January 28th, 2008

Wyatt Earp. I thought I knew just about everything there was to know about him until today. I’ve been working on a chapter in my posse book about Wyatt and learned that he was a fine boxer. More often than not, Wyatt was able to subdue outlaws without ever pulling his gun. He was naturally good with his fists and having observed fighters in numerous boxing matches, had become a cunning pugilist in his own right. Bat Masterson claimed that Wyatt “never, at any time in his career, resorted to the pistol excepting in cases where such a course was absolutely necessary. Wyatt could scrap with his fist, and had often taken all the fight out of bad men, as they were called, with no other weapons than those provided by nature.” Wish I knew how to take “all the fight out of a bad man.” I’d do it and possibly find some peace.