Let’s Make a Deal

Wyatt Earp’s attempt to placate the Cow-boys falls apart.

In 1881, Wells Fargo secretly gave Wyatt Earp a free hand to put an end to stage robberies in Cochise County. He decided to enlist the services of Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury and Joe Hill to bring the outlaws to justice. Wyatt offered them the Wells Fargo reward money–$6000– for the suspects if they would set up the stage robbers for arrest. Earp would get the glory for their capture; Clanton, McLaury and Hill would split the reward money. The deal fell through. Within weeks, three of the Cow-boys died violently; another was arrested but escaped.