In Defense of Author Glenn G. Boyer
By Gene Stevens
Wyatt Earps VENDETTA BY GLENN G. BOYER
I've been meaning to, (and its long over due) to write this review, and considering the nature of the review, I felt it necessary to be honest about my discoveries and assertions. I'd actually had an interest in Wyatt Earp, his life, and his life in Tombstone for a long time. I have been a frequent visitor of Tombstone Arizona for several years and even got married there in 2017. I learned a lot about Wyatt and Doc Holliday on my visits there. I've read several articles and books on Earp and explored the Earp legend through the Lens of the Hollywood camera.
There's obviously a lot of variations on the story of Tombstone and Earp. The most creative of which is probably the 1993 film version of Tombstone. A movie which carried a lot of what was discovered by many writers and researchers. Though the movie goer or historian must be caution of Tombstone and a be reminded, that it is still a mix of truth and fiction. There is however one writer in particular who was overlooked as a contributor, and that was an Author by the name of Glenn Boyer. It just so happens that Glenn Boyer was the writer who discovered and revealed that Wyatt Earp had second wife. Her name was Mattie Blaylock- Earp. And Matties character was very much part of the movie Tombstone, though her story as expressed in this rendition, was not exactly truthful. A story which I will probably write about in another article. As I watch the movie today, I filter much of what I see by what I read in Boyer's book Vendetta, (and Boyers book Suppressed Murder of Wyatt Earp) and I see Glenn Boyers hand and his work and ideas in Tombstone. Even though Glenn was not given one single line of credit in the movie. This is because Glenn had been an early victim of what appears to be cancel culture. It does not take a big stretch of imagination to come to the understanding that the fight in Tombstone was a political showdown, a range war, in fact very much like the Lincoln County war in New Mexico. It was a struggle between criminal democrat factions in and around Tombstone, and republican business interests and late comers to the region who were there because of the discovery of silver in Tombstone. This isn't imagination, its fact.
I had not even heard of Glenn Boyer and his extensive research into Wyatt Earp, until one day, when I had purchased a western collectable that was a probable piece of Erpania online. I was conducting my own research on the item, which lead me down a dusty desert trail that lead across the United States from Pella Iowa, to San Bernadino California, Tucson Arizona and eventually to Tombstone Arizona.
It was there that I found myself posthumously introduced to Glenn Boyer, who had already passed away in 2013. His discovery prompted me to dig further and I began searching for books that Boyer had written and suddenly found myself in possession of one of his books The Earp Curse. I had no idea what the book was about when I ordered it online. But when it arrived, I realized that I was in possession of Glenn Boyer's detailed explanation of what had happened to him. The Earp Curse was a defense document and testament of what had occurred with the book Vendetta and his writing career. It was the first time in my life that I had read a book from an Author who had been placed into a position of defending his life's