In his writings, John W. Gilchriese cited entries from a diary he owned that was allegedly kept by Virgil Earp. Does it exist?

In his writings, John W. Gilchriese cited entries from a diary he owned that was allegedly kept by Virgil Earp. Does it exist?

Charles F. Price

Burnsville, North Carolina

I don’t believe the Virgil Earp diary exists. Gilchriese was pretty ambivalent about it, and we only have his word about its existence.

Noted Earp expert, Casey Tefertiller, says, “The supposed Virgil Earp diary was not included in the Gilchriese material auctioned off by Johns’ Western Gallery of San Francisco. No researcher I have spoken with has seen the supposed diary. Gilchriese avoided the subject with me and told different stories to different folks. There’s no support from an existing document or from any other researcher who has seen the diary.”

Since we only have Gilchriese’s word on the existence of the diary, one should be concerned about using any information cited from the diary.