Colton, CA.

Colton, CA.
click photo to enlarge	We went to Colton to find Morgan Earp's grave but stopped first at the Colton Area Museum housed in the former Carnegie Library. The building itself is of course pretty cool and the docents were very knowledgeable on area history and of course there is a large area dedicated to the Earp's. The family moved to Colton in 1864 when Wyatt was 16 years old. Wyatt acquired his first gun, a combination shotgun rifle, to help protect the family against Indians on the journey from Monmouth, Illinois to Colton. In the 1870's Wyatt, James and Virgil headed for Texas to do some cattle driving, a little gold hunting and what ever else suited there fancy. Wyatt and James had a knack for getting into trouble and fled Texas for Arizona to escape the long arm of the law. Along the way they managed to make some friends and a lot of enemies....Doc Holiday and Big Nose Kate were among the friends. After the gunfight at the OK Corral the brothers and their wives came back to live in Colton.
click photo to enlarge	Wyatt Earp died in Los Angeles on Jan 13, 1929 at the age of 80 of prostate cancer. He lived in the house below in Colton. There is no plaque or anything on it and I got the location from the docents at the museum. For more information see this link. Morgan is buried in the local cemetery and the docents at the museum can ell you where it is located.
click photo to enlarge	click photo to enlarge