FEATURE ARTICLE - THE KILLING OF WARREN EARP

Warren Earp was perhaps the least known of the five Earp brothers. That is of course, assuming you don't count half brother Newton Earp. From the multitude of films depicting the feud between the Earp brothers and the so-called Clanton gang, one would be led to believe that Warren played no part in the events surrounding the Earp - Clanton conflict. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Warren was absent from Tombstone that day in October 1881 when the Earps and Doc Holliday confronted the Clantons and McClaurys near the O.K. Corral. However, he served as a deputy town marshal prior to the gunfight and was involved in the Earp vendetta against the cowboy element that followed the murder of Morgan Earp in March of 1882. Warren was subsequently indicted though not convicted of the killing of Frank Stillwell. Warren left Cochise County in 1882 but returned a decade later, this time settling in the Willcox area. If was in Willcox on the morning of July 6, 1900 that Earp was shot to death by Johnny Boyett. The killing, which took place at the Headquarter Saloon,,was the culmination of a feud that went back several years. According to the Arizona Range news, "their last quarrel occurred in the restaurant in the rear of the saloon. Both men came into the saloon and Earp told Boyett that he (Boyett) had been offered $100 or $150 by parties in town here to kill him. Boyett denied this and told Earp he didn't want any trouble, but added that if he had to fight him he was not afraid. Earp told Boyett to go get his gun, and said that he was fixed". Boyett left the Headquarter Saloon, walked to the Willcox House, armed himself, then returned to the saloon. According to the Arizona Range News account, "Earp entered through the rear door and Boyett fired two shots at him. Earp disappeared through the same door he had entered, then he went from the restaurant through a side door out on the sidewalk and in a few minutes he entered the saloon again through a side door. He advanced toward Boyett".Earp opened his coat as he approached, informing Boyett that he (Earp) was unarmed. Boyett warned Earp to back off. When Earp continued his advance, Boyett fired once more. This was the fatal shot. Boyett was released following a preliminary hearing. He was never tried for the killing of Earp. Many historians link the killing of Warren Earp in 1900 with the earlier incidents such as the O.K. Corral gunfight and the subsequent Earp Vendetta, terming the entire affair the Cochise County War.