GUNPOWDER and Smoke

The West was immense, and frontier law enforcement sparse.

- BILL MARKLEY

HOTS Wise individuals carried firearms and knew how to use them. Some men and women became notorious for their real or perceived gun-handling abilities: Wild Bill Hickok, Bat Masterson and Calamity Jane, to name a few.

Each state and territory was assigned a U.S. marshal who hired deputies to undertake federal matters. Occasionally the Army helped to maintain order. Some states established statewide law enforcement agencies such as the Texas Rangers. Each county elected a sheriff. Marshals were elected or appointed to maintain order within town and city limits. Cattlemen's associations hired stock detectives; individuals and businesses hired detective agencies such as the Pinkertons, and citizens formed vigilance committees to handle undesirable characters.

Let's visit 10 localities associated with gunfighters, where you might catch a whiff of gun smoke and get a feel for what it might have been like in a Wild West gunfighter town.

TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA

Tombstone has to be one of the top gunfighter towns. When Ed Schieffelin left Fort Huachuca searching for precious minerals, legend has it that soldiers (or friends and fellow miners) said the only thing he would find was his tombstone. In 1877, Ed discovered silver ore east of the San Pedro River and named one claim The Tombstone, and the resulting boomtown became Tombstone.

The West's most famous gunbattle erupted here, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (actually behind the corral). On October 26, 1881, a feud came to a head between lawmen Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp along with deputized Doc Holliday and cowboys Ike and Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom McLaury. The Earps and Holliday confronted the Clantons and McLaurys. Who shot first-that's disputed but after multiple shots, both McLaury brothers and Billy Clanton were dead, and all on the Earp side were wounded except Wyatt.