This Week in History: Wyatt Earp not rehired in Wichita!

Born in 1848, and one of five brothers, Wyatt Earp was not rehired by the Wichita, Kansas Police Department on this day (April 19th) in 1876. 1876, incidentally is the same year that Lt. Colonel George A. Custer led the 7th Cavalry in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, in which Custer was famously overconfident, and he and 263 of his men were killed in action fighting Lakota and Cheyenne warriors (Source: http://www.nps.gov/libi/index.htm)

Earp was not rehired because he allegedly beat up a candidate for the office of county sheriff. Earp would soon move to the town of Dodge City, where he would make a name for himself too. In 1881, Earp would once again move, this time to the now famous Tombstone, Arizona, where he and his brothers would engage in the famous "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral." The fight, in fact, did not happen at a corral.

Earp would later have to leave Tombstone, Arizona, and would eventually settle and pass away in Los Angeles, California in 1929.

Facts about Wyatt Earp:

“Wyatt Earp dropped from Wichita police force.” 2012. The History Channel website. Apr 19 2012, 1:27 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/wyatt-earp-dropped-from-wichita-police-force.