“It is my view that the gun fight was neither an ambush or an execution, I feel it was more of a tragedy/accident. As you what happened leading up to the battle you will realize that mistakes were made by both parties. Virgil should not had had Doc Holiday involved and Ike Clanton should have not shot off his mouth. I hope to show that most if not all of the Clanton gang wanted to leave town instead of fight. What I will also suggest is that the Earp party did not murder the cowboy's but they only reacted the way that threatened men would react in dangerous situations….
The Cowboys were watching with terror as the Earp party walked right passed Sheriff Behan. The Earps rounded the corner and then everyone was in lot 2 block 17 just off Freemont street. So on one side you had Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan Earp and John Henry Holliday and on the other you had Billy Claiborne, Isaac and William Clanton , Frank and Tom Mclaury along with 2 horses.(the identity of the horses are not known.)..
The Town was divided into two camps: Pro Earp and Anti Earp. Many townspeople would say that the Earp's were murderers and that they should be hanged. Many people felt that justice had been served. It is important to note that prior to the shootout the general feeling of the town was that ranchers and cowboys (including the Clantons and the Mclaurys) were lawless trouble makers. A good number of the citizens were happy that the cowboys died and some of the people would have preferred that they all killed each other.”
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