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Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
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=== September stage holdup === Tensions between the Earps and the McLaurys further increased when another [[stage coach|passenger stage]] on the 'Sandy Bob Line' in the Tombstone area, bound for [[Bisbee, Arizona|Bisbee]], was held up on September 8, 1881. The masked bandits robbed all of the passengers of their valuables since the stage was not carrying a [[Safe|strongbox]]. During the robbery, the driver heard one of the robbers describe the money as "sugar", a phrase known to be used by [[Frank Stilwell]]. Stilwell had, until the prior month, been a deputy for Sheriff Behan but had been fired for "accounting irregularities".<ref name=cp1237/> [[File:Frank Stilwell.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Frank Stilwell, suspected of killing Morgan, murdered by the Earps]] [[File:Thomas McLaury of Tombstone.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Tom McLaury, killed in the gunfight]] [[File:Pete Spence (mugshot).JPG|right|thumb|upright|Pete Spence, suspected of ambushing Virgil]] Wyatt and [[Virgil Earp]] rode with a sheriff's posse and tracked the Bisbee stage robbers. Virgil had been appointed Tombstone's [[Marshal#State and local marshals|town marshal]] (i.e., [[chief of police]]) on June 6, 1881, after Ben Sippy abandoned the job. However, Virgil at the same time continued to hold his position of deputy U.S. marshal, and it was in this federal capacity that he continued to chase robbers of stage coaches outside Tombstone city limits. At the scene of the holdup, Wyatt discovered an unusual boot print left by someone wearing a custom-repaired boot heel.<ref name=cp1237/> The Earps checked a shoe repair shop in Bisbee known to provide widened boot heels and were able to link the boot print to Stilwell.<ref name=cp1237/> ==== Stilwell and Spence arrests ==== Frank Stilwell had just arrived in Bisbee with his livery stable partner, [[Pete Spence]], when the two were arrested by Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp for the holdup. Both were friends of Ike Clanton and the McLaurys. At the preliminary hearing, Stilwell and Spence were able to provide several witnesses who supported their [[alibi]]s. Judge Spicer dropped the charges for insufficient evidence just as he had done for Doc Holliday earlier in the year.<ref name=spicerhearing>{{cite web |url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/earp/spicerdecision.html |title=Decision of Judge Wells Spicer after the Preliminary Hearing in the Earp-Holliday Case |date=November 30, 1881 |access-date=April 17, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816194502/http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/earp/spicerdecision.html |archive-date=August 16, 2011 }}</ref> Released on bail, Spence and Stilwell were re-arrested October 13 by Marshal Virgil Earp for the Bisbee robbery on a new federal charge of interfering with a [[mail carrier]].<ref name=tanner>{{cite book|last1=Tanner |first1=Karen Holliday |first2= Robert K. |last2=Dearment |title=Doc Holliday: a Family Portrait|year=2001|publisher=Univ Of Oklahoma Press|location=Norman|isbn=978-0-8061-3320-1}}</ref> The newspapers, however, reported that they had been arrested for a different stage robbery that occurred on October 8 near Contention City. Ike and other Cowboys believed the new arrest was further evidence that the Earps were illegally persecuting the Cowboys.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-petespence.html |title=Pete Spence β Escaping the Wrath of the Earps |access-date=January 9, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213115235/http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-petespence.html |archive-date=February 13, 2014 }}</ref> They told the [[Earp family|Earps]] that they could expect retaliation.<ref name="history-com">{{cite web| url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tensions-grow-in-tombstone-arizona-after-a-stage-coach-robbery| title=Tensions Grow in Tombstone, Arizona, After a Stage Coach Robbery| access-date=February 5, 2011| publisher=History.com| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818044346/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tensions-grow-in-tombstone-arizona-after-a-stage-coach-robbery| archive-date=August 18, 2011 }}</ref> While Virgil and Wyatt were in Tucson for the federal hearing on the charges against Spence and Stilwell, Frank McLaury confronted Morgan Earp. He told him that the McLaurys would kill the Earps if they tried to arrest Spence, Stilwell, or the McLaurys again.<ref name=wyatttestimony/> ''The Tombstone Epitaph'' reported "that since the arrest of Spence and Stilwell, veiled threats [are] being made that the friends of the accused will 'get the Earps.'"<ref name=rosen/>{{rp|137|date=November 2012}} ==== Cowboys accuse Holliday of robbery ==== Milt Joyce, a [[county supervisor]] and owner of the Oriental Saloon, had a contentious relationship with [[Doc Holliday]]. In October 1880, Holliday had trouble with a [[gambler]] named Johnny Tyler in Milt Joyce's Oriental Saloon. Tyler had been hired by a competing gambling establishment to drive customers from Joyce's saloon.<ref name="historynetgambler"/> Holliday challenged Tyler to a fight, but Tyler ran. Joyce did not like Holliday or the Earps and he continued to argue with Holliday. Joyce ordered Holliday removed from the saloon but would not return Holliday's revolver. But Holliday returned carrying a double-action revolver. Milt brandished a pistol and threatened Holliday, but Holliday shot Joyce in the palm, disarming him, and then shot Joyce's business partner William Parker in the big toe. Joyce then hit Holliday over the head with his revolver.<ref>''The Daily Nugget'', October 12, 1880</ref> Holliday was arrested and pleaded guilty to assault and battery.<ref name="historynetdoc">{{cite web|url=http://www.historynet.com/doc-holliday.htm|title=Doc Holliday|access-date=February 8, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006175447/http://www.historynet.com/doc-holliday.htm|archive-date=October 6, 2011}}</ref> Holliday and his on-again, off-again mistress [[Big Nose Kate]] had many fights. After a particularly nasty, drunken argument, Holliday kicked her out. [[County Sheriff]] John Behan and Milt Joyce saw an opportunity and exploited the situation. They plied Big Nose Kate with more booze and suggested to her a way to get even with Holliday. She signed an [[affidavit]] implicating Holliday in the attempted stagecoach robbery and murders. Holliday was a good friend of Bill Leonard, a former [[watchmaker]] from [[New York City|New York]], one of three men implicated in the robbery.<ref name=weir>{{Cite book | last1=Weir | first1=William | title=History's Greatest Lies: the Startling Truths Behind World Events our History Books Got Wrong | year=2009 | publisher=Fair Winds Press | location=Beverly, MA | isbn=978-1-59233-336-3 | page=288}}</ref>{{rp|181|date=November 2012}} [[Judge]] [[Wells Spicer]] issued an [[arrest warrant]] for Holliday. The Earps found [[witness]]es who could attest to Holliday's location at the time of the murders and Kate sobered up, revealing that Behan and Joyce had influenced her to sign a document she did not understand. With the Cowboy [[Conspiracy (political)|plot]] revealed, Spicer freed Holliday. The [[district attorney]] threw out the charges, labeling them "ridiculous." Doc gave Kate some money and put her on a [[stage coach|stage]] out of town.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
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