14. The Cowboys and the cattlemen
In the Tombstone region, there was a group of men, outside of the law, which were referred to locally as the Cowboys. Legitimate workers in ranching or driving cattle were called ranchers and cattlemen. Some of the Cowboys owned and operated ranches of their own, yet they were contemptuous of the law and its enforcers. In 1880, the United States Army requested the assistance of Marshal Virgil Earp in tracking down some Cowboys who had stolen Army mules from Fort Rucker. A Cowboy by the name of Frank Patterson negotiated a deal with the Army with Virgil’s posse being withdrawn based on a promise of a return of the mules.
