Tombstone, Arizona Tombstone to Benson, Arizona, the nearest railroad freight terminal. Near Drew's Station, just outside Contention City, the popular and well-known driver Eli "Budd" Philpot and a passenger named Peter Roerig riding in the rear dickey seat were both shot and killed. Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp and his temporary deputies and brothers Wyatt Earp and Morgan Earp pursued the Cowboys suspected of the murders. This set off a chain of events that culminated on October 26, 1881, in a gunfight in a vacant lot owned by famous photographer C. S. Fly near, not in or at the O. K. Corral,
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral have been down there to disarm them.'" In his testimony, Behan repeatedly insisted he told the Earps that he only intended to disarm the Cowboys, not that he had actually done so. The article said that Behan "was standing near by commanding the contestants to cease firing but was powerless to prevent it." Given the "Nugget" close relationship to Behan (it was owned by Behan's deputy sheriff), it is likely they interviewed him. By Williams' account, Behan told Virgil Earp immediately after the gunfight a story that corroborated the "Nugget" report, which the newspaper altered afterward to a version that