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 An outstanding compilation of information regarding the events that led to the gunfight May 30, 2008
I've just finished Marks' book and was very impressed. The readers who will most appreciate the book are those with a researcher's heart, who aren't looking for simple good and bad, right or wrong but simply wanting to sift through as much of the available information as possible in one place and come to their own conclusions. For those who have already made up their minds about the characters involved, find a different book that suits what you wish to see.
As with any historical event with multiple witnesses, there are a lot of contradictions in the stories given. Marks sifts through the various versions, gives the readers the facts of who recounted what and also ties together information to let the reader have a better idea what might be true or not. For example, if one person is supposed to have killed another and this information is from hearsay sources, she will offer what other factual evidence is known to let the reader know that this event is likely to have happened or unlikely to have happened (as in one case where the story had someone killed three years before another event they were known to have been involved in actually happened).
Having read the entire book, I don't see the claims made by some other reviewers that the book attempts to be politically correct, but politics does play a part in helping explain how different factions chose sides. Marks lays out the local politics that helped to split the town. The Earps are not presented as good, bad or indifferent. They, and the other cast of characters are presented as people, with their own goals, their own agendas and those agendas are not presented as either good or bad. This is a story of people in a time and place where the common rules for living together that we take for granted in today's modern civilization were still in the process of being developed. The events of the book appear to be scrupulously researched and documented. An outstanding book that doesn't tell you what you want to hear either way, but instead tells you what was said, what others reported happened and then tries to lay out what most likely happened based upon all the evidence available. For those who say that the book is derivative, the nature of the book is that Marks has taken what is available on the people and the events, tells where the information comes from and makes no assumptions that the stories told to those biographers were 100% accurate and true. She compiles the information and lays it out in such a way that the reader can make his/her own decision.
A well-researched story on the OK Corral showdown... March 18, 2008
I have received and commenced reading this story. After going through the first 50 pages of the hard-to-let-go narrative, I am inclined to say that the topic is very well-researched and written by the author - Prof. Paula. Many books and movies have been produced about this ugly confrontation in the frontier days of United States. Each seems to claim that its version is more authentic than the others. But result speaks for itself and the reader at large is the best judge of this abbreation in American history. The gunfight and subsequent death of several cowboys were inevitable given the chaotic and gun-totting period and the final showdown or shoot up in the OK Corral reflected the conditions and society of that time.
Wyatt Earp and his two brothers including the former's sidekick Doc. Holliday were determined to take law into their hands when they shot Bill Clanton and McLaury brothers. The feuding group reached its tensionable climax at OK Corral showdown could not be avoided and both parties insisted that they were right and other was wrong. For the book it provides all the evidence and background development until the shootout. As for the movie, I think the best was TOMBSTONE. I highly recommend this book and the movie to all readers of Amazon.com...so go for them while the stock lasts. Thanks.
 How can one know so much and understand so little? September 19, 2007
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
When I began reading this book, I was quite favorably impressed. The author had obviously done her homework and wrote widely about all manner of happenings in the early west and about the Earps' early days. Gradually, however, I noted that she was cherry picking her facts and was choosing her words quite carefully so as to depict the Earps, in general, and Wyatt Earp, in particular, in the worst possible light. It occurred to me that she must be setting them up to be the villains of the piece when she finally got around to the subject of the book, "The Gunfight at the OK Corral." As I continued to read, I looked forward to seeing if this would prove to be the case. I was not disappointed.
It was hard for me to believe but, in spite of her apparently extensive research, the author had somehow concluded that the Earp brothers were the cause of the problems in Tombstone, and (if I understand what she wrote and I read) that they initiated the action at the corral. She even went so far as to hypothesize a number of scenarios, leading up to that event, all of which reflected badly on Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and Doc Holliday. Strangely enough, however, although she had inadvertently set the stage for an even more likely scenario, she failed to mention it. I refer to the fact that, a number of pages earlier, she had quoted Ike Clanton as telling Wyatt Earp that if his associates ever became aware of the fact that he had conspired with Earp to capture three stage robbers, his life wouldn't be worth a plugged nickel.
