The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

Among the friends who invariably

got Wyatt Earp into trouble was Ned Buntline,

popular author of dime novels about the Western frontier.

Mr. Buntline admired Wyatt to the point of idolatry.

This was a pleasant, if embarrassing, attitude,

and Wyatt's sense of humor enabled him to forgive

mild bragging by the writer.

But when Buntline made Wyatt the hero

of a new yarn entitled King of the Frontier...

Good morning, Mayor Kelly.

Wyatt, have you seen this? Have you seen this, now?

Well, let's see. King of the Frontier by Ned Buntline.

Buntline sure churns 'em out, doesn't he?

Yeah, but that's your picture.

He's made you the hero. You're King of the Frontier.

Oh, no!

Yeah, he's got you bulldogging steers,

he's got you riding a loco bronc,

winning a horse race and a chuckwagon race,

and that ain't all!

Oh, what else do I do?

You shoot it out with a man at 100 yards.

He uses a rifle and you use your Buntline.

Oh, well, who gets killed?

The man with the Winchester!

You should sue him! He's made a plumb fool out of you.

And worse than that, you deliberately kill a man.

Just keep your shirt on, Mayor Kelly.

Buntline's readers know him by now.

If any of 'em ask me about it, I'll swear I didn't do it.

But...

Cross my heart!

"And little did Tex the killer

"realize what he must face.

"But he had never seen

"the awesome Buntline Special."

All right, all right.

"This weapon was more than a match

"for Tex's Winchester

"at any range up to 500 yards..."

Mr. Gibbs?

Oh! 500 yards!

Look, at first I thought it was funny,

now I'm getting a mite riled.

I don't blame you.

Why don't you see the feller that wrote it?

'Cause it's not worth the trip east.

Won't have to go east.

Buntline's over at the Dodge House.

Just rode into town with the Lazy Q.

Speakin' of the devil!

And a little bit of breakfast, too.

Right, boss, right.

There you are, Miles.

You're good company, Ned.

And you sure put Wyatt Earp on the spot.

Wyatt? Why, he's a very dear friend of mine.

As a matter of fact,

as soon as we have a little spot of breakfast,

I shall go over and pay him a visit.

Aw, he ain't as good as you say he is!

Now, now, Miles, you're my host.

I... I came out here to see a cattle drive firsthand.

But I won't hear a word against Wyatt.

Everything I wrote about him is Gospel truth.

Aw, he can't do half the things

you got him doing in that book.

You wanna bet?

Sure.

$5,000.

Piker!

All right, $10,000.

What if Earp backs down?

Wyatt is not a man to evade a challenge.

If he backs down, I'll pay you the $10,000 anyway.

You got a bet!

Ah!

Well, Wyatt, my friend!

Well, are you a sight for sore eyes!

Howdy, Mr. Buntline. Good to see you.

Are you still carrying the Buntline Special?

You know it! Best gun in the West!

Ha! Say, I'm out here visiting Miles Breck at the Lazy Q.

You know him, don't you?

Sure.

Come on over and set a while with us.

You had breakfast?

Yes, sir. Thank you.

Miles, here's the King himself! Ha!

King, sit down and rest yourself.

Well, thank you, Mr. Breck, but I haven't got time.

I see, Mr. Buntline, that everybody's read your new book.

We just made a little bet on you, Marshal.

A bet? Well, I hope you didn't take any.

Take any? I took all of it. $10,000!

You can have the same, Earp.

Mr. Buntline, I'd like to speak to you for a few minutes,

when you get finished, in my office.

Sure, Wyatt!

Oh, have you made a bad bet!

And you let Breck hornswoggle you into a sucker bet, huh?

But why?

You can do all the things I wrote about in the book!

Mr. Buntline, I have enough trouble with this job.

Now, you expect me to risk my neck

trying to live up to what you write in a book?

You're right.

You're absolutely right! I'll pay off.

What do you mean, pay off?

Well, I, um...

I should've consulted with you.

I agreed with him that if you backed out,

I'd pay him the $10,000 anyway.

Oh, no!

Have you got it?

My dear sir!

Are you implying that for one moment I would...

Well, I haven't got all of it,

but I think I can get an advance from my publisher.

Wait a minute.

You say all I have to do is beat the Lazy Q outfit

in these cowhand stunts, huh?

Just what I wrote in the book!

All right, I'll try it.

I don't want Miles Breck gettin' away with something like this.

No, no! Now, now, forget it!

I was wrong and I'm gonna pay off!

You pay off nothin'!

You tell Breck I'll tackle his best men on each stunt.

That's spoken like the real Wyatt Earp,

the King of the Frontier!

Ha, ha!

The Lazy Q's are a-braggin' there's been $10,000 bet on you.

Everything that idiot wrote in that book you got to make good?

No, just the cowhand stunts.

Can you rope and tie a calf or bulldog a steer?

My brothers and I played around with 'em

back in Illinois.

How about ridin' a loco bronc?

Well, I could get my neck busted.

Look, Mr. Buntline cornered me.

If I back out of this childish nonsense,

all the cowhands'll start takin' potshots at me.

Won't the men in this country ever grow up?

Most of 'em, in time.

But there's one thing that's already growed up in 'em.

Yeah?

Courage, Wyatt.

A man can be back'ards and stupid out here,

but he's gotta be brave.

Gormley!

Earp's gonna shoot against a Winchester at 100 yards?

That's something Ned forgot,

sort of a surprise for the finish.

Earp'd be a fool to do it, boss,

and Earp sure ain't no fool!

A man does many foolish things when he's cornered.

All right, let's get that herd started for Dodge.

Just made some fresh coffee. Want some?

Right.

That there is a tame calf they want you to rope.

Call a foul, and make 'em get a wild 'un.

No.

You loading the dice, Miles?

He sure is!

A tame calf can dodge a rope all day long.

Well, if I can't think faster than a calf,

I better quit right now.

Come on...

16 seconds!

Good boy, Wyatt!

Come on, your turn, Miles!

We concede on the calf.

Hey, Ricky! Get set for the bulldogging.

Wonderful, Wyatt! Did you hear me? 16 sec...

I heard ya!

That's a boy, Wyatt!

Hey, hey! Well, would you like to pay off now?

Mexico, get aboard that cayuse!

That there's a real loco bronc, Wyatt.

Stay off him, you're still ahead.

I never knew such ferocious horses existed!

All right, we'll call it a tie.

No. Take the twitch off him!

He's gonna paw and stomp ya!

Take that bridle off him.

You've gotta put him in the chute first!

And what's wrong with that bridle?

Horses don't like spade bits. - All right, I'll do it myself.

Here.

Split a horse's tongue with that.

Mr. Gibbs, get that bucket of water over there, will you?

Right.

Wyatt, you don't... you don't really mean

to ride that horse, do you?

I've called it a tie!

All right, let him down.

Let him down.

Come here and grab this ear.

All right, that's about it.