Wyatt S. Earp
On this sixteenth
day of November, 1881, upon
the
hearing of the above entitled action, on the examination of Wyatt Earp
and J.
H. Holliday, the prosecution having closed their evidence in chief, and
the
defendants, Wyatt Earp and J. H. Holliday, having first been informed
of his
rights to make a statement as provided in Section 133, page 22
of
the laws of Arizona, approved February 12, 1881, and the said
Wyatt Earp
having chosen to make a statement under oath and having been personally
sworn,
makes such statement under oath in answer to interrogatories as follows:
(Q) What is your name
and age?
(A) My name is Wyatt Earp: 32 years old last
March the
19th.
(Q) Where were you born?
(A) In Monmouth, Warren
County, Illinois.
(Q) Where do you reside and how long have you
resided
there?
(A) I reside in Tombstone,
Cochise County Arizona: since December 1, 1879.
(Q) What is your business and profession?
(A) Saloon keeper at present. Also have been Deputy
Sheriff and also a detective.
(Q) Give any explanations you may think proper of the
circumstances appearing in the testimony against you, and state any
facts which
you think will tend to your exculpation.
(A) The difficulty
which resulted in the death of William Clanton and Frank McLaury
originated
last spring, [Objection made by prosecution against the defendant,
Wyatt Earp,
in making his statement, of using a manuscript from which to make such
statement, and object to the said defendant being allowed to make
statement
without limit as to it relevancy. Objection overruled.] and at a little
over a
year ago, I followed Tom and Frank McLaury and two other parties who
had stolen
six government mules from Camp
Rucker.
Myself, Virgil
Earp, and Morgan Earp, and Marshall Williams, Captain Hurst and four
soldiers;
we traced those mules to McLaury's ranch. [Prosecution moved to strike
out the
foregoing statement as irrelevant. Objection overruled.]
While at Charleston
I met a man by
the name of Dave Estes. He told me I would find the mules at McLaury's
ranch.
He said he had seen them there the day before. He said they were
branding the
mules "D S," making the "D. S." out [of] "D. S."
We tracked the mules right up to the ranch. Also found the branding
iron
"D. S." Afterwards, some of those mules were found with the same
brand.
After we arrived at
McLaury's ranch, there was a man by the name of Frank Patterson. He
made some
kind of a compromise with Captain Hurst. Captain Hurst come to us boys
and told
us he had made this compromise, and by so doing, he would get his mules
back.
We insisted on following them up. Hurst
prevailed on us to go back to Tombstone,
and so we came back. Hurst
told us two or three weeks afterwards, that they would not give up the
mules to
him after we left, saying that they only wanted to get us away, that
they could
stand the soldiers off. Captain Hurst cautioned me and my brothers,
Virgil and
Morgan, to look out for those men, as they had made some threats
against our
lives.
About one month after
we had followed up those mules. I met Frank and Tom McLaury in Charleston. They
tried to pick a fuss out of
me down there, and told me if I ever followed them up again as close as
I did
before, they would kill me. Shortly after the time Bud Philpot was
killed by
the men who tried to rob the Benson stage, as a detective [working for
Wells,
Fargo & Co.] I helped trace the matter up, and I was satisfied that
three
men, named Billy Leonard, Harry Head, and James Crane were in that
robbery. I
knew that Leonard, Head and Crane were friends and associates of the
Clan tons
and McLaurys and often stopped at their ranches.
It was generally
understood among officers and those who have information about
criminals, that
Ike Clanton was sort of chief among the cowboys that the Clantons and
McLaurys
were cattle thieves and generally in the secret of the stage robbery,
and that
the Clanton and McLaury ranches were meeting places and places of
shelter for
the gang.