What, then, would a cowardly Ike Clanton do when faced with the possibility that that information was, or was about to become, known? Of course: he would get drunk and go on the warpath against the Earps, which is exactly what he did. Add to this the fact that several of Ike's friends and associates, including his younger brother, just happened to arrive in town shortly after his widely known threats and the stage was set for a deadly confrontation largely based on a serious misunderstanding. In this scenario, Ike Clanton, by his threats and blustering tirade, would inadvertently have caused the gunfight at the OK Corral. This, to me, is a real possibility.
But with regard to the Earps and their reputation: does this author seriously believe that men who had been law officers in Wichita and Dodge City over a period of years, with minimal blood shed and with stellar reputations, would suddenly become outlaws? And does she seriously believe that a sickly dentist, who had made his living as a gambler, would all of a sudden decide to become a stage robber? A more likely scenario is that the "Democrats," as she termed them, i.e., those opposed to law and order in Tombstone, would use the same approach that Democrats use today. The best defense being a good offense, they would simply accuse the Earps of doing what they, themselves, were doing. Which is exactly what they did. Furthermore, if one considers the Earp brothers friends and associates, and their accomplishments over the years, as opposed Sheriff Behan's friends, associates, and posse members, Curly Bill Brocius, Ike Clanton, John Ringo, etc., one must conclude that the Earps, although flawed in many respects, acted in accordance with the law and that Sheriff Behan was either an outlaw; an associate of outlaws; or was somehow beholden to them, possibly for voting him into office.
So, although I found this book to be interesting in many respects, I find the author to be on the wrong side of the fence. And I can't help but wonder: How could someone seemingly know so much and understand so little. (For a better read, try "Murder in Tombstone: The Forgotten Trial of Wyatt Earp" by Steven Lubet, "Famous Gun Fighters of the Western Frontier" by Bat Masterson, "The O.K. Corral Inquest" by Alford E. Turner, "Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend" by Casey Tefertiller, "The Earps of Tombstone" by Douglas D. Martin, "The Tombstone Story" by John Myers Myers, or Tombstone's Epitaph" by Douglas D. Martin.")
Excellent Book March 29, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I strongly recommend this book. It is not only about the infamous gunfight. It also covers the political and economic conditions that led up to the incident and the events that followed. The actual gunfight, which does not occur until the middle of the book, was part of a larger picture of the times. Marks has done a great job. My only complaint, and it is not really a complaint as much as a comment, is the lack of a photograph of Wyatt Earp's wife Josephine Marcus. Many of the other players covered in the book, both major and minor, are shown. But Marcus is curiously absent.
Great Information, Well Presented December 28, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you want tall, rangy, squint-eyed men in dusters standing in the center of the street at high-noon, go elsewhere. If you want some real information on what the old west was like including the nitty-gritty of Republican vs. Democrat as a part of the troubles in Tombstone, this is the place.
I've read a biography of Wyatt Earp and several articles from various sources on this topic prior to reading Paula Mitchell Marks book. I wish I'd come here first. There's more good information (well documented too) packed into each page than you're likely to find in other sources. She doesn't just tell the story of the Earps, Clantons, Mclaury's and Doc Holliday (not to leave out Ringo & Curly Bill and all the rest), but sets the scene, showing what kind of society these people were operating within as part of a mining town in the old west.
Best of all, the author doesn't take a side. She's not out to paint anyone as a villain or saint. Therefore we're presented with both sides in their full glory, warts and all. Yes, the Earps were, to a degree, duly appointed wardens of the law. They were also gamblers, grifters and probably confidence men, not to mention thugs. Yes, the cowboys were rustlers and hell-raisers. They were also hard working cattle-men providing a service to the community. Both groups may or may not have been stage coach robbers. Each group broke down on party lines showing a fractious American political landscape not too discimilar to our own (although ours involves a bit less gun play). She even outlines how the treatment of the Apaches in the area played a part in the atmosphere and attitudes.
I enjoyed this book and I can recommend it if you're looking for a good set of information about the old west in general and the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
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