The American West - First Season

Narrator: Previously on "The American West"...

In the years since the country

America has blazed a trail west,

but it hasn't been easy.

As the railroads cut across the landscape,

they triggered bloody conflicts with Indian nations

and became targets for outlaws.

Stay in your seats. Do not move.

Narrator: But as men like Jesse James

and Billy the Kid terrorized the nation,

lawmen like Wyatt Earp emerged,

determined to bring order to the frontier.

But now the battle for the West

has reached a breaking point.

In Missouri, after returning to a life of crime,

Jesse James has a bounty on his head

and can no longer tell who to trust.

This is my brother, Robert, the one I told you about.

Narrator: While in Tombstone, Arizona...

- What do you want? - I want my $3,600.

Narrator: Wyatt Earp's feud

with notorious outlaw Ike Clanton

has led the lawman to a showdown

that will change his life

and the West forever.

Narrator: On October 26, 1881,

Deputy Sheriff Wyatt Earp

leads his brothers Morgan and Virgil,

along with gunslinger Doc Holliday,

on a mission to confront a gang of ruthless outlaws

led by Ike Clanton,

who are waiting for a fight

near the place called the "O.K. Corral."

David Eisenbach: The Earp brothers and Doc Holliday

are hearing how Ike's out to kill them

and that Ike and his friends have guns.

So when they start marching

towards the cowboys to disarm them,

the cowboys who are half-drunk,

all right, you got a recipe for disaster.

And that's really what happens.

Give us your guns.

Throw up your hands!

You boys wanna fight, we'll give you a fight.

I'm not gonna ask again.

Kiefer Sutherland: Things happen so fast.

And if something is allowed to escalate

to the point where people are actually reaching for weapons,

it just takes one person to panic,

and all of a sudden, people are dead.

Narrator: In a matter of 30 seconds,

30 rounds are fired,

three cowboys lay dead,

including Ike Clanton's brother Billy.

Wyatt's brothers and Doc Holliday are wounded...

while Ike Clanton gets away.

Anne Collier: In the end only one man was left standing

and only one man was unhurt, and that was Wyatt Earp.

Narrator: Wyatt's uncanny ability

to escape harm at the O.K. Corral

will become a part of his legend.

News of the gunfight makes headlines around the world.

But rather than becoming a story

of the lost triumph over outlaws,

Wyatt and his men are portrayed as criminals.

Ann Kirschner: It was covered as far away as Australia.

As a tale of unbelievable lawlessness.

As time went on, there was more and more concern

about Tombstone as the symbol of violence

at the American frontier,

and that had the business people very worried.

Narrator: In the rapidly developing West,

it's becoming clear

that Wyatt Earp's brand of frontier justice

is beginning to wear thin.

Ike Clanton, the man who brought on the gunfight,

sees an opportunity

to finally get his revenge on the Earp brothers.

Andrew Isenberg: Ike Clanton and his friends

try to prosecute the Earps in court.

They bring charges of murder

against the three Earp brothers and Doc Holliday.

Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday spend two weeks in jail,

but the judge decides that there's not enough evidence

to go forward to a trial.

Narrator: The charges against Wyatt and his brothers are dropped,

but their image as noble lawmen

has been irreversibly damaged.

I don't believe Wyatt Earp ever woke up in the morning

and said, "I'm gonna go kill someone today."

He's trying to marshal a town.

And he's, unfortunately, the guy

who's gotta keep it somehow civil.

And eventually people are gonna wanna go after him.

They don't want us here, they don't want us.

What do you recommend that we do?

A lot of folks are moving to California.

Maybe we should, too.

No. It'll look like they're running us right out of town.

That's right.

We're not going anywhere.

If we leave Tombstone, it's on our own terms.

This is where we belong.

Here's to the unflappable Wyatt Earp.

- To Tombstone. - Together: To Tombstone.

Narrator: What Wyatt doesn't realize

is that by staying in Tombstone,

he's making himself an easy target

for Ike Clanton and his gang.

Twelve hundred miles away in Missouri,

Jesse James is settling back into life as an outlaw.

Despite having a $5,000 bounty on his head,

Jesse's planning his next big heist

with the two remaining gang members

he thinks he can trust...

Robert and Charlie Ford.

Mark Lee Gardner: Jesse James had big, big plans.

He was focused on this bank robbery

that he was planning with the Ford brothers.

He was gonna rob the Platte City Bank.

And, you know, it was typical of Jesse,

because he alluded to them that this is something

that's... it's gonna be big in the papers.

You know, it's something that's publicized.

So I think that was exciting for Jesse.

We gotta be careful.

We have to look after each other.

All right?

Narrator: Jesse James' latest string of robberies

has turned him into America's most wanted criminal.

But what he doesn't realize

is that it's not the law he should be afraid of.

It's one of his own.

Morgan: I don't remember you being this good.

You don't remember a lot of things, Morgan.

Narrator: Months after the gunfight at the O.K. Corral,

Wyatt Earp and his brothers Morgan and Virgil

are still in Tombstone

trying to carve out a new life for themselves.

Eisenbach: Wyatt sticks around 'cause he's got

financial investments in town.

And those financial investments

have just started to make some money.

So, you know, as far as the Earps go, right,

that was just some unfortunate incident.

It's time to move on.

But the Cowboys weren't letting it go.

Ten dollars. You still owe me ten dollars.

Cowboy: Virgil.

All right, let me show you how it's done.

I'm waiting to see it.

Because you're my brother,

I'm gonna be easy on you, all right?

So what you want is...

- Wyatt. - Somebody call a doctor.

Morgan.

Morgan.

Oh, God.

Narrator: Ike Clanton and the Cowboys murder Morgan...

and cripple Virgil in retaliation

for the three men who died at the O.K. Corral.

Kirschner: Ike Clanton couldn't get his revenge in court,

and so they basically had hit men out for the Earps.

This was the moment of change for Wyatt.

He felt that the law would no longer protect him...

and decided that he would take the law

into his own hands.

Wyatt...

are you sure you wanna do this?

You going soft on me, Doc?

No, sir, I am not.

This is for my brothers.

Lead the way, sir,

Narrator: To help him avenge his brother's death,

Wyatt calls on his trusted friend

Doc Holliday.

Together, they form a posse

to track down and take out

Clanton's whole crew.

I think one of the things we have to understand about Wyatt

is that he was capable of impulsive violence.

After his brother Morgan is killed,

he kind of snaps.

Morgan Earp was assassinated.

This was not something that just happened.

And Wyatt's reaction is just as planned

and just as premeditated.

You give me a name,

and I'll let you live.

You go to hell.

You first.

Robert Redford: I think Wyatt Earp, when he went on

the other side of the law, it was really about revenge.

There wasn't anything to justify

or redeem the killing,

then it had to be taken in the hands of certain individuals.

Narrator: After killing cowboy Frank Stilwell,

Wyatt and his gang continue their hunt

through the Arizona territory,

tracking more of Ike Clanton's men,