OK Corrall. Was it a fair fight?

POP1

110 saloons in Tombstone.

After silver was discovered in the area, Tombstone grew extremely rapidly.  At its founding in March 1879, it had a population of just 100, and only two years later in late 1881 it had more than 7,000 citizens, excluding all Chinese, Mexicans, women and children residents.  It was the largest boomtown in the America southwest.  The wealth of the silver industry attracted many professionals and merchants who brought their wives and families, as well as churches and ministers.  By 1881 there were fancy restaurants, a bowling alley, four churches, an ice house, a school, an opera house, two banks, three newspapers, and an ice cream parlor, alongside 110 saloons, 14 gambling halls, and numerous brothels all situated among a number of dirty, hardscrabble mines.

Horse rustlers and bandits from the countryside came to town and shootings were frequent.

Apache warriors had engaged the U.S. Army near Tombstone just three weeks before the O.K. Corral gunfight, so the need for weapons outside of town was well established and accepted.

But there was a city ordinance against carrying firearms in the city.

Tombstone, 1880 and 1882

POP2

Who were the Cowboys?

The Clantons and Mclaurys who faced off against the Earps at the OK corral were part of a gang known as the 'Cowboys'.  They were a loosely organized band of friends and acquaintances who teamed up for various crimes and came to each other's aid.

Tombstone resident George Parson wrote in his diary, "A Cowboy is a rustler at times, and a rustler is a synonym for desperado - bandit, outlaw, and horse thief."

The San Francisco Examiner wrote in an editorial, "Cowboys [are] the most reckless class of outlaws in that wild country...infinitely worse than the ordinary robber."

At that time during the 1880s in Cochise County it was an insult to call a legitimate cattleman a "Cowboy."  Legal cowmen were generally called herders or ranchers.

POP3

Lack of experience of the Earps in the business of gunfighting:

Among the Earps involved in the gunfight, only Virgil Earp had had any real experience in combat.  He had served for three years during the Civil War and had also been involved in a police shooting in Prescott, Arizona Territory.

                  
                                                                       Virgil Earp

Prior to the OK Corral, Wyatt Earp had only been involved in one shooting.  It was in the summer of 1878, when Wyatt Earp was an assistant marshal in Dodge City, Kansas.  He and several citizens fired their pistols at several cowboys who were fleeing town after shooting up a theater.  A member of the group, George Hoyt, was shot in the arm and died of his wound a month later.  Wyatt always claimed to have been the one to shoot Hoyt, although it could have been anyone in the group.

Morgan Earp had no known experience with gunfighting prior to this fight, although he frequently hired out as a shotgun rider and stagecoach guard.

Doc Holliday on the other hand had a reputation as a gunman.  In 1879, he and his business partner, John Webb, were seated in a saloon they owned in Las Vegas, New Mexico, when former U.S. Army scout Mike Gordon got into a loud argument with one of the saloon girls who he wanted to take out with him.  He stormed from the saloon and began firing his revolver into the building.  Before he could get off his second shot, Holliday killed him.  Holliday was tried for murder but acquitted, mostly based on the testimony of Webb.

POP4

But Doc Holliday was not always very accurate. (He was better with a shotgun.)

In October 1880, Holliday had trouble with a gambler named Johnny Tyler in the Oriental Saloon.   Holliday challenged Tyler to a fight, but Tyler ran.  Joyce, the owner of the saloon, did not like Holliday or the Earps and he continued to argue with Holliday.  He ordered Holliday removed from the saloon but would not return Holliday's revolver. Holliday returned with a pistol and fired several shots at Joyce and wounded him in the thumb and his business partner William Parker in the big toe.  Joyce then hit Holliday over the head with his revolver.  Holliday was arrested and pleaded guilty to assault and battery.

POP5

Friendship of Wyatt and Doc:

The friendship was cemented in 1878 in Dodge City when Holliday defended Earp in a saloon against a handful of cowboys out to kill Earp.  A bar room confrontation occured and Earp "was surrounded by desperadoes".  Holliday assisted Earp who credited him with saving his life that day and the two became firm friends as a result.

POP6

Morgan Earp was deputy city marshall of Tombstone and Virgil Earp was town marshall.  He had never been in a gunfight.  At this point neither Wyatt Earp nor Doc Holliday had been formally deputized.

POP7

Ile Clanton, the instigator of the gunfight:

Some time after midnight on Tuesday, October 25, 1881, the day before the gunfight, there occurred a confrontation between Ike Clanton and Doc Holliday relating to a matter that had ben a subject of some rancor between them.  Virgil Earp threatened to arrest both Holliday and Clanton if they did not stop arguing.  Ike had been drinking steadily.   A few minutes later Ike and Wyatt talked, and Ike told Earp that the fighting talk had been going on for a long time and that he intended to put an end to it.  He told Earp, "I will be ready for you in the morning."

After the confrontation with Ike Clanton, Wyatt Earp took Holliday back to his boarding house to sleep off his drinking, then went home and to bed.

Marshal Virgil Earp played cards with Ike Clanton, Tom McLaury, Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan and a fifth man until morning.  Three of these card players would be antagonists in a few hours. This suggests a gray area in the middle of the conflict, in which the rules of law and order were not as fixed as today.  Doubts may have been raised in the minds of Ike and Tom as to how much value Virgil placed on his marshall's badge and how firmly would he adhere to what it stood for.

Ike Clanton had been drinking all night.  Future witness E. F. Boyle encouraged him to get some sleep, but Ike insisted he would not go to bed.  Boyle later testified.....Ike told him "As soon as the Earps and Doc Holliday showed themselves on the street, the ball would open - that they would have to fight"... and Boyle added that he "went down to Wyatt Earp's house and told him that Ike Clanton had threatened that when him and his brothers and Doc Holliday showed themselves on the street that the ball would open."

Later in the morning, Ike picked up his rifle and revolver from the West End Corral, where he had stabled his wagon and team and where he had deposited his weapons after entering town.  By noon that day, Ike, drinking again and armed, told others he was looking for Holliday or an Earp.

At about 1:00 pm, Virgil and Morgan Earp surprised Ike on 4th Street where Virgil buffaloed (pistol-whipped) him from behind.  Disarming him, the Earps took Ike to appear before Judge Wallace for violating the city's ordinance against carrying firearms in the city.

