In spring 1868, his father Nicholas Porter Earp and his siblings Ginnie, Warren, and Adelia returned to the mid-west and Lamar, Missouri, where Nick became the local constable. By November 17, 1869, Nick resigned to become Justice of the Peace. Wyatt, who had followed them to Missouri, was appointed constable in place of his father. In early 1870, Wyatt married Urilla Sutherland, but she died later that year shortly before she was due to have a baby. Shortly afterward, Wyatt, James, Virgil, and Morgan got into what witnesses described as a "20-minute street fight" with Urilla's brothers and other relatives over the alleged bootlegging activities of both families.