American Legend, Wyatt Earp . . . .had a lot of miles under his belt prior to his arrival in San Diego in the late 1800’s. He displayed his courage at an early age where as a teenager, his first job was as a stagecoach driver in California. He was later a buffalo hunter out of Illinois where he met his longtime friend Bat Masterson. His reputation as a fearless and determined lawman was established in Wichita and Dodge City Kansas as he tamed these cities thought of as some of the wildest in the west.
In Tombstone, Earp took part in the famous shoot-out at the OK Corral where three of his enemies died. He could have been directly responsible for the shooting deaths of at least 5 men in his lifetime. Wyatt left Tombstone soon after the OK Corral and started a lifelong journey throughout the western frontier, settling in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Nome, Alaska.
According to Kenneth Cilch’s book, Wyatt Earp The Missing Years, Wyatt came to San Diego between 1885 and 1887 and could have remained here as late as 1896. He was accompanied by his third wife Josie who he met in Tombstone, Arizona. She was an actress and possibly a dance hall girl and she accompanied him in his many travels until his death in 1929.
He was an active businessman in addition to a gambler and was engaged in a variety of real estate ventures, capitalizing on the land boom in the mid 1880’s. Earp leased four saloons and gambling halls in San Diego, the most famous was his Oyster Bar located in the Louis Bank of Commerce on Fifth Avenue. He was listed as a capitalist (gambler) in the San Diego City Directory in 1887 and among his other winnings, he won a race horse.
During these times the Stingaree District was the heart of entertainment for the city and offered all kinds of diversion and vice. There was gambling, saloons, gunmen, prostitutes, speculators, and honest and dishonest gamblers. Mixed in among settlers who came in droves were tourists who crowded the train lines so much that some weekend vacationers didn’t make it home to Los Angeles until Tuesday or Wednesday. Another big draw for the city was its close proximity to Tijuana where one was sure to find prize fights, bear and bull fights, and all varieties of gambling. Learn more about the colorful History of the Gaslamp
Special thanks to Kenneth Cilch author of “Wyatt Earp: The Missing Years”
For more information on the History of the Gaslamp – visit our partners at the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation
William Heath Davis House
Museum & Gift Shop
410 Island Ave., San Diego CA
619.233.4692
http://www.gaslampquarter.org