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Joseph
Isaac ( Ike) Clanton was born in 1847 in Callaway County Missouri
and grew up to be one of the pivotal players in the gunfight
at the O.K. Corrall, one of the most famous events of the
American Old West.
He was
one of seven children born to Newman Hayes Clanton (known
as Old Man Clanton) and his wife Maria Clanton. They moved
to Tombstone, AZ about 1877 before Tombstone became a mining
town. By 1878 he was running a small lunch counter at Tombstone
Mill Site. By 1881 he was working on his father’s ranch
in Lewis Springs about 12 miles west of Tombstone.
The Clanton’s
and the ranch hands and associates were known as the “Cow-boys”,
and they had a reputation of reckless behavior. They were
accused of cattle rustling from across the U.S. Mexican border
as well as other acts of banditry and murder.
Ike Clanton’s
notoriety is based largely on his conflict with the Earp brothers,
especially Wyatt Earp and Wyatt’s friend Doc Holliday.
Helping to fuel this conflict was Ike Clanton’s reputation
of loudly boasting in public, drinking heavily, and having
a quick temper. These traits and other events led up to the
shootout at the O.K. Corrall. The shootout took place between
the Earps and Doc Holliday against the Clantons and McLaurys
(the Cow-boys). Ike Clanton was the only cowboy to survive,
only to die two years later. Charged with cattle-rustling,
Ike and his brother Phineas were cornered by detective Jonas
V. Brighton on June 1, 1887 in Springerville, AZ. Fin Clanton
surrendered, but Ike resisted and was shot dead.
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