Virgil Earp as a colonel during the Second Mexican War. Virgil Earp Virgil Walter Earp (July 18, 1843 – October 19, 1905) was both deputy U.S. Marshal and Tombstone, Arizona City Marshal when he led his brothers Morgan and Wyatt and Doc Holliday in a confrontation with outlaw Cowboys at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on October 26, 1881. They killed brothers Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton. All three Earp brothers had been the target of repeated death threats made by the Cowboys who were upset by the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. All four lawmen were charged
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