I had an ambition to be
Sheriff of this County at the next election, and I thought it would be
a great
help to me with the people and businessmen if I could capture the men
who
killed Philpot. There were rewards offered of about $1,200 each for the
capture
of the robbers. Altogether there was about $3,600 offered for their
capture. I
thought this sum might tempt Ike Clanton and Frank McLaury to give away
Leonard, Head, and Crane, so I went to Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, and
Joe Hill
when they came to town. I had an interview with them in the back yard
of the
Oriental Saloon. I told them what I wanted. I told them I wanted the
glory of
capturing Leonard, Head, and Crane and if I could do it, it would help
me make
the race for Sheriff at the next election. I told them if they would
put me on
the track of Leonard, Head, and Crane, and tell me where those men were
hid; I
would give them all the reward and would never let anyone know where I
got the
information.
Ike Clanton said he
would like to see them captured. He said that Leonard claimed a ranch
that he
claimed, and that if he could get him out of the way, he would have no
opposition
in regard to the ranch. Clanton said that Leonard, Head, and Crane
would make a
fight, that they would never be taken alive, and that I must find out
if the
reward would be paid for the capture of the robbers dead or alive. I
then went
to Marshall Williams, the agent of Wells, Fargo & Co., in this town
and at
my request, he telegraphed to the agent, or superintendent, in San Francisco to
find out if the reward would
be paid for the robbers dead or alive. He received, in June, 1881, a
telegram,
which he showed me, promising the reward would be paid dead or alive.
The next day I met Ike
Clanton and Joe Hill on Allen
Street in front of a little cigar store next
to
the Alhambra.
I
told them that the dispatch had come. I went to Marshall Williams and
told him
I wanted to see the dispatch for a few minutes. He went to look for it
and could
not find it, but went over to the telegraph office and got a copy of
it, and he
came back and gave it to me. I went and showed it to Ike Clanton and
Joe Hill and
returned it to Marshall Williams, and afterwards told Frank McLaury of
its
contents.
It was then agreed
between us that they were to have all the $3,600 reward, outside of
necessary
expenses for horse hire in going after them, and that Joe Hill should
go to
where Leonard, Head, and Crane were hid, over near Yreka, in New
Mexico, and
lure them in near Frank and Tom McLaury's ranch near Soldier's Holes,
30 miles
from here, and I would be on hand with a posse and capture them.
I asked Joe Hill, Ike
Clanton, and Frank McLaury what tale they would make them to get them
over
here. They said they had agreed upon a plan to tell them there would be
a
paymaster going from Tombstone
to Bisbee, to payoff the miners, and they wanted them to come in and
take him
in. Ike Clanton then sent Joe Hill to bring them 'in. Before starting,
Joe Hill
took off his watch and chain and between two and three hundred dollars
in
money, and gave it to Virgil Earp to keep for him until he got back. He
was
gone about ten days and returned with the word that he got there a day
too
late; that Leonard and Harry Head had been killed the day before he got
there
by horse thieves. I learned afterward that the thieves had been killed
subsequently by members of the Clanton and McLaury gang.
After that, Ike Clanton and
Frank McLaury claimed that I had given them away to Marshall Williams
and Doc
Holliday, and when they came in town, they shunned us, and Morgan,
Virgil Earp,
Doc Holliday and myself began to hear their threats against us.
I am a friend of Doc
Holliday because when I was city marshal of Dodge City, Kansas,
he came to my rescue and saved my life when I was surrounded by
desperadoes.
About a month or more
ago [October 1881], Morgan Earp and myself assisted to arrest Stilwell
and Spence
on the charge of robbing the Bisbee stage. The McLaurys and Clan tons
were
always friendly with Spence and Stilwell, and they laid the whole blame
of
their arrest on us, though the fact is, we only went as a sheriff's
posse.
After we got in town with Spence and Stilwell, Ike Clanton and Frank
McLaury
came in.
Frank McLaury took Morgan
Earp into the street in front of the Alhambra,
where John Ringo, Ike Clanton, and the two Hicks boys were also
standing. Frank
McLaury commenced to abuse Morgan Earp for going after Spence and
Stilwell.
Frank McLaury said he would never speak to Spence again for being
arrested by
us.
He said to Morgan, "If
you ever come after me, you will never take me." Morgan replied that if
he
ever had occasion to go after him, he would arrest him. Frank McLaury
then said
to Morgan Earp, "I have threatened you boys' lives, and a few days
later I
had taken it back, but since this arrest, it now goes." Morgan made no
reply and walked off.
Before this and after this,
Marshall Williams, Farmer Daly, Ed Barnes, Old Man Urrides, Charley
Smith and
three or four others had told us at different times of threats to kill
us, by
Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Joe Hill, and John Ringo. I
knew all
these men were desperate and dangerous men, that they were connected
with
outlaws, cattle thieves, robbers and murderers. I knew of the McLaurys
stealing
six government mules, and also cattle, and when the owners went after
them
finding his stock on the McLaury's ranch; that he was drove off and
told that
if he ever said anything about it, he would be killed, and he kept his
mouth
shut until several days ago, for fear of being killed.
I heard of John Ringo
shooting a man down in cold blood near Camp Thomas.5 I was satisfied
that Frank
and Tom McLaury killed and robbed Mexicans in Skeleton Canyon, about
three or
four months ago, and I naturally kept my eyes open and did not intend
that any
of the gang should get the drop on me if I could help it.
Ike Clanton met me at the Alhambra five or six
weeks ago and told me I had told
Holliday
about this transaction, concerning the capture of Head, Leonard, and
Crane. I
told him I had never told Holliday anything. I told him when Holliday
came up
from Tucson
I
would prove it. Ike said that Holliday had told him so. When Holliday
came back
I asked him if he said so.
On the night of the 25th of October, Holliday
met Ike
Clanton in the Alhambra Saloon and asked him about it. Clanton denied
it. They
quarreled for three or four minutes. Holliday told Clanton he was a
damned
liar, if he said so. I was sitting eating lunch at the lunch counter.
Morgan
Earp was standing at the Alhambra
bar talking with the bartender. I called him over to where I was
sitting,
knowing that he was an officer and told him that Holliday and Clanton
were
quarreling in the lunch room and for him to go in and stop it. He
climbed over
the lunch room counter from the Alhambra
bar and went into the room, took Holliday by the arm and led him into
the
street. Ike Clanton in a few seconds followed them out. I got through
eating
and walked out of the bar. As I stopped at the door of the bar, they
were still
quarreling.
Just then Virgil Earp came
up, I think out of the Occidental, and told them, Holliday and Clanton,
if they
didn't stop their quarreling he would have to arrest them. They all
separated
at that time, Morgan Earp going down the street to the Oriental Saloon,
Ike
going across the street to the Grand Hotel. I walked in the Eagle
Brewery where
I had a faro game which I had not closed. I stayed in there for a few
minutes
and walked out to the street and there met Ike Clanton. He asked me if
I would
take a walk with him, that he wanted to talk to me. I told him I would
if he
did not go too far, as I was waiting for my game in the Brewery to
close, and I
would have to take care of the money. We walked about halfway down the
brewery
building, going down Fifth
Street
and stopped.
He told me when Holliday
approached him in the Alhambra
that he wasn't fixed just right. He said that in the morning he would
have man-for-man,
that this fighting talk had been going on for a long time, and he
guessed it
was about time to fetch it to a close. I told him I would not fight no
one if I
could get away from it, because there was no money in it. He walked off
and
left me saying, "I will be ready for you in the morning."
I walked over to the
Oriental. He followed me in and took a drink, having his six-shooter in
plain
sight. He says, "You must not think I won't be after you all in the
morning." He said he would like to make a fight with Holliday now. I
told
him Holliday did not want to fight, but only to satisfy him that this
talk had
not been made. About that time the man that is dealing my game closed
it and
brought the money to me. I locked it in the safe and started home. I
met
Holliday on the street between the Oriental and Alhambra. Myself and Holliday walked
down Allen Street,
he
going to his room, and I to my house, going to bed.
