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Earp moved to Wichita, Kansas, and worked as a shotgun guard for Wells Fargo. She often appeared on stage and in publicity photos wearing a corset and pink tights: shocking attire for the 1870s. [2], By 1870, San Francisco was riding on the coattails of the still-expanding economic boom caused by the mining of silver from the Comstock Lode. They had an estimated $80,000, a relative fortune (equivalent to about $2,610,000 today). [2], Sadie Mansfield left Gillete, near Tip Top, and arrived in Phoenix on February 13, 1880. [26]:11 In November 1874, a woman named Sadie Mansfield took a stagecoach from San Francisco to Prescott along with several prostitutes working for Madame Hattie Wells. [1] Henry moved the family to San Francisco in 1868 when Josephine was 7. After a week in Tombstone, the Markham troupe finished their engagement and headed north to Prescott. With Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, David Andrews. By David Cranmer. Money flowed from Nevada through San Francisco, and for a while the Marcus family prospered. Some researchers also state that Josephine Earp, Wyatt Earps fourth and final common law wife, did her best to keep her husbands past with Mattie a secret. Her real name was Leah Hirschberg, whose mother was a music teacher. The nine-man jury found her not guilty. [99] Wyatt had some modest success with the gold mines[100] and they lived on the slim proceeds of income from that and investments in Oakland and Kern County oil field. [1] Celia had no desire to live on a farm for the rest of her life. In the book I Married Wyatt Earp (1967), based on a manuscript which she purportedly wrote, author Glenn Boyer quotes her as saying, "I liked the traveling sort of man better than the kind that sat back in one town all his life and wrote down little rows of figures all day or hustled dry goods or groceries and that sort of thing My blood demanded excitement, variety and change. His second wife was Mattie Blaylock, who became addicted to pain killer medicine. Corral shootout and the Earp Vendetta Ride. Instead, Earp left Colorado in late 1882 and arrived in San Francisco where Virgil was seeking treatment for his arm. She apparently expected to receive a telegram from Earp telling her where to meet him, but it never arrived. [26], Professor Pat Ryan stated that Josephine or Sadie may have used the stage name May Bell as a member of the Markham stage group. [23] Sadie Mansfield reappeared in Tombstone when she was noted in the July 1882 Tombstone census, but Josephine Marcus and Josephine Behan were not. Born in Wisconsin in 1850, Mattie was raised in Fairfax, Iowa until she ran away from home at the age of 16. [Henry] Jaffa told me later that Earps woman was a Jewess. Josephine or Sadie Marcuss name was never included among those on the Markham troupes rolls in 1879. Descendants of Josie's half-sister Rebecca allowed a Southern California group in 199899 to erect the stone currently in place. Corral on October 26, 1881. On June 14, 1900, Wyatt and Josephine were bound for Nome, Alaska. Wyatt Earp enthusiasts have made the gravesite the most visited in that Jewish cemetery and once even stole the tombstone. Celia Ann Mattie Blaylock was involved with Wyatt Earp after the death of his first wife, and is often termed as Wyatts common law wife. [71] Josephine was addicted to gambling on horse racing and her wagering increased until Wyatt gave her an ultimatum. Court records show that she became a prostitute beginning in 1872[1] in Fort Scott, then later in Dodge City. The memory of it has been a source of humiliation and regret to me in all the years since that time and I have never until now disclosed it to anyone besides my husband (Wyatt). She may have arrived in Prescott, Arizona as early as 1874. [2] He began campaigning and the Prescott Miner reported on October 6, 1874, that "J.H. She continued to work as a prostitute during their early years together. Mattie Blaylock ran away from home when she was 18. Some women in Tombstone operated restaurants, boarding houses, and apparel and millinery shops, and a few ran some of the dry goods stores. Related read: Tombstone vs. Wyatt Earp: 7 Differences in the Dueling Movies. As the oldest, Martha Jane Blaylock was the first to be married in 1860, when she was 17. Death of Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp, widow of Wyatt December 19, 1944 Josephine Sarah Marcus, born to German Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, NY, in 1861, grew up in San Francisco. When he delayed, she was ready to leave him. Wyatt took a job managing a horse stable in Santa Rosa. Wyatt Earp in 1869 4. They recorded events in her life but found Josephine was evasive about her early life in Tombstone. However, she was well aware that she would soon be married off to likely live out her life as a housewife. She said that she had believed Behan was planning to marry her, but he kept putting it off, and she grew disillusioned. The family was settled at a farm near Iowa. "[2] She said, "the whole experience recurs to my memory as a bad dream and I remember little of its details. "Allie's Story: Mrs. Virgil Earp and The "Tombstone Travesty", "Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics of Alcohol and Opioids", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mattie_Blaylock&oldid=1143484556, This page was last edited on 8 March 2023, at 00:57. She would marry Earp long before his gunfight at the O.K. She asked Wyatt for a divorce, but Wyatt didn't believe in divorce and refused. Sarah returned home to Iowa less than a year later. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported on May 20, 1900 that Wyatt Earp and his wife set sail on the S.S. Alliance to return to Alaska. It is unclear why the pair decided to leave home but historians have speculated the sisters did not enjoy life on their parents farm in Iowa and decided to embark on a different path. Then, take a look at 48 snapshots of life in the real Wild West. Sadie was apparently no longer claiming to be Behan's wife. Knowledge of her place in Wyatt's life was concealed by Josephine Earp, his later common-law wife, who worked ceaselessly to protect her and Wyatt's reputation in their later years. Eventually, she ended up in Dodge City, Kansas. On July 3, 1888, Blaylock took a lethal dose of laudanum and alcohol. This was the same date that Wyatt Earp and his brothers arrived. Corral, he left Tombstone. [27]:117[61] In Josephine's version of her life story, she left San Francisco to join Behan to Tombstone in October 1880,[62] and was hoping he would fulfill his promises to marry her. There they met Virgil and Allie. In 1906 he discovered several deposits of gold and copper near the Sonoran Desert town of Vidal, California on the Colorado River and filed more than 100 mining claims[63] near the Whipple Mountains. They stayed for about four years, living most of the time in the Brooklyn Hotel. In the meantime, Wyatt was getting more and more involved with Josephine, who he would later marry. [3][1][4][5] Sophie was a widow with a 3-year-old daughter, Rebecca Levy, when she married Marcuse, who was eight years younger than she. The only way Otero could write about these things was if he had a personal relationship with some of the individuals involved. Some critics described the book as a fraud and a hoax, and the University of Arizona withdrew the book from its catalog. Wells also owned a brothel in Prescott, Arizona. This page is not available in other languages. [31], Other researchers have questioned what she did prior to 1883. I can remember shedding many tears in out-of the way-corners. Byways & Historic Trails Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Easy Travel Organization Tips You Will Love, Bidwell-Bartleson Party Blazing the California Trail. Upon their return, they arrived late in the evening and a day earlier than expected, at the house built with her father's money. [2] Earp was appointed assistant marshal in Dodge City under Marshal Lawrence Deger around May 1876. "[13], In the course of writing Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal (1931), Stuart Lake learned that Josephine had lived with Johnny Behan in Tombstone and other aspects of Josephine's life that she wanted to keep private. Much of her life from about 1874 to 1882 (when she lived in the Arizona Territory) is uncertain; she worked hard to keep this period of her life private, even threatening legal action against writers and movie producers. Jaffa was also Jewish. [109]:259, Grace Welsh Spolidora, Welsh's daughter, spent a lot of time with the Earps. It is unclear when she began going by the name Mattie, but it is reasonable to assume she may have adopted the alias when she began working as a prostitute. [106] During an investigation of the boxing match by a panel appointed by San Francisco Mayor Washington Bartlett, they learned Josephine Earp was a "degenerate horseplayer" and that she frequently took loans out against her jewelry. No contemporary accounts place her at the scene of the gunfight afterward. Garner and I discuss Wyatt Earp's life as a sporting man and his involvement in horse racing and boxing. Wyatt meets Josephine "Josie" Marcus, who is a traveling actress, and the two begin an affair. [83] Josephine frequently griped about Wyatts lack of work and financial success and even his character and personality. Their farm lay near a main railroad stop where drifters asked for food and water. Wyatt is generally tied to three women: Urilla Sutherland, Cecilia Ann "Mattie" Blaylock, and Josephine Marcus. The family lived on a small farm that Henry had obtained in 1846. Many wives of the prosperous mining engineers, merchants, and business owners lived in better class cities where they didn't have to contend with being confused for a prostitute. Josephine Earp's story was shrouded in mystery throughout her life, but modern historians posit that she lied about her early years in an effort to conceal her unsavory past. Mattie allegedly suffered from severe headaches and became addicted to laudanum, which was commonly used as a pain killer at the time. May 9, 2014. [3][68] The Earp party split up in Albuquerque, and Holliday and Dan Tipton rode on to Pueblo, while the rest of the group headed for Gunnison.