Walking in Wyatt’s Footsteps

In which I contemplate why I’m so fascinated by a legendary lawman from the American west. Plus a cool addition to the Brabazon research files provokes some memories.

Last week I discussed my history with a mythical figure of English folklore, well this week, I decided to take a look at a mythical figure of American folklore, the only difference is that this one actually existed.

Over the last few days I finished reading a book on how Hollywood had treated the legend of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (which didn’t actually happen in the corral), and one of its participants, Wyatt Earp. (More on the book itself below). Of the eight movies covered in the book the most focus is given to 1993’s Tombstone starring Kurt Russell. Perhaps naturally as it is generally considered to be the best of the various Earp movies (and in some cases the most historically accurate - if you ignore large aspects of the vendetta ride sequence that is.)

Like many others, it was this movie that sparked my interest in Wyatt Earp and the events of October 26th, 1881. Sure I was aware of the gunfight and Earp before that. Even from an early age I was entranced by westerns, and you couldn’t watch western movies and TV shows in the sixties and seventies without coming across the names of Earp, Tombstone, and of course the O.K. Corral.

It was the sheer epic scale and the performances, look, and style of Tombstone that caught my attention. It is still my most-watched western. As I said it piqued my interest but not much more than that - until I got laid off.

In 2001 we were living just outside of San Diego when the tech industry spin-off start-up I was working for was abruptly closed down by its parent company. And to add to the wonderful news it was around my birthday weekend. To clear our heads and do a bit of thinking about what to do next, Gill and I decided to head out for a weekend away, we packed off the kids to friends, hopped in the Mustang convertible we had at the time, and headed out to the wide open spaces of  Arizona to think. And where did we end up? In Tombstone itself. We found a room in an old hotel on Allen Street, the sort of place where you had to climb out of the window to get to the rocking chairs on the balcony. Our room faced across the street from the original Bird Cage Theater.

All thoughts about jobs and futures were put aside as we reveled in the fact that we were walking the actual streets where history occurred.  I was hooked. I bought books on the story that told multiple viewpoints, the Earps were heroes, the Earps were villains, and just generally relaxed and soaked in the atmosphere.

On future trips into downtown San Diego I discovered that at one point Wyatt Earp had in fact owned some significant portions of the downtown area, and was involved in the local horse racing scene — an aspect of the man I wasn’t expecting.

In 2013 when we were living in Peoria, IL I picked up a book on local history and was surprised to find a chapter on Wyatt Earp, and how as a young man he’d been arrested and basically thrown out of town for being a pimp. - Well that wasn’t talked about much in the legend of the straight-laced lawman! After a bit more digging and I discovered that I parked my car each day in an office parking lot that was located at the same spot where the bordello where he worked had once stood.

It seemed that wherever I went my path crossed his historical one. So who was this guy? I needed to find out. The more I’ve researched, the more I’ve come to appreciate just how complex a character he is, and how varied and fascinating his life was. Yet he is defined by, and his legend based on, an event that lasted just thirty seconds of his eighty-one-year life span.

I have a couple of Wyatt Earp related book projects that I’m slowly collecting research for. They are projects for some time in the future, but I still take every opportunity I can to learn more about this fascinating and contradictory character, his travels, and how his legend grew.

Last year we took a Thanksgiving week road trip from Austin through West Texas and on into New Mexico and Arizona. One stop we had to make on the way was, of course, Tombstone. Twenty years after our first visit it still resonated. This time we stayed in a restoration of one of the original miner’s cottages on the edge of town. Every step we took as we walked into town felt like we were walking in Wyatt’s footsteps once more.

Other Stuff

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Brabazon Bits

Following feedback from the other members of my writers’ group, I rewrote the first couple of chapters to make them more character-driven and less of a fact-driven narrative. 

One new arrival at the office this week was a Dutch trading card of the Brabazon from around 1950. We’ve slowly been building a nice collection of the various trading cards and other ephemera that were produced to help market the Brabazon project.

Thanks to posting about this one on Twitter I was contacted by several folks, one of whom kindly shared his father’s written-up eye-witness account of the Brabazon’s first flight.

Pages and Screens

Books Read in 2023 - “Hollywood and the O.K. Corral” by Michael F. Blake

Despite the title, this is more an examination of how the legend of Wyatt Earp has evolved in Hollywood’s hands rather than representations of the mythic gunfight (although the two are inextricably linked.) By my calculations there have been 32 movies made to date that include Earp as a character. This volume takes a deep dive into perhaps the 8 best-known ones.

If you’re the sort of person who enjoys lengthy plot descriptions and detailed comparisons of scenes from various drafts vs what ended up on the screen, then this is the book for you. Personally, I found that aspect of each essay a bit tedious.

However, I did enjoy the back stories on how each movie came to be made, its reception at the time, as well as the author’s views on where it worked (or didn’t). Blake doesn’t hold back on his opinions as both a film industry professional and Earp scholar.

Podcast Procrastinations

Before They Were Beatles  - Episode 21 is now online at Anchor.fm and all your favorite podcast platforms.

In this episode, we cover March, April, and May 1962 as The Beatles make their radio debut, change leather for suits, and make a return to Hamburg.

From this week onwards you can now also listen to the Before They Were Beatles podcast on Audible or Amazon Music if you prefer your streaming Amazon style.

Weekly Web Round-Up

Batman On The Cover  - We continue the journey through October 1967 with comics from Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, and Lebanon.  My favorite from this week’s batch is definitely the vibrant Italian cover featuring “La Gatta” (Catwoman)

Thanks for joining me for this week’s Rambles. As always don’t forget to sign up for a FREE subscription so you don’t miss future updates.

See you next time

Alan J. Porter