Wyatt Earp: The Biography

Rating:
Summary: WOLA Review
Review: Many readers of WOLA and NOLA will recognize Tim Fattig as a long time contributor to the Western history and Earpiana field. Tim has long been recognized for his top quality research and analytical skills. The long awaited release of his "Wyatt Earp: The Biography" will be pleasant news to his fans and readers of Earpiana.

This reviewer had the opportunity of reviewing the galley copy before it's release date scheduled for March 2003. Not surprisingly, Tim Fattig has chosen to follow in the footsteps of Stuart N. Lake and Water Noble Burns in lionizing Wyatt B. S. Earp. Though not a simple re-telling of the genre, the strength of this tome is the fluid prose, peripheral research into some of the characters that surround Wyatt Earp, and his masterful job of investigating and following up much of the previously unpublished information and personalities that effected Wyatt's story. While debunking many of the myths surrounding Wyatt's story, he has at times carried many to the forefront.

Though most of the biography is well researched and written, there are a few areas of controversy nonetheless. Many will be intriged by his assessment of the famed gunfight in Fremont Street known as the "Gunfight at the OK Corral" and his belief that Wyatt may have come back from Colorado in 1882 to hunt down and kill Johnny Ringo. Tim also possibly has Wyatt killing Pete Spence (AKA E. Lark Ferguson) when Pete actually passed away quietly from pneumonia at his home in Gila County, Arizona on January 31, 1914.

In a few cases the narrative is short and the all inclusive information included in the paragraph for brevity sake can be misconstrued by the reader. For example, in one paragraph he has almost 40 posse members riding to Charleston with Wyatt in search of Virgil's attempted murderers, when in fact, there were three separate posses (four if you want to include J. H. Jackson's two posses with two separate bench warrants) under Charles Bartholomew, J. H. Jackson and the Earp federal posse.

This reviewer would have liked to have seen Tim expand his coverage of Wyatt's controversial time in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho, Alaska and California. Maybe he will do these in subsequent volumns or articles. Despite some minor concerns, Tim Fattig has done a tremendous job with the source material and the book is readable. This book deserves a place in every reader's library of the Old West, especially those interested in Earpiana, Tombstone and Cochise County. This book is highly recommended.