The Real Story of the Earp Bros in Nevada

Virgil Earp

   The recent death of Nevada historian/long-time Nevada State Archivist Guy Louis Rocha made me recall one of his books, “The Earps’ Last Frontier: Wyatt and Virgil Earp in the Nevada Mining Camps 1902-1905,” which he co-wrote with Jeffrey M. Kintop.

   Published in 1989, this slim volume remains one of the definitive historical works on the short time that the two Earp brothers spent in the mining towns of Tonopah and Goldfield.

   According to Kintop and Rocha, in January 1902, Wyatt Earp, fresh from Alaska’s mining boom, arrived in Tonopah with his wife, Josie. Within a few months, he and a partner had opened the Northern Saloon, and Earp also worked as a teamster for the Tonopah Mining Company, hauling ore and supplies.

   For a very short time, he may have served as an appointed deputy U.S. Marshal in Tonopah, mostly serving papers to defendants in federal court cases—but he never engaged with any shootouts with or pistol-whipping of desperados, like he had done in Dodge City, Kansas, and Tombstone, Arizona.

   In the late summer of 1903, the always restless Earp and his wife decided to leave Tonopah. He sold his investments and headed to Los Angeles to live. The two, however, returned several times to prospect around Silver Peak and other parts of Esmeralda County.

   And that was about it for Wyatt Earp in Nevada.

   As for Virgil Earp, Wyatt’s older brother, he and his wife, Allie, arrived in Goldfield sometime in the latter part of 1904. Down on his luck and nearly broke, he took a job as deputy sheriff of Esmeralda County and also provided security at the National Club.

   Sadly, a few months after settling in Goldfield, Virgil Earp contracted a bad case of pneumonia, which he was unable to shake. On October 19, 1905, Virgil Earp died in Goldfield at age 62. At the request of his daughter, his remains were sent to Portland, Oregon, and he was buried at the Riverview Cemetery.

   It is believed that Wyatt and Josie Earp may have visited Virgil and Allie in Goldfield sometime during the summer of 1904, but there is no official record of such a visit.

   According to Rocha’s research, “As for Wyatt Earp, there is no end to the list of things he didn’t do in Goldfield. He didn’t tend bar there, he didn’t own a hotel or saloon there, and in fact he didn’t do much of anything there.”

   In total, the two Earp brothers spent about eight and eleven months, respectively, in Nevada—hardly enough time to accomplish everything that has been attributed to them.

   Still, the apocryphal stories about Wyatt Earp in Tonopah make for fun reading. For instance, one of the most often repeated stories involves him coming to the rescue of Tonopah attorney Tasker Oddie, who later served as Nevada’s Governor and U.S. Senator.

   In the tale, claim jumpers were digging a shaft on land owned by Oddie’s clients. In order to stop the men from continuing, the unarmed Oddie jumped into the hole. The men allegedly pulled their guns on Oddie and ordered him to leave.

   At that moment, Wyatt Earp and his saloon partner, Al Martin, came along in a wagon. The famous former lawman, who sometimes worked for Oddie, quickly sized up the situation and jumped into the hole beside his friend.

   When the claim jumpers asked who he thought he was, Earp reportedly said, “I’m Wyatt Earp,” then pointed at Martin, who had a shotgun aimed at the mine thieves. The men lowered their guns and quickly scrambled out of the hole—but not before following Earp’s orders to replace the mine location stakes they’d knocked over.

   The great Nevada mythmakers, Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg, wrote about a remarkably similar episode occurring on a train ride. Allegedly, union thugs decided to shoot Oddie, who worked for the mining companies.

   “A walrus mustached individual in a slouch hat and neat dark suit who was lounging in the smoking room overheard two characters in an adjacent compartment planning to shoot Oddie through the partition as soon as the train got under way,” Beebe and Clegg wrote.

   “Unceremoniously, he kicked open the door of their bedroom and told them the project was ill-advised and they had better leave the train while the going was good. To their inquiry as to just who the hell he thought he was, the answer was simply, ‘Wyatt Earp.’ The assassins left.”

   It was, most likely, yet another example of the adage stated in the classic 1962 western film, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” In it, a newspaper editor tells a young reporter, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

Ghost Town Aficionado Tami Force Shares Her Experiences in New Book

   For more than 25 years, Tami Force has explored Nevada and Eastern California’s ghost towns and historic sites. In 2020, the Douglas County resident began sharing her discoveries on a website, Nevada Ghost Towns & Beyond (https://nvtami.com/), which has grown into an enormously popular place for ghost town information.

   Now, she’s collected some of her best stories and photos in a pair of new books, In the Shadow of the Eastern Sierra: Ghost Towns and Historical Sites in the Eastern Sierra-Northern Region and In the Glow of the Sierra: Ghost Towns and Historical Sites in the Eastern Sierra-Southern Region.

