31. The Earp Vendetta Ride against the Cowboys
Wyatt’s ride to eradicate the Cowboys was performed by a posse which included Doc Holliday, Wyatt’s brothers James and Warren, and several supporters hired for the rate of $5 per day. The still recovering Virgil was escorted to Tucson by members of the group before they set out after the perceived murderers of Morgan Earp. Wyatt and his men rode from March 20 to April 15, and though Wyatt later claimed to have eliminated scores of thieves and murderers during the vendetta, coroner reports and newspaper accounts suggest a much lower number, likely less than a half-dozen. Sheriff Behan formed a posse to arrest Earp and his men, but they escaped to New Mexico Territory, where Behan could not follow.
