With all great stories you tend to wonder what is real and what is not? For me, the gunfight at the OK Corral fits into the "do we even know the whole story" category.
A new theory suggests that what really ignited the fire between the two groups was a secret pact made between Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton. Up until then their dealings had been entirely business (as far as we know). But when their plans are sabotaged by forces outside of their control, it leaves only dangerous secrets between them to linger on. Could they trust each other not to tell? As fear turned into paranoya, things became personal.
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Wyatt had wanted to be elected sheriff. So he thought that if he brought the "cowboys" (as cattle rustler's were called) to justice he would earn the majority of votes from the public. With this in mind he rendevued with Ike Clanton, whom Wyatt believed to be one of the cowboys leaders.
In this meeting Wyatt made an offer Ike couldn't refuse. If Ike would tell him when and where to find the main offenders he would give Ike all the reward money...which amounted to a small fortune back then. Ike couldn't walk away from such a sweet deal...especially in an area where life was harsh and money hard to come by. The only stipulation was that Wyatt had to keep this quiet...or Ike was a dead man.
The problem came when Wyatt's main targets were killed before he could catch them. The new turn of events left both Wyatt and Ike in a precarious predicament...because now the deal could not go through and the scandalous information they shared between them could destroy them if word ever got out. And this is the catalyst that changed the course of history!
After a while Ike began to lose his cool. He went from bar to bar drinking heavily and one night in a drunken stooper declared to everyone "he was going to kill himself an Earp." And it is from here that most people know the story.
I don't know if it is true or not, but that's a cool addition to the story.
