26. The Battle of the OK Corral was immediately mythologized in newspapers and magazines
Despite the fact that nine men, armed with weapons including pistols, shotguns, and rifles, exchanged approximately thirty rounds on an open street in broad daylight, with three dead and another four slightly wounded, became a legendary gunfight goes a long way in explaining the myth of the American West. But the fight became legendary, reported in newspapers across the country, and Wyatt, already somewhat famous through exaggerated reports of his exploits, became the steely-eyed gunslinger with ice-water in his veins. In truth, the coroner’s report on the wounds of the dead men indicated that none of them were likely to have been inflicted by Wyatt Earp. Two were attributed to Holliday by the coroner.
