“Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp, brave courageous and bold. Long live his fame and long live his glory and long may his story be told.”

Unfortunately, a fellow by the name of Stuart Lake wrote Earp’s official biography “Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshal.” Lake interviewed Earp extensively. In the introduction Lake called his book a “first hand and a factual account” of Wyatt Earp’s career. Whether Wyatt claimed all that is in the book as fact may be in question, but then, he wouldn’t be the first “old timer” to embellish his stories for the benefit of an admiring audience.

Close study of “Frontier Marshal” reveals a certain amount of creative writing employed for dramatic and supposed commercial effect. Stuart Lake’s portrait of Earp’s life is better understood as a historic novel, in other words, a fictional account based upon historic events. For many admir ers of what has been termed “Earpiana,” assigning Frontier Marshal to the realm of fiction is a bitter pill to swallow, but in fairness to Earp and his era, it is a pill that needs to be taken.

The Earp brothers gained national attention from the 1881 gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Ariz. Wyatt drew even more attention from western buffs following the assassination of his brother Morgan. The “Earp Vendetta” occurred over a three week period in which Wyatt, Doc Holiday and others “rode down” and killed a number of personal enemies.

Earp’s legend in Kansas begins at Ellsworth when he supposedly backed down notorious gambler and gunman Ben Thompson. It didn’t happen. At Wichita several stories are related in “Frontier Marshal” that have no basis in fact. However, Wyatt was on the Wichita police force in 1875. Most of the time, his time was devoted to keeping the streets clean and in shooting stray dogs. That is not to say that he was not a real lawman. Newspapers report Earp bringing in horse thieves and various other outlaws, but the incidents didn’t involve wild Texas cowboys and were unfortunately missing from Lake’s “Frontier Marshal.”

One of Wyatt’s most promising assets was displayed during the political run for Wichita City Marshal (also missing from the book). At a meeting between Marshal Meagher and his opponent William Smith, Earp barged into the room, “... with fight on the brain.” He thrashed Smith unmercifully and when he had fully accomplished his work, Meagher arrested deputy Wyatt Earp. Earp was fined $30 and dismissed from the force.

Never one to stay in one place for very long, Earp moved on to the new cattle destination in Dodge City. Lake says that Dodge City Mayor “Dog” Kelly made Earp the City Marshal, but historical records verify that Wyatt Earp was never more than an assistant marshal. Lake continued an exaggerated narrative of Earp’s career in Dodge. However, documented accounts reveal that exaggeration wasn’t necessary. Newspapers gave more than the usual recommendation for its lawmen when referring to Wyatt Earp’s abilities, saying that Earp “... had a quiet way of taking the most desperate characters into custody, which invariably gave one the impression that the city was able to enforce her mandates and preserve her dignity. It wasn’t considered policy to draw a gun on Wyatt unless you got the drop and meant to burn powder without any preliminary talk.”

At Dodge, Earp was surrounded by famous lawmen He joined Bat Masterson, William Duffy, Bill Tilghman and Charlie Bassett in a famous man-hunt for the killer of “the cowboy’s sweetheart,” variety singer, Dora Hand. “Her artful winning ways brought many admirers within her smiles and blandishments.” A vengeful Texan Spike Kenedy shot through a window, intending to kill Mayor Kelly. Kelly wasn’t there. Instead, Dora Hand was sleeping in his bed. She neve knew what hit her as Kenedy’s .44 caliber bullet tore through her heart. The newspaper called the lawmen who rode after Kenedy “... as intrepid a posse as ever pulled a trigger ...” Kenedy was shot out of the saddle at a ranch along the cattle trail near Meade, Kan.

By 1879 Arizona Territory was calling the Earp boys. Wyatt resigned from the police force just in tim to enjoy an afternoon of pranks on the streets of Dodge. A water fight progressed to rotten eggs and eventually to an all-out brawl. The newspapers noted, “The ‘finest work’ and neatest polishes were said to have been executed by Mr. Wyatt Earp, who has been our efficient assistant marshal for the past year.”

In later years he became a promoter of professional boxing. Possibly the story of Wyatt Earp cannot be told without a little of the “legend” thrown in with th “life.” His was indeed a remarkable life. Deleting the exaggerations actually makes him more interesting. There are many stories yet to tell of Wyatt Earp. As they say, “Long may his story be told.” And that’s just what we plan to do on The Way West.

“The Cowboy,” Jim Gray is author of the book Desperate Seed: Ellsworth Kansas on the Violent Frontier, Ellsworth, KS Contact Kansas Cowboy, 220 21st RD Geneseo, KS. Phone (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@kans.com.