Early Afternoon October 26 1881

RUDE AWAKENING FOR THE EARP BOY'S

The Earp boy's slept in on October 26th and not to their complete surprise they heard that Ike had been making threats against them but mostly towards Doc Holliday. Virgil being the Marshal of the town wanted to find Ike to have a word with him. Virgil was successful he ran into and "buffaloed" Ike and took him into custody. Virgil relieved Ike of his weapons . Judge Wallace heard the case against Ike Clanton and charged him 25 dollars for carrying a concealed weapon in town. Virgil did not give Ike's weapons back to him, instead he left them with the barman at the Grand Hotel so Ike could pick them up when he left town.

Shortly after Ike's court appearance Wyatt Earp runs into Tom Mclaury. Wyatt's actions can either be viewed as police work or just plain mean and un just. Wyatt approached Tom asked him if he was armed then he pistol whipped Tom in front of witnesses but failed to produce a gun from Tom. Wyatt also accused Tom of wanting to fight him, Tom would reply that he was not armed and had nothing against anyone and he wanted no trouble. As a matter of fact Tom was indeed armed at this point because he would soon check his gun at the Capitol building shortly after being beaten up by Wyatt Earp. No one really knows what Tom's motives were on this day but most would agree he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. You can also justify Wyatt's reaction to Tom Mclaury, Tom was a known associate of Ike's, Wyatt & company were threatened by Ike, and Tom must have known about Ike's actions a few hours previous. Wyatt acted in what he be believed to be in his best interests in making sure Tom was not armed and to intimidate Tom into leaving town. Poor Tom probably knew at this point that much bigger trouble was on the way, he knew that Frank and Billy were coming into town.

Frank Mclaury and Billy Clanton arrived in town around 2 o'clock it is very likely that they have no idea what had taking place in the last 15 hours, they were also armed and Frank was known for his temper. Frank Mclaury was in town because he had some business to do with the local butcher but first and Billy went to the Grand to have a drink. This is when a fellow by the name of Billy Allen approached Frank and told him that his brother Tom was pistol whipped by Wyatt Earp, and also informed him of Ike's activities that morning. Frank was quoted as saying (by Billy Allen)" that they were going to get the boy's out of town."

It is important to note that there was some debate as to why and what Billy and Frank came to town for that day. The Earp's and Pro Earp researchers would argue that Ike sent a telegram earlier in the day saying that there would be trouble and he wanted a showdown with Holliday and the Earp's. This would by nearly impossible to do at that time, because the telegram would had to have been sent to nearby Charleston and Frank and Billy would had to have been there to pick it up. I don't think there is much evidence to support that Frank and Billy were expecting to have a showdown with the Earp's that day. (at least not while they were riding into town)