I got up the next day, October 26, about noon.
Before I
got up, Ned Boyle came to me and told me that he met Ike Clanton on Allen Street
near
the telegraph office, that Ike was armed, that he said, "as soon as
those
damned Earps make their appearance on the street today the ball will
open, we
are here to make a fight. We are looking for the sons-of-bitches!" I
laid
in bed some little time after that, and got up and went down to the
Oriental
Saloon.
Harry Jones came to me
after I got up and said, "What does all this mean?" I asked him what
he meant. He says, "Ike Clanton is hunting you boys with a Winchester rifle
and
six-shooter." I said, "I will go down and find him and see what he
wants." I went out and on the comer of Fifth and Allen I met Virgil
Earp,
the marshal. He told me how he heard Ike Clanton was hunting us. I went
down Allen Street
and
Virgil went down Fifth
Street
and then Fremont Street.
Virgil found Ike Clanton on Fourth Street near Fremont Street,
in the mouth of an
alleyway.
I walked up to him and
said, "I hear you are hunting for some of us." I was coming down Fourth Street
at
the time. Ike Clanton then threw his Winchester
rifle around toward Virgil. Virgil grabbed it and hit Ike Clanton with
his
six-shooter and knocked him down. Clanton had his rifle and his
six-shooter was
in his pants. By that time I came up. Virgil and Morgan Earp took his
rifle and
six-shooter and took them to the Grand Hotel after examination, and I
took Ike
Clanton before Justice Wallace.
Before the investigation,
Morgan Earp had Ike Clanton in charge, as Virgil Earp was out at the
time.
After I went into Wallace's Court and sat down on a bench, Ike Clanton
looked
over to me and said, "I will get even with all of you for this. If I
had a
six-shooter now I would make a fight with all of you." Morgan Earp then
said to him, "If you want to make a fight right bad, I will give you
this
one!” at the same time offering Ike Clanton his own six-shooter.
Ike Clanton started to get
up and take it, when Campbell, the deputy sheriff, pushed him back in
his seat,
saying he would not allow any fuss. I never had Ike Clanton's arms at
any time,
as he stated.
I would like to describe the
positions we occupied in the courtroom. Ike Clanton sat on a bench with
his
face fronting to the north wall of the building. I myself sat down on a
bench
that ran against and along the north wall in front of where Ike sat.
Morgan
Earp stood up on his feet with his back against the wall and to the
right of
where I sat, and two or three feet from me.
Morgan Earp had Ike
Clanton's Winchester
in his hand, like this, with one end on the floor, with Clanton's
six-shooter
in his right hand. We had them all the time. Virgil Earp was not in the
courtroom during any of this time and came there after I had walked
out. He was
out, he told me, hunting for Judge Wallace.
I was tired of being
threatened by Ike Clanton and his gang and believe from what he said to
me and
others, and from their movements that they intended to assassinate me
the first
chance they had, and I thought that if I had to fight for my life with
them I
had better make them face me in an open fight. So I said to Ike
Clanton, who
was then sitting about eight feet away from me. "You damned dirty cow
thief,
you have been threatening our lives and I know it. I think I would be
justified
in shooting you down any place I should meet you, but if you are
anxious to
make a fight, I will go anywhere on earth to make a fight with you,
even over
to the San Simon among your crowd!" He replied, "I will see you after
I get through here. I only want four feet of ground to fight on!"
