Editing Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (section)

=== March stagecoach robbery and murder ===
[[File:Kinnear Express stage 1880.jpg|thumb|A Kinnear Express [[stagecoach]] operating from Tombstone to Bisbee in the 1880s. This thorough-brace stagecoach used thick leather straps to support the body of the carriage and serve as shock-absorbing springs.]]
On the evening of March 15, 1881, a Kinnear & Company [[stagecoach]] carrying $26,000 in [[silver bullion]] ({{Inflation|US|26000|1881|r=-4|fmt=eq}}) was en route from Tombstone to [[Benson, Arizona]], the nearest freight terminal.<ref>{{Cite book | last1=O'Neal | first1=Bill | title=Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters | year=1979 | publisher=University of Oklahoma Press | location=Norman | isbn=978-0-8061-2335-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5KLrfdOrI78C&pg=PA180 | access-date=April 14, 2011 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628194015/http://books.google.com/books?id=5KLrfdOrI78C&pg=PA180&lpg=PA180 | archive-date=June 28, 2011 }}</ref>{{rp|180|date=November 2012}} [[Robert H. Paul|Bob Paul]], who had run for [[Pima County, Arizona|Pima County]] Sheriff and was contesting the election he lost due to [[ballot-stuffing]], was temporarily working once again as the [[Wells Fargo]] [[shotgun messenger]]. He had taken the reins and driver's seat in Contention City because the usual driver, a well-known and popular man named Eli "Bud" Philpot, was ill. Philpot was [[riding shotgun]].

Near [[Edward Landers Drew#Biography|Drew's Station]], just outside [[Contention City, Arizona|Contention City]], a man stepped into the road and commanded them to "Hold!" Three Cowboys attempted to rob the stage. Paul, in the driver's seat, fired his [[shotgun]] and emptied his [[revolver]] at the robbers, wounding a Cowboy later identified as Bill Leonard in the groin. Philpot, riding shotgun, and passenger Peter Roerig, riding in the rear [[rumble seat|dickey seat]], were both shot and killed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tombstone, AZ|url=http://silverstateghosttowns.com/tombstone-az.html|access-date=May 17, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324044531/http://silverstateghosttowns.com/tombstone-az.html|archive-date=March 24, 2012}}</ref> The horses spooked and Paul was not able to bring the stage under control for almost {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}}, leaving the robbers with nothing. Paul, who normally rode shotgun, later said he thought the first shot killing Philpot had been meant for him.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://historyraider.com/ |title=History Raiders |access-date=February 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208143417/http://historyraider.com/ |archive-date=February 8, 2011 }}</ref>

[[File:Wyatt Earp und Bat Masterson 1876.jpg|thumb|Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson (standing) in 1876 as lawmen in Dodge City, Kansas]]
Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp, along with temporary federal deputies Wyatt and Morgan Earp, Wells Fargo agent Marshall Williams, former Kansas Sheriff [[Bat Masterson]] (who was dealing [[ Faro (banking game) |faro]] at the Oriental Saloon), and [[County Sheriff]] Behan set out to find the robbers. Wells Fargo issued a [[wanted poster]] offering a $3,600 reward ({{Inflation|US|3600|1881|fmt=eq|r=-3}}) for the three robbers ($1,200 each), dead or alive. Robbery of a mail-carrying stagecoach was both a federal crime and territorial crime, and the posse consisted of both county and federal authorities and deputies.<ref name=weir/>{{rp|181|date=November 2012}}

The posse trailed the robbers to a nearby ranch where they found a [[drifter (person)|drifter]] named Luther King. He would not tell who his confederates were until the posse lied and told him that [[Doc Holliday]]'s girlfriend had been shot. Fearful of Holliday's reputation, he confessed to holding the reins of the robbers' horses, and identified Bill Leonard, Harry "The Kid" Head, and Jim Crane as the robbers.<ref name=weir/>{{rp|181|date=November 2012}} They were all known Cowboys and rustlers. Behan and Williams escorted King back to Tombstone.

