Character guide

Wyatt Earp

major

Also known as Wyatt, Earp, Henry, Hand

Earp comes to the silver boomtown in December 1879 wearing a deputy marshal's badge, a veteran of Wichita and Dodge City who has hunted buffalo, fought Indians, and gambled his way across the frontier. He is thirty, long-faced and pale, with a booming voice and the stillness of sculptured stone, a man who follows his own silent trails with roughshod directness. In a town crawling with Cowboys and cattle thieves, his cold competence makes him the natural man of the hour, and the enemies he makes along the way will pull him down as surely as his courage lifts him up.

Doc Holliday

major

Also known as Holliday, Doc

Holliday is the fighting ace of the Earp faction, considered by connoisseurs in deadliness the coldest-blooded killer in Tombstone, a man who laughs with Morgan Earp in front of saloons and straps a sawed-off shotgun beneath his coat for state occasions. Immaculate in attire and fastidious in habit, he might fly into a temper if his breakfast eggs are not just so, yet no man is cooler when bullets start to fly. His loyalty to Wyatt Earp and his hair-trigger temperament make him both the faction's sharpest weapon and its most unpredictable one.

Curly Bill

major

Also known as Curly, Russian Bill

Curly Bill operates on a scale of magnificence along the Mexican border, stealing cattle in such volume that his depredations reach Congress and diplomatic correspondence, while respectable stockmen quietly fatten their herds on his stolen beeves. He is a familiar, free-spending figure in Tombstone's saloons, generous with drinks and deadly serious at the faro table, but his first recorded exploit in town ends with Marshal Fred White shot dead and Curly Bill jailed with a split scalp. That night's manhandling by Wyatt Earp plants a bitterness that will shadow every encounter between the outlaw and the lawman.

John Ringo

major

Also known as Ringo, IX Ringo

Ringo is the outlaw who drinks hard, unlike other bad men who take their liquor sparingly to keep their trigger fingers steady, a figure of dark reputation among the Clanton and McLowery crowd that salutes the Earps pleasantly while plotting against them. His death in a canyon, a single empty chamber and a body found in the forks of an oak, becomes one of Tombstone's enduring mysteries, with rumours pointing at Frank Leslie and evidence pointing at suicide. Whether killer or self-slain, Ringo embodies the haunted, self-destructive edge of the frontier's outlaw culture that the Earps must confront.

Ike Clanton

major

Also known as Ike, Clanton

Ike Clanton is the rancher and Cowboy whose drunken belligerence on the day before the O.K. Corral fight turns simmering range-war tensions into open confrontation, flourishing his six-shooter in the Oriental and vowing that the ball will open as soon as the Earps show up. Virgil Earp clouts him over the head with a pistol and the brothers disarm and jail him, but not before he shrills threats of revenge at Wyatt that will not be forgotten. His arrival with Billy Clanton and the McLowery brothers, all heavily armed, sets the stage for the gunfight that defines Tombstone's history.

John Slaughter

supporting

Also known as Slaughter, John

Slaughter is the rancher-turned-sheriff who brings order to the Tombstone region after the Earps depart, a frontiersman who reads deserts and mountains like a printed page and follows trails invisible to less keen eyes. He rides alone, tracks men step by step, and usually ends his pursuits with a fugitive's surrender or death, sometimes ordering undesirables out of the country on the strength of his own authority rather than any statute. His fierce, czarlike justice and his silence about the men he has killed make him a legend of the later Tombstone peace, the quiet enforcer who outlasts the era of the gunfight.

Buckskin Frank Leslie

supporting

Also known as Leslie, Frank Leslie

Leslie pours drinks in a white apron at the Oriental and joins Ringo and Claibourne on a ten-day spree that winds through Antelope Springs and the Widow Patterson's place. Liquor, which he takes in great quantities, brings the devil in him close to the surface, and his drunken mood turns murderous. When he rides out alone after Ringo, showing no signs of intoxication, the question of what he intends gives the desert chase its chill.

Morgan Earp

supporting

Also known as Morgan

Morgan is the Earp who jokes with Doc Holliday outside the saloons and trades easy hellos with the Clantons even as the feud hardens. His youth, yellow hair, and bold blue-gray eyes make him a marked man, and Indian Charlie studies his face on Allen Street until he can never forget it. The ambush that follows turns the vendetta from a street fight into a war without rules.