I walked out and then
just outside of the courtroom near the Justice's Office, I met Tom
McLaury. He
came up to me and said to me, "If you want to make a fight I will make
a fight
with you anywhere." I supposed at the time that he had heard what had
just
transpired between Ike Clanton and myself. I knew of his having
threatened me,
and I felt just as I did about Ike Clanton and if the fight had to
come, I had
better have it come when I had an even show to defend myself. So I said
to him,
"All right, make a fight right here!" And at the same time slapped
him in the face with my left hand and drew my pistol with my right. He
had a
pistol in plain sight on his right hip in his pants, but made no move
to draw
it. I said to him, "Jerk your gun and use it!" He made no reply and I
hit him on the head with my six-shooter and walked away, down to
Hafford's
Corner. I went into Hafford's and got a cigar and came out and stood by
the
door.
Pretty soon after I saw
Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and William Clanton pass me and went down Fourth Street
to
the gunsmith shop. I followed them to see what they were going to do.
When I
got there, Frank McLaury's horse was standing on the sidewalk with his
head in
the door of the gun shop. I took the horse by the bit, as I was deputy
city
marshal, and commenced to back him off the sidewalk. Tom and Frank and
Billy
Clanton came to the door. Billy Clanton laid his hand on his
six-shooter. Frank
McLaury took hold of the horse's bridle and I said, "You will have to
get
this horse off the sidewalk." He backed him off into the street. Ike
Clanton
came up about this time and they all walked into the gun shop. I saw
them in
the gun shop changing cartridges into their belts. They came out of the
shop
and walked along Fourth
Street
to the comer of Allen
Street.
I followed them as far as the comer of Fourth and Allen Streets. They
went down
Allen Street
and over to Dunbar's Corral. [Dunbar
and
Behan.]
Virgil Earp was then
city marshal; Morgan Earp was a special policeman for six weeks or two
months,
wore a badge and drew pay. I had been sworn in Virgil's place, to act
for him
while Virgil was gone to Tucson
on Spence's and Stilwell's trial. Virgil had been back several days but
I was
still acting and I knew it was Virgil's duty to disarm those men. I
expected he
would have trouble in doing so, and I followed up to give assistance if
necessary, especially as they had been threatening us, as I have
already
stated.
About ten minutes
afterwards, and while Virgil, Morgan, Doc Holliday and myself were
standing on
the comer of Fourth and Allen Streets, several people said, "There is
going to be trouble with those fellows," and one man named Coleman said
to
Virgil Earp, "They mean trouble. They have just gone from Dunbar's Corral into the O.K. Corral, all armed,
and I
think you had better go and disarm them." Virgil turned around to Doc
Holliday, Morgan Earp and myself and told us to come and assist him in
disarming them.
Morgan Earp said to me,
"They have horses, had we not better get some horses ourselves, so that
if
they make a running fight we can catch them?" I said, "No, if they
try to make a running fight we can kill their horses and then capture
them."
We four started through
Fourth to Fremont Street.
When we turned the comer of Fourth and Fremont
we could see them standing near or about the vacant space between Fly's
photograph gallery and the next building west. I first saw Frank
McLaury, Tom
McLaury, Billy Clanton and Sheriff Behan standing there. We went down
the
left-hand side of Fremont
Street.
When we got within about 150
feet of them I saw Ike Clanton and Billy Clanton and another party. We
had
walked a few steps further and I saw Behan leave the party and come
toward us.
Every few steps he would look back as if he apprehended danger. I heard
him say
to Virgil Earp, "For God's sake, don't go down there, you will get
murdered!" Virgil Earp replied, "I am going to disarm them." he,
Virgil, being in the lead. When I and Morgan came up to Behan he said,
"I
have disarmed them." When he said this, I took my pistol, which I had
in
my hand, under my coat, and put it in my overcoat pocket. Behan then
passed up
the street, and we walked on down.
We came up on them
close; Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, and Billy Clanton standing in a row
against
the east side of the building on the opposite side of the vacant space
west of
Fly's photograph gallery. Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne and a man I
don't
knows were standing in the vacant space about halfway between the
photograph
gallery and the next building west.
I saw that Billy Clanton and
Frank and Tom McLaury had their hands by their sides, Frank McLaury and
Billy
Clanton's six-shooters were in plain sight. Virgil said, "Throw up your
hands;
I have come to disarm you!" Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury laid their
hands on their six-shooters. Virgil said, "Hold, I don't mean that!"
