Editing Virgil Earp (section)

===Gunfight at the O.K. Corral===
{{main|Gunfight at the O.K. Corral}}

Modern media depictions of Wyatt Earp made him into a legend. He is often depicted as the central lawman in the shootout, but Virgil was Tombstone City Marshal and a Deputy U.S. Marshal. Although Wyatt had previously served in [[Wichita, Kansas]], and Dodge City as a lawman, Virgil had three years of Civil War service, and had previously worked in law enforcement as a sheriff, constable, and marshal. Virgil made the decision to enforce a [[Cochise County Cowboys#Weapon ordinance|city ordinance]] prohibiting carrying weapons in town and to disarm the Cowboys. While Wyatt had acted as city marshal the week prior when Virgil was out of town, Wyatt was on that day only a temporary assistant marshal to his brother.<ref name="OKCorral">{{cite web|title=Gunfight at the OK Corral – The Aftermath – Part One|url=http://www.americancowboychronicles.com/2012/11/gunfight-at-ok-corral-aftermath-part-one.html|access-date=May 16, 2015|first1=Tom|last1=Correa|date=November 27, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518103543/http://www.americancowboychronicles.com/2012/11/gunfight-at-ok-corral-aftermath-part-one.html|archive-date=May 18, 2015}}</ref><ref>[https://www.historynet.com/brothers-shadow-virgil-earp/ VIRGIL EARP: IN A BROTHER’S SHADOW]</ref>

Before the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Virgil and Wyatt had been in only one shootout each, and Morgan had never been in any gun battles. [[Billy Claiborne]] had been in one gunfight prior to the shootout and was the only member of the Cowboy faction that had prior gunfighting experience (not counting the Skeleton Canyon massacre, in which the McLaurys and Clantons took part). Doc Holliday, despite his reputation, had not taken part in any gunfights, although he was involved in several drunken brawls involving both guns and knives.<ref name="Family" /> Both Tom and Ike had spent the night before the gunfight gambling, drinking heavily, and without sleep. Now they were both outdoors, wounded from having been [[Pistol-whipping|pistol-whipped]] by the Earps earlier that morning, and at least Ike was still drunk.<ref name="WGBH" /><ref name="rosen" />{{rp|138|date=November 2012}}

Virgil initially avoided a confrontation with Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton, who had arrived in town early that afternoon and had not yet deposited their weapons at a hotel or stable after their arrival, as required by [[The Cowboys (Cochise County)#Cowboys and the law|ordinance#9]].<ref name="LAW" /><ref name="johnson" /> Virgil had been offered armed assistance from the town Vigilance committee and the town militia, but he declined the help. Around 1:00&nbsp;p.m., a miner named Ruben F. Coleman told Virgil that the Cowboys had left the Dunbar and Dexter Stable for the O.K. Corral and were still armed, and Virgil decided he had to disarm them.<ref name="testimony" />

Virgil 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.<ref name="testimony" /> He went by the [[Wells Fargo]] office around the corner on Allen Street and picked up a 10- or 12-gauge [[coach gun|short, double-barreled shotgun]].<ref name="weir" />{{rp|185|date=November 2012}} It was an unusually cold and windy day in Tombstone, and Virgil was wearing a [[Duster (clothing)|long overcoat]]. To avoid alarming Tombstone's public, Virgil hid the shotgun under his overcoat when he returned to Hafford's Saloon.<ref name="testimony" />

Virgil, his brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and Doc Holliday confronted the Cowboys in a narrow lot on Fremont Street. Virgil was not expecting a fight. He later testified that when he saw the Cowboys, he immediately commanded them to "Throw up your hands, I want your guns!"<ref name="testimony" /> But shooting broke out almost immediately. Witnesses were conflicted about who fired first. During the gunfight, Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers were killed. Virgil was shot through the calf (he thought by Billy Clanton). Three days after the O.K. Corral gunfight, the city council suspended Virgil as city marshal pending outcome of the [[O.K. Corral hearing and aftermath|preliminary hearing]]. Virgil was eventually exonerated of wrongdoing, but his reputation suffered thereafter.