# Ike Clanton — Tombstone character guide

> Ike Clanton in Tombstone by Walter Noble Burns.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Ike, Clanton

**First appearance:** 0002-tombstone

## Snapshot

A hot-headed rancher who rides into Tombstone drunk and armed, threatening to make a clean sweep of the Earps and Doc Holliday.

## Who they are

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.

## Relationships

### [Doc Holliday](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/doc_holliday)

_rivalry_

Bitter enemies with intense personal hatred, culminating in the O.K. Corral gunfight.

### [Wyatt Earp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/wyatt_earp)

_rivalry_

Chief antagonist to Wyatt, driven by vengeance and a desire to destroy the Earp faction.

### [Wyatt Earp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/wyatt_earp)

_rivalry_

Chief antagonist to Wyatt, driven by vengeance and a desire to destroy the Earp faction.

### [Doc Holliday](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/doc_holliday)

_rivalry_

Bitter enemies with intense personal hatred, culminating in the O.K. Corral gunfight.

### [Doc Holliday](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/doc_holliday)

_rivalry_

Bitter enemies with intense personal hatred, culminating in the O.K. Corral gunfight.

### [Wyatt Earp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/wyatt_earp)

_rivalry_

Chief antagonist to Wyatt, driven by vengeance and a desire to destroy the Earp faction.

## In the story

### [Sources](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/sources)

Ike Clanton's testimony from the same trial provides the Clanton side of the feud.

### [Tombstone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/tombstone)

Ike Clanton is a rancher and antagonist in the Tombstone feud.

### [Curly Bill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/v-curly-bill)

Present at the poker game with Curly Bill and the other rustlers.

### [The Affair of Skeleton Canyon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/vi-the-affair-of-skeleton-canyon)

Listed among the participants in the massacre.

### [VIII: The Old Man with a Beard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/viii-the-old-man-with-a-beard)

Son of Old Man Clanton, an active member of Curly Bill's banditti, suspected of stage robberies.

### [Flashes of Storm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xii-flashes-of-storm)

Key antagonist; makes accusations against the Earps and Holliday, claiming they confessed guilt to him, though his story is filled with errors.

### [XIII: The Showdown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xiii-the-showdown)

Drives into Tombstone alone, confronts Doc Holliday, threatens the Earps, is disarmed by Virgil, and survives the gunfight.

### [XIV: The Red Road of Vengeance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xiv-the-red-road-of-vengeance)

His testimony in court strengthened suspicions against the Earps.

### [XVIII: The Honeymoon Cattle Drive](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xviii-the-honeymoon-cattle-drive)

Clanton rustles Slaughter's cattle and later threatens him on the road, but is forced to back down by Slaughter's drawn gun.

### [Sunshine and Peace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/chapters/xxii-sunshine-and-peace)

Killed in 1887 on Bonita Creek by deputy sheriffs while trying to escape arrest.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters/ike_clanton
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tombstone_se/characters