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.
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Lot 151

Wyatt Earp Signed Josephine Earp John Flood Letter

Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Starting Bid
$750

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
This is a truly historic and rare Wyatt Earp signed and Josephine Earp letter to John Flood ALS circa 1921; Provenance: From the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum in Tombstone, Arizona, ex-John Gilchrease. The lot includes a cover envelope which is written in Wyatt Earps own hand and signed by him along with the Josephine Earp written and signed letter, which was also signed by Wyatt Earp. The piece was authenticated and comes from the John Gilchrease historian and former Gilchrease museum collection. Both the covert and letter are hand signed by Wyatt Earp and letter also signed by Josephine Earp. The letter of correspondence includes niceties between friends as John Flood was a close friend of the Earps and worked as Wyatt Earp's unpaid personal secretary late in Earp's life, completing the only authorized biography of Earp. The language Flood used in the biography was overblown, florid and stilted so he was unable to find a publisher. A carbon copy of the manuscript was found in Josephine Earp's effects after her death. Amateur historian Glenn Boyer obtained the carbon copy and had 99 facsimile copies made, bound in gilt leather, which he sold to collectors in 1981. In 2019 a rare book collector offered to sell a copy for $3,500. The condition of this ALS letter from Josephine Earp is well preserved and shows just slight browning to the letter consistent with the age. Provenance: From the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum Tombstone, Arizona; Stephen Eliott and Marge Elliott (Steven Elliott) collections, John Gilchrease collection. This letter was noted in various articles about the museum in such publications as True West and Cowboys as being in the collection and one of its wonderful highlights. The measurements of this letter is 3 1/2" x 6 1/2". E-04

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