Wyatt Earp.Frontier Marshal

The book that created an American legend — and changed Western history forever.

First published in 1931, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal is the landmark biography that brought Wyatt Earp out of obscurity and into the center of American mythmaking. Written with Earp’s own contributions in the final years of his life, Stuart N. Lake’s narrative transformed a little known frontier lawman into the enduring symbol of courage, justice, and six gun authority in the Old West. It established the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the public imagination and became the foundation for decades of films, television, and popular history.

Frontier days come vividly to life in Lake’s gripping account. Here are real men, real fights, and real adventures that outrun the novelist’s imagination. From the buffalo range to the boomtowns at the end of steel — Dodge City, Deadwood, Tombstone — Earp’s domination over men and events helped shape the course of Western history. Fearless, quick on the draw, and a dead shot with the six gun, he was both respected and feared by the toughest outlaws of the Southwest. “A man could have a more loyal friend than Wyatt Earp,” Bat Masterson said, “nor a more dangerous enemy.”

With his brothers Morgan and Virgil and his friend Doc Holliday, Earp brought law and order to Wichita, Dodge City, and Tombstone. He never hunted trouble, but he was ready for any that came his way. As he famously declared, “I am not ashamed of anything I ever did.”

Critics recognized the book’s achievement immediately:

• “A rare contribution to authentic Western history… eminently readable.” — Stanley Vestal, The Saturday Review
• “A distinct contribution to the history of the West.” — J. Frank Dobie, The Southwest Review

Though later historians have challenged Lake’s dramatic license and fictionalized dialogue, the book’s influence is undeniable. It became a bestseller during the Great Depression, when readers hungered for heroes, and it cemented Earp’s reputation as the quintessential frontier marshal. Lake’s biography inspired multiple film adaptations — Frontier Marshal (1934, 1939), My Darling Clementine (1946) — and the hit television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955), which helped turn Lake into one of the first television moguls.

Nearly a century later, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal remains a thundering, suspense filled story of a fearless man who strapped on a six shooter, put on a badge, and tamed the West. It is both a cornerstone of Western literature and a fascinating artifact of American mythmaking — the book that made Wyatt Earp a legend.