What We Should Know About the Shoot-Out at the O.K. Corral

By | September 13, 2018

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Tombstone, Arizona in 1881 photographed by C. S. Fly.

When you ask someone to think about the Old West and some of the key events that occurred during the days of cowboys, outlaws, and small-town sheriffs, one event is mentioned more than any other…the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral. Even though that have been numerous movies and books about this infamous Wild West, cops versus robbers, shoot-out Hollywood has often glamorized the event and, depending on which book you read, you may find yourself rooting for the outlaws or the lawmen. So let’s take a brief look at the event to separate fact from fiction about the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral. 

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The Town of Tombstone was the Setting for the Epic Shoot-Out

Tombstone, Arizona, located near the Mexican border, was a relatively new town. It was founded in March of 1879 right after silver was found in the area. Tombstone was the epitome of an old west boom town. In 1879, only about 100 people lived in the area, but two years later, the population grew to more than 7,000. Many of the town’s residents were drawn to the area’s silver mines and brought their wives and children along. Still, the town was a mix of a lawless frontier town and a civilized, modern community. There were several churches, fine restaurants, an opera house, ice cream shop and a school, but there were also more than one hundred saloons, more than a dozen gambling houses and nearly as many brothels.