On this seventh day of
November, 1881, on the
hearing of
the above entitled cause of the examination of Wyatt Earp and J. H.
Holliday;
Wesley Fuller, a witness of lawful age, being produced and sworn, says
as
follows: Deposition of Wesley Fuller, a
gambler, of Tombstone. He states he saw the difficulty between the
Earps and
Holliday on one side and the McLaury brothers and the Clan tons on the
other,
on Fremont, near the comer of Third Street. He was right back of Fly's
Gallery
in the alley when the shooting began. He says he saw the Earp party,
armed, at Fourth
and Allen and that he was on his way to warn Billy Clanton to
get out of
town. He saw Billy, Frank McLaury and he thinks Behan, but did not gel
to speak
with Billy, as just then the Earps hove into view, and he
heard them
say, "Throw up your hands!" Billy Clanton threw up his hands and
said, "Don't shoot me! I don't want to fight!" and at the same time
the shooting commenced. At this time, he had not seen Tom McLaury nor
Ike
Clanton. He says the Earp party fired
the first shots. Two were fired right away, they were fired almost
together.
They commenced firing then very rapidly and fired 20 or 30 shots. Both
sides
were firing. Five or six shots were fired by the Earp party before the
other
party fired. Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury were the only two I saw
fire of
the Clanton party. As the first shots were fired by the Earp party,
Billy Clanton
had his hands up. [Shows the position as he stood raising his
hands up
to the line of his head.] Frank McLaury was
standing, holding his horse when the firing commenced. He was
not
doing anything that I could see. He had no weapon that I saw on him. I
saw his
hands and he had nothing in them. If there had been, I would have seen
it. I
think the first two shots were aimed at Billy Clanton. I saw that he was
hit.
He threw his hands on his belly and wheeled around. I did not see any
effect on
anybody else at that time. Frank McLaury drew a weapon and was firing
during [illegible]. When he drew his weapon, he was on Fremont
Street, a
little past the middle of the Street. [Shows on diagram.] Further talk
as to
relative positions. Then he says, on questions, that seven or eight
shots had
been fired by the Earp party before he saw Frank McLaury draw his
pistol. He
tells of the space between Fly's and other building, and says he saw
Tom
McLaury there. He did not see Tom again
until they brought him into the building. He does not know where Ike
went after
seeing him pass through this building. He says Tom was staggering,
as
though he was hurt. He did not see any arms or even
a cartridge belt
on Tom after he had been brought into the building where he died. He
never saw
Ike with any arms at the scene of the battle. He tells of seeing Billy
rolling
around on the ground in agony. He helped take him into the building. He
says
Billy said to him, "Look and see where I am shot." He looked. He
tells of wound in belly and other near left nipple. He says he told
Billy he
could not live. Billy said, "Get a doctor and give me something to put
me
to sleep." He says this is all he recollects; that he did not leave
until
Billy died. He says he saw Billy
shooting during the fight, a pistol; that he was then in a crouching
position,
sliding down against the comer of the house. He had drawn his pistol
with his
left hand. He says six or seven shots had been fired by the Earps
before Billy
drew his pistol. He says Billy was shot in the right wrist. When he saw
Frank
in the middle of the street, drawing his pistol he was staggering then
appeared
to be wounded, acted dizzy. He says Billy and Frank each had a horse
there and
he thinks each had a rifle strapped on in a scabbard. He is sure this
was true
of Frank's horse. More talk about the rifle on Frank's horse. He tells
of Frank
leaving the horse in about the middle of the street and staggering up
the
street. He says previously it seemed as if Frank was trying to get
the rifle
out of the scabbard, but the horse kept jumping away from [him]; "He
was
fooling with the horse." He says probably seven or eight shots had been
fired by the Earp party, "probably more," before Frank commenced
trying to get the rifle. CROSS
EXAMINATION He states he was on
Allen Street between Third and Fourth Streets, on the north side, just
below
the O.K. Corral, when he first saw Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury and
Johnny
Behan on Fremont. He relates of seeing Holliday put a six-shooter in
his coat
pocket at Fourth and Allen. Saw one in Morgan Earp's pocket, on the
right side.
Wyatt had one pushed down in his pants on the right side a little. I
was
standing on the comer of Fourth and Allen Streets, I mean not far from
them,
about ten or twelve feet. I do not recollect what kind of a coat Wyatt
Earp had
on-at times the pistol was under his coat. I do not recollect whether
Wyatt
Earp had on an overcoat or not. When I saw the pistol, his coat was not
buttoned. Virgil Earp had a shotgun. He says he went right down Allen Street after
seeing
the Earps on the comer of Fourth and Allen, and "walked along not very
fast. I stopped, probably four or five seconds and spoke a few words as
I was
going to this vacant space; I spoke to Mattie Webb. It was at the rear
of her
house that I spoke to her.,,3 He says he was not there when the first
shot was
fired. He shows on diagram how he went. He says he stayed in the alley
but
moved around during the shooting, "as bullets were flying around
there." He says he kept stepping backwards, but kept his face towards
Fremont and the shooting. He locates the position of the various
combatants on
the diagram. He goes on to say he
thinks Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday fired the first two shots, but
can't tell
which fired first. He says they were fired at Billy Clanton. He saw
them shoot.
He reiterates this. He denies he was excited. He denies he had been
drinking during
the day. On question says it was about 3:00 A.M. when he went to bed,
and got
up between 11 and 12, "I should judge."
He admits he
had been
drinking the day or evening before the fight, considerable; indicates
it was
over a period of several days. He denies he had a fit of delirium
tremens. He
describes the character of the wound on Billy Clanton's wrist by
pointing to
Mr. Fitch's wrist, a point about three inches from the palm of the hand
and
says, "I think it was about there. I don't know whether it was on the
inside or outside of the arm." He doesn't know if it was on both sides,
or
deep, or shallow, and did not see any bullet in the hole, and doesn't
know the
extent of the wound. He doesn't believe Frank fired before he became
separated
from his horse. He is sure he saw Ike Clanton pass through the vacant
space
between Fly's buildings and that Tom McLaury also staggered into the
same area.
He admits he knows William Allen, but doesn't know if he is one of
those who
brought Tom McLaury into the house-"The house on the comer of Third and
Fremont, the second house below Fly's Gallery." He reiterated that
Billy
was rolling around on the ground, and doesn't know what became of his
horse. He
says Billy and his horse became separated immediately after the fight
began and
he did not see the horse again. He can't place the horses on the
diagram. (Q) What are your
feelings toward the defendant Holliday? (A) We have always been
good friends, and are so now. (Q) Did you not, on the
fifth day of November, 1881, about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, in front
of the
Oriental Saloon in Tombstone, say to or in the presence of Wyatt Earp,
that you
knew nothing in your testimony that would hurt the Earps, but that you
intended
to cinch Holliday, or words of like import or effect? (A) 1 told Wyatt Earp
then that I thought Holliday was the cause of the fight, I don't say
positively
1 might have used words, "I mean to cinch Holliday," but 1 don't
think 1 did. RE-DIRECT
EXAMINATION
(A) There were parties there, but I don't
remember who
they were. (Q) Who were you talking to? (A) Wyatt Earp. [Signed] Wesley Fuller |