Gunfight at the O.K. Corral direct conflict with the Earps' roles as lawmen, Johnny Behan was Cochise County Sheriff. Virgil Earp had served for three years during the Civil War and had also been involved in a police shooting in Prescott, Arizona Territory. He was appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal for eastern Pima County by U.S. Marshal Crawley Dake, on November 27, 1879, before the Earps arrived in Tombstone on December 1, 1879. He was appointed acting Tombstone's town marshal (or police chief) on September 30, 1880, after popular Tombstone town marshal Fred White was shot and killed by Curly Bill Brocius. Only a few days
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral started shooting first is not certain; accounts by both participants and eyewitnesses are contradictory. The smoke from the black powder used in the weapons added to the confusion of the gunfight in the narrow space. Those loyal to one side or the other told conflicting stories, and independent eyewitnesses who did not know the participants by sight were unable to say for certain who shot first. The six or seven men with guns fired about 30 shots in around 30 seconds. Virgil Earp reported afterward, "Two shots went off right together. Billy Clanton's was one of them." Wyatt testified, "Billy