What happened to Johnny Behan after testifying against Wyatt Earp

Netflix Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War Covers the events of the infamous shootout at the OK Corral, including the events that happened afterward, such as Johnny Behan testifying against Wyatt Earp. Most people know about the shootout at the OK Corral, an event that made legends of a few then little-known gunslingers. Four of the Earp brothers, including Wyatt Earp, and their friend, Doc Holliday, turned against the Clantons and McClauris and their outlaw friends. At the end of the 30-second fight, Three cowboys are dead, three lawmen wounded, And the incident was already on its way to becoming part of the mythology of the American West.

Far fewer people know what happened to major players like Wyatt Earp after the Tombstone Shootout, or how more minor Tombstone figures still had a huge impact on those events. One of those figures is Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan, who later testified against the Earps in the subsequent murder trial. Most of what we know about the shootout at the OK Corral comes from the trial testimonyMaking it a very he said/he said situation. Behan testified that the Clantons and their associates had their hands up and did not put up any resistance. However, defense witnesses on behalf of the Earps and Doc Holliday discredited Behan’s testimony with key evidence to the contrary. It cemented a feud between Behan and the Earps that never ended.

Johnny Behan’s role in the Good Carol Gunfaith explained

His deception likely led to the death of three people

While Johnny Behan was not present at the gunfight at the OK Corral, nor was he a participant in any of the violence that day, He certainly played a significant role in the events leading up to the shootoutWhich was only briefly touched on in the new Netflix documentary. With tensions between the outlaws now known as the Cochise County Cowboys and the Earp clan and Doc Holliday, Cochise County Marshal Behan approached the Clantons and McClauris in an attempt to get them to give up their weapons. Unfortunately, Frank McLaury refused, saying he would only do it if Virgil Earp, the town marshal at the time, and his brothers were disarmed first.

This is where the story gets sad. Records at the time show that after McLaury and the rest of the Outlaws refused to be disarmed, Behan ran into the Earps and Holliday walking down the street to the OK Corral. He was said to have told Virgil Earp not to confront the Clantons and McClauris or they would be killed. When Virgil replied that his intention was only to disarm them, Behan, as Wyatt Earp later testified, countered “I wandered them.” (via Wayback car) Clearly, that was not the case and the cowboys were still very well armed, a fact that Bihan was well aware of, seeing how frank he was. Facia, only moments before refused to give up their weapons.

By failing to disarm the Outlaws and then leading the Earp Lomen to believe that the Outlaws were disarmed, it led to the shootout at the OK Corral, which resulted in the deaths of three men, Tom McClaury, Billy Clanton and Frank McClaury himself, and Doc Holliday, and Morgan and Virgil Earp were wounded. Later, as revenge, The remaining cowboys ambushed Virgil and so badly wounded his arm that he never fully regained the use of it.And also murdered Morgan. After the shooting, as the wounded lawmen were being led past the sheriff’s office, Johnny Behan came out and informed the people that he would have to arrest them, to which Wyatt Earp replied that he had misled them by saying that the cowboys were were disarmed.

Why Johnny Behan was against Wyatt Earp and the Earp Family

The feud started when he and Wyatt were going for the same position

It has long been suspected and documented that Behan was sympathetic to the cowboys and their cause, And was even friends with them. What is not entirely clear is if Behan just walked away after their refusal, assuming they would comply, or if he actively helped the bandits by giving them a heads-up and warning that the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday were on their way and intentionally lied to . The Earps about them disarmed. Either way, Behan’s mishandling of the situation undoubtedly led to the deaths of the three inmates and the injuries to the lawmakers.

What is certain is that the Earps and Behan were at odds and that Behan sided with the outcasts. What is less certain is why he disliked the Earps in the first place, as one would think they would welcome working together as lawmen. However, according to Wyatt Earp, The bad blood started when he and Behan were both running for the position of Cochise County Sheriff. Earp agreed to drop out of the race against the more politically savvy Behan, with Behan promising to nominate him for undersheriff. Behan, however, did not hold up his end of the bargain and appointed someone else, an appointment that was overseen by Cowboy Posse members Ike Clanton and Johnny Ringo.

The bad blood intensified when the Earps publicly shamed Sheriff Behan and the customers in another incident recounted in conflicting testimony. Soon after the election, Wyatt Earp learned that the Clantons had one of his prize horses, which was stolen from ERP the year before. Earp and Holliday went to the Clantons ranch to retrieve the horse, where they came upon Behan, who was on his way to the Clantons to serve a subpoena. But Behan claimed Erp, who arrived before him, told the customers that Behan was on his way to arrest them for horse theft, an incident that left Behan and the customers looking like fools.

What happened to Sheriff Johnny Behan after Wyatt Earp left Tombstone

Behan was his own worst enemy

Although the Earps and Doc Holliday were exonerated after the trial, in part because they were deputized federal property, their time at Tombstone was sour. During the Earps’ vendetta drive on behalf of their slain brother Morgan, Behan tried to clean them up, telling Wyatt Earp he wanted to see him. “Johnny, if you’re not careful, you’ll see me once too often“, Wyatt is said to have replied (via Legends of America). As it turns out, Bhan needn’t have worried. After exacting their revenge for Virgil’s miming and Morgan’s murder, the Earp Posse left Tombstone and the Arizona Territory entirely.

Even though his nemeses have left, that doesn’t mean Johnny Behan’s problems are solved – Mainly because he was the source of most of his own problems. You have to remember, this was the Wild West and even the legislators of the time could be legal themselves. Wyatt Earp didn’t drink, but he sure gambled and loved his whores. Doc Holliday was also a gambler and had a certain compassion because he was already half dead from consumption. Although they were the lawmen, the line between legal and corrupt was all too blurred in those days in the West, and this was certainly the case for Behan.

A few months after the Earp vendetta drive, Behan got into a feud with his own deputy, Billy Breakenridge, who was also a friend of the Clanton clan. It’s not clear what they were fighting about, but their feud became public, leading to increased scrutiny from the office. An investigation found that Behan secretly set aside $5,000 in cash from unknown sources during his time as sheriffAbout $155,000 today. Thanks to that corruption scandal and the general public’s unhappiness with his term as sheriff, Behan lost his re-election bid that year. Five years later, a period of time is not covered Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy WarBehan left Tombstone for Yuma, Arizona, where he became the assistant superintendent of Yuma Penitentiary.