Virgil Walter Earp was both deputy US Marshal and Tombstone, Arizona City Marshal when he led his younger brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and Doc Holliday, in a confrontation with outlaw Cowboys at the Gunfight at the OK.
64 Facts About Virgil Earp
2.
Wyatt assembled a federal posse that included their brother Warren Virgil Earp and set out on a vendetta to kill those they felt were responsible.
3.
Virgil Earp left Tombstone to recuperate from his wounds in Colton, California where his parents lived.
4.
Virgil Earp married before he left to serve in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
5.
Virgil Earp held a variety of other jobs throughout his life, though he primarily worked in law enforcement.
6.
Virgil Earp was born in Hartford, Kentucky, the second son of Nicholas Earp and Virginia Ann Cooksey.
7.
In February 1860, while living in Pella, Iowa, 16-year-old Virgil eloped with 17-year-old Dutch immigrant Magdalena C "Ellen" Rysdam.
8.
On July 26,1861, Virgil Earp enlisted at age 18 in the Union Army.
9.
Virgil Earp was mustered in to the Illinois Volunteer Infantry for three years on September 21,1862.
10.
Virgil Earp enlisted as a Private in Company C of the 83rd Illinois Infantry on July 26,1862 and mustered into service on August 21.
11.
Virgil Earp was court martialed for a minor offense and docked two weeks pay as punishment.
12.
When Virgil Earp was discharged from the military on June 26,1865, he returned to Iowa but could not find his wife and daughter.
13.
Virgil Earp hired on at a local farm and helped operate a grocery store, before leaving for California to join the rest of the Earp family.
14.
In 1868, Nicholas Virgil Earp took the family east again, eventually settling in Lamar, Missouri.
15.
Virgil Earp later met Alvira "Allie" Sullivan from Florence, Nebraska in 1874.
16.
Virgil Earp was a waitress at the Planter's House Hotel in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
17.
The Virgil Earp brothers were close and often moved together, seeking a better life.
18.
Virgil Earp spent time in Dodge City, Kansas in 1877 with his younger brother Wyatt, and though there is no record of Virgil Earp ever holding any law enforcement position there, Allie claimed he briefly worked as a deputy town marshal with Wyatt.
19.
Virgil Earp first delivered mail in Miller Valley, then later owned a saw mill at the base of Thumb Butte, just west of Prescott.
20.
Virgil Earp spotted one of the two men under a tree, reloading his pistol.
21.
In 1878, Virgil Earp was appointed as Prescott's night watchman, which paid $75 a month.
22.
Virgil Earp was instructed by Dake to help resolve ongoing problems with outlaw Cowboys.
23.
Virgil Earp was mostly on call helping county and city officials.
24.
On October 30,1880, after town marshal Fred White was accidentally shot and killed by outlaw and gunman "Curly Bill" Brocius, Virgil Earp was appointed acting town marshal of Tombstone.
25.
Virgil Earp now held both the more powerful local town marshal position and the prestigious federal law enforcement appointment.
26.
On January 4,1881, the city held its first regular election, and Virgil Earp lost to Sippy .
27.
Virgil Earp requested a two-week leave of absence on June 6,1881, and never returned.
28.
Virgil Earp kept looting under control and chased off lot jumpers who tried to take over property.
29.
Virgil Earp is often depicted as the central lawman in the shootout, but Virgil was Tombstone City Marshal and a Deputy US Marshal.
30.
Virgil Earp made the decision to enforce a city ordinance prohibiting carrying weapons in town and to disarm the Cowboys.
31.
Virgil Earp had been offered armed assistance from the town Vigilance committee and the town militia, but he declined the help.
32.
Corral and were still armed, and Virgil Earp decided he had to disarm them.
33.
Virgil Earp testified after the shootout that he thought he saw Ike Clanton, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury buying cartridges at Spangenberg's gun shop beforehand.
34.
Virgil Earp went by the Wells Fargo office around the corner on Allen Street and picked up a 10- or 12-gauge short, double-barreled shotgun.
35.
Virgil Earp was eventually exonerated of wrongdoing, but his reputation suffered thereafter.
36.
Virgil Earp was hit in the back and left arm by three loads of buckshot from about 60 feet.
37.
The Crystal Palace Saloon and the Eagle Brewery beyond Virgil Earp were struck by nineteen buckshot; three passed through the window and one about a foot over the heads of some men standing by a faro-table.
38.
Wyatt, assuming that Virgil Earp was dying, telegraphed US Marshal Crawley Dake asking him to name him as Virgil Earp's replacement as deputy US marshal:.
39.
Virgil Earp testified that he saw Ike later that night in nearby Charleston.
40.
Virgil Earp was just starting to get back on his feet when on Saturday, March 18,1882, Virgil's younger brother Morgan Earp was killed in another ambush.
41.
Virgil Earp was so weak he had to be carried up the steps of the train.
42.
Virgil Earp stood there helpless and trembling for his life.
43.
Virgil Earp sought treatment for his wounds in San Francisco and was interviewed on the Southern Pacific train by a reporter whose story was printed in the San Francisco Examiner on May 27,1882.
44.
Virgil Earp is close to six feet in height, of medium build, chestnut hair, sandy mustache, light eyebrows, quiet, blue eyes and frank expression.
45.
Virgil Earp wore a wide-brimmed, slate-colored slouch hat, pants of a brown and white stripe, and a blue diagonal coat and vest, both the latter with bullet holes in them, bearing testimony of a recent fight when he was shot in the back, the bullet coming out of the front of his vest.
46.
Virgil Earp's left arm was carried in a sling, a memento of his last fight, when he received a bullet in his arm, since causing the loss of about six inches of bone which crippled him for life.
47.
Virgil Earp carried a top break revolver that could be reloaded with one hand.
48.
Two years later, Virgil Earp opened a private detective agency, which by all accounts he had quit by 1886, when he was elected village constable in July.
49.
When Colton was incorporated as a city, Virgil Earp was elected as Colton's first City Marshal on July 11,1887.
50.
Virgil Earp was paid $75 a month and was re-elected to another term in 1888.
51.
In 1888 Virgil Earp resigned as city marshal and he and Allie left Colton for San Bernardino.
52.
Virgil Earp owned and operated the only two-story building in town, Earp's Hall, a saloon and meeting hall used for public gatherings and even the town's church services.
53.
The ground caved catching Mr Virgil Earp and pinning him to the ground.
54.
Virgil Earp was unconscious for several hours and Dr Abbott, was called to dress his wounds.
55.
The doctor said it would be several weeks before Virgil Earp would be able to move around again, but it took him much longer to recover.
56.
Virgil Earp was nominated as a candidate for Yavapai County, Arizona sheriff in 1900, but pulled out of the election for health reasons.
57.
In 1898 Virgil Earp received a startling letter from a Mrs Levi Law.
58.
The next year, encouraged by his wife, Virgil Earp traveled to Portland, Oregon, where he was reunited with Ellen and Nellie Jane Law.
59.
In 1904, they left California for the last time and moved to the boom town of Goldfield in Esmeralda County, Nevada, where Virgil Earp planned to open a saloon.
60.
Virgil Earp quickly discovered there was plenty of competition and realized he didn't have the capital required.
61.
In November 1904 Virgil Earp took a job as a special officer at the National Club.
62.
Virgil Earp was responsible for watching over the high stakes gambling tables.
63.
On October 19,1905 Virgil Earp died at St Mary's hospital in Goldfield.
64.
Virgil Earp was survived by his father Nicholas, brothers James and Newton, wife Allie, and daughter Nellie.