Ike was being fined inside the court house........

POP8

..... and outside the court house Wyatt almost walked into 28 year-old Tom McLaury who had arrived in town the day before and who was required by the well-known city ordinance to deposit his pistol when he first arrived in town.

Wyatt testified that he saw a revolver in plain sight on the right hip of Tom's pants.

Wyatt drew his revolver from his coat pocket and pistol-whipped him with it twice, leaving him prostrate and bleeding on the street. 

It was early afternoon by the time Ike and Tom had seen doctors for their head wounds. The day was chilly, with snow still on the ground in some places.  Both Tom and Ike had spent the night gambling, drinking heavily, and without sleep.  Now they were both out-of-doors, both wounded from head beatings, and at least Ike was still drunk.  They were in no condition for a gunfight.

POP9

At around 1:30-2:00 pm, Ike's 19-year-old younger brother Billy Clanton and Tom's older brother Frank McLaury arrived in town.  They had heard that Ike had been stirring up trouble in town overnight, and they had ridden into town on horseback to back up their brothers.

By law, both Frank and Billy should have left their firearms at the Grand Hotel.  Instead, they remained fully armed.

So now Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton, Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury were in town - the latter two not in the best physical condition.

POP10

Leading up to the gunfight:

Virgil testified afterward that he thought he saw all four men, Ike Clanton, Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury, buying cartridges.  It is important that the Earps establish that they saw this because the claim was made after the gunfight that Tom had been unarmed.

Wyatt said that he saw Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury buying cartridges in Spangenberger's gun and hardware store on 4th Street filling their gun belts with cartridges.[

Virgil picked up a 10-gauge or 12-gauge, short, double-barreled shotgun from the Wells Fargo office around the corner on Allen Street.  He gave the shotgun to Doc Holliday who hid it under his overcoat. Virgil took Holliday's walking-stick in return.

Virgil Earp was told by several citizens that the McLaurys and the Clantons had gathered on Fremont Street and were armed. He decided it was time to act.  Several members of the citizen's vigilance committee offered to support him with arms, but Virgil declined their help.  That morning he had deputized his brother Wyatt and Doc Holliday.  Wyatt later spoke of his brothers Virgil and Morgan as the "marshals" while he acted as "deputy."


The Cowboys moved to the O.K. Corral where witnesses overheard them threatening to kill the Earps.

For unknown reasons the Cowboys then moved a block north to an empty lot next to C. S. Fly's boarding house where Doc Holliday lived.  This is where the gunfight actually took place - not the OK Corrall.

POP 11

The Walk:

The Earps carried revolvers in their coat pockets or in their waistbands.  Holliday was wearing a pistol in a holster, but this was hidden by his long coat, as was the shotgun. Virgil was carrying Doc's walking stick.

The Earps and Holliday walked west, down the south side of Fremont Street, out of visual range of the Cowboys, toward the Cowboys' last reported location.  The Earps then saw the Cowboys and Sheriff Behan, who then left the group and came toward the Earps. Virgil testified later that Behan told them, "I have disarmed them." - which if true would have been a potentially deadly deception.

When the Earps approached the alley, they found Ike Clanton talking to Billy Claiborne in the middle of the lot.

With the appearance of Billy Claiborne, this now made five 'Cowboys' against four of the Earp bunch.  So far a fair fight.

Beyond those two, against the MacDonald house and assay office to the west stood Tom and Frank McLaury, Billy Clanton, and two of their horses.  Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury wore revolvers in holsters on their belts and stood alongside saddled horses with rifles in their scabbards.

Virgil claims that, based on the strength of Behan's comment that he had disarmed the Cowboys, he was not looking for a fight.  He says, "I had a walking stick in my left hand and my hand was on my six-shooter in my waist pants, and when he said he had disarmed them, I shoved it clean around to my left hip and changed my walking stick to my right hand." - he went into the gunfight holding a walking stick in his gun hand.

Wyatt said I "took my pistol, which I had in my hand under my coat, and put it in my overcoat pocket."

These comments of Wyatt's and Virgil's suggest that they had let down their guard and were genuinely planning to disarm the Cowboys, rather than to get right into a gunfight. 

POP12

......... but Martha J. King, who was in Everhardy's butcher shop on Fremont Street, testified that when the Earp party passed by her location, one of the Earps on the outside of that party looked across and said to Doc Holliday nearest the store, "...let them have it!" to which Holliday replied, "All right." - which sounds as if they were ready to go in blasting.

However, a drawing Wyatt made in 1924 placed Holliday a couple of steps back in the street, which would have made it harder for any of the Earps to exchange words with Doc Holliday - which casts some doubt on the witness's statement.

POP13

The two groups of antagonists were about 6 to ten feet apart.

Based on the Coroner's inquest and the Spicer hearing, a sketch was produced that shows -

Virgil Earp was on the left end of the Earp party, standing a few feet inside the vacant lot.
A few feet behind him, and to his right was Wyatt.
Morgan Earp was standing on Fremont Street to Wyatt's right.
Doc Holliday anchored the end of their line in Fremont Street, a few feet to Morgan's right.

Where the Cowboys were positioned is inconsistent, based on the inquest and Wyatt's recollections from the year 1924.

POP14

Virgil Earp was not planning on a fight.  He had given Doc the short, double-barreled shotgun and was carrying Holliday's cane in his right hand.  He immediately commanded the Cowboys to "Throw up your hands, I want your guns!"  But he said the Cowboys reached to draw their guns.

Virgil and Wyatt testified they saw Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton draw and cock their six-shooters. (The single-action revolvers carried by both groups had to be cocked before firing.)
Virgil yelled: "Hold! I don't mean that!" or "Hold on, I don't want that!"

Wyatt testified, "When I saw Billy (Clanton) and Frank draw their pistols, I drew my pistol.  Billy Clanton leveled his pistol at me but I didn't aim at him.  I knew that Frank McLaury had the reputation of being a good shot and a dangerous man, and I aimed at Frank McLaury. The two first shots which were fired were fired by Billy Clanton and myself; he shot at me, and I shot at Frank McLaury.  I do not know which shot was first.  We fired almost together."

