27. The long-barreled Buntline Special was not present at the OK Corral
During the gunfight which became famous as the Battle of the OK Corral, there was no Colt Buntline Special with the extra-long barrel, a weapon forever connected with the legend of Wyatt Earp. Wyatt was armed with a Smith and Wesson 1869, in .44 caliber. It was not in a holster, Wyatt carried the weapon, as was his usual habit, in his waistband. In fact, there is no evidence that the long-barreled Buntline connected with Earp was ever in his possession, and it first appeared in the legend when biographer Stuart Lake wrote a book, dictated by Earp, entitled Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshall, a highly fictionalized and sensationalized biography, mostly discounted by historians.
