How Wyatt Earp died after the events at Tombstone

Although he survived the shootout at Tombstone’s OK Corral unscathed, as shown in Netflix’s docu-drama Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy WarWyatt Earp was not invincible and eventually died after the events of that day, albeit decades later. Wyatt Earp, played by Kurt Russell in tombstoneis a towering figure in American history, both in life and after his death. Along with his brothers and best friend, Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), Earp cleansed the lawless Wild West town of Tombstone, Arizona, of the outlaws Clanton and McLaury Brothers and their cohorts, Culminating in the shootout at the OK Corral.

However, just because his time in Tombstone and the OK Corral gunfight are the most well-known parts of Wyatt Earp’s life, that doesn’t mean the rest of his life isn’t just as interesting. It wasn’t the last shootout Erp was in, As he faces down many of the same people after the revenge killing of his brother, Morgan. After leaving Tombstone, Earp became involved in the Alaskan gold rush, owned a mine, bought a bar, refereed a famous boxing match, moved to California, and became involved in the nascent Hollywood movie industry. Even legends pass, however, including Wyatt Earp.

Wyatt Earp died of chronic cystitis when he was 80 years old

It was unclear if he had some underlying condition that exacerbated the disease

Wyatt Earp was hale and hearty for a very long time, He finally passed away on January 13, 1929 at the age of 80. His cause of death was ruled as complications of chronic cystitis, which is inflammation of the bladder. It’s hard to think of a legendary gun and gambler being taken down by what is essentially a UTI; However, 1920s or today, cystitis can be a deadly condition if it goes untreated and spreads to the kidneys.

As it can also happen due to complications from other illnesses, It is not entirely clear whether Wyatt Earp also suffered from another disease that aggravated the cystitis. At the time of his death, the Los Angeles Times reported in his obituary that he had been suffering from liver disease for a few years (vi archive.org). Considering his death was almost 100 years ago, it would not be a surprise to learn that he was living with another chronic condition that was undiagnosed or untreated at the time.

Wyatt Earp passed away in his small bungalow in Los Angeles, California, and His pallbearers were an odd mix of old western figures and figures in the new Hollywood motion picture industry Springing up in the area. On the tombstone and on the old west side were William J. Hunsaker, Earl’s attorney in Tombstown, George W. Parsons, a founder of Tombstone’s “Committee of Vigilance,” Wilson Minzer, an old friend of Earps’ from the heady Gold Rush days, and former Tombstone Mayor John Clum. On the Hollywood side were screenwriter Jim Mitchell, and silent film stars and western actors William S. Hart and Tom Meeks. He was cremated and buried in a cemetery in Colma, California.

Wyatt Earp was the last surviving Earp brother and participant in the OK Corral Gunfight

Their lives after the shootout in the Good Corral were just as interesting

With Wyatt Earp’s death, the last of the great gunslingers and the last great icon of the Old American West passed from life into legend. While he was survived by his sister, Adelia Earp Edwards, his last surviving brother, Newton, passed just a month before Wyatt’s own passing, dying on December 18, 1928. At the time of his death, Wyatt was the last surviving Earp brotherAs well as being the last surviving member of the legendary shootout at the OK Corral.

Morgan Earp was the first Earp brother to go, ambushed and assassinated in 1882 a few months after the OK Corral gunfight following a conspiracy by Pete Spence and other members of the Clanton and McLaury clan of outlaws. He was buried in a suit belonging to Doc Holliday. In 1887, Doc himself was the next to go, finally, of course, succumbing to the tuberculosis that had destroyed his body for years. Doc Holliday’s last words were reportedly “This is funny“ With the dock, he didn’t die with his shoes on, but barefoot in a bed.

Warren Earp’s brothers always worried that their baby brother’s temper would get him killed and eventually, in the next century, it was. The youngest of the Earp brothers, Warren was killed in 1900 after being shot by his longtime enemy, Johnny Boyett, during an altercation. Virgil Orp, who led his brothers and Doc Holliday during the OK Corral shootout, Died five years later in 1905 of acute pneumonia after decades of dealing with the physical effects of being shot during the infamous Tombstone Gunfight. James Earp, who was not present at the shootout, died in 1926 of a stroke. Newton and Wyatt were the last two Earp brothers to go. While the gunfight at the OK Corral defined not only Wyatt Earp’s life, but all of their lives, their experiences after the events depicted in Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War Was just as interesting and worthy of a movie.