<P> Arizona 's `` wild west '' reputation was well deserved . Tombstone was a notorious mining town that flourished longer than most , from 1877 to 1929 . Silver was discovered in 1877 , and by 1881 the town had a population of over 10,000 . Western story tellers and Hollywood film makers made as much money in Tombstone as anyone , thanks to the arrival of Wyatt Earp and his brothers in 1879 . They bought shares in the Vizina mine , water rights , and gambling concessions , but Virgil , Morgan and Wyatt were soon appointed as federal and local marshals . They killed three outlaws in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral , the most famous gunfight of the Old West . In the aftermath , Virgil Earp was maimed in an ambush and Morgan Earp was assassinated while playing billiards . Walter Noble Burns 's novel Tombstone ( 1927 ) made Earp famous . Hollywood celebrated Earp 's Tombstone days with John Ford 's My Darling Clementine ( 1946 ) , John Sturges 's Gunfight at the O.K. Corral ( 1957 ) and Hour of the Gun ( 1967 ) , Frank Perry 's Doc ( 1971 ) , George Cosmatos 's Tombstone ( 1993 ) , and Lawrence Kasdan 's Wyatt Earp ( 1994 ) . They solidified Earp 's modern reputation as the Old West 's deadliest gunman . </P>
what is the name of the most famous gunfight in arizonas history
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral