Ike Clanton

Ike Clanton (born Joseph Isaac Clanton) was born 1847 in Callaway County, Missouri, and grew up to be one of the pivotal players in The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, one of the key moments in the American West.

Clanton was one of four brothers, the youngest Billy Clanton, born to Newman "Old Man" Clanton, a frontiersman who worked at times as a day laborer, gold miner, farmer and by the late 1870s a cattleman in Arizona. Ike had stayed with the family for the most part well into their move to Tombstone, Arizona, and by 1878 is documented as running a restaurant in town. By 1880 to 1881, however, he is known being involved with his father's ranch, located 20 miles east of Tombstone.

The Clantons and their ranch hands and associates were known as "Cowboys" and also had a reputation at best for reckless behavior. At worst they were known to steal livestock (Cattle rustling) from across the Mexican border as well as other acts of banditry: "Old Man" Clanton had been killed in August 1881 by Mexicans in retaliation to an earlier ambush.

Ike Clanton's notoriety is based on his conflict with the Earps, especially Wyatt Earp and Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday. The Earps and the Clantons had a good number of political, economic, and philosophical reasons to hate each other, and the animosity grew throughout 1881. In March 1881 a bungled stage coach robbery that killed two men divided the two factions with the Earps believing the Cowboys were involved with the Clantons claiming Doc Holliday was one of the culprits.

By October 25, 1881, Ike Clanton was reported in Tombstone, very drunk and very loud, accusing Holliday of the stage hold-up. Clanton kept drinking by all reports and by noon of the next day was seen arming himself with a shotgun and sidearm. Virgil Earp and Morgan Earp, as town lawmen, caught Ike unawares and "buffaloed" him (knocking him unconscious with the heavy butt of a pistol). Ike was held until a judge appeared to place a fine for disorderly conduct. At the courthouse other Clanton members (Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers Frank and Tom among them) arrived to get Ike, during which Wyatt and Tom had a heated exchange that led to Wyatt buffaloing Tom. That afternoon witnesses reported that the Cowboys were loading up on ammunition and were gathering at a vacant lot near the O.K. Corral. With that, the Earps, joined by Doc, marched down the streets of Tombstone to the vacant lot for the purpose of disarming their opponents. A few minutes later, the most famous gunfight in American history took place.

Based on testimonies from the pro-Earp eyewitnesses, Ike Clanton had spent all day, even after his arrest and disarming, threatening to gun down the Earps. Ironically, when the gunfight began, Ike was unarmed and indeed was allowed to flee the shooting unscathed. Ike's boasting had unfortunatley left his younger brother Billy, and his two friends the McLaurys, dead in the lot. Afterwards, Ike testified in a preliminary hearing to his behavior before and during the gunfight, trying to paint the Earps and Holliday as unforgiving murderers. However, the Earps were able to provide a strong defense and at least one unbiased witness who backed up their claims, and the charges were dismissed.

Afterward, Ike Clanton was accused of being involved in the attempted assassination of Virgil Earp which crippled the lawman for life, although nothing ever came of it in the courts. Further attempts in 1882 against the Earps left Morgan dead, and soon after the Earp faction left Tombstone. Ike Clanton, along with Frank Stilwell and other Cowboys, attempted another ambush, this time in Tucson, Arizona, but the Earps were prepared and Wyatt killed Stilwell. Clanton and the others fled, and soon found themselves targeted by Wyatt's vendetta against those he blamed for Morgan's death. Although most likely a prime target for Wyatt's vengeance, Ike was able to survive the vendetta, with Wyatt, Holliday and their associates leaving Arizona by the end of 1882.

Ike Clanton's run-ins with the law was not over, and was shot and killed by Jonas V. Brighton on 1 June 1887 in Springerville, Arizona during an altercation.

The Westerns based on the Earps and the gunfight usually depict him in an unfavorable light: as a braggart, drunk, prone to violence, and when cornered a coward. Whether this is historically accurate is a matter of debate.

External links

• Ike Clanton's biographical timeline - from a family descendant's website