Frank McLaury

Frank McLaury
Born	Robert Findley McLaury March 3, 1848(1848-03-03) Kortright, New York, United States
Died	October 26, 1881(1881-10-26) (aged 33) Tombstone, Arizona Territory, United States
Cause	Gunshot
Allegiance	The Cowboys
Occupation	Ranch hand, miner, outlaw, cattle rustler

Frank McLaury (March 3, 1848 - October 26, 1881) was a ranch hand of the Old West. He is best known for being a member of group of outlaw Cowboys that faced off against lawmen Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona Territory during which he was killed. Although he has been dubbed a gunfighter by some accounts, he was not. Frank stood at 5'4" . Brother Tom at 5' 3". The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is believed to have been his only violent confrontation.

Early life

Born Robert Findley McLaury in Kortright, New York, and while still a child his family moved to Belle Plaine, Iowa. His older brother William McLaury completed college and later became a judge in Fort Worth, Texas, and both Frank and his younger brother Tom McLaury studied pre-law. In 1878, he moved with his brother Tom to Hereford, Arizona, where they first met Ike Clanton, and became associated with the Clanton family. At the time, the Clanton family owned one of the largest cattle operations in Arizona.

Move to Arizona

By 1879 the two brothers were seeing success in the cattle business, and they purchased land and built a house at Soldiers Hole, near Tombstone, Arizona, which was just beginning to see its population explode due to the silver rush. They also, along this time, became associated with "Curly Bill" Brocius. While with Brocius, on October 27, 1880, the two brothers were briefly detained following Brocius accidentally shooting and killing Tombstone Marshal Fred White. The shooting occurred when White went to disarm Brocius, grabbing the pistol Brocius held by the barrel and pulling it, at which time it discharged due to it being cocked. White stated before his death that the shooting was not intentional, and Brocius, who liked White, regretted the shooting greatly by accounts written afterward.

Cattle rustling

The McLaury brothers were suspected of stealing cattle from Sonora, Mexico and re-selling them to Old Man Clanton and local butchers.

Stolen mules found

On July 25, 1880, Lieutenant Joseph H. Hurst requested the assistance of Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp, who brought Wyatt and Morgan Earp, as well as Wells Fargo agent Marshall Williams, to track the thieves of six U.S. Army mules stolen from Camp Rucker. This was a federal matter because the animals were U.S. property. Acting on a tip, they found the animals on the McLaury's Ranch on the Babacomari River and the branding iron used to change the "US" brand to "D8".

To avoid bloodshed, Cowboy Frank Patterson promised to return the mules so the posse withdrew. The Cowboys showed up two days later without the mules and laughed at Captain Hurst and the Earps. Hurst responded by printing and distributing a handbill describing the theft and promising a reward for the "trial and conviction" of the thieves. It said, "It is known that the stolen animals were secreted at or in the vicinity of the McLaury Brothers ranch, and it is also believed that they were branded on the left shoulder over the Government brand." Hurst specifically charged Frank McLaury with assisting with hiding the mules. It was reprinted in the Epitaph on July 30, 1880. Frank McLaury angrily printed a response in the Cowboy-friendly Nuggett, calling Hurst "unmanly," "a coward, a vagabond, a rascal, and a malicious liar," accusing Hurst of stealing the mules himself. Virgil reported that Frank accosted him and warned him "If you ever again follow us as close as you did, then you will have to fight anyway." McLaury was apparently relying on the anti-government sentiment in the area.

However, when arrested for the shooting, Brocius had been "pistol whipped" by Wyatt Earp, which only escalated an already tense dislike that had developed between the outlaw "Cowboys and the Earp faction. Although there is no direct evidence that the McLaury brothers ever participated in any illegal acts, their association with Brocius and the Clantons put them at odds with the Earps. They had likely dealt in the selling of stolen cattle, but they were never arrested and definite proof of that has never been presented beyond some doubt.

In November 1879, shortly after arriving in Tombstone, a prize horse of Wyatt Earp's was stolen. More than a year later, he learned the horse had been seen in Charleston and was in the possession of Ike Clanton and his brother Billy. Earp and Doc Holliday rode to the Clanton ranch near Charleston to recover the horse. On the way, they overtook Behan, who was riding in a wagon. Behan was also heading to the ranch to serve an election-hearing subpoena on Ike Clanton. According to Wyatt's testimony later, 18 year-old Billy Clanton asked him insolently if he had any more horses to "lose," but he gave the horse up without first being shown the ownership papers, demonstrating to Wyatt that Billy knew to whom the horse belonged.

Graves of Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury and Tom McLaury in Boothill Cemetery, Tombstone, Arizona.

At that time, the tension between the Earp and Cowboys reached a fever pitch. Ike Clanton had been cited earlier in the day for carrying a weapon in town, after which Tom McLaury had arrived to get Ike. Wyatt Earp and McLaury faced off in a heated exchange outside the courtroom. Wyatt later testified he saw a pistol in Tom's waistband and buffaloed Tom with his pistol's barrel. Tom left his pistol at a nearby saloon at some point that afternoon, but the Earps had no way of knowing that.

On October 26, 1881, Frank and Tom, along with Billy Claiborne, faced off against the Earps and Doc Holiday in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Some witnesses testified that Frank and Billy Clanton drew their weapons first, while others loyal to the Cowboys supported their version of events in which Tom opened his coat to show he was unarmed. The Earps and Holiday killed Frank and Tom McLaury along with Billy Clanton. All three were buried in Tombstone's Boot Hill cemetery. Their brother William McLaury spent most of his finances in pursuing charges against the Earps and Doc Holliday.

Tom McLaury had $3,000 in his possession when he died during the shootout, a fact that the prosecution emphasized during the preliminary hearing that followed the shoot out. His brother William, who joined the prosecution team, wrote in a letter home to Texas that his brothers had just sold their herd of cattle and were leaving Tombstone shortly to come be with him in Fort Worth. He said that they were in Tombstone on business, with plans to depart shortly afterward to visit him in Texas. They may have been arranging a cattle deal with their neighbor E. B Frink with butchers Bauer & Kehoe.

External links

• Frank and Tom McLaury
• Frank McLaury
• McLaury Factsheet, Gunfight at the OK Corral
• Frank McLaury at Find a Grave