I Married Wyatt Earp: The Recollections of Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp

I was glued to this book. I even read all of the research notes. This was truly a remarkable work of history and a great perspective on an event that has been over dramatized and blown out of such proportion by Hollywood.

First, just read the book and not the footnotes. After you "feel" what it was like for her and understand what a brave woman she was, read it again referring back to the footnotes. Glenn Boyer got so much flack from people about details, dates and such, I'm suprised he ever even wrote another book. It's Josey's view of her life with Wyatt, not a darn history textbook. She told the story from her heart, tried to make herself look better than she really was (and who doesn't do that?)and flat out says who she thought was a scoundrel and who wasn't. I love this book and read it over and over again to encourage me to be brave, be strong, and be true to myself. If anybody knows how I can email or write to Glenn Boyer, let me know. I'd love to praise him for his courage also.

This is a highly controversial book, though as many reviewers before me have noted; it's hard to tell why. Review readers influenced by such stale criticisms as that the author faked his research (criticisms without a basis in fact) should read the above publisher's statement about what the book is. It traces the genesis of such unjustified criticisms. At the time the book was released, it was correctly recognized by the Univ. of Arizona. Press as the most heavily documented book of the kind they had ever published. This has not changed. Further, the major documentary sources of the book are all in the special collections of Univ. of Arizona library. This book is exactly what it appears to be - a memoir of a remarkable frontier woman who, moreover, was the mistress of the leaders on both sides of an unparalleled feud that led to widespread bloodshed in southeastern Arizona. She was, in fact, as the author comments, a sort of Helen of Troy of Tombstone in that her defection from the sheriff to Wyatt Earp was responsible for the sheriff's frantic efforts to even the score by trying to railroad the Earps to prison or the gallows for the public service they performed, known today as the gunfight at the o.k. corral. He did not succeed. He did succeed in hounding them out of the territory, however, which seems to have founded an M.O. that many subsequent sheriffs have followed. Sheriff john slaughter appointed himself judge, jury and executioner and bad guys fled, sheriff harry wheeler, ran thousands of union men out of the county, a recent sheriff, with somewhat more justice, frightened a troublemaking religious sect out of the county. By any measure, Josie Earp's memoir is worth reading. As to the criticism that she didn't write it, most subjects of memoirs do not write them personally, but have the assistance of someone with writing ability who is familiar with their story, such as a relative or close friend. In this case, Glenn Boyer finalized the work he took it over an unfinished work from two earlier amanuenses and vastly enriched it with superior resources and knowledge. They were distant relatives of Josie Earp. He was an intimate of the Earp family and fully qualified to do what he did - rewrite several less-than-professional sources and merge them into a first person delivery to make them saleable, and he did it on professional advice. So what's to criticize if he rewrote as necessary if that's par for the course? Well, for one thing the author, Boyer, kicked a lot of literary thieves in the back pockets of their Levi's and they aren't taking it very well. And why did he do it? As premier Earp premieer, lee Silva, has said: "we wouldn't know much about Wyatt Earp without the research of Glenn Boyer." And that was the rub. A lot of Johnny come latelies appropriated that research for their own work without due credit, which is why they got kicked where they needed it most. I note that the criticism doesn't hurt sales. This book was r

"I Married Wyatt Earp" is not for those who are looking for a "shoot 'em up" historical biography. In fact the famed O.K. Corral gunfight is just a small portion of this book. However, if you are looking for incredible insight to what made Wyatt tick, what made Josie tick, what life was like during their era, and a very easy read then this is the book for you! Mr. Boyer is the only "historian/novelist" to have actually vistied with and received his information from the Earp family and friends as well as Josephine's family. This gives him an incredible edge over other so-called Earp historians and that is why anyone interested in the Earps needs to read this book and any other book in which Mr. Boyer graces us with.

Wyatt Earp assumes another personna in these memoirs by his wife, Jospehine Sarah Marcus Earp. She recites a loving memory of a wise and skillful man with whom she wandered the West for half a century seeking adventure and riches; an odyssey by an itinerant "boomer" and his wife that while not always successful, included exciting adventures in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado and Idaho. Here Josephine reveals a Wyatt Earp unlike the mythical figure created by Stuart lake, the brooding and deceitful soul depicted by Frank Waters, or the vitriolic portrait of a scoundrel presented by Ed Bartholomew. Due to poor scholarship, biases, or misinformation, it is difficult, at this late date, to rescue the real Wyatt Earp from the dusty layers of time. In this book, Josephine Earp makes a valiant and largely successful effort to do so.Josephine has a sure grasp of most of the undercurrents surrounding Wyatt's life and times. Her Wyatt Earp emerges as a western jack-of-all trades: a part-time lawman, part-time gambler, part-time prospector, part-time race horse manager, part-time boxing referee, and part-time conman. Wyatt and Josephine mingled with the wealthy, with noted gunmen. with literary figures, with movies stars, with crooks, and with plain folks.When Wyatt was young he was undoubtedly a showman but so were many of his contemporaries. A reputation for toughness was always helpful on the frontier and opened many doors for the ambitious Wyatt Earp who often practiced the art of "embellishment" as a helpful adjunct for survival in whatever trade he undertook. He made many enemies and a few close friends during his life. He was attractive to women, probably wandered during his marriage to Josephine, and may have suffered accordingly.Anyone who tries to understand the making of the Earp myth might be forgiven for wondering how Wyatt became a legend. It's a good bet Wyatt Earp would have marveled as well. In this book, Mrs. Earp's assessment is very simple: Wyatt fit the mold of a hero in every respect. He was tough, nervy, adaptable, incredibly lucky, and most importantly was chosen by fate as the personification of a hero. Authors Stuart Lake and Walter Noble Burns wrote their successful books on Earp six decades ago using this latter premise and thus, we have had countless books, articles, etc., arguing the pros and cons of Wyatt Earp.Mrs. Earp's memoirs were edited by Glenn Boyer and as usual his informative comments strengthen her narrative. Boyer is very knowledgeable on the Earp family and has devoted many years in correcting lies and misconceptions about Wyatt Earp. Boyer's chapter notes describe a Wyatt Earp subject to the frailties that beset us all, no matter the time and place; a person maligned durng and after his life; and a person more often in the right than in the wrong.Jospehine was with Wyatt when he died on January 13, 1929, a peaceful end to a long, turbulent and adventurou