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 US Deputy Marshall Morgan S. Earp
N 34° 04.464 W 117° 20.883
11S E 467886 N 3770460
Final resting place of Morgan S. Earp, youngest brother of the Earps. Assassinated in Tombstone in 1882 and was originally buried in Slover Mountain Cemetery. When the cemetery closed in 1892 he was moved to Hermosa Gardens under this tree.
Waymark Code: WM7RFW
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 11/26/2009
Views: 10
"Morgan Earp was born April 24, 1851 in Pella, Iowa. The youngest of "Fighting Earps," he didn't travel as much as his other brothers.
He met Louisa Houston, reputed granddaughter of Sam Houston and a Cherokee woman, in Dodge City, Kansas, in 1875. They lived in Butte, Montana until 1879.
Morgan arrived in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, in January 1880, having left Louisa behind. However, Morgan's name is not mentioned the June 1880 Tombstone census.
When he arrived in Tombstone he worked as a shotgun messenger for Wells Fargo in Tombstone. His Brother Virgil was City Marshal, and his Brother Wyatt was a Faro dealer, working in his other brother, James' Saloon.
It took only half a minute for Wyatt Earp, brothers Virgil and Morgan, and compatriot Doc Holliday to glaze their way onto the national scene through the epic gunfight up the street from the O. K. Corral, October 26, 1881. When the fight with five members of the outlaw Clanton gang ended, three of the bandits lay dead. The story made the pages of newspapers across the United States.
Morgan was shot in the shoulder during the gunfight near the OK Corral. Virgil was wounded in the calf. Doc had a piercing wound to his side. Of the three brothers, only Wyatt was uninjured in the gunfight.
The Clantons took revenge a few months later, blowing away a portion of Virgil Earp's arm while he was on one of his nightly security rounds, in Tombstone.
On March 18, 1882, Morgan was killed while playing billiards at "Campbell and Hatch's Saloon." He was only 30. A shot from the darkness shattered his spine. Although Wyatt witnessed the shooting the assailant escaped unidentified.
Morgan's Body was returned to Colton where it was interred in Slover Mountain Cemetery.
The remains were moved when mining operations on Slover mountain encroached on the Cemetery. (Slover Mountain is just southeast of Hermosa Gardens, and has a large American Flag atop what is left of it.)
The Earp Family had been residing in Colton since the late 1860s. There are more Earp familiy members buried in Hermosa Gardens, and also in Pioneer Cemetery in San Bernardino, and in Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino. Nicholas Porter Earp, the father is buried in the Veterans Cemetery in Sawtelle." (From geocache GCGHAE)
Description:
Morgan was deputized by his brother Virgil to serve as special policeman with badge on September 26, 1881. This may have happened after a round of threats from the cowboys against the Earps after the Bisbee stage robbery earlier that month. On October 20 Morgan went to Tucson to find Doc Holliday and bring him back in an attempt to avoid some trouble with Ike Clanton. Although he found Holliday and brought him back on the 22nd, the attempt at avoiding trouble failed.
Clanton began making trouble in town on October 25, leading to the gunfight at the O.K. Corral on Wednesday, October 26. Of the Earp faction, Morgan was not the least experienced in gunplay, contrary to common belief. Morgan cut his teeth as deputy sheriff during three cattle seasons in Dodge City. Following this Earp saw much law enforcement action as town marshal of Butte, Montana,(1878)and later as policeman there. He also survived a 1879 gun duel in Miles City, Montana - killing his man - a notorious Brooks brother. Participating in the Tombstone gunfight he was wounded, hit by a bullet across the back, which broke both shoulder blades and chipped off a piece of vertebra. However he recovered in seconds and continued to fire his pistol. The fight was ended when simultaneous shots were fired by Morgan and Doc Holliday at Frank McLaury. One or the other's bullet went through the base of Frank's skull behind the ear, killing him within minutes, before he could be moved.
Two months after the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, in December 1881, Virgil Earp was seriously and permanently wounded in an assassination attempt. By February 1882, Morgan had seen enough of the general danger to the Earps in Tombstone and sent his common-law wife Louisa Houstin Earp to the Earps' parents in Colton, California. However, Morgan chose to remain in Tombstone to guard Virgil, support Wyatt, and continue to work in law enforcement.
Morgan was ambushed about 10 P.M. on Saturday, March 18, 1882. After going to see a musical, he went to play a late round of pool against owner Bob Hatch at the Campbell & Hatch Billiard Parlor on Allen Street, in Tombstone. There, while playing, he was hit by a rifle shot to the side of his lower back. An assassination attempt was also made at the same time on Wyatt Earp, who was watching the game, but the bullet missed.
The rifle shots entered the lighted billiard parlor through a glass-windowed locked door which opened from the rear of the parlor onto a dark alley, which ran between Allen and Fremont Streets, along the side of the parlor.
The bullet that hit Morgan shattered his spine and passed through his left kidney. The wound was pronounced fatal by the three doctors who examined him a short time later. After being shot, Morgan was unable to stand even with assistance, and said "This is the last game of pool I'll ever play." Wyatt reported in his biography years later that Morgan, before dying, whispered to Wyatt "I can't see a damned thing," a reference to supposed visions of Heaven seen by dying people, which Morgan and Wyatt had discussed on a previous occasion. To the last, Morgan's behavior is in keeping with what is known of him. He died less than an hour after being shot, while lying on a lounge in an adjoining card room of the billiard parlor, not on the billiard table, as some accounts report.
After Morgan's death, he was laid out in a blue suit belonging to his friend Doc Holliday. His body was then taken by wagon on the next day (Sunday) by family and friends to the nearest railhead, in Benson. From there, accompanied by older brother James Earp, Morgan's body was sent to his wife and parents in Colton, California. On the following day (Monday), Virgil and his wife were accompanied under family guard to Tucson, then Colton, in a second expedition.
Morgan was first buried in the old city cemetery of Colton, near Mount Slover. When the cemetery was moved in 1892, Morgan's body was reburied in the Hermosa Cemete
Date of birth: 04/24/1851
Date of death: 03/18/1882
Area of notoriety: Law Enforcement
Marker Type: Headstone
Setting: Outdoor
Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Daylaight hours
Fee required?: No
Web site: [Web Link]
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