According to the chief newspaper of the town, The Tombstone Epitaph, "Wyatt Earp stood up and fired in rapid succession, as cool as a cucumber, and was not hit."

Billy Clanton drew his gun right-handed.  Morgan Earp fired almost immediately, hitting Billy in the right wrist.  This shot disabled Billy's gunhand and forced him to shift the revolver to his left hand.  He continued firing until he emptied it.

All witnesses generally agreed that two shots were fired first, almost indistinguishable from each other.  General firing immediately broke out.  About thirty shots were fired in about thirty seconds

POP15

Frank McLaury was shot in the abdomen.  He took his horse by its reins and struggled into Fremont Street.  Frank tried to grab his rifle from its scabbard on his horse, and continued to fire his revolver, only to lose the horse before he could withdraw the rifle from the scabbard.  Holliday followed him into the street.

A number of witnesses observed a man leading a horse into the street and firing near it. (Wyatt in his testimony thought this was Tom McLaury.)  However, Claiborne said only one man had a horse in the fight, and that this man was Frank, who was holding his own horse by the reins as cover, but then losing it and its cover in the middle of the street.  Wes Fuller also identified Frank as the man with the horse.

POP16

According to Wyatt, as the firing broke out, "At that moment Tom McLaury threw his hand to his right hip and jumped behind a horse."

Tom McLaury hid behind a horse and fired once, if not twice, over the horse's back.  At some point in the first few seconds, Holliday stepped around Tom McLaury's horse and shot him with the short, double-barreled shotgun in the chest at close range.

There is some discrepancy in the accounts concerning the horse, or horses.  If there was only one horse, who was using it as a shield?  Was it Frank or Tom, as Wyatt claimed.

Witness C. H. "Ham" Light saw Tom running or stumbling westward on Fremont Street towards Third Street, away from the gunfight.  Light testified that Tom fell at the foot of a telegraph pole on the corner of Fremont and 3rd Street and lay there, without moving, through the duration of the fight.

After shooting Tom, Holliday tossed the shotgun aside, pulled out his nickel-plated revolver, and continued to fire at Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton.

POP17

Though wounded, Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury kept shooting.  One of them, perhaps Billy, shot Morgan Earp across the back in a wound that struck both shoulder blades and a vertebra.  Morgan stumbled and fell, yelling, 'I am hit,' as a bullet entered one shoulder blade and passed out through the other. He rose, but soon fell again, probably tripping on a mound on Fremont Street where the town was putting in new water pipes.

Either Frank or Billy shot Virgil Earp in the calf (Virgil thought it was Billy). Virgil, though hit, fired his next shot at Billy Clanton.

POP18 (and POP15)

Frank and Holliday exchanged shots as Frank moved into Fremont street with Holliday following. Frank hit Holliday in his pistol pocket, grazing his skin.  Frank lost control of his horse and, firing his weapon, crossed Fremont Street to the sidewalk on the east side. Holliday followed Frank across Fremont Street, exclaiming, "That son of a bitch has shot me, and I am going to kill him."

Frank, now entirely across Fremont street and still walking at a good pace according to Claiborne's testimony, fired twice more before he was shot in the head under his right ear. Both Morgan and Holliday apparently thought they had fired the shot that killed Frank, but since neither of them testified at the hearing, this information is only from second-hand accounts.  A passerby testified to having stopped to help Frank, and saw Frank try to speak, but he died where he fell, before he could be moved.

POP19

Billy Clanton was shot in the chest and abdomen, and after a minute or two slumped to a sitting position near his original position at the corner of the MacDonald house in the alley between the house and Fly's Lodging House.   Claiborne said Billy Clanton was supported by a window initially after he was shot, and fired some shots after sitting, with the pistol supported on his leg.  After he ran out of ammunition he called for more cartridges, but C. S. Fly took his pistol from him at about the time the general shooting ended.

POP20

Ike Clanton had bragged that he would kill the Earps or Doc Holliday at his first opportunity.  Wyatt told the court afterward that, once the shooting broke out,  Ike Clanton ran forward and grabbed Wyatt, exclaiming that he was unarmed and did not want a fight. To this protest Wyatt said he responded, "Go to fighting or get away!"  Clanton ran through the front door of Fly's boarding house and escaped, unwounded.

Wyatt Earp showed great prescence of mind under duress to allow Ike the chance to escape.

Billy Claiborne also ran from the fight.

Both Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne were unarmed.

Wesley Fuller, a Cowboy who had been at the rear of the alley, left as soon as the firing began.

POP21

Tom was carried from the corner of Fremont and Third into the Harwood house on that corner, where he died without speaking.

Passersby carried Billy to the Harwood house, where Tom had been taken.  Billy was in considerable pain and asked for a doctor and some morphine.  He told those near him, "They have murdered me.  I have been murdered.  Chase the crowd away and from the door and give me air." Billy gasped for air, and someone else heard him say, "Go away and let me die."

POP22

As the wounded lawmen were carried to their homes, they passed in front of the Sheriff's Office, and Johnny Behan told Wyatt Earp he was under arrest.  Wyatt paused two or three seconds and replied very forcibly: "I won't be arrested today. I am right here and am not going away."

POP23

Dr. H. M. Mathews examined the dead Cowboys late that night.  He found Frank McLaury had two wounds: a gunshot beneath the right ear that horizontally penetrated his head, and a second entering his abdomen one inch to the left of his navel.  Mathews stated that the wound beneath the ear was at the base of the brain and caused instant death.

When he examined Tom McLaury's body, he found a single shotgun wound: twelve buckshot wounds on the right side under his arm, between the third and fifth ribs. The wound was about four inches across.  Both Virgil and Wyatt stated that Holliday had shot Tom, which the coroner's exam supported.

Clanton was shot through the right arm, close to the wrist joint and "the bullet passed through the arm from "inside to outside," entering the arm close to the base of the thumb, and exiting "on the back of the wrist diagonally" with the latter wound larger.  There were two other wounds on Billy's body.  The first was two inches from Clanton's left nipple, penetrated his lung.  The other was in the abdomen beneath the twelfth rib, six inches to the right of the navel. Both were fired from the front.

