A political brawl leads to dismissal of Wyatt Earp.

April 19, 1876. Wyatt Earp is fired as a Wichita, Kansas policeman. Earp’s boss, Mike Meagher, was being challenged by Bill Smith for the marshal position. Smith made some disparaging comments about the Earp brothers and Wyatt beat him to a pulp. In addition to the termination, Earp was fined $30 for disturbing the peace and threatened with a vagrancy charge if he didn’t leave town immediately. Wyatt headed west to another lawman job–in Dodge City.

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