I have come to disarm you!" Then Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury
commenced
to draw their pistols. At the same time, Tom McLaury throwed his hand
to his
right hip, throwing his coat open like this, [showing how] and jumped
behind
his horse. [Actually it was Billy Clanton's horse.]
I had my pistol in my
overcoat pocket, where I had put it when Behan told us he had disarmed
the
other parties. When I saw Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury draw their
pistols, I
drew my pistol. Billy Clanton leveled his pistol at me, but I did not
aim at
him. I knew that Frank McLaury had the reputation of being a good shot
and a
dangerous man, and I aimed at Frank McLaury. The first two shots were
fired by
Billy Clanton and myself, he shooting at me, and I shooting at Frank
McLaury. I don't know which was fired
first. We fired
almost together. The fight then became general.
After about four shots were fired, Ike Clanton ran up and
grabbed my
left arm. I could see no weapon in his hand, and thought at the time he
had
none, and so I said to him, "The fight had commenced. Go to fighting or
get away,” at the same time pushing him off with my left hand, like
this. He
started and ran down the side of the building and disappeared between
the
lodging house and photograph gallery.
My first shot struck
Frank McLaury in the belly. He staggered off on the sidewalk but fired
one shot
at me. When we told them to throw up their hands Claiborne threw up his
left
hand and broke and ran. I never saw him afterwards until late in the
afternoon,
after the fight. I never drew my pistol or made a motion to shoot until
after
Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury drew their pistols. If Tom McLaury was
unarmed,
I did not know it, I believe he was armed and fired two shots at our
party
before Holliday, who had the shotgun, fired and killed him. If he was
unarmed,
there was nothing in the circumstances or in what had been communicated
to me,
or in his acts or threats, that would have led me even to suspect his
being unarmed.
I never fired at Ike
Clanton, even after the shooting commenced, because I thought he was
unarmed. I
believed then, and believe now, from the acts I have stated and the
threats I
have related and the other threats communicated to me by other persons
as having
been made by Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and Ike Clanton, that these
men last
named had formed a conspiracy to murder my brothers, Morgan and Virgil,
Doc
Holliday and myself. I believe I would have been legally and morally
justified
in shooting any of them on sight, but I did not do so, nor attempt to
do so. I
sought no advantage when I went as deputy marshal [city marshal] to
help disarm
them and arrest them. I went as a part of my duty and under the
direction of my
brother, the marshal; I did not intend to fight unless it became
necessary in
self-defense and in the performance of official duty. When Billy
Clanton and
Frank McLaury drew their pistols, I knew it was a fight for life, and I
drew in
defense of my own life and the lives of my brothers and Doc Holliday.
I have been in Tombstone since December
1, 1879. I came here directly from Dodge City, Kansas.
Against
the protest of businessmen and officials, I resigned the office of city
marshal, which I held from 1876. I came to Dodge
City
from Wichita, Kansas. I was on the police force in
Wichita from 1874 until I went to Dodge City.
The testimony of Isaac
Clanton that I ever said to him that I had anything to do with any
stage
robbery or giving information to Morgan Earp going on the stage, or any
improper communication whatever with any criminal enterprise is a
tissue of
lies from beginning to end.
Sheriff Behan made me an
offer in his office on Allen Street in the back room of a cigar store,
where
he, Behan, had his office, that if I would withdraw and not try to get
appointed sheriff of Cochise County, that he would hire a clerk and
divide the
profits. I done so, and he never said another word about it
afterwards, but
claimed in his statement and gave his reason for not complying with his
contract, which is false in every particular.
Myself and Doc Holliday
happened to go to Charleston
the night that Behan went down there to subpoena Ike Clanton. We went
there for
the purpose to get a horse that I had had stolen from me a few days
after I came
to Tombstone.