The wound to Billy Clanton's right wrist was inflicted by Morgan Earp or Doc Holliday immediately at the outset of the fight as Billy was drawing his gun.  This tends to confirm claims that Doc and Morgan fired first.

POP24

Excluding the shotgun wound that killed Tom McLaury, the other two dead Cowboys had five wounds between them.  Compare this to the amazing accuracy of Captain Davis in Popthem, Gunfight One Against Fourteen.  Gunsmoke may have been a factor at the 'OK Corrall', where a number of guns where being discharged at the same time and the smoke was swirling around in a relatively enclosed area making it harder to aim.

Doc Holliday seems to have been the deadliest of those involved in the gunfight, killing Tom with his shotgun, and possibly killing Frank.

POP25

No revolver or rifle was found near Tom, and he was not wearing a cartridge belt.  Tom McLaury's personal revolver was at the Capital Saloon on 4th Street and Fremont about a block away. The saloon-keeper (Mehan) testified Tom had deposited it sometime before the fight, between 1 and 2 p.m., after the time he was "buffaloed" (pistol-whipped) by Wyatt (Mehan witnessed both events, and said Tom deposited the pistol after the beating).

The Cowboys testified that Tom was unarmed and claimed that the Earps murdered him.

POP25

On the strength of the prosecution case,  Judge Spicer revoked the bail for Doc and Wyatt Earp and had them jailed on November 7, and they spent the next 16 days in jail.

Wyatt Earp prepared a written statement, as permitted by Section 133 of Arizona law, which would not allow the prosecution to cross-examine him.  On November 16, when Wyatt was called to the stand and began to read his statement, the prosecution vociferously objected.  Although the statute wasn't specific about whether it was legal for a defendant to read his statement, Spicer allowed his testimony to proceed.

Justice Wells Spicer ruled the case not be bound over for trial.  His ruling stated that there was not enough evidence to assure a likelihood of conviction.  The Cochise County Grand Jury would later reopen the issue and concur with Spicer.

POP26

Aftermath:

On December 28, 1881, Virgil Earp was maimed in an assassination attempt by the outlaw Cowboys, and on March 18, 1882, they assassinated Morgan who was killed while playing billiards.

Over the next several weeks Wyatt and his posse tracked down and killed four of the men they believed were responsible for their brothers' ambush and murder. The Tucson sheriff issued arrest warrants for their killing of Frank Stilwell. The ride for vengeance came to be called the 'Earp vendetta ride'. Wyatt and Doc left the Arizona Territory for Colorado in April, 1882 and parted company after a minor disagreement. Although they may have remained in contact, they never saw each other again. Holliday said in 1882 that he thought Behan was behind the assassination of Morgan Earp.  When Holliday died of tuberculosis on November 8, 1887, Wyatt Earp did not learn of Holliday's death for several months afterward.

POP27

So, was it a fair fight?

It was fair insofar as the Earps and Holliday went up against five opponents.  (Six if we include Wesley Fuller, the Cowboy who was at the rear of the alley and left as soon as the firing started.)  It's no discredit to them that the fight quickly degenerated into four against three, when Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran.  To the Earps' credit, they were setting off to face the Cowboys with the just the three of them.  Doc Holliday joined them a little later.  The Earps did not lack courage

The fight was not quite so fair when we consider the readiness of the combatants, not just in regards to whether they were armed, but also whether they were mentally ready.

Ike Clanton had spent the previous 24 hours inviting the Earps to a gunfight.  He had called them out, and if he wasn't armed, he should have been armed.  He had been drinking and he and Tom had been pistol-whipped.

So, as far as mental preparedness, it is evident that only one side was ready.  The Earps and Holliday had made the 'walk' toward the OK Corall, during which they would have steeled themselves for the upcoming action, like Pike and the Wild Bunch at the end of that movie; and if the exchange that  the witness claims she heard between Wyatt and Holliday to "Let them have it" is true, then at least those two of the four were coming ready to kill.  But all four of them were ready for a gunfight because they were bringing it.

The Cowboys, on the other hand were standing around not sure if there would be gunfight.  They could not have been mentally prepared.

In the movie 'Old Gringo', Gregory Peck plays American author Ambrose Pierce who crosses the border to team up with Pancho Villa.  A Federale captain is captured by the rebels and is condemned to be executed the next day.  He accepts his fate with grace and courage.  Ambrose Pierce proposes to the rebel leader to try an experiment.  He suggests that the captain be executed immediately and be given no time to prepare himself for death.  The captain is informed of his imminent death.  He loses his resolve and goes all to pieces.

The Earps and Doc Holliday had had time to prepare themselves.  The Clantons and McLaurys were faced with the possibility of imminent death, and no time to prepare.

POP28


There's no question that, from the evidence, Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury were brave men, and game fighters, and they were not quitters.  They suddenly found themselves in a gunfight where they were outnumbered four to two if Tom was unarmed, and at the best four to three if Tom was armed.  They put up a gallant fight.  Billy Clanton, as he sat dying, propped up against a wall, was still calling for more cartridges. He was only nineteen and shooting with his left hand.

Vikings. Pops

POP1

Cnut (he of the legend of the tide) was driven out of England by King Ethelred. According to Adam of Bremen, he returned in 1015 with a fleet of over 1000 large ships. Undoubtedly an exaggeration. Wikipedia quotes 200 ships and 10,000 men. The invasion was successful and in 1016 Cnut, at the age of about 20, became the king of England.

POP2

Compare to other invasions:

The Spanish Armada of 1588 consisted of 132 ships, amomg them some of the largest ever built till that time; 3000 cannon and 30,000 men.

Harald Hardrada of Norway in 1066.  300 ships.  Resoundingly defeated at the battle of Stamford Bridge by the new Anglo-Saxon king Harold Godwinson, a mere 25 ships sufficed to take what was left of the Viking army back to Norway.

Two days later William the Conqueror arrived in England.  He had between 600 and 700 transport ships to carry 7000 men (including 3000 cavalry.)

Julius Caesar had 800 ships 5 legions (25,000 men)and 2000 cavalry.  54 BC.

POP3

The period of fifty years from Cnut to William The Conqueror is perhaps the pivotal period of English history, not just because of the Norman conquest of 1066, but because of what might have been but was not.  Consider the possibilities:

Cnut died in 1035.  His two sons ruled for a brief period dying respectively in 1040 and 1042.  Had either of them lived longer, William the Conqueror would probably not have invaded in 1066, and England would have been a Scandinavian nation; the English language would have been a mix of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon.

