Editing Virgil Earp (section)

{{Use American English|date=September 2024}}
{{Short description|American Old West figure (1843–1905)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Virgil Earp
| image = VirgilEarp.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Virgil Walter Earp
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1843|07|18}}
| birth_place = [[Hartford, Kentucky]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1905|10|19|1843|07|18}}
| death_place = [[Goldfield, Nevada]]
| restingplace = [[Portland, Oregon]]
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* Magdalena Rysdam
* Rosella Dragoo
* Alvira "Allie" Earp (common-law wife)
}}
| children = 1
| parents = [[Nicholas Porter Earp]] and his second wife, Virginia Ann Cooksey
| relatives = [[Wyatt Earp|Wyatt]], [[Morgan Earp|Morgan]], [[Newton Earp|Newton]], Mariah Ann, [[James Earp|James]], Martha, [[Warren Earp|Warren]], Virginia Ann, and Douglas Earp
| known_for = Deputy [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshal]], [[Tombstone, Arizona]], and the [[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral]]
| occupation = Union soldier, lawman, farmer, rail construction, stagecoach driver, sawyer, mailman, prospector, saloon-keeper

{{Infobox military person
   |embed        = yes
   |embed_title  = Military Service
   |allegiance   = United States
   |branch       = [[Union Army]]
   |serviceyears = 1862-65
   |unit         = [[83rd Illinois Infantry Regiment|83rd Illinois Infantry]]
   |rank         = Private
   |battles      = 
[[American Civil War]]
*[[Battle of Dover (1863)|Battle of Dover]]
  }}
}}
{{O.K. Corral}}

'''Virgil Walter Earp''' (July 18, 1843 – October 19, 1905) was an American lawman. He was both deputy U.S. Marshal and City Marshal of [[Tombstone, Arizona|Tombstone]], [[Arizona Territory|Arizona]], when he led his younger brothers [[Wyatt Earp|Wyatt]] and [[Morgan Earp|Morgan]], and [[Doc Holliday]], in a confrontation with [[outlaw]] [[Cochise County Cowboys|Cowboys]] at the [[Gunfight at the O.K. Corral]] on October 26, 1881. They killed brothers [[Tom McLaury|Tom]] and [[Frank McLaury]] and [[Billy Clanton]]. All three Earp brothers had been the target of repeated death threats made by the Cowboys who were upset by the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. All four lawmen were charged with murder by [[Ike Clanton]], who had run from the gunfight. During a month-long preliminary hearing, Judge [[Wells Spicer]] exonerated the men, concluding they had been performing their duty.

But two months later on December 28, friends of the slain outlaws retaliated, ambushing Virgil. They shot him in the back, hitting him with three shotgun rounds, shattering his left arm and leaving him permanently maimed. The Cowboys suspected were let off for lack of evidence.<ref name="roberts" />{{rp|242}} His brother [[Morgan Earp]] was assassinated in March 1882. Charges against those suspected were dismissed on a technicality.{{clarify|date=November 2019}}<ref name="historynet" /> Wyatt Earp, appointed as deputy [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshal]] to replace Virgil, concluded he could not rely on civil justice and decided to take matters into his own hands.<ref name="historynet" /><ref name="WGBH" />  Wyatt assembled a federal posse that included their brother [[Warren Earp]] and set out on a [[Earp Vendetta Ride|vendetta]] to kill those they felt were responsible. Virgil left Tombstone to recuperate from his wounds in [[Colton, California]], where his parents lived.

Virgil married before he left to serve in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]]. When he returned, his wife and child had left. He held a variety of other jobs throughout his life, though he primarily worked in law enforcement. His younger brother [[Wyatt Earp|Wyatt]], who spent most of his life as a gambler, became better known as a lawman because of writer [[Stuart N. Lake]]'s fictionalized 1931 biography ''[[Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal]]'' and later portrayals of him in movies and fiction as [[American Old West|Old West's]] "toughest and deadliest gunmen of his day."<ref name="earpnet" /><ref name="aRMRP" /> In 1898, Virgil learned that his first wife Ellen Rysdam and their daughter were living in [[Oregon]] and reestablished contact with them. After suffering from [[pneumonia]] for six months, Virgil died on October 19, 1905.