OK Corral

The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a gunfight that happened at about 3 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881. The famous gunfight did not actually occur at the O.K. Corral. It took place in Harwood's lumberyard down the street from the rear entrance to the corral. William Harwood sold lumber from his house after he was forced from office as Tombstone's second mayor (its first elected mayor). The gunfight began in the side yard between his house and Fly's Lodging House. Normally he stored his lumber there, but since there was so much construction going on, he was often sold out--as he was on the day of the gunfight. The end of the gunfight took place out in Fremont Street, in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, United States. Some of the fighting was in Fremont Street in front of the vacant lot. About 30 shots were fired in 30 seconds. Although only three men were killed during the gunfight, it is generally regarded as the most famous gunfight in the history of the Old West. Many other gunfights of the period resulted in more people killed, such as the Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight, the Going Snake Massacre, the Hot Springs Gunfight, and the Gunfight at Hide Park.

The gunfight at the O.K. Corral has been portrayed in numerous Western films. It has come to symbolize the struggle between law-and-order and open-banditry and rustling in frontier towns of the Old West where law enforcement was often weak or simply nonexistent.