   In Shadow of the Eastern Sierra, Force writes about more than 70 historic sites and places in Lassen County, including Peter Lassen’s Grave and Doyle, as well as at Lake Tahoe, and in Washoe County, Carson City, Douglas County, and Alpine County.

   In the Glow of the Sierra, Force turns her attention to more than 80 ghost towns, mines, wagon trails, and rail lines that can be found in the area between Mono County and Kern County.

   Each entry is lavishly illustrated with high-quality photos, some of which are full-page images. Additionally, Force provides useful historical information about each featured place.

   A large part of what makes Force’s books stand out is the fact that she profiles many of the more obscure spots; the places you might drive through but not really know their historic significance. For example, travelers to Amador County might not know the entire story about Maiden’s Grave, where two separate sites have been marked with that name, but no one knows for sure which is correct.

   In Carson City, there’s an unusual historic spot known as Ormsby Poor Farm Cemetery, where, beginning in the 1860s, down-and-out residents could work on the farm in exchange for room and board and a small salary. The farm remained open for more than a century, only closing in 1965.

   As part of the poor farm, a small cemetery was established in a grove of trees. Today, it’s still there, surrounded by a metal fence, next to the Carson City fairgrounds.

   In addition to the wonderful photographs, the books contain maps of the various locations.

   For anyone wanting to follow Force’s frequent travels throughout the state (which were the basis for her books), be sure to check out her Nevada Ghost Towns and Beyond website.

   There, you can find descriptions and photos of more than 800 ghost towns and historic sites throughout Nevada, eastern California, Utah and Arizona, organized by county. Also, be sure to sign up for her newsletter, which keeps followers abreast of her most recent journeys.

   In the Shadow of the Eastern Sierra: Ghost Towns and Historical Sites in the Eastern Sierra-Northern Region and In the Glow of the Sierra: Ghost Towns and Historical Sites in the Eastern Sierra-Southern Region are available directly from Force on her website (at a 15 percent discount), in many Nevada bookstores, or from Amazon and many other online retailers.

   Both books come in hardcover (retail price of $65, not counting the discount) and softcover editions (retail price of $45, not including the discount).

Remembering a Nevada Icon: Guy Louis Rocha

 

I think the first time I met Guy Rocha was shortly after I had gone to work for the Nevada Commission on Tourism in the mid-1980s. I don’t recall why or how I encountered him—probably checking some Nevada history detail—but he made an immediate impression.

He was passionate about Nevada history and, to me, a little bit intimidating. Later, as I got to know him better, I realized he was committed to just getting Nevada historical information right.

Over the years, I made it a habit to drop by his office at the Nevada State Library to just shoot the breeze. He always made time for me and I always came away having learned something new about the state.

I particularly enjoyed hitting him up when he was working on one of his popular Nevada Myth of the Month columns, because he loved sharing the latest historical information that he had just uncovered.

He called the tendency for some writers to conflate history with legend as “fake-lore” and refused to accept the idea that facts should not get in the way of a good story. 

Like many people who wrote about Nevada history, whenever I made a factual error, I would inevitably receive a firm but friendly phone call explaining how I had got it wrong. The calls could be lengthy—I recall being on the receiving end of more than one call during which Guy would use all the allotted time on the voice recording, then call back to continue with his thought, and then call back again and again to complete his message.

Guy also introduced me to a noon-time basketball group (of mostly state workers) that played for many years in the former Nevada State Children’s Home Gym in Carson City. The games were always competitive and occasionally intense, with Guy being among the most serious of players.

In his role as the Nevada State Archivist and Historian, Guy played an important role in making the Nevada State Archives relevant. I remember him once telling me that when he first began to work for the archives, he found many of the state’s oldest official documents stored haphazardly in a room in an old building beneath leaking water pipes that had already ruined some of them.

It was through his sincere and deep appreciation of the value of such documents that he, along with others, persuaded the Nevada Legislature and Executive Branch to fund the construction of the current Nevada State Library, with state-of-the art archival facilities for storing such important materials.

Because of his enormous contributions to telling Nevada’s history factually and correctly, Guy was inducted into the Nevada Press Association’s Hall of Fame in 2025.

In 2005, I moved away from Nevada and, over the past two decades, kind of lost touch with Guy. I would still see his name in the newspapers—usually being quoted in a story setting the record straight on some historical matter.

In 2009, Guy retired from his position at the archives after an amazing 32 years in public service. At his retirement ceremony, Nevada Appeal writer Kirk Caraway shared what Guy said was his motto: “We are entitled to own opinions, but not our own facts. In turn, we are entitled to our opinion of the facts, but not entitled to our own facts based on our opinions.”

It was advice that is sorely needed these days.

Guy died on September 18, 2025 at the age of 73. Appropriately, his life and achievements were marked by a Celebration of Life event at the Nevada State Library and Archives on October 31—Nevada’s 161^st birthday.