y.

In the meantime new secessions were taking place in the Earp
following. The county of Cochise had been established. Tombstone
was made the county seat. Johnny Behan, an old-timer and an
Indian fighter, was the first sheriff. He was hostile to the city
administration from the beginning. Nor was that all. Lawyers came
into the town and henceforth--provided a dead man's friends had
money--killing an opponent no longer settled a dispute. There
remained such complications as indictment, sworn testimony, and the
jury. The good old days were passing.

Sheriff Johnny Behan charged the Earps with participation in robberies
and wilful cognizance of murders.

It was about as far as he did go as a public official. The brothers
issued profane and pointed defiance and went on dealing faro.

About this time Frank Stilwell quarreled with the Earps and hastily
departed from Tombstone And henceforth, until the wind-up of the ugly
affairs that followed, he remained at large, awaiting his opportunity
for revenge.

Sheriff Behan was trying to get some good charge to bring against the
brothers, and various lawyers--some of them widely known throughout
the Southwest--were anxiously awaiting opportunity to appear as
special prosecutors when the Benson stage was held up.

The Benson stage had been robbed often enough before, but this time
the crime brought far-reaching consequences. Bud Philpots was driver
and Bob Paul, afterward United States marshal, was shotgun messenger.
There was a large currency shipment--some eighty thousand dollars--in
the express-box. The stage was full inside and one passenger, a
Mexican, was riding on top. For some reason or other Bob Paul had
taken the reins and Philpots was sitting in his place. As the vehicle
came to the top of a hill the robbers showed themselves.

The old-timers speak of the conduct of the highwaymen with profane
contempt for instead of shooting a horse or two, they opened fire on
Bud Philpots, whom they believed from his position to be the
messenger. They killed him and the Mexican passenger who was seated
behind him. But the team took fright at the noise and ran away and the
eighty thousand dollars went on up the road in a cloud of dust.

Johnny Behan, the sheriff, said that the Earp brothers sent Doc
Holliday out with the Clanton brothers to commit the crime.

Ike Clanton said that he was rustling cattle at the time down in
Mexico, and accused the Earps of sole responsibility.