[69]. Josephine Sarah "Sadie" Earp (ne Marcus; 1861 December 19, 1944)[1] was the common-law wife of Wyatt Earp, a famed Old West lawman and gambler. I thought constantly of my mother and how great must be her grief and worry over me. "[2], In her Cason manuscript, Josephine or Sadie wrote that she and Dora were homesick and returned to San Francisco with Sieber's help. [40], During the 1880 census in Tip Top, Behan's occupation was given as saloon keeper. [9] The coroner's report of her death was brief. The German Jews were usually more affluent, were better educated, and spoke German, while the Polish Jews, who spoke Yiddish, were typically peddlers and much more religious. Prominent men were however expected to be discreet. Wyatt Earp was one of the many children born to Nicholas Porter Earp and Virginia Ann Cooksey. However, the union wouldnt last. [19] Wyatt had a mischievous sense of humor. Wyatt didn't want that at all! Green. They arrived while the city was recovering from the disastrous earthquake of October 21, 1868. Instead, he married Marcus within weeks and never spoke of Blaylock again. The two fought side by side in Tombstone, Arizona, in 1881's famous gunfight at the O.K. He wrote (in her voice), "Hattie and I attended the McCarthy Dancing Academy for children on Howard Street (Polk and Pacific). Born Celia Ann Blaylock in 1850 in Johnson County, Iowa, she was raised on a small farm near the town of Fairfax. But Leah never left San Francisco with Josephine. Actor Kevin Costner, who played Earp in the 1994 movie Wyatt Earp, offered to buy a new, larger stone, but the Marcus family thought his offer was self-serving and declined. [26]:49 In a set of extraordinary coincidences, Sadie Mansfield and Sadie Marcus had very similar names and initials and were known by their friends as "Sadie." Corral", "Travesty: Frank Waters Earp Agenda Exposed", "Josephine Earp, Wyatt Earp's Jewish Widow, Admits Her Destitution to Earp's Biographer", "Book Review: Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal", "San Francisco History Public Schools 1879", "Stage-struck Songsters: Operetta in Territorial Prescott", "Tombstone 1881: A Sampling of RoguesA Glorification of Thugs", "Zaff Randall, Victoria Frances Yavapai County, Arizona | Arizona Gravestone Photos", "Making The West: Approaches to The Archaeology of Prostitution on the 19th-Century ining Frontier", "The Earps: Josie and Wyatt's 47-Year Odyssey", "I Married Wyatt Earp The Recollections of Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp", "LA Then and Now: Mrs. Wyatt Earp Packed Her Own Punch", "Doc Goodfellow: Arizona's Gutsiest Physician from the Territorial Days", "Lady at the O.K. Written by Kevin Jarre, it is loosely based on the records of the O.K. Named Celia Ann Blaylock, she went to church & school, with typical parental discipline of the time. [5][9] In early 1880, Henry was living with his son-in-law Aaron, who was employed as a bookkeeper. [19] The Yuma Arizona Sentinel reported on October 25, 1879, "Tuesday arrived a Pinafore Company for Tucson, composed of Misses Pauline Markham, Mary Bell, Belle Howard, and Mrs. Pring, and Messrs. Borabeck and McMahon. She always interfered! While Blaylock grew dependent on laudanum to treat her headaches, Earp was increasingly embroiled in deadly conflict as a newfound deputy sheriff. [79][80][81], The Earps moved back to San Francisco in 1891[82] so Josie could be closer to her family. Historians have stated that earlier in her life, Mattie began consuming laudanum for headaches and was known to abuse alcohol. On Oct. 26, the Earps were ambushed by the cowboys in broad daylight. Celia was a reasonably skilled seamstress and may have sought work in that field, but both girls found life on their own very difficult. There, she met Wyatt Earp around 1873 and soon became his romantic companion. Sadie "would always interfere whenever Wyatt would talk with Stuart Lake. )[43] On October 20, 1875, the Arizona Weekly Miner of Prescott, Arizona noted that among the passengers en route from San Francisco were "Miss Saddie [sic] Mansfield and Mrs. Julia Barton, a servant. [118], Beginning in about 1994, critics began to challenge the accuracy of the book, and eventually many parts of the book were refuted as fictional. They planned to head for Alaska to join in the Alaska Gold Rush, but their departure was delayed for three weeks when Wyatt fell while getting off Market Street streetcar and bruised his hip. Pinafore in San Francisco. She was the third of six children born to parents Henry and Elizabeth Blaylock. James Earp's wife, Bessie, was also a prostitute or madam, hailing from Wichita, Kansas, and she eventually moved with her husband to Tombstone. Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was born on March 19, 1848, the fourth child of Nicholas Porter Earp and his second wife, Virginia Ann Cooksey. [43] These facts may explain why Josephine later thought of this time in her life as "a bad dream. #wyattearp #oldwest #history #sanbernardino . [44] She said that Sieber and his scouts led her stagecoach and its passengers to a nearby adobe ranch house. Wyatt would often go on long walks to get away from her. She wasn't that upset. Perhaps she became addicted to the substances and no longer knew her limits. Corral in Tombstone, a man becomes a myth in this thrilling journey of romance, adventure, and desperate heroic action. In I Married Wyatt Earp, author Glen Boyer states that Josephine took dance lessons and had a maid. [19] A town like Tombstone, full of single men, attracted women who sought adventure with little concern for what others might think. It is possible she overdosed by accident and died of respiratory depression. Mattie waited for Wyatts telegraph that she should return to Tombstone, but it never arrived. Who Killed Johnny Ringo? Wyatt Earp wasn't always on the right side of the law. Known as "Sadie" to the public in 1881, she met Wyatt in the frontier boom town Tombstone, Arizona Territory when she was living with Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan. Boyer, Glenn G. Wyatt Earp: Facts Volume Two, Childhood and . Josephine first met John "Johnny" Harris Behan at the ranch house, who she described as, "young and darkly handsome, with merry black eyes and an engaging smile. Wyatt, Virgil, and James Earp with their wives arrived in Tombstone on December 1, 1879. [2] The Weekly Arizona Miner of Prescott reported on February 5, 1875, that Sadie Mansfield won a prize in the "Grand New Year Gift Enterprise". Josie had two miscarriages during her life and was apparently unable to have children. [114] Actor Hugh O'Brian, who was playing Earp in the 195561 television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, offered a reward for the stones return. Boyer's book was considered a factual memoir, and cited by scholars, studied in classrooms, and used as a source by filmmakers for 32 years. Charlie Welsh, Grace Spolidora's father, was a good friend of Earp's. It was apparently not his first run-in with the law. She wanted him to look like a church-going saint and blow things up. Corral icon. But the collision of Jewish and cowboy cultures that epitomized their union goes on. Blaylocks early childhood consisted of little more than Sunday school and strict adherence to contemporary household rules, and her parents subscribed to the notion that sparing the rod would spoil the child. Celia Ann "Mattie" Blaylock (January 1850 July 3, 1888) was a prostitute who became the romantic companion and common-law wife of Old West lawman and gambler Wyatt Earp for about six years. Considine tried to keep Earp from succeeding, and arranged for his establishment to be raided. The Jewish Women's Archive describes Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp as "impulsive, adventurous, and outspoken." The daughter of German-Jewish immigrants, she was born in New York in 1861 and moved to San Francisco with her folks at age seven. The facts about Josephine Earp and her relationship to Wyatt were relatively unknown until amateur Earp historian Glenn Boyer published the book I Married Wyatt Earp. According to the 1860 census, Celia attended local schools. [1], The University of Arizona Press published the book in 1976 under the title I Married Wyatt Earp: The Recollections of Josephine Sarah Marcus. The Cochise County Cowboys were initially a mere nuisance, but killed marshal Fred White on Oct. 28, 1880 and would spark the gunfight at the O.K. [25] Josephine's own story offers a conflicting account of when she first reached Arizona. Bourke. [56], On May 22, 1875, Behan's wife Victoria filed for divorce. [43], Sadie, traveling as either Mrs. J. C. Earp or Mrs. Wyatt Earp, left Tombstone for her family in San Francisco via Los Angeles on March 24, 1882. [11], Josephine thought Johnnys marriage proposal was a good excuse to leave home again. Around 1875, Earp joined the Wichita city police after helping an officer in a search for a missing wagon. [65], In his book, The Tombstone Travesty (later republished as The Earp Brothers of Tombstone), Frank Waters quotes Virgil Earp's wife, Allie, as saying that "Sadie's charms were undeniable. [3], Wyatt and Holliday had been fast friends since Holliday saved Earp's life in Dodge City during 1878. This podcast is dedicated to Nick's wife, Linda. Her father Henrys earnings as a baker fell. She didn't use either Marcus or Behan as her name, but asked a friend to send the postal order for her. [2], Prescott had 668 residents in 1870. [91] She also gambled on the boats to and from Alaska. In June 1881, Sadie sent a postal money order to her mother using the name Josephine Behan,[43] and Wyatt Earp was still living with his common-law