TOMBSTONE HISTORY BUFFS TAKE ISSUE WITH NETFLIX'S "WYATT EARP AND THE COWBOY WAR"

Arizona's most storied sharpshooter has again made his way to the silver screen with a new Netflix docuseries called "Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War," chronicling the lead-up to and fallout from the infamous Tombstone gunfight.

Why it matters: The gunfight was part of one of the most iconic chapters of Arizona's territorial history and has given rise to countless movies, TV shows and documentaries — often with enough hyperbole and romanticism to irk Wild West history buffs.

The big picture: "Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War," released last month, features reenactments of Earp's life in Tombstone with expert interviews spliced throughout.

• The interviews add context about how the Civil War, the banking industry and a salacious press corps fueled tensions between the lawmen and outlaws in territorial Arizona.
• "Forget everything you know about Wild West history," narrator Ed Harris says in the show's trailer.

Yes, but: Not everyone was impressed.

• Janice Hendricks, co-publisher of the monthly history journal "Tombstone Times," told the Eastern Arizona Courier she only watched 20 minutes of the first episode.
• "It was disappointing," she said. "There were numerous and blatant inaccuracies."

Zoom in: Perhaps the most obvious historical faux pas was the depiction of the famous gunfight between the Earp clan and the cowboys at the O.K. Corral.

• Although the horse corral has become something of lore and legend, historians believe the shootout actually took place on Fremont Street.

Between the lines: "I have not seen it, but friends and people have told me it's entertaining. And as long as it motivates people to come to Tombstone, to come visit the real town, I support it," city historian Don Taylor tells Axios.

My thought bubble: I watched the series before I knew about some of the factual oversights. I enjoyed it and learned a lot about the national and international forces that influenced the Arizona Territory.

• That said, I always take Hollywood depictions of my home state with a grain of salt — especially when they claim to know the real story of an event that historians still find new information about today.

The bottom line: "It's best not to claim anything [about Wyatt Earp] because someone is always going to prove you wrong," Hendricks told The Courier.

2024-09-17T13:34:27Z dg43tfdfdgfd