Gunfight at the O.K. Corral to town, and shootings were frequent. In the 1880s, illegal smuggling and theft of cattle, alcohol, and tobacco across the Mexico–United States border, about from Tombstone, were common. The Mexican government assessed heavy export taxes on these items, and smugglers earned a handsome profit by stealing them in Mexico and selling them across the border. James, Virgil, and Wyatt Earp arrived in Tombstone on December 1, 1879, when the small town was mostly composed of tents as living quarters, a few saloons and other buildings, and the mines. Virgil had been hired as Deputy U.S. Marshal for eastern Pima County,
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral the painting and other contents of the museum were sold at auction by John's Western Gallery of San Francisco. The estimated auction price for the painting had been $200,000 to $300,000; the final sale price on June 25, 2004 was $40,250. It was put up for auction again on June 14, 2014 with an estimated selling price of $40,000–$60,000 but failed to sell. Less than a month after the shootout it was described by a local newspaper as the "Gunfight at The O.K. Corral". William Breakenridge in his 1928 book "Helldorado: Bringing Law to the Mesquite" described it as "The