I
had heard several times that the Clan tons had him. When I got there
that
night, I was told by a friend of mine that the man that carried the
dispatch
from Charleston
to Ike Clanton's ranch had rode my horse. At this time I did not know
where Ike
Clanton's ranch was.
A short time afterwards I
was in the Huachucas locating some water rights. I
had started home to Tombstone.
I had got within 12 or 15 miles of
Charleston
when
I met a man named McMasters. He told me if I would hurry up, I would
find my
horse in Charleston.
I drove into Charleston
and saw my horse going through the streets toward the corral. I put up
for the
night in another corral. I went to Burnett's office to get papers for
the
recovery of the horse. He was not at home having gone down to Sonora to some
coal fields that had been
discovered. I telegraphed to Tombstone
to James Earp and told him to have papers made out and sent to me. He
went to
Judge Wallace and Mr.
Street.
They made the papers out and sent them to Charleston
by my youngest brother, Warren Earp, that night. While I was waiting
for the
papers, Billy Clanton found out that I was in town and went and tried
to take
the horse out of the corral. I told him that he could not take him out,
that it
was my horse. After the papers came, he gave the horse up without the
papers
being served, and asked me if I had any more horses to lose. I told him
I would
keep them in the stable after this, and give him no chance to steal
them.
I give here, as part of
the statement, a document sent me from Dodge City since my arrest on this
charge, which I wish
attached to this statement and marked "Exhibit A."
[Here counsel for the Prosecution
objects to this paper being introduced or used for, or attached as an
exhibit
as a part of this statement, on the ground that the paper is not on its
face, a
statement of the defendant, but a statement of other persons made long
after
the alleged commission of this crime. Counsel for the Defense objects
to any
objections interpolated by counsel for the prosecution in a statutory
statement
made by the party charged with crime, for the reason that the law
contemplates
such statement shall not be interrupted by the court, the counsel for
the
prosecution, or the counsel for the defense, or for the further reason
that it
is perfect evidence of character lacking only the absurd formality.
Objection
of counsel for prosecution overruled and the paper ordered to be filed
as part
of this statement.]
In relation to the
conversation that I had with Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Joe Hill
was four
or five different times, and they were all held in the backyard of the
Oriental
Saloon.
I told Ike Clanton in
one of those conversations that there were some parties here in town
that were
trying to give Doc Holliday the worst of it by their talk, that there
was some
suspicion that he knew something about the attempted robbery and
killing of Bud
Philpot, and if I could catch Leonard, Head, and Crane, I could prove
to the
citizens that he knew nothing of it.
In following the trail
of Leonard, Head, and Crane, we struck it at the scene of the attempted
robbery, and never lost the trail or hardly a footprint from the time
we
started from Drew's ranch on the San Pedro, until we got to Helm's
ranch in the
Dragoons. After following about 80 miles down the San
Pedro River
and capturing one of the men named King that was supposed to be with
them, we
then crossed the Catalina Mountains within 15 miles of Tucson
following their trail around the foot of the mountain to Tres Alamos on
the San Pedro River,
thence to the Dragoons to Helm's
ranch.
We then started out from Helm's ranch and got
on their
trail. They had stolen 15 or 20 head of stock, so as to cover their
trail.
Virgil Earp and Morgan Earp, Robert H. Paul, Breakenridge the deputy
sheriff,
Johnny Behan the sheriff and one or two others still followed their
trail to New Mexico.
Their trail never led
south from Helm's ranch as Ike Clanton has stated. We used every effort
we
could to capture those men or robbers. I was out ten days. Virgil and
Morgan
Earp were out sixteen days, and [we] all done all we could to catch
those men,
and I safely say if it had not been for myself and Morgan Earp they
would not
have got King as he started to run when we rose up to his hiding place
and was
making for a big patch of brush on the river and would have got in it,
if [it]
had not been for us two.
[Signed]
Wyatt S. Earp