Earp resigned from the Dodge City police force on September 9, 1879, and traveled to Las Vegas in New Mexico Territory with his common-law wife Mattie, his brother Jim, and Jim's wife Bessie. There they reunited with Holliday and Big Nose Kate, and the six of them went on to Prescott. Virgil was appointed deputy U.S. marshal for the Tombstone mining district on November 27, 1879, three days before they left for Tombstone, by U.S. Marshal for the Arizona Territory Crawley P. Dake. Virgil was to operate out of Tombstone, some from Prescott, and his territory included the entire southeast area of the Arizona Territory. Wyatt, Virgil, and James Earp arrived in Tombstone with their wives on December 1, 1879, while Doc Holliday remained in Prescott where the gambling afforded better opportunities.