The Legend of the O. K. Corral

A few deadly minutes in 1881, and the shooting was all over. But no, in fact it wasn't. That brief gunfight outside the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, still reverberates today. Literally—it's reenacted daily on the streets of Tombstone, "the town too tough to die." It's also constantly replayed in biographies, novels, movies, TV shows, poems, comic books, websites, and even video games. Clearly the shootout has passed from history into myth. But is that myth the American Iliad or something else entirely? And by the way, what really happened in 1881? 35 b/w and color photographs.

About the series: Look West: What do you find? Wide, wild landscapes...extraordinary plants and animals...rugged people rich in history...ghost towns and working ranches...ancient pueblos and ultramodern urban areas. In the West, coyotes howl. Native Americans endure and flourish. Kokopelli, the mythical humpbacked flute player, prances across the cliff dwellings and into popular culture—and thousands of curio shops. Every small, handsome book in Rio Nuevo Publishers' Look West series presents a unique aspect of the American West. Using words and pictures, each volume explores a special Western topic or phenomenon, and all have been written and illustrated by regional experts. Each of these attractive 6 x 6-inch hardcover books contains 64 pages of text, illustrations, and photographs. And each one allows the reader to capture the spirit of the West in the palm of a hand.

Ed Finn's articles have appeared in Time, Slate, and Popular Science. Also a poet and a crack shot with a vintage Colt Peacemaker pistol, he lives in New York City. This is his first book.