Location: Cedar County Historical Society Museum1094 Hwy. 38Tipton, IA 52772 (map)
Contact: Tanya Demmel (cchsmus@netins.net)
Details In the aftermath of the O.K. Corral Shootout, the Earp Brothers and their friend Doc Holliday were brought before a c ourt of law and charged with murdering the McLaury Brothers and Billy Clanton. This preliminary hearing was presided over by Wells Spicer and resulted in a not-guilty verdict for the defendants. Long-forgotten connections to Iowa have led to a play, Tombstone Trial: the Iowa Connection, based on this hearing. The connections cover the state and include Pella, Iowa, where the Earp Brothers grew up; Belle Plaine, where the McLaury Brothers had their boyhood home before moving to Buchanan County; and Tipton, where Wells Spicer grew to adulthood. Further Iowa connections are to Fairfax, Iowa, the childhood home of Wyatt Earp's wife at the time of the trial and to Davenport where Doc Holliday's wife spent her teenage years. Finally, the McLaurys had an older sister who married a prominent Tama attorney and remained in the area and helped support the trial depicted in the play. This original play's next performances will be January 6, 2018, in Toledo's historic Wieting Theater, and January 28 (poor weather date Feb. 11) at Tipton in the South Bethel Church, a part of the Cedar County Historical Society & Museum's Prairie Village (1094 Hwy 38). Both performances will be at 2 p.m.