Glenn Boyer Wyatt Earp collection, circa 1881-1983

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Glenn Boyer Wyatt Earp collection, circa 1881-1983

MS 752


Collection Summary
Creator:	Boyer, Glenn G.
Collection Name:	Glenn Boyer Wyatt Earp collection,
Inclusive Dates:	circa 1881-1983
Physical Description:	1 Linear Foot
Abstract:	The Glenn Boyer Wyatt Earp collection contains materials collected by author Glenn Boyer regarding Wyatt Earp. A majority of the materials in the collection are photocopies of manuscripts, correspondence, and notes, but these photocopies are sometimes the only remaining copy of historical materials.
Collection Number:	MS 752
Language:	Materials are in English.
Repository:	University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections University of Arizona PO Box 210055 Tucson, AZ 85721-0055 Phone: 520-621-6423 Fax: 520-621-9733 URL: http://speccoll.library.arizona.edu/ E-Mail: LBRY-askspcoll@email.arizona.edu

Biographical Note

The materials in this collection are related to Arizona lawman Wyatt Earp (March 19, 1848-January 13, 1929). Earp was a gambler, lawman, buffalo hunter, saloon owner, miner, and brother proprietor. He served as a lawman in Dodge City, Deadwood, and later Tombstone, Arizona. It was in Tombstone that Earp and his brothers, Virgil and Morgan, and Doc Holliday were involved in the famous gunfight at the O. K. Corral against the Cowboys (Billy Claiborne, Ike and Billy Clanton, and Tom and Frank McLaury). Billy Clanton and the McLaury boys were killed in the 30-second gunfight. Virgil, Morgan, and Doc were injured but Wyatt remained unharmed. The fight would become well-known after historian Stuart Lake published his biography of Wyatt Earp (1931). Historians would later note that the gunfight did not take place at the Corral but the story stuck. In a later court case, Ike Clanton would file murder charges against the Earps and Holliday but the lawmen were released after it was decided they were maintaining order and acting within the laws of Tombstone (and the Old West). The feud between the Cowboys and the Arizona lawmen would continue. Virgil was later maimed in an attempted murder ambush. Morgan was killed in a dark alley after being shot by a Cowboy, but no suspect was ever indicted. This led Wyatt to go on his 'vendetta ride' in which he killed multiple Cowboys. Wyatt Earp became infamous and eventually left Tombstone. He settled in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Alaska, and took on various jobs including mining ventures, gambling, owning a stable, etc., and would later settle in California.

Scope and Content Note

Glenn G. Boyer (1928-1983) published three books and several smaller publications about Arizona lawman Wyatt Earp, as well as additional American Old West figures. Boyer was the first researcher to reveal that Wyatt Earp had a second wife, Mattie Blaylock. Boyer would go on to write three books about Wyatt Earp's life, all of which would later become part of a controversy when scholars suggested that Boyer would not provide copies of documents he cited as source material. Additionally, one of the individuals Boyer interviewed was later exposed as an invention. Boyer would go on to publish memoirs about Big Nose Kate and released the Flood and Cason manuscripts. After Boyer's death, his family put most of his Wyatt Earp materials, which included over 30 boxes of correspondence, guns, and other ephemera, up for auction. Due to the controversy surrounding Boyer's source material, much of which he never produced for critics, his works are still shrouded in question.

Organization

The materials within this collection are arranged alphabetically.

Restrictions

There are no restrictions on this collection.

Copyright

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from theowner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for the University of Arizona, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Access Terms

Personal Name(s)

Boyer, Glenn G.

Geographic Name(s)

Tombstone (Ariz.) -- History -- To 1912 -- Sources

Subject(s)

Clanton family

Earp family

Earp, Wyatt, 1848-1929

Gunfighters

Violence -- Arizona -- Tombstone -- History -- 19th Century

Administrative Information

Credit Line

Glenn Boyer Wyatt Earp collection (MS 752). Special Collections, University of Arizona Libraries.

Processing History

Processed by Michelle Nicole Boyer-Kelly in 2021.

Container List


box	folder
1	1	"Big Nose" Kate materials collected by Glenn G. Boyer, 1931-1976


1	2-3		Earp and Lake correspondence, 1928-1946


1	4	I Married Wyatt Earp screenplay, 1978
			Scope and Contents
			Based on the recollections of Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp, as edited by Glenn G. Boyer.


1	5	She Married Wyatt Earp by Jeanne Cason Laing, 1983
			Scope and Contents
			Manuscript with edits. Includes letter and statement from the author, which is notorized. Boyer notes that the book "I Married Wyatt Earp" from the University of Arizona Press was based heavily in Laing's manuscript.


box	folder
2	1	Testimony, Earp-Clanton murder case, circa 1881-1890
			Scope and Contents
			Collected by Stuart N. Lake, circa 1951, when original (1881) documents were found by Lake. In 1929, the original documents were returned to Mr. J. Edward James, Clerk of Superior Court, Cochise County. The documents then entered the hands of Pat Hayhurt. When Hayhurst died, according to Lake, the original documents and testimonies were destroyed. Lake reports that this typescript transcription copy is the only remaining, and most accurate, copy left.


2	2		William S. Hart collection of Wyatt Earp letters, 1920-1929


2	3	Wyatt Earp by John Henry Flood, Jr., undated
			Scope and Contents
			Typescript manuscript known as the "Flood manuscript" by researchers.


2	4		Wyatt Earp notes by Stuart Lake, Glenn G. Boyer, etc., undated