Legendary director John Ford considered himself a student of history—especially Old West history. And he often told people how Wyatt Earp gave him the real story of the OK Corral shootout when the two met at the movie studios in the ‘20s.
But his 1946 Western “My Darling Clementine” was pretty loose with the facts. Film historian John Tuska asked Ford why he’d veered away from the real history. "Did you like the film?" Ford asked. Tuska said it was one of his favorites. Ford repli

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows