IKE CLANTON
...Ike Clanton, c.1881. Photo by C. S. Fly.
Born
Joseph Isaac Clanton 1847
Callaway County, Missouri, United States
Died
June 1, 1887 (aged 39–40)
Springerville, Arizona Territory, United States
Cause of death
Gunshot
Occupation
Ranch hand, miner, outlaw, rustler
Criminal charge Murder, cattle rustling
Parent(s)
Newman Haynes Clanton and Mariah Sexton Kelso
Allegiance
The Cowboys
Brothers
Phineas Clanton and Billy Clanton.
Ike ClantonIke Clanton was born in 1847, one of several children in Texas.
His family moved around a lot and spent some time in California.
However, after his mother's death they ended up in the Arizona Territory around 1877
and began a very successful cattle ranch, "Clanton Ranch".
When Tombstone became a boomtown two years later, Ike and brother Billy
would often travel to town for business as the incoming people had made
"Clanton Ranch" even more successful.
Ike was associated with the "Cowboys" the first real organized crime sydicate in the West.
He and the group had a reputation for reckless behavior including serious banditry and murder.
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Billy Clanton................................. Curly Bill............................ Johnny Ringo
Many fights, accusations and opposing beliefs led to the tension and animosity between
Ike Clanton and the Earp brothers, including Ike's loud mouth and inappropriate behavior
while he was drunk, which was often.
Ike was arrested early in the day on October 26, 1881.
Later the McLaurys bailed him out and brother Billy arrived to calm him
and remove him from town.
However, after the bail Tom was spotted in a saloon with a gun
and at the time it was agaisnt Tombstone law to carry a weapon in town.
This is what led the Earp brothers to meet to Clantons, McLaurys
and Claiborne near the O.K. Corral.
It is still not known who shot first, with many opinions in favor of the Earps
and many in favor of the Clanton-Mclaury side.
In a 30 fight three men were left dead. Ike Clanton was reported to flee
in the beginning of the fight and hide in a nearby building.
He escaped uninjured.
In the trials that followed, after much backstabbing, story changing,
and lies Ike Clanton proved to be more useful to the Earp side of the trials.
Ike Clanton filed murder charges against the Earps and Doc Holliday
but after a 30-day preliminary hearing, Justice Wells Spicer ruled that the
lawmen had acted within their lawful duty.
Ike Clanton was implicated in the attempted assassination of
Virgil Earp on December 30, 1881, but other Cowboys provided an alibi and he was released.
Six years later Clanton was killed attempting to flee when he was shot by a lawman
seeking to arrest him for cattle-rustling. He still has many Clanton relatives alive today
Ike is believed to have particpated in two assassination attempts of the
Earp brothers in the years following, one of which was succesfful.
This led him to be a target of Wyatt Earp's "Vendetta Ride".
However, no matter how much Ike did, he was not killed by Wyatt or any of the Earps.
On June 1, 1887 Ike resisted arrest for cattle-rustling and was shot dead.
It is not known where Ike was buried but some people in 1996 claimed to have found
a shallow grave under a large tree that they believe to contain Ike's remains.
Several requests to move Ike's body to Boot Hill have been made,
and all denied on account of leaving the dead to rest where they are.
