North American Auction Company
Live Auction

Tombstone Western Heritage Museum Auction: The Earp Brothers & Cowboys

Sat, Jul 26, 2025 11:00AM EDT
  2025-07-26 11:00:00 2025-07-26 11:00:00 America/New_York North American Auction Company North American Auction Company : Tombstone Western Heritage Museum Auction: The Earp Brothers & Cowboys https://live.naabid.com/auctions/north-american-auction/tombstone-western-heritage-museum-auction-the-earp-brothers-cowboys-20021
Join North American Auction Company on July 26th for a once-in-a-lifetime auction of the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum Collection. This extraordinary sale features the largest private collection of Tombstone history, including rare and historic pieces tied to Wyatt Earp, the Earp Brothers, and the infamous Cochise Cowboys. From original artifacts, outlaw relics, and the largest collection of C.S. Fly photographs, this is a can’t-miss event for collectors of the Old West’s most legendary chapter.
North American Auction Company tucker@naabid.com
Lot 195

Rare Tintype Photographs of Josephine Earp 1868-80

Estimate: $2,000 - $4,000
Starting Bid
$500

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$25,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000
Included in this lot are Rare Tintype Photographs of Josephine Earp, circa 1868 to 1880. Provenance: Tombstone Western Heritage Museum, Tombstone, Arizona. The future wife of famed Old West lawman and gambler Wyatt Earp, was born in New York City in 1861, but moved with her family to San Francisco in 1868. Details are disputed but it appears she ran away possibly as early as age 14, and traveled to Arizona, where she said she went "looking for adventure". Much of her life from about 1874 to 1882 (when she lived in the Arizona Territory) is uncertain. There is some evidence that she lived from 1874 to 1876 in Prescott and Tip Top, Arizona Territory before moving to Tombstone sometime in 1880. The facts about Josephine's life in the Arizona Territory and in Tombstone have been obscured by her legal and personal efforts to keep that period private. Josephine's own story offers a conflicting account of when she first reached Arizona. Her confusing recollection of events show how easily Josephine mixed fact and fiction. Her "life story" was published in the controversial 1976 book, "I Married Wyatt Earp, The Recollections of Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp" Collected and Edited Glenn G. Boyer. Modern researchers think she may also have been concealing her own past as a "sporting lady" or prostitute. Two of the tintype photographs display Josephine, one with her older sister Rebecca, during her years in San Francisco, circa 1868-1873. The third tintype photo was taken in Prescott, Arizona Territory, 1880. The fourth photograph is a portrait of Rebecca taken at Leavenworth & Co which was a well-known firm of "instantaneous" photographers, meaning they took photographs quickly, in San Francisco, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries; a prominent photographic firm in San Francisco during a pivotal period in photography's development. They specialized in portraits and various types of photographic work, including group photos and candid shots of San Francisco. Leavenworth & Co. logo with address is on the reverse. The respective attached Tombstone Western Heritage Museum labels on the faces of the individual clear protective plastic sleeves, "A young Josephine", museum code, "E-039"; "Josephine Sarah Marcus and her sister - taken in San Francisco", museum code, "E-039"; Josephine Sarah Marcus taken in Prescott, Ariz. 1880", museum code, "E-039"; "JOSEPHINE'S SISTER REBECCA Taken in San Francisco From Parkes Collection", museum code "E-56". Tintypes and photograph are in good preserved overall condition, each in a separate clear protective sleeve. Each measures 2.5"W x 3.25"L, sleeves are 3"W x4.5"L. Collective weight is U6.

All items will ship at our North American Auction Company in-house shipping department. Please allow up to 14-21 days after a complete invoice payment is made to package and ship your purchase. After you are notified of your winning bids from our company and your item invoice is paid in full our new shipping department will contact you. Make sure when signing up with our company that your preferred shipping information is up to date as this information will be used to estimate shipping cost. Once the items have been packaged our team will contact you for shipping payment. Shipping invoices and payment will be completely separately than the items invoice. Please notify the shipping department with any alternate request or instructions at mark@naabid.com or 800-686-4216 ext. 3. For a shipping quote please contact the same information above. PLEASE NOTE a shipping quote price can fluctuate in price. Auction company is not responsible for actual shipping cost being higher than quoted shipping cost. Thank you for trusting North American Auction Co. with your bids and shipping. As our shipping department is brand new please understand that delays can be expected.