner coaxes the stubbornly evasive Josephine Marcus Earp out from behind the shadow of her famous partner, painting a vibrant portrait of an uncommon couple whose love for one another and shared thirst for adventure took them to the farthest reaches of the Wild West during its blustery boom times. Thanks to Kirschner's exhaustive research and fluid pen, Josephine Earp joins the ranks of Jessie Benton Frémont, Elizabeth Custer, and other spirited nineteenth-century women who defied custom to forge their own lives and shape the legends of the men they loved.”

—Bruce J. Dinges, Arizona Historical Society

“A tour de force in the detective work of biography, Ann Kirschner's
Lady at the O.K. Corral
writes Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp back into American history. Mining unpublished manuscripts, personal letters, diaries, and court documents, Kirschner's fine narration tells the real story of the woman behind the man.”

—David S. Ferriero, former director of the New York Public Libraries

“Ann Kirschner delivers a frontier story for the ages—part Unsinkable Molly Brown, part Mama Rose, part Queen Esther, the story of Josephine Earp proves that even the best lawman in the Wild West needed a good woman to stand beside him, as improbable as their romance was, and as riveting a read as this book most certainly is.”

—Thane Rosenbaum, author of
The Golems of Gotham
and
Payback

“Thanks to Ann Kirschner's brilliant 
Lady at the O.K. Corral
, we finally have the definitive story of Josie Earp, a key player not only in the events leading up to and after the infamous shootout, but in crafting much of the mythology that's been widely accepted ever since. This is a must-read book for anyone who loves narrative nonfiction, or simply enjoys a hellaciously well-told tale.”

—Jeff Guinn, author of
The Last Gunfight

“Old West aficionados will find in this book a fresh account of the most famous of gunfights, but Ann Kirschner's engrossing biography of Josephine Marcus Earp offers much more. The life of Josephine that unfolds so vividly in these pages is as colorful and complicated as that of Wyatt, and as the reader will discover, hers was the more remarkable journey.”

—Stephen Aron, UCLA and Autry National Center

“With a passion for research and an engaging flair for prose, Ann Kirschner has composed a biography of Josephine Marcus Earp that is a pleasure to read. No previous account has equaled in depth and understanding Kirschner's portrayals of Josephine and Wyatt—their families, their diverse associates, their lives in a rapidly changing American West.”

—Harriet Rochlin, author of
Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West

“
Lady at the O.K. Corral
is the remarkable true story of Josephine Earp, who lived through the transformation of the western frontier from gold rush boomtowns to the back lots of Hollywood. In this vivid tale of romance and high drama, Ann Kirschner reveals the dark secrets of Wyatt Earp's past and Josephine's Jewish immigrant family.”

—Abigail Pogrebin, author of
Stars of David

“In a great piece of historical detection, Kirschner brings to life a woman who had previously been just a footnote, just an oddity. This book brims with the vibrancy of the Arizona Territory and situates the daughter of Polish Jewish immigrants into the rough and tumble of a half century of American life. This is a story that has never been told and that is just fine. It awaited Ann Kirschner's imagination, research, and sweeping prose.”

—Hasia R. Diner, author of
A Time for Gathering

ALSO BY ANN KIRSCHNER

Sala's Gift

Lucky me, I had the benefit of interviews and insights from a group of people who don't know each other—and in some cases, don't like or trust each other. That's Planet Earp.

I would like to acknowledge conversations and contributions from Fred Agree, Allan Barra, Lynn Bailey, Mark Boardman, Glenn Boyer, Walter Cason, Robert Chandler, Jane Candia Coleman, Anne Collier, Burt Devere, Dorothy Devere, Dino DiConcini, Hasia Diner, Bruce Dinges, Scott Dyke, Mark Dworkin, Marge Elliott, Stephen Elliott, Karen Franklin, Leslie Fried, Tom Gaumer, Murdock Gilchriese, Gary Greene, Jeff Guinn, Rachel Tarlow Gul, George Laughead, Denise Lundin, Roger Lustig, Ray Madzia, Felton Macartney, Paula Marks Mitchell, Carol Mitchell, Jeff Morey, Christine Rhodes, Harriet Rochlin, Ava Kahn, Marguerite La Riviere, Bev Mulkins, Kevin Mulkins, Robert Palmquist, Roger Peterson, Bob Pugh, Mark Ragsdale, Gary Roberts, Christine Rhodes, Alice Rogoff, John Rose, Nona Safra, Laura Samuelson, William Shillingberg, Casey Tefertiller, Suzanne Westaway, Jeff Wheat, Steve Weiner, and Eric Weider.

The single most important source for the true story of Josephine Marcus Earp is the Cason manuscript of her memoir, based on interviews with her and written by Mabel Earp Cason and Vinnolia Earp Ackerman. I have mined the manuscript but cross-checked its assertions with many other sources. Unless otherwise indicated, all references are from this manuscript.

With some notable exceptions, Josephine's letters are still mostly in the hands of private collectors, and I am grateful to those who have shared their treasures with me. In particular, I am deeply indebted to Mark and Lauri Ragsdale and their children Wyatt and Isabella for their warm hospitality. All quotes from Josephine's letters not otherwise noted are from the Ragsdale Collection, which also included some of Flood's original notes and diagrams from his interviews with Wyatt Earp, as well as photographs, clippings, and documents.

Glenn Boyer granted permission to use his papers at the University of Arizona and Dodge City, and provided many other documents and photographs, and recordings of the extensive interviews that he did with the Cason and extended Marcus families; many of these are discussed here for the first time. Casey Tefertiller provided access to his recorded interviews with the Cason and Welsh families, and with Frank Waters and his wife. Roger Peterson shared his recorded interviews with William S. Hart, Jr., Jeanne Laing, and the Marcus family, as well as some unpublished articles. Suzanne Westaway provided access to the personal papers of Edna Lehnhardt Stoddart.

First stop for any Earp researcher is the remarkable Stuart Lake Collection at the Huntington Library. The papers of the Houghton Mifflin Company, the preeminent publisher of early western-themed books, reside at the Houghton Library at Harvard, and include important correspondence with Stuart Lake, William MacLeod Raine, Frederick Bechdolt, and William Breakenridge.

Other important archival sources include the Zaff-Behan divorce papers at the Arizona Historical Society Collection in Tucson, Behan's papers at the University of Arizona Special Collections, the recorded interview with Hildreth Halliwell at the University of Arizona Special Collections, and the letters of Louisa Earp at the Ford County Historical Society, with permission from Glenn Boyer. There is a treasure trove of Tombstone real estate, voting, and legal records at the Cochise County Courthouse and County Recorders Office in Bisbee, Arizona. The records of the first synagogues in San Francisco are in the Western Jewish History Center at the Judah L. Magnes Museum at the University of California, Berkeley. The records of the Marcus family burial plots are in the Hills of Eternity cemetery in Colma, California. The archives of the Alaska Commercial Company reside in Green Library at Stanford University. I spent an unforgettable week in Alaska, working in Nome's Carrie McLain Memorial Museum and the Kegoayah Kozga Library, and the University of Anchorage Special Collections.