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Martin's Must Reads: 'Tombstone'

“October 26, 1881.  In Tombstone Arizona, thirty bullets were exchanged in thirty seconds, killing three men and wounding three others.”  And so, begins a story of betrayal, corruption and cold blooded murder that has become legendary in  stories of the American West.

I’m Mark Martin with "Martin’s Must Reads" and Tom Clavin in his book Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday and The Vendetta Ride from Hell recounts familiar parts of this story but also reveals many, less noble facts that the movies and  myths don’t include.

The desert town of Tombstone in the 1880’s was a boom town fueled by nearby silver mines, get rich quick schemes, gamblers, cattle rustlers, thieves, and downright evil cowboys. Roots of that fateful October afternoon began long before the shooting started. It was a clash of the Earp brothers and a group of cowboys dedicated to violence, thievery and cheating the law.

Mr. Clavin describes how corrupt law officers and city officials contributed to that fateful day.  One of the myths that has grown out of the gunfight at the OK Corral was that there were good guys—the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday and there were bad guys--the Clantons and their friends.  Mr. Clavin corrects that myth. In Tombstone there were bad men and there were worse men.

The violence in Tombstone was intense but ended quickly. By the spring of 1882 Tombstone had moved on and in contrast to the violence and bloodshed of October 26, 1881,Virgil and Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday died quietly years later, in their own beds with their wives by their sides.

If you want to read a true story of the American west, then you must read Tombstone by Tom Clavin.  

Mark co-hosted "Martin's Must Reads" until October 2022. He passed away unexpectedly on October 21, 2022.
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