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58 The McLaurys in Tombstone, Arizona The Earp brothers immigrated to southeastern Arizona late in the year 1879. Wyatt had been part of the police force in Dodge City, Kansas, as well as a professional gambler. His older brother, Virgil, had recently settled near Prescott, Arizona Territory, where he worked for a time in law enforcement. Wyatt and Virgil’s older brother, James, lived in Fort Worth, Texas, for several years where he tended bar for saloon-keeper Robert J. Winders. Winders left for Tombstone in the spring of 1879 and very publicly invited any of his friends from Fort Worth to join him in the booming camp. Jim Earp was likely the first of the Earp brothers to hear about the excitement at Tombsone and he probably persuaded his younger brothers to join him in going there. A younger Earp brother, Morgan, lived in Montana until the spring of 1880, and joined his brothers in Arizona in July 1880.1 Before leaving Prescott, Virgil was appointed a deputy United States marshal by Crawley P. Dake, United States marshal for the Territory. Virgil’s commission was to enforce the federal laws for that region. Of the Earp brothers , he alone held a position as a lawman when they arrived in Tombstone. Marshall Williams came to Tombstone early in 1879 from Yuma, Arizona Territory, where he had worked as a stage agent and continued that line of work in Tombstone while running a stationery and cigar store and investing in mines. Through his work with the stage lines, he made the acquaintance of Wyatt Earp, who worked as a guard on the stage runs. When Wells, Fargo & Company established their express business in Tombstone in May 1880, Williams had already been named as an agent. By the time Wells, Fargo built an express office there, Morgan Earp arrived in Tombstone and took over the job as guard (also known as express messenger).2 As the summer rainy season began in southeastern Arizona, the civilian authorities in Tombstone were asked to assist the Army in recovering six stolen mules. The mules were stolen on July 21, 1880, from Camp Rucker, located on a southwestern cañon of the Chiricahua Mountains. An Army detail tracked “My Name is Well Known in Arizona” Nine 59 An O.K. Corral Obituary the mules westward for four days to the San Pedro Valley. Commanding the scouting party was Lt. Joseph H. Hurst of the Quartermaster Corps, who had been acting post commander from time to time as well as post treasurer. Hurst sought help from a federal officer to recover government property. Deputy U. S. Marshal Virgil Earp lent assistance along with his brothers, Wyatt and Morgan. Marshall Williams went with them. According to Hurst, the three culprits he was after were Pony Diehl, (Sherman) MacMaster, and A. T. Hausbrough (or Hansbrough). Acting on information gathered by the Earps, the civilian assembly rode from Tombstone to Charleston, then up into the Babocomari Valley where they joined Hurst. It was logical for the lieutenant to inquire about the mules with one or more of the ranchers. As an officer in the Quartermaster Corps, he was probably familiar with the stockmen who supplied beef to his and the other Army posts of the region.3 The name McLaury would have had a familiar ring for different reasons. Hurst’s brother James lived in Herrick Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania . A near neighbor of his for most of a decade was Frederick E. McLaury, Frank McLaury’s uncle. Following the death of his parents in Kortright, New York, Fred bought farmland in Herrick Township in the early 1870s. In Bradford County, McLaury and Hurst associated with one another through the Grand Army of the Republic and the Grange. Lt. Hurst also co-owned farmland with his brother. Between Army enlistments and visits he made to his and his brother’s farm over the past decade, Hurst may well have become familiar with that member of McLaury’s family.4 On the open grasslands of the Babocomari Valley, Hurst and company rode up to the McLaury ranch. Whether Hurst thought Frank had the mules in his possession at the time, or whether he merely thought McLaury had influence with the men who did, remains unclear. Unlike the later depiction of Lt. Hurst making a deal with Frank Patterson, the encounter was apparently between him and Frank McLaury, and it was probably cordial. It would have been a possible reason for Hurst...

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