30. The Cowboy’s struck back by ambushing the Earps
Virgil Earp was ambushed in the streets of Tombstone just after Christmas, 1881, with a shotgun blast to the back. He survived, though crippled. In January Wyatt requested an appointment as a deputy US Marshal, which he received near the end of the month. Wyatt sold his gambling interests in Tombstone. After Ike Clanton was charged and acquitted for the ambush of Virgil, Wyatt sent him a request to meet, which the wary Clanton refused. Wyatt continued to raise money to hire deputies during the winter months of 1882, when in March, Morgan was killed while playing billiards by assassins who shot at him through a window and escaped.
