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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 524

Wyatt Earp's Obituary by Josephine Earp, 1929

Estimate: $1,500 - $2,000
Starting Bid
$400

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
Featured in this lot is Wyatt Earp's Obituary written by Josephine Earp, 1929. Provenance: Tombstone Western Heritage Museum, Tombstone, Arizona. Josephine Sarah "Sadie" Earp, was the common-law wife of Wyatt Earp, the famed Old West lawman and gambler. She met Wyatt in 1881 in the frontier boom town of Tombstone in Arizona Territory. From 1883 until Wyatt's death in 1929, Wyatt and Josephine stayed together. When Wyatt was working with his personal secretary John Flood in writing his life story, Josephine was always present and often intervened. She would stop them and insist "You can’t write that! It needs to be clean." She also demanded that they add more "pep" to the manuscript, which meant including the word "CRACK!" in all caps. In the chapter about the shootout in Tombstone, the manuscript includes 109 uses of "CRACK" and several uses of "SMOKE". In one letter from Josephine to Flood she didn't think he was working fast enough and wrote, "so hurry up now like a good boy and finish it up as soon as possible as they are all waiting for it.” Like the western movies of the time, Josephine felt Wyatt needed to be shown as a hero and could do no wrong. This obituary, written by Josephine, has the same flair in recounting Wyatt's death in the light of his fabled exploits. A Tombstone Western Heritage Museum label on the face of the clear protective plastic sleeve reads, "This is Josephine's original obituary for Wyatt. Apparently clipped from a newspaper with Wyatt's face that she cut out of an original photo," museum code, "E-43." The protective sleeve measures 8.375"W x 10.25"L, weight is U6.

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