Wyatt Earp and Billy Clanton who threatened to kill the Earps on several occasions. The conflict escalated over the next year, culminating in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881 in which the Earps and Doc Holliday killed three of the Cowboys. In the next five months, Virgil was ambushed and maimed, and Morgan was assassinated. Wyatt, Warren Earp, Doc Holliday, and others formed a federal posse which killed three of the Cowboys whom they thought responsible. Wyatt was never wounded in any of the gunfights, unlike his brothers Virgil and Morgan or his friend Doc Holliday, which only
Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal Lake employed a style of fictionalized dialog that was popular during the era but which is no longer accepted in biographies. The entire book was published as "Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal" on October 7, 1931, two years after Earp's death. It portrayed Earp as a "gallant white knight" and entirely avoided mentioning Josephine Earp and Mattie Blaylock. The book was immediately and immensely popular, becoming a bestseller. It drew considerable positive attention and established Lake as a writer for years to come. It also established the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the public consciousness and Wyatt Earp as a