wife Mattie Blaylock. For the fictional character, see. C. S. Fly/Wikimedia Commons A portrait of Wyatt Earp's wife, Josephine Earp, in 1881, the year they met. [78] Earp speculated in San Diego's booming real estate market. Corral, during which Wyatt and his brothers killed three Cochise County Cowboys. Her death was ruled a suicide. After the Gunfight at the O.K. "[32] Honkytonk bars in that era often had a reputation as places for prostitution[33] and his choice of language ("three hundred or so of her kind") may have referred to Josephine's work as a prostitute. I am under the impression that he was a deputy sheriff engaged on some official errand. [6] Markham already had a national reputation as a burlesque dancer and singer. One was Lawrence Kasdan's sober biopic with Costner in the lead role, simply called "Wyatt Earp," which was beaten to the punch and box office receipts by "Tombstone."Directed by George P. Cosmatos, the man who brought us "Rambo: First Blood Part II," the film became a popular modern Western classic, hitting the broad beats of true historical . [29]:78[96], After Tonopah's gold strike waned, Wyatt staked mining claims just outside Death Valley and elsewhere in the Mojave Desert. [34] Many madams and prostitutes had more control of their lives and greater independence than "respectable" women, who often ostracized them. [32] Sadie was an attractive woman, with thick, dark hair, vivid black eyes, and was well-endowed. Josephine Sarah Marcus was born in 1861 in New York City, the second of three children of immigrants Carl-Hyman Marcuse (later Henry Marcus) and Sophie Lewis. Wyatt Earp is a unique breedfor more reasons than oneamong the famed gunslingers and infamous outlaws who shot their way across the Wild West horizon. [85], On August 5, 1897, Earp and Josie once again joined in a mining boom and left Yuma, Arizona for San Francisco. Her father was a baker. Mattie Blaylocks grave at the Pinal City Cemetery in Superior, Arizona. He reportedly worked on a floating brothel thereafter and married teenage prostitute Sally Heckell, who was busted alongside him on Sept. 10, 1872, and identified herself as his wife. [40], Author Roger Ray thoroughly researched Josephine's story about joining the theater company and found many inconsistencies. That's why Mattie started taking laudanum for her headaches, which was a 19th century cure-all for everything, from colic to menstrual cramps. Behan was gone for 35 days, returning to Prescott on November 11, 1874, where he lost the election. Then Blaylock and Earp stopped in the booming silver town of Pinal City, Arizona Territory, for two months in 1879. Heartbroken and addicted, Blaylock tried her best to prevail. Did Bessie continue sporting once they arrived in Tombstone? "[32], Men in Tombstone outnumbered women nine to one, and the miners were eager to pay substantial fees to women who would cook their meals, provide rooms, wash their clothes, and provide sexual services. [citation needed]. She lived on the family farm, had local friends & activities. Her parents, Henry Blaylock and Elizabeth Vance, had left Indiana in 1846 and built a quiet life for themselves and their kids. She ran away with the gambler anyway, who later abandoned her in Arizona. [75] At Santa Rosa, Earp personally competed in and won a harness race. Wyatt Earp is the most recognizable face of the Earp family. He also told Baldwin to stop lending money to Josephine, but she continued to gamble anyway. Let's save Wyatt's women for last and begin with Virgil, who is the second best-known Earp brother. Doc Holliday saved Wyatt's life in Dodge City. But in August a Tombstone newspaper reported a letter waiting at the post office for Sadie Mansfield. "[38] She said that at the age of 18, she ran away with two friends, Dora Hirsch, daughter of her music teacher, and a girl named Agnes, who had a role in Pauline Markham troupe's production of H.M.S. [67] During their stay in Albuquerque, the two men ate at The Retreat Restaurant owned by "Fat Charlie". Wyatt's common-law wife Mattie (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) is addicted to laudanum and his attention is caught by Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany), a traveling actor. [34] Josephine always sought excitement in her life. 5. The group spent 10 days sleeping on the floor. Distrustful of her ability to manage her finances, Wyatt made an arrangement with her sister Henrietta Lenhardt. She also told the Earp cousins that Pauline Markham had a maid named Julia. Wyatt Earp had a total of three wives. [26]:46 Neighbors in Prescott witnessed Behan visiting the "house of ill fame" on Granite Street on several occasions during December 1874. He continued his career in law enforcement in Dodge City. However, court records indicate that she continued to call herself by her childhood nickname of "Celie", which was often phonetically spelled by court clerks as "Sally"; no court records have been found throughout her life using the name "Mattie".