Stitching Together a Relationship

Wyatt and Allie Earp bonded over a sewing machine.

The legend goes that Allie Earp, Virgil’s wife, didn’t think much of his brother Wyatt. At least according to some sources, she thought Wyatt was a self-centered publicity hound. But in her memoirs, Allie paints a different picture of her brother-in-law. The Earps were packing to move to Tombstone and there was no space for Allie’s prized sewing machine. Virgil told her to leave it. But Wyatt stepped in “Oh, we can get it in someplace.” And then under his breath, in a whisper, “but I don’t know where.” Allie and Wyatt got along well after that.