The battle of Hastings was a very closely fought battle that could have gone either way, even despite the weariness of King Harold's army which had just defeated Hardrada's Vikings and endured a forced march from the north of England.  If Harold had been victorious, England would have remained Anglo-Saxon and the English language would not be this glorious amalgam of Anglo-Saxon and French.

POP4

The Normans (Norse-men) were the descendants of Vikings who settled in what became Normandy.  Their leader was Rollo who, in about 911, became baptized and married the daughter of King Charles the Simple.

POP5

In the Heathen calender, the midwinter feast was called Jol. In the three scandinavian languages of today Jul is the term for Christmas, and in the English language we have Yuletide.

POP6

According to the Icelandic historian and poet Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241), Odin promised his followers that each man who came to him in Valhalla would have the use of "what he himself had buried in the earth". This would go a long way toward explaining the treasure troves that farmers sometimes dig up, such as the Silverdale hoard, or the Spillings hoard discovered in 1999.

POP7

From about 800 to about 1200 there occured the Mediaeval Warm Period (also known as the Little Optimum) which producd some of the warmest centuries of the past 8000 years. Previously inhospitable regions now became destinations for Viking settlers, who now had the incentive to make the long journey westward toward a desirable end, and were thus induced to travel ever further, to Iceland, on to Greenland and finally to America. Iceland for example was covered with woods from the mountains to the seashore, and whereas now only 20% of the land is suitable for pasture, then the figure was between 45 and 70%.

In 1495 Pope Alexander VI (that would be Alexander Borgia) found time amidst his intrigues to express concern in a papal letter about the spiritual life of Greenlanders noting that "no vessel has touched there during the past eighty years".

POP8

Charlemagne's forced Christianization of the Saxons in the 780's included sanctions that were far divorced from any intimation of brotherly love - death for eating meat during lent, death for cremating the dead in accordance with Heaten rites, death for any who hid themselves unbaptised. But for a Christian to kill a Heathen earned no penance because the Heathen were considered less than human.

POP9

The Vikings were not always victorious.  In 844 a fleet of 80 Viking ships appeared off Lisbon, "covering the sea like dark birds". The city was captured and the fleet continued down the Spanish coast to Seville, at this time part of the Muslim empire.  The city was also taken and occupied.  A Muslim army with the use of siege catapults drove the Vikings out.  A few months later the Vikings suffered another defeat with the loss of thirty ships.  The corpses of Viking captives hung from the palm trees of Seville and Talyata - an incongruous picture of Norsemen amid the palm trees.

Vikings. Going Berserk

POP1

Norse warriors are reported in Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury.  They would charge their enemies in a mind-numbed rage, feeling no fear and no pain.  Individuals also were capable of going berserk.  Mediaeval scholars no longer regard Berserk madness to be a form of collective insanity; it was deliberately induced, they now believe, by the eating of fly-amanite mushrooms.

This condition is said to have begun with shivering, chattering of teeth, and chill in the body, and then the face swelled and changed its color.  With this was connected a great hot-headedness, which at last gave over into a great rage, under which they howled as wild animals, bit the edge of their shields, and cut down every thing they net without discriminating between friend or foe.  When this condition ceased, a great dulling of the mind and feebleness followed, which could last for one or several days.

Remember the movie Jacobs Ladder.  In it the US army is testing a new drug to enhance the fighting abilities of its soldiers. The horror is that the soldiers on whom the drug had been tested had attacked, killed and mutilated their fellow soldiers.

POP2

The Norse Berserks were magicians and sages, and seem to have used the scarlet amanita muscaria (fly-amanite) for inducing prophecies. They were called Berserks (Bear-shirts) because they worshipped the Bear goddess, which accounts for our Great Bear constellation, and wore bear skins in her honour. Their cult was suppressed by royal proclamation - in AD 1015 (Norway) and AD 1123 (Iceland).

Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241) wrote the following description of berserkers in his Ynglinga saga:
His (Odin's) men rushed forwards without armour, were as mad as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were strong as bears or wild oxen, and killed people at a blow, but neither fire nor iron told upon them. This was called Berserkergang.

In 1015 King Erik outlawed berserks, along with 'holmganga' or duels.  It had become a common practice for a berserker to challenge men of property to holmgang, and upon slaying the unfortunate victim, to take possession of his goods, wealth, and women. This was a difficult tactic to counter, since a man so challenged had to appear, have a champion fight for him, or else be named 'ni(dh)ingr' and coward.

Check out the Popthems about the Fly-Amanite mushroom for its association with the Berserkers  and its influence on our civilization.

Vikings and Slaves

POP1

The word 'heath' is defined as barren land, wasteland, uncultivated land.  It refers to land found in Northern Europe.  'Heathen' is the name for those who lived on the heath - the Heath-men.  These were the Vikings who, unable to survive from cultivating this barren terrain, crossed the sea to pillage the cultivated lands of others.

Today the word 'Heathen' is a derogatory term used by Christians to describe their enemies, opponents etc., and though it's been a thousand years since the Vikings terrorized the Christian nations of Europe, their depradations and the fear they aroused must have been extraordinary to have left such a mark on the psyche of Christianity that the term 'Heathen' exists to this day to denote all that is the antithesis of Christian thought and belief.  Jews for example call their enemies anti-semites, not 'Romans' despite the fact that Rome destroyed Israel, burned the temple, and caused a diaspora of almost 2000 years.

POP2

A book called 'The Vikings' by Robert Ferguson gives some insight into what the Vikings were all about.  Like this example of the inhumanity of the Vikings:

In the year 1014 in a sermon, Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, abominated the shameful Viking practice of men banding together to buy a female slave to use for their sexual gratification before returning her to the auction block to sell her on down the line.

Here's his vivid description of captives being herded, probably to ships, to be transported to a life of slavery - "Often two seamen, or maybe three, drive the droves of Christian men from sea to sea, out through this people, huddled together, as a public shame to us all" - a vivid picture of a demoralized English populace.  Two or three Viking guards - all it takes to control a crowd of Anglo-Saxon Christians; like SS guards in Auschwitz.

