Peter Brand’s Wyatt Earp’s Vendetta Posse Rider: The Story of Texas Jack Vermillion is a model of clarity and concision. John Oberland Vermillion, born in Virginia in 1845, fought in the Civil War
for the Union then drifted into southeast Arizona, just in time to become involved in the Earp-Clanton war. But Tombstone, Arizona, was merely one stage in what Brand calls a “seemingly never-ending nomadic lifestyle.” Vermillion drifted to Texas and then to the northern Louisiana town of Linden, supporting himself as a carpenter. He created a new persona for himself, even living for a time in a home for Confederate veterans. He died in the care of family members in Ohio in 1921. Alas, “Whatever untold stories he had were buried with him in Ohio.”
—Allen Barra, author of Inventing Wyatt Earp: His Life and Many Legends
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