John Behan

supporting

Also known as Sheriff Behan, Johnny Behan

Behan moves along Allen Street with official weight, saluting the Clantons and McLowerys as neighbors while the Earps watch him with suspicion. His authority is real but porous, and the men he is meant to police ride in and out of Tombstone with impunity. As the Earp-Clanton feud sharpens, his loyalties and his usefulness become one of the town's most contested questions.

Billy Breakenridge

supporting

Also known as Breakenridge, Deputy Breakenridge

Breakenridge appears on Allen Street as one of Tombstone's well-turned-out officials, courteous amid the saloons and six-shooters. His beat carries him among the Curly Bill outlaws, and his reminiscences become one of the book's key sources for that shadow world. He matters as a witness who moved between the badge and the brush, close enough to both to see how thin the line really was.

Virgil Earp

supporting

Also known as Virgil, Marshal Earp

Virgil walks Allen Street as the law's sober face, the counterweight to Wyatt's restless vigilance. When assassins fire from the dark at Fifth and Allen, one bullet passes through his body and another shatters his arm, leaving him a cripple on crutches. His survival, and the enemies who were never caught, set the stage for the second strike that the Earps answer with blood.

Billy Claibourne

minor

Also known as Claibourne, Billy

Young cowboy present at the O.K. Corral who flees during the gunfight.

Billy Clanton

minor

Also known as Billy, Clanton

Younger brother of Ike, killed in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Frank McLowery

minor

Also known as McLowery, Frank

Cowboy and ally of the Clantons, killed at the O.K. Corral.

Tom McLowery

minor

Also known as Tom, McLowery

Brother of Frank, also killed in the O.K. Corral shootout.

Ed Schieffelin

supporting

Also known as Schieffelin, Ed

Schieffelin's discovery of the silver lode is the origin story the book keeps returning to, the moment barren Apache country becomes a boomtown of gamblers, marshals, and gunmen. His own manuscript account, preserved in Tucson, supplies the founding chapter of Tombstone's brief and violent glory. Without his pick and his persistence, none of the feuds and saloons that follow would have had a stage.

Russian Bill

minor

Also known as Bill

Colorful outlaw and member of the Cowboys, known for his Russian heritage.

Patchy

minor

Also known as little Patchy

A loyal dog who accompanies characters on their adventures.

Jeff Milton

minor

Also known as Milton

Tough express agent and later lawman in Fairbank.

Old Man Clanton

minor

Also known as ferocious Old Man Clanton

Patriarch of the Clanton family, a ruthless cattle rustler.

Frank Stilwell

minor

Also known as Stilwell

Cowboy and deputy sheriff who is killed by Wyatt Earp in revenge.

Dick Lloyd

minor

Also known as Dick, Lloyd

Stagecoach driver and friend of the Earps.

Burt Alvord

minor

Also known as Alvord

Deputy sheriff who later turns outlaw and leads train robberies.

Big Nose Kate

minor

Also known as Kate

Doc Holliday's common-law wife, a fiery saloon girl.

Geronimo

minor

Also known as old Geronimo, Geronimo Miranda

Famous Apache leader who appears in the narrative.

Warren Earp

minor

Also known as Warren, Earp

Youngest Earp brother who joins Wyatt later.

Finn Clanton

minor

Also known as Finn

Member of the Clanton family.

Zwing Hunt

minor

Also known as Hunt, Zwing

Indian scout and tracker who aids the law in pursuing outlaws.

Pete Spence

minor

Also known as Spence, Pete

Cowboy implicated in the murder of Morgan Earp.

John Heath

minor

Also known as Heath

Criminal mastermind behind the Bisbee massacre.

Don Miguel Garcia

minor

Also known as Don Miguel

Mexican rancher and ally of the Earps.

Bill Leonard

minor

Also known as Leonard

Cowboy and outlaw involved in the Benson stagecoach robbery.

Juan Soto

minor

Also known as Soto, Juan

Mexican miner and friend to the Earps.

Bat Masterson

minor

Also known as Bat, Sheriff Bat Masterson

Famous lawman and friend of Wyatt Earp who visits Tombstone.

Florentino Cruz

minor

Also known as Indian Charlie, Cruz

Indian tracker and cowboy killed by the Earps in a revenge raid.

Johnny Behind-the-Deuce

minor

Also known as Johnny, Deuce

Gambler and friend of Doc Holliday.

Bob Paul

minor

Also known as Paul

Stagecoach driver and later sheriff of Pima County.

Jim Hughes

minor

Also known as Hughes, old Jim Hughes

Tombstone businessman and friend of the Earps.

George McKelvey

minor

Also known as McKelvey, Constable McKelvey

Constable in Tombstone who assists the Earps.

Bud Philpot

minor

Also known as Philpot

Stagecoach driver killed in the Benson stagecoach robbery.

Joe Hill

minor

Also known as Hill, Joe

Cowboy and outlaw involved in the Benson stagecoach robbery.

Marshall Williams

minor

Also known as Williams

Tombstone businessman and Wells Fargo agent.

Jim Crane

minor

Also known as Crane

Cowboy and outlaw involved in the Benson stagecoach robbery.

Jim Wallace

minor

Also known as Wallace

Tombstone businessman and friend of the Earps.

Harry Head

minor

Also known as Head, Harris

Outlaw killed by the Earps in a revenge raid.

Billy Grounds

minor

Also known as Grounds, Billy

Outlaw killed by Sheriff Slaughter.

Henry C. Hooker

minor

Also known as Hooker

Owner of the Sierra Bonita ranch, a prominent cattleman.

Luther King

minor

Also known as King

Outlaw involved in the Benson stagecoach robbery.

Cherokee Jack Rogers

minor

Also known as Jack, Cherokee

Outlaw and member of the Cowboys.

Ramon Acosta

minor

Also known as Acosta

Mexican outlaw killed by the Earps.

Jim Burnett

minor

Also known as Justice Burnett, Burnett

Justice of the peace in Tombstone.

Rube Hadden

minor

Also known as Rube

Tombstone saloonkeeper and friend of the Earps.

Sandy King

minor

Also known as King, Sandy

Outlaw and member of the Cowboys.

Billy Lang

minor

Also known as Lang

Outlaw killed by the Earps.

Milt Hicks

minor

Also known as Milt, Hicks

Tombstone businessman and friend of the Earps.

Hugh Hunt

minor

Also known as Hugh

Outlaw and member of the Cowboys.

Billy Stiles

minor

Also known as Stiles

Outlaw who later becomes a deputy sheriff.

Al Sieber

minor

Also known as Sieber, old Sieber

Chief of scouts for the U.S. Army in Arizona.

Marshal White

minor

Also known as Town Marshal White

Town marshal of Tombstone before Virgil Earp.

Ed Bailey

minor

Also known as Bailey

Gambler killed by Doc Holliday in a fight.

Dan Dowd

minor

Also known as Dan, Dowd

Outlaw executed for the Bisbee massacre.

Virgil Boucher

minor

Also known as Virgil

Friend of the Earps who assists them.

Jack Dunlap

minor

Also known as Jack, Three-fingered Jack

Outlaw and member of the Cowboys.

Ross Sloan

minor

Also known as Sloan

Tombstone businessman and friend of the Earps.

Luke Short

minor

Also known as Luke, Short

Gambler and gunman who visits Tombstone.

Charles Bartholomew

minor

Also known as Bartholomew, Old Bat

Tombstone businessman and friend of the Earps.

James C. Hancock

minor

Tombstone businessman and friend of the Earps.

Billy Hutchinson

minor

Outlaw and member of the Cowboys.

Jim Johnson

minor

Also known as Johnson, Jim

Tombstone businessman and friend of the Earps.

Pat O'Day

minor

Also known as Pat

Tombstone saloonkeeper and friend of the Earps.

Tex Howard

minor

Also known as Tex, Howard

Outlaw and member of the Cowboys.

Charlie Storms

minor

Also known as Storms

Gambler killed by Doc Holliday in a gunfight.

George Goodfellow

minor

Also known as Dr. Goodfellow

Tombstone doctor who treats gunshot wounds.

Bronco Bill Waters

minor

Also known as Bronco Bill

Outlaw pursued by Sheriff Slaughter.

Lotta Crabtree

minor

Also known as Lotta, Mrs. Cockburn

Famous actress who performs in Tombstone.

James R. Leatherberry

minor

Also known as Mayor Leatherberry

Mayor of Tombstone.

Molly McCarthy

minor

Also known as Mary

Saloon girl and friend of the Earps.

Nellie Cashman

minor

Also known as Miss Nellie

Tombstone businesswoman and philanthropist.

Wells Spicer

minor

Also known as Judge Spicer

Judge who presides over the Earps' hearing after the O.K. Corral.