POP3

Slave trading was by far the greatest source of income for the vikings.  The source of the slaves was the British Isles in the west and the lands of the Slavs in the east.  But such was the volume of human trafficking in captives taken from among the Slavs that the term "Slav" became, via the mediaeval Latin sclavus, our word for all humans held in bondage - "slave".

Vikings and tattoos, vanity, table manners and sexual mores

POP1

The word 'heath' is defined as barren land, wasteland, uncultivated land.  It refers to land found in Northern Europe.  'Heathen' is the name for those who lived on the heath - the Heath-men.  These were the Vikings who, unable to survive from cultivating this barren terrain, crossed the sea to pillage the cultivated lands of others.

Today the word 'Heathen' is a derogatory term used by Christians to describe their enemies, opponents etc., and though it's been a thousand years since the Vikings terrorized the Christian nations of Europe, their depradations and the fear they aroused must have been extraordinary to have left such a mark on the psyche of Christianity that the term 'Heathen' exists to this day to denote all that is the antithesis of Christian thought and belief.  Jews for example call their enemies anti-semites, not 'Romans' despite the fact that Rome destroyed Israel, burned the temple, and caused a diaspora of almost 2000 years.

POP2

A book called 'The Vikings' by Robert Ferguson gives some insight into what the Vikings were all about.  Like this example of the inhumanity of the Vikings:

In the year 1014 in a sermon, Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, abominated the shameful Viking practice of men banding together to buy a female slave to use for their sexual gratification before returning her to the auction block to sell her on down the line.

Here's his vivid description of captives being herded, probably to ships, to be transported to a life of slavery - "Often two seamen, or maybe three, drive the droves of Christian men from sea to sea, out through this people, huddled together, as a public shame to us all" - a vivid picture of a demoralized English populace.  Two or three Viking guards - all it takes to control a crowd of Anglo-Saxon Christians; like SS guards in Auschwitz.

POP3

Slave trading was by far the greatest source of income for the vikings.  The source of the slaves was the British Isles in the west and the lands of the Slavs in the east.  But such was the volume of human trafficking in captives taken from among the Slavs that the term "Slav" became, via the mediaeval Latin sclavus, our word for all humans held in bondage - "slave".

POP4

Ibn Rustah tells of The Rus as covered even to their fingertips in tattoos depicting trees, figures and various designs.  Alcuin writing around 780 describes the Heathens' fashion for 'blinded eyes', probably black eye shadow - "..once applied it never fades, and the beauty of both men and women is increased".

POP5

Arab travellers have described their impressions of Vikings. Ibn Fadlan describes a band of Rus traders that were travelling down the Volga - I have never seen more perfect specimens, tall as date palms and ruddy complexioned", but he's quite disgusted at their lack of hygiene - a pitcher of water was passed among the menbers of the group in which each washed his hands, face and hair and then cleared his nose and spat. The process was repeated until all had used the same water in the same fashion". Probably a bonding ritual bcause their was plenty of cleaner water in the river Volga. In the movie "The Thirteenth Warrior, Tony Banderas' character is proffered a bowl of water by his new Viking friends in which they have carried out similar ablutions, but he declines to wash in it.

POP6

Ibn Dihya, in a poem/play has a Viking female speak of the liberated sexual mores of her sex - "Our women stay with their men of their own free will; a woman stays with her man as long as it pleases her, and leaves him when she wearies of their life together." The independence of women from the heathen north was a source of great surprise to Arab travellers.  One noted that "among them women have the right to divorce.  A woman can herself initiate divorce whenever she pleases."

POP7

In the Saga of the Jomsvikings: following their defeat, the Jomsvikings are being executed one by one.  Among them is a seventeen year old whose hair is "long and golden yellow like silk". Asked about the prospect of his imminent death, he replies that he has lived the best part of his life and has no desire to survive his companions.  He asks that his hair be held away from his head so that his it will not become bloodstained.  Someone comes forward and twines the long blonde hair around his hands as requested.  As the axe come down the youth jerks his head away and the assistants hands are cut off.  "Whose hands are these in my hair?", the youth coolly asks.  He is reprieved and invited to become  a member of Earl Erik's 'hird'.  He has shown the essential qualities of the heroic Viking: youth, sharp wit, bravery, and vanity.  The family of the Viking who has just bled to death with no hands might not agree.

The Vikings were very vain about their hair, as evidenced by the fact that when a Viking burial trove is uncovered it invariably includes a comb.

POP8


The vikings had a 'one for all, all for one' attitude.  Ibn Fadlan observes: "If one group of them is challenged to war, they all join forces.  They stand firm as one man against their enemies."
He also writes: "They treat their servants well and dress exquisitely....They are generous to each other, honor their guests and treat well those who seek refuge with them, and all who come to visit them.  They do not allow anyone to annoy or harm these.  And whenever anyone dares to treat them unfairly they help and defend them".


POP9

Trousers discovered in Danish and German bogs suggest that squatting was the position of choice when it came time to rest weary legs.  The trousers have narrow legs widening out across the buttocks, and with no central seam down the rear that would have had a tendency to split from prolonged squatting.  So let's not visualize Vikings lounging around on some chair-equivalent of our lawn chairs.


POP10

Norse warriors are reported in Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury.  They would charge their enemies in a mind-numbed rage, feeling no fear and no pain.  Individuals also were capable of going berserk.  Mediaeval scholars no longer regard Berserk madness to be a form of collective insanity; it was deliberately induced, they now believe, by the eating of fly-amanite mushrooms.

This condition is said to have begun with shivering, chattering of teeth, and chill in the body, and then the face swelled and changed its color.  With this was connected a great hot-headedness, which at last gave over into a great rage, under which they howled as wild animals, bit the edge of their shields, and cut down every thing they net without discriminating between friend or foe.  When this condition ceased, a great dulling of the mind and feebleness followed, which could last for one or several days.

Remember the movie Jacobs Ladder.  In it the US army is testing a new drug to enhance the fighting abilities of its soldiers. The horror is that the soldiers on whom the drug had been tested had attacked, killed and mutilated their fellow soldiers.

