1881 was a year in which several dramatic events took place that mark a turning point in the history of the West and the beginning of America’s descent into the mundaneness of modernity. Sitting Bull was finally captured, ‘justice’ caught up with Billy the Kid and brought an end to the range wars and bullying of the cattle barons, and the lawmen of Tombstone set a precedent for any would-be unscrupulous sheriffs and greedy merchants. Peace and business as usual started to replace the debauchery of the cowboys and corruption of the towns. Just one avenue remained for those who did not want to settle down, and that was the opportunity provided by banks, railroads, and gunpowder. The Wild Bunch was just in its infancy and would spread terror across the West for the next decade until the insurance industry in the guise of tenacious men from the Pinkerton’s Agency tracked down their criminal foes with the diligence of native American scouts.
On 14 Jul 1881, Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty, 23 Nov 1959, alias Henry Antrim also William Harrison Bonney) was gunned down , aged 21. Billy was reputed to have killed 21 men, one for each year of his life. Billy was small with blue eyes, smooth cheeks, and prominent front teeth. He was said to be friendly but determined and short-tempered. He apparently wore a sugar-loaf Sombrero with a wide green band. He was little known in his own lifetime, but was catapulted into legend the year after his death when Sheriff Patrick Garrett published a sensationalist biography, The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, from which time he has grown into an evermore symbolic figure of the Old Wild West. Pat Garrett (Patrick Floyd Garrett, born 5 Jun 1850, died 28 Feb 1908, age 48)
On July 19 1881, hunger and cold forced Sitting Bull, his family and a few remaining warriors, to surrender . Sitting Bull’s son handed his father’s rifle to the commanding officer at Fort Buford, telling the soldiers that he and his father had come to regard them as friends. Sitting Bull hoped he would return to the Standing Rock Agency reservation but instead, he was imprisoned for two years by the army because Sitting Bull was not only a great leader of his people but increasingly European Americans on the East Coast, especially in Boston and New York had come to believe in the power of his legend. Eventually, however, Sitting Bull was allowed to return to his reservation.
OK Corral Antagonism between the urban Earps and Clanton cowboys grew to boiling point on October 26, 1881. Wyatt Earp, his brothers Virgil and Morgan, and his long-time friend Doc Holliday, met Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury, Billy Claiborne, and West Fuller behind the OK Corral. Thirty seconds later, the gunfight was ended as Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers were mortally wounded. Virgil, Morgan, and Doc were also wounded but not Wyatt. After the gunfight, the Clantons took revenge, wounding Virgil and murdering Morgan. Wyatt and Doc then took justice into their hands by raiding various outlaw hideouts and killing individuals they believed were responsible.
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