Remarkably, King walked in the front door of the jail and a few minutes later walked out the back. King had arranged with [[Undersheriff]] Harry Woods (publisher of the ''Nugget'') to sell the horse he had been riding to John Dunbar, Sheriff Behan's partner in the Dexter [[Livery stable|Livery Stable]].<ref name="jahns">{{Cite book | last1=Jahns | first1=Patricia | title=The Frontier World of Doc Holliday | year=1998 | publisher=University of Nebraska Press | location=Lincoln | isbn=978-0-8032-7608-6 | page=305 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1u65XViWBnsC&pg=PA207 | access-date=April 14, 2011 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629045437/http://books.google.com/books?id=1u65XViWBnsC&pg=PA207 | archive-date=June 29, 2011 }}</ref> On March 19, King conveniently escaped while Dunbar and Woods were making out the bill-of-sale. Woods claimed that someone had deliberately unlocked a secured back door to the jail.<ref name=lubet/> The Earps and the townspeople were furious at King's easy escape.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} Williams was later dismissed from Wells Fargo, leaving behind a number of debts, when it was determined he had been stealing from the company for years.<ref name="weir"/>

The Earps pursued the other two men for 17 days, riding for 60 hours without food and 36 hours without water, during which [[Robert H. Paul|Bob Paul]]'s horse died, and Wyatt and Morgan's horses became so weak that the two men walked {{convert|18|mi}} back to Tombstone to obtain new horses.<ref name="wgbh"/> After pursuing the Cowboys for over {{convert|400|mi}} they could not obtain more fresh horses and were forced to give up the chase. They returned to Tombstone on April 1.<ref name="ball">{{Cite book | last1=Ball | first1=Larry Durwood | title=The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846–1912 | publisher=[[University of New Mexico Press]] | isbn=978-0-8263-0617-3 | page=325| year=1982 }}</ref>{{rp|123|date=November 2012}}<ref name=cp1237>{{cite web|url=http://cp1237.com/frankandtom/mclhist3.htm |title=The McLaury Brother's Tombstone Story pt. II |access-date=February 12, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141127062122/http://cp1237.com/frankandtom/mclhist3.htm |archive-date=November 27, 2014 }}</ref> Behan submitted a bill for $796.84 ({{Inflation|US|796.84|1881|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) to the county for posse expenses, but he refused to reimburse the Earps for any of their costs. Virgil was incensed. They were later reimbursed by Wells, Fargo & Co., but the incident caused further friction between county and federal law enforcement, and between Behan and the Earps.<ref name=lubet />{{rp|38|date=November 2012}}<ref name="realwest">{{cite web|url=https://www.angelfire.com/co4/earpgang/interviewtwo.html |title="Arizona Affairs" An Interview With Virgil W. Earp – Tombstone History Archives (originally published by the San Francisco Examiner on May 28, 1882) |publisher=Real West Magazine |date=January 1982 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423122018/http://www.angelfire.com/co4/earpgang/interviewtwo.html |archive-date=April 23, 2009 }}</ref>

After he was passed over by Johnny Behan for the position of undersheriff, [[Wyatt Earp|Wyatt]] thought he might beat him in the next [[Cochise County, Arizona|Cochise County]] election in late 1882. He thought catching the murderers of Bud Philpot and Peter Roerig would help him win the sheriff's office. Wyatt later said that on June 2, 1881, he offered the Wells, Fargo & Co. reward money and more to Ike Clanton if he would provide information leading to the capture or death of the stage robbers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clantongang.com/oldwest/gangike.html |title=Tombstone History – Ike Clanton |access-date=February 11, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209141900/http://www.clantongang.com/oldwest/gangike.html |archive-date=February 9, 2011 }}</ref> According to Wyatt, Ike was initially interested, but the plan was foiled when the three suspects — Leonard, Head and Crane — were killed in unrelated incidents.<ref name="historynet"/>

Ike began to fear that word of his possible cooperation had leaked, threatening to compromise his standing among the Cowboys. Undercover Wells Fargo Company agent M. Williams suspected a deal, and said something to Ike, who was fearful that other Cowboys might learn of his double-cross.<ref name="historynet"/><ref name="marks">{{cite book|author=Paula Mitchell Marks|title=And Die in the West: the Story of the O.K. Corral Gunfight| location=New York|publisher=Morrow| year=1989| isbn=0-671-70614-4}}</ref><ref name="panhistoria">{{cite web|url=http://www.wyattsearp.com/history3.html|title=Wyatt Earp: Timeline – Tombstone and Increasing Tensions|access-date=February 6, 2011|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208204333/http://www.wyattsearp.com/history3.html|archive-date=February 8, 2011}}</ref> Ike now began to threaten Wyatt and Doc Holliday (who had learned of the deal) for apparently revealing Ike's willingness to help arrest his friends.<ref name=wyatttestimony/>

The fallout over the Cowboys' attempt to implicate Holliday and the Earps in the robbery,<ref name=roberts/>{{rp|544|date=November 2012}} along with Behan's involvement in King's escape, was the beginning of increasingly bad feelings between the Earp brothers and Cowboy factions.<ref name=lubet/>{{rp|38|date=November 2012}}