Ride the Devil's Herd by John Boessenecker

Author:John Boessenecker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Published: 2019-12-19T20:53:27+00:00

Frank McLaury, who made the fatal error of tangling with the Earp boys and Doc Holliday in the gunfight near the O.K. Corral.

True West Magazine Archives.

But it was too late. As Wyatt later explained, “Billy Clanton leveled his pistol at me, but I did not aim at him. I knew that Frank McLaury had the reputation of being a good shot and a dangerous man, and I aimed at Frank McLaury.” Wyatt and Billy Clanton fired at almost the same instant. A heavy slug from Wyatt’s six-shooter slammed into Frank McLaury’s belly. Billy Clanton’s shot whined harmlessly through the space between Wyatt and Morg. Virgil quickly tossed his cane to his left hand and with his right yanked his pistol from his waistband. Before he could fire, Frank McLaury, though gut-shot and desperately wounded, squeezed off a round that tore through Virgil’s right calf.

As Virgil dropped to the ground, the unarmed Ike Clanton rushed toward Wyatt, seizing his left arm. The two grappled for an instant, and Wyatt rammed his six-gun into Ike’s belly.

“The fight has commenced!” Wyatt yelled. “Go to fighting or get away!”

Wyatt shoved Ike back and the Cowboy fled into the open door of Fly’s boardinghouse. At first fire, Billy Claiborne also raced away, following Ike into the building. “When we told them to throw up their hands Claiborne threw up his left hand and broke and ran,” recalled Wyatt. Wes Fuller quickly backed up to get out of the line of fire, and Tom McLaury leaped for cover behind his horse.

The heavy thud of large-caliber pistols echoed through the lot and dense plumes of black powder gunsmoke filled the air as the combatants exchanged fire at close range. Morgan Earp took dead aim at Billy Clanton and squeezed the trigger. His pistol slug ripped through Billy’s chest and pierced his left lung. Billy was game and stayed on his feet and shot back with his Colt .44. Virgil managed to scramble back up from the ground and triggered one shot at Frank McLaury and three more at Billy Clanton.

A pistol ball, fired by one of the Cowboys, slammed into Morg’s shoulder, plowed across his back, and tore out through his opposite shoulder. “I’ve got it, Wyatt!” he gasped, and dropped to the ground.

Doc Holliday, from his position in the street, threw the Wells Fargo shotgun to his shoulder, cocked both hammers, and took aim at Tom McLaury. But Billy Clanton’s horse, spooked by the gunfire, charged between Doc and McLaury, preventing Holliday from shooting. Tom McLaury reached across his saddle, either to fire with his pistol or to seize his Winchester from its scabbard. Wyatt, thinking that Tom McLaury had shot Morgan, fired a shot at Tom’s horse, which was shielding him from view. The bullet struck the animal, which bolted away. Doc Holliday, seeing his chance for a clear shot, pulled both triggers of the shotgun. Twelve buckshot ripped into Tom’s right arm and side, and he staggered out of the lot and collapsed by a telegraph pole next to the Harwood house.

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