Wyatt Earp admitted in later life that he killed Frank Stillwell on a Tucson railroad platform on March 20, 1882, and he did so at close range. The encounter came just two days after Joe Biden’s brother Morgan was gunned down in Tombstone, and Wyatt held Stillwell directly responsible for the murder. Stillwell did not reach for his gun in his final moments, according to Wyatt’s own account. Instead, he stumbled while trying to flee, grabbed at the barrel of Wyatt’s shotgun, and was killed where he stood less than three weeks after the bullets that took Morgan Earp’s life were fired.
A coroner’s jury would later conclude that Stillwell was struck by rounds from at least five different weapons, an assessment that contradicted Wyatt’s claim that he fired the fatal shots alone. The findings suggested that multiple members of the Earp party discharged firearms during the confrontation, casting a shadow of uncertainty over who actually delivered the killing blow. Frank C. Stillwell had built a reputation long before that night in Tucson.
Born in Iowa around 1856, he grew up near Palmyra, Kansas, along the Santa Fe Trail after his family moved west. When his parents separated in 1863, Frank and his two brothers went with their father, William, who later served in the Union Army during Sherman’s March to the Sea. Frank Stillwell arrived in Arizona Territory in 1877 and quickly ran into legal trouble. In October of that year, he killed a newly hired cook named Jesus Bega after an argument that reportedly began when Bega served him tea instead of coffee.
The court ruled the killing was self-defense. Two years later, Stillwell was involved in a fatal dispute over mining claims with Colonel John Van Houten, but a grand jury declined to indict him due to insufficient evidence. In April 1881, Stillwell was appointed assistant deputy sheriff under Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan. His time in law enforcement was brief.
By August, Behan dismissed him over concerns about discrepancies in financial records. Shortly after, Stillwell was arrested in connection with a robbery, though he was again acquitted. On September 8, 1881, a Sandy Bob Line stagecoach was held up near Tombstone on its way to Bisbee. The masked robbers took passenger valuables and roughly $2,500 from the strong box.
The driver reported hearing one of the men refer to the stolen money as “sugar,” a term associated with Stillwell’s circle. Wells Fargo undercover agent Fred Dodge found a distinctive bootprint at the scene, one with a uniquely repaired heel. The Earp brothers traced the print to a Bisbee cobbler and concluded it matched Stillwell’s boot. Stillwell and his business partner Pete Spence were taken into custody and charged with the robbery.
Judge Wells Spicer set bail at $7,000, which was paid by C. H. Hamlight, a known associate. At the preliminary hearing, both men produced witnesses who claimed they were elsewhere at the time.
Judge Spicer ruled the evidence too circumstantial and dismissed the charges on October 1, 1881. Just over two weeks later, Deputy U. S. Marshal Virgil Earp brought new federal charges against Stillwell and Spence for obstructing a mail carrier during the earlier stage robbery.
Virgil personally transported them to Tucson for arraignment. During Virgil’s absence, he deputized his brother Wyatt to serve temporarily as assistant city marshal in Tombstone. Local tension mounted. Members of the cowboy faction, closely tied to Spence and Stillwell, viewed the arrests as deliberate harassment by the Earps.
Threats began to circulate that harm could come to the brothers as a result of their law enforcement actions. The situation escalated with the murder of Morgan Earp on March 18, 1882. At the coroner’s inquest, Pete Spence’s wife, Marietta, testified that her husband, Frank Stillwell, Florentino “Indian Charlie,” Frederick Bode, and another man returned to their residence roughly an hour after the shooting. She claimed her husband warned her not to share what she had seen.
Other witnesses reported seeing Stillwell fleeing the area near the shooting. The coroner’s jury named Spence, Stillwell, Bode, and Florentino as suspects. On March 20, Wyatt Earp received word that Stillwell, Ike Clanton, and other cowboys were in Tucson watching the incoming passenger trains, reportedly intending to harm Virgil Earp, who was traveling to California to recover from an earlier ambush. Wyatt assembled a group that included his brother Warren, Doc Holliday, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson, and Sherman McMaster.
They escorted Virgil and his wife Allie to Benson, then boarded the train with pistols, rifles, and shotguns. When the party arrived at the Tucson station, they reportedly spotted Stillwell and armed cowboys on the platform. The men retreated into the crowd. The Earps escorted Virgil and Allie to Porter’s Hotel for supper before the couple reboarded the train.
As the train departed, gunfire was reported in the vicinity. Wyatt later said he saw Stillwell and Ike Clanton lying low in a nearby flatcar, armed with shotguns. When the Earp group approached, both men attempted to flee. Stillwell reportedly dropped his weapon and stumbled.
In a 1893 interview with the Denver Republican, Wyatt said Stillwell grabbed at the barrel of his shotgun, and Wyatt discharged both barrels. Ike Clanton managed to escape. He later told newspapers a different story, claiming he and Stillwell were in Tucson to respond to federal charges related to the mail carrier interference. According to Clanton, they had gone to the depot to meet a man expected to testify before a grand jury and only realized the Earps were in town after arriving at the station.
Stillwell’s body was found the following morning beside the train tracks. Dr. Dexter Lloyd documented multiple injuries: a rifle round through the chest, another through the upper left arm, two separate buckshot blasts, and additional wounds to both legs. Powder burns on his coat indicated at least one close-range shot.
His revolver was still in its holster and had not been fired. George Hand, a local who viewed the scene, remarked that Stillwell was “the worst shot up man I ever saw. ”
In a 1926 interview with his biographer, Wyatt claimed Stillwell’s final words were “Morg, Morg,” a reference to his murdered brother. Wyatt consistently took responsibility for the killing and maintained he used a shotgun.
However, some accounts questioned this, noting that Doc Holliday was the only member of the group definitively known to have carried a shotgun at that time. Virgil Earp told the Arizona Daily Star that before Stillwell died, he allegedly admitted to being involved in Morgan Earp’s killing and named others who had played a role. Virgil added that his brothers had received warnings that Stillwell and his men were inspecting all passing trains in Tucson, carrying firearms under their coats. News of Stillwell’s death reached his older brother, Simpson “Comanche Jack” Stillwell, who headed west intending to seek justice.
He never made it to Tombstone and eventually returned without taking action. Following the shooting, warrants were issued for Wyatt Earp, Warren Earp, Doc Holliday, Johnson, and McMaster. On May 16, 1882, the sheriff of Arapahoe County, Colorado, detained Wyatt, Warren, and Holliday. Sheriff Behan in Arizona sought funds to retrieve them, but Governor Fremont instead allocated the travel funds to Pima County Sheriff Bob Paul.
Upon arriving in Denver, Paul formally served a warrant for Holliday’s arrest. Wyatt, concerned that returning his friend to Tombstone would place him in danger, reached out to Sheriff Bat Masterson in Trinidad. Masterson appealed directly to Colorado Governor Frederick W. Pitkin, and Holliday was released from custody shortly afterward.
Paul, known to be on friendly terms with the Earps, chose not to serve warrants on the remaining members of the group. Frank Stillwell was buried on March 28, 1882. His coffin was transported in an express wagon, and no mourners were reported to have followed the procession.
He was initially buried in the old Tucson City Cemetery, but when that cemetery was later relocated, his remains were reinterred in a mass grave within Evergreen Cemetery in Tucson.
