Tom McLaury is out of view, behind one of the horses, probably trying to reach for a rifle in a saddle scabbard.
![osketch of old west gunfight osketch of old west gunfight](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5a0AAOSwUdlWceWn/s-l300.jpg)
Just beyond Billy, two horses are rearing in terror at the gunfire and sudden movements. Billy Clanton is at the extreme left, falling into the Harwood House wall as Marshal Virgil Earp, directly across from him, fires away. The first is one of the artist’s better-known paintings of the street fight (page 28). Virgil and Wyatt walked ahead of Doc and Morgan two-by-two (left) as they entered the vacant lot. When Sheriff Johnny Behan confronts the Earps and Doc (middle) with the news that he has disarmed the Cowboys, Virgil and Wyatt both pocket their pistols, but the four men continue toward the Cowboys. Corral rear entrance, just beyond Fly’s in the side yard, outside the window where Doc is boarding. The Cowboys (top) had regrouped west of the O.K. Note the silver hat band detail on Tom’s hat. Tom and Frank (upper left) anticipate the motive of the oncoming Earps. Corral was painted in 1981 for the centennial of the October 26, 1881, shootout in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. Let’s see just how well he hits the mark.īob Boze Bell’s Gunfight at the O.K. With all that in mind, let’s look at a few of Bell’s greatest hits, O.K. But that also means it may not be entirely accurate, so historians have to take it with a grain of salt and a dollop of skepticism. Artwork can provide perspective on events because the portrayal reflects the biases and opinions of its creator. That can give it more power-say, when the painting is in color and the photos of the period are in black and white. Unlike the photo, though, it goes through the filter of the artist’s mind and arms and hands and fingers. But they’re important, if for no other reason than many viewers (or potential buyers) know those little facts and expect them to be correct.Īs noted, a piece of art, like a photograph, is a snapshot of a specific moment in time. Some are little details, like Tom McLaury’s silver hatband, or Wyatt Earp carrying his pistol in an overcoat pocket. Bell figures he’s gotten more accurate as time has passed and more information on the gunfight emerges.
![osketch of old west gunfight osketch of old west gunfight](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/fd/38/af/fd38af070eec590549848b9b8466904c--doc-holliday-western-art.jpg)
Since his first attempt at age 12 (don’t ask how long ago that was), he estimates he’s tried several hundred times to paint/sketch/scratchboard the shootout (including the lead-in events, the aftermath, and the participants). Our own Bob Boze Bell is one of the premier chroniclers of the fight. They’ve taken the various oral and written accounts, the evidence, the analysis compiled since 1881 and mixed it into colors to be placed on the canvas (or whatever material they choose). This is what artists have been doing for more than 120 years-trying to paint (or sketch) the perfect picture of the Tombstone street fight. Fly had been prescient enough to have a camera ready to go when the gunfight began.Įven then, a photo would have been just an image of one moment in time. Thus, the Old West field is left wishing that things were different, that Molly or C.S. So, no photos-until the next day, when Fly captured the bodies, well dressed and laid out in coffins, of Cowboys Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton. And maybe Fly was too stunned to think of photographing the bloody grounds. And then the bodies, living and dead, were removed.
![osketch of old west gunfight osketch of old west gunfight](https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/gunslingers-murphy-elliott.jpg)
He took the gun from the hand of a dying Billy Clanton. And when silence came to town, Fly had another calling-to go into the lot, to check on the participants. He didn’t have time to set up his equipment. He was doing something else as the guns went off. What happened? Well, apparently Fly was caught by surprise (the whole town was, including the participants). The Earps and Doc Holliday have their backs to his building, just feet away. His studio abuts the empty lot to the south. Fly, a prolific and (with his wife, Molly) gifted photographer who ultimately takes some of the great shots of all time. Eight men face off in an empty lot behind the O.K. One of the most celebrated events in Old West-maybe American-history. Fly missed 140 years ago.Īll Artwork and Illustrations by Bob Boze BellĪll photos, unless otherwise noted courtesy True West Archives “Hold on, I don’t want that!” Virgil Earp tries to prevent the fight. Shot-for-shot, Bob Boze Bell captures what C.S.