Morgan Earp (24 April 1851 – 18 March 1882) was an American sheriff and lawman of the Wild West. He was the brother of Wyatt and Virgil Earp.
Biography[]
Morgan Earp was born in Pella, Iowa on 24 April 1851, the son of Nicholas Porter Earp and the younger brother of Virgil and Wyatt Earp. He and Wyatt remained at the family farm in Pella as Virgil and two of their older brothers served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and the family settled in Lamar, Missouri in 1868. In 1875, Morgan left Wichita, Kansas to become a deputy marshal in Dodge City, and, in 1877, Morgan and his wife bought a home in Miles City, Montana. In 1880, he took his wife to live with his family in Colton, California to improve her health, and he joined his brothers Virgil and Wyatt in Tombstone, Arizona later that year. The Earps became rivals with the Cochise County Cowboys, taking part in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in October 1881. In December, after the Cowboys crippled Virgil, Wyatt made Morgan a deputy, and Morgan sent his wife to live with his parents in Colton, fearing for her safety. On 18 March 1882, at 10:50 PM, Morgan was ambushed after returning from a musical at Schieffelin Hall in Tombstone, and he was shot in the back while playing pool. He died less than an hour after he was shot.
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