Cochise County in the Old West Cochise County feud or the Earp–Clanton feud, which included the historic Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the town of Tombstone and Wyatt Earp's Vendetta Ride in the early 1880s. Dr. George E. Goodfellow famously described Tombstone, the capital of Cochise County, as the "condensation of wickedness." The land that now comprises Cochise County, along with the rest of modern Arizona south of the Gila River and a small part of southwestern New Mexico, was Mexican territory until 1853, when it was purchased by the United States in the Gadsden Purchase. Cochise County was created on February 1, 1881 from
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral he was carrying for Holliday's cane. Virgil carried the cane in his right hand and shifted the pistol in his waistband from the right side to his left. Holliday concealed the short shotgun under his long jacket. Wyatt too was not expecting a fight and put his pistol in his overcoat pocket. Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury wore revolvers in holsters on their belts and stood alongside their saddled horses with rifles in their scabbards, possibly in violation of the city ordinance prohibiting carrying weapons in town. When Virgil saw the Cowboys, he testified, he immediately commanded the Cowboys to