POP11

The Norse Berserks were magicians and sages, and seem to have used the scarlet amanita muscaria (fly-amanite) for inducing prophecies. They were called Berserks (Bear-shirts) because they worshipped the Bear goddess, which accounts for our Great Bear constellation, and wore bear skins in her honour. Their cult was suppressed by royal proclamation - in AD 1015 (Norway) and AD 1123 (Iceland).

Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241) wrote the following description of berserkers in his Ynglinga saga:
His (Odin's) men rushed forwards without armour, were as mad as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were strong as bears or wild oxen, and killed people at a blow, but neither fire nor iron told upon them. This was called Berserkergang.

In 1015 King Erik outlawed berserks, along with 'holmganga' or duels.  It had become a common practice for a berserker to challenge men of property to holmgang, and upon slaying the unfortunate victim, to take possession of his goods, wealth, and women. This was a difficult tactic to counter, since a man so challenged had to appear, have a champion fight for him, or else be named 'ni(dh)ingr' and coward.

Check out the Popthems about the Fly-Amanite mushroom for its association with the Berserkers  and its influence on our civilization.

POP12

Cnut (he of the legend of the tide) was driven out of England by King Ethelred. According to Adam of Bremen, he returned in 1015 with a fleet of over 1000 large ships. Undoubtedly an exaggeration. Wikipedia quotes 200 ships and 10,000 men. The invasion was successful and in 1016 Cnut, at the age of about 20, became the king of England.

POP13

Compare to other invasions:

The Spanish Armada of 1588 consisted of 132 ships, amomg them some of the largest ever built till that time; 3000 cannon and 30,000 men.

Harald Hardrada of Norway in 1066.  300 ships.  Resoundingly defeated at the battle of Stamford Bridge by the new Anglo-Saxon king Harold Godwinson, a mere 25 ships sufficed to take what was left of the Viking army back to Norway.

Two days later William the Conqueror arrived in England.  He had between 600 and 700 transport ships to carry 7000 men (including 3000 cavalry.)

Julius Caesar had 800 ships 5 legions (25,000 men)and 2000 cavalry.  54 BC.

POP14

The period of fifty years from Cnut to William The Conqueror is perhaps the pivotal period of English history, not just because of the Norman conquest of 1066, but because of what might have been but was not.  Consider the possibilities:

Cnut died in 1035.  His two sons ruled for a brief period dying respectively in 1040 and 1042.  Had either of them lived longer, William the Conqueror would probably not have invaded in 1066, and England would have been a Scandinavian nation; the English language would have been a mix of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon.

The battle of Hastings was a very closely fought battle that could have gone either way, even despite the weariness of King Harold's army which had just defeated Hardrada's Vikings and endured a forced march from the north of England.  If Harold had been victorious, England would have remained Anglo-Saxon and the English language would not be this glorious amalgam of Anglo-Saxon and French.

POP15

The Normans (Norse-men) were the descendants of Vikings who settled in what became Normandy.  Their leader was Rollo who, in about 911, became baptized and married the daughter of King Charles the Simple.

POP16

In the Heathen calender, the midwinter feast was called Jol. In the three scandinavian languages of today Jul is the term for Christmas, and in the English language we have Yuletide.

POP17

According to the Icelandic historian and poet Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241), Odin promised his followers that each man who came to him in Valhalla would have the use of "what he himself had buried in the earth". This would go a long way toward explaining the treasure troves that farmers sometimes dig up, such as the Silverdale hoard, or the Spillings hoard discovered in 1999.

POP18

From about 800 to about 1200 there occured the Mediaeval Warm Period (also known as the Little Optimum) which producd some of the warmest centuries of the past 8000 years. Previously inhospitable regions now became destinations for Viking settlers, who now had the incentive to make the long journey westward toward a desirable end, and were thus induced to travel ever further, to Iceland, on to Greenland and finally to America. Iceland for example was covered with woods from the mountains to the seashore, and whereas now only 20% of the land is suitable for pasture, then the figure was between 45 and 70%.

In 1495 Pope Alexander VI (that would be Alexander Borgia) found time amidst his intrigues to express concern in a papal letter about the spiritual life of Greenlanders noting that "no vessel has touched there during the past eighty years".

POP19

Charlemagne's forced Christianization of the Saxons in the 780's included sanctions that were far divorced from any intimation of brotherly love - death for eating meat during lent, death for cremating the dead in accordance with Heaten rites, death for any who hid themselves unbaptised. But for a Christian to kill a Heathen earned no penance because the Heathen were considered less than human.

POP20

The Vikings were not always victorious.  In 844 a fleet of 80 Viking ships appeared off Lisbon, "covering the sea like dark birds". The city was captured and the fleet continued down the Spanish coast to Seville, at this time part of the Muslim empire.  The city was also taken and occupied.  A Muslim army with the use of siege catapults drove the Vikings out.  A few months later the Vikings suffered another defeat with the loss of thirty ships.  The corpses of Viking captives hung from the palm trees of Seville and Talyata - an incongruous picture of Norsemen amid the palm trees.

Deadliest Gunfight in American History. One Man Against Fourteen.

POP1

Jonathan R. Davis was a gold rush prospector. On 19 December 1854, he single-handedly killed eleven armed outlaws at Rocky Canyon near Sacramento, California using two Colt revolvers and a Bowie knife. This episode is possibly the single deadliest small arms engagement in American history where one man went up against multiple foes

POP2

Jonathan Davis was born on August 5, 1816, to a prosperous family in Monticello, South Carolina.  He was an educated man, having studied at the University of South Carolina. In December 1846, he enlisted in the Palmetto Regiment of Volunteers for service in the Mexican War. He was soon promoted to second lieutenant.  He served with great distinction and fought in many battles; he was wounded in action at Churubusco.  He was known as an expert pistol shot, and according to a friend he was "second to none in the state as a fencer." He was an honorary captain, but was called Captain Davis.

POP3

On December 19, 1854, Captain Davis and two fellow prospectors were walking down a miner's trail in Rocky Canyon in El Dorado County, on the North Fork of the American River.  His two companions were armed with pistols; Captain Davis carried two Colt revolvers and a large Bowie knife.

A band of robbers was lying in wait in the canyon brush near the trail.  Among the bandits were two Americans, one Frenchman, two Britons, five Australians and four Mexicans. Fourteen in all.  The band had robbed and murdered six Chinese two days before, and had robbed and killed four Americans the previous day.  Two of the gang had been wounded in these encounters.

As Captain Davis and his companions walked past the place of ambush, the bandit gang charged out of the brush, shooting their pistols.  James McDonald, one of Captain Davis' two companions died instantly, without time to draw his revolver or react in any way.  The other, Dr. Sparks, managed to get his six-shooter out and fire twice at the highwaymen before he dropped, badly wounded.

POP4

Captain Davis later described himself as being "in a fever of excitement at the time." He stood his ground and, like Wyatt Earp, kept his nerve.  His aim was deadly accurate. One after another he shot down his assailants. The outlaw bullets tore at Davis's clothing but caused only two slight flesh wounds. Within moments seven of the bandits were dead or dying on the ground, and Davis's pistols were empty.  At the very least seven of his twelve bullets found their target (or seven of ten if he kept one chamber empty).

Four of the remaining robbers, three armed with Bowie knives and one with a short sword, now closed in on the Captain to finish him off.  With his Bowie knife Captain Davis warded off the thrusts from the two most aggressive bandits.  He stabbed one of them to death; the other he disarmed by knocking the knife from his grasp and slicing off his nose and a finger of his right hand.

The two last attackers were the men who had been wounded in the previous raids. Despite their weakened condition, they foolishly approached Davis with drawn knives. As the captain explained later, he did not know that they were wounded: "Two of the four that made the charge upon me were unable to fight on account of their old wounds. They came up with the rest, making warlike demonstrations by raising their knives in a striking posture, and I acted accordingly. I noticed that they handled them with very bad grace, but attributed it altogether to fright or natural awkwardness."  He killed them both.

Seven of the robbers were dead, three desperately wounded, and the eleventh, the now noseless bandit, did not appear to be fatally injured. The final three remaining outlaws fled.

POP5

Captain Davis removed his shirt, tore it to strips, and began bandaging Dr. Sparks and the wounded brigands.  Suddenly Davis spotted three well-armed strangers coming up the trail. They turned out to be a John Webster and two members of a mining party camped a mile distant on a creek running into the North Fork of the American River.  They had been out hunting game and had seen the entire fight from a nearby hilltop.

POP6

Someone examined Captain Davis's hat and found that at least six bullets had passed through it.  Participants in a gunfight may have tendency to shoot high, given that Davis had only two flesh wounds, but all of six holes in his hat.

POP7

By nightfall the three badly wounded bandits had died.  In the morning McDonald and the ten dead robbers were buried.  The surviving bandit's wounds proved to be more serious than had been thought, and he died that day and was buried with the rest.

POP8

John Webster and other miners formed a coroner's jury and prepared a long statement setting forth the facts of the affair.  They concluded, "From all the evidence before us, Captain Davis and his party acted solely in self-defence, and were perfectly justifiable in killing these robbers.  Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon them for having so gallantly stopped the wild career of these lawless ruffians."

Seventeen miners signed the report, which was then delivered to Placerville.  At the same time, John Webster wrote a long letter to a friend in Placerville offering his firsthand account ot the desperate battle in Rocky Canyon. The wounded Dr. Sparks was carried down the mountains to his home near Coloma by Captain Davis.  The doctor died on December 26.

POP9

Sceptics.

The coroner's report and the letter from John Webster created a sensation in Placerville. The Placerville Mountain Democrat ran an extra edition on December 23, publishing both accounts in full.  The issue was reprinted by the San Francisco and Sacramento newspapers, and eventually by major newspapers in other parts of the country.  The story was considered so incredible that many doubted it. The San Francisco California Chronicle responded that "The story, though it might be considered certainly fabulous in any other country, is quite in character with things that often take place in California."

The three miners who had witnessed the fight, John Webster, Isaac Hart, and P.S. Robertson, had moved to new diggings twenty miles farther up the mountains.  They had had no contact with outsiders until they were visited by a Mr. Williams, a brother-in-law of Dr. Sparks, who had searched for them for several weeks before finding their camp. Williams wanted to confirm the details of Dr. Sparks' death, and he informed the three for the first time that their account had been discredited.

On March 20, 1855, three months after the battle, Captain Davis, Williams, and the three eyewitnesses appeared in the office of the Mountain Democrat.  Before Judge R.M. Anderson and a delegation of prominent citizens they recounted the battle in detail.  After careful questioning of Webster, Hart, and Robertson by Judge Anderson, those present were soon convinced that the fight had taken place exactly as described.  The three young miners presented letters of introduction and also gave a written statement about the battle.  Their testimony in this almost formal  setting settled all doubts in the public mind.

Concealed Firearms. Renaissance style.

POP1

In 1522, the city of Ferrara in Italy forbad the carrying of crossbows or firearms into the city, day or night.  (The city ordinance specifically mentioned wheel locks which were mechanical and did not need a lighted fuse).

In 1523, the ordinances became more draconian:

..."and since an especially dangerous kind of firearms have come to be used, which are called vulgarly 'stone guns', (wheel locks) with which a homicide can easily be committed; in knowledge of this, His Excellency, knowing that these are devilish arms, prohibits their being carried without express authorization, under penalty of having a hand publicly cut off..."  ..."because these arms are being used more and more for murders and assassinations"...

Often however the ban came to be applied primarily to wheel locks that were short enough to be concealed in clothing.  Even these short firearms could usually be kept within the confines of the house; and longer firearms could be carried (as long as they were unloaded) from one's home to the city gates, at which point they were beyond the confines of the city and could be loaded.

This is 350 years before dodge City.

In Florence in 1547, the Duke of Florence forbad the carrying of firearms that were short enough to conceal.

Timeline - Leonardo Da Vinci died in 1519.

POP2

In London the practice of taking potshots at birds was probably becoming dangerous to humans because of poor marksmanship of the shooter - or so it would seem from a Parliamentary ordinance of 1549:

...noe person under the degree of Lord in Parliament shall henceforth shote in any handgunne within any citie or towne at any fowle or other mark, upon anie church, house or dovecote, neither shal any person shote...any hayl-shot (bird shot) or any more pellets than one at a tyme, upon payne of tenne pounds...