A friend of mine loaned me his collection of DVDs for the television series 'Deadwood', which, due to my lack of cable or satellite television, I have been unable to see. It is a very frank and well portrayed series about a Dakota mining camp. I found myself becoming engrossed in the series, as much due to the authenticity of the characters and language as anything else.

When Osprey's new book on Tombstone arrived, it was one that I found myself picking up and reading, all the time keeping the images of Deadwood in my mind. Of course, Tombstone is in a much more hot and arid part of the US, just a few miles away from the Mexican boarder in Arizona (Arizona Territory at the time). but the images stuck.

This book is subtitled 'Wyatt Earp, the OK Corral, and the Vendetta Ride 1881-82 and looks very much into the main characters of the time. These will be eminently recognizable to anyone who grew up on movies and television shows about the 'wild west'. It includes the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday, the Clantons and Johnny Ringo to name a few.

Tombstone was a bustling town where the Civil War and the Reconstruction were only a few years away. It was home to two newspapers who took both the Republican and Democratic side of things. We think politics is divisive now (and it is), but it was even more so with the newspapers of the time being pretty well unregulated and free to publish what they wanted; truth or not, and often with embellishments. Frequently, these papers were used to incite readers as much as report the news. This was a problem for some and this included Wyatt Earp, his brothers and others who believed in Earp.

Wyatt Earp was not the sheriff, but a federal marshal and was, by most accounts, pretty straight-forward in the way he dealt with people. He had the ability to calm riots and keep most situations from getting out of control. However, he was not popular with certain types of folks. In Tombstone, 'cowboy' was an insult to most as it referred to pretty much lawless people who rustled cattle, terrorized ranchers and caused trouble in towns.

The Clantons, Johnny Ringo and others were in this group and it was this group that were faced off by Earp and company just outside the OK Corral. The accounts of this gunfight were difficult for historians to piece out, which is typical for actions of the time where legend and tales make finding the truth difficult if not impossible. But while originally considered the 'good guys' immediately following the results of this gunfight, Earp and his brothers were soon vilified by one of the two papers in town, turning opinions against him. Having his brother shot in the back did not help things and soon the situation got out of control.

Earp went looking for those responsible and this is where the Vendetta Ride comes into play. It was a completely unplanned hunt to kill the cowboys who went on the run. Few of these men were found and killed and the whole thing petered out to nothing. What did happen was that the Earps and company could no longer stay in Tombstone so left for other parts of the country.

I do wish I could be more specific on events, but they are extremely convoluted and it is thanks to author Sean McLachlan that we know as much as we do about the characters involved. Thanks to his steady research, we have as much knowledge and insight to these men and this time as is currently available. It all makes for a truly fascinating tale and one that really does not have a clean and satisfying end. However, thanks to the superb period photos and some great artwork, it does make for a gripping read. Though a bit of an odd title for the 'Raid' series, it a book that no enthusiast of the time should be without. It deserves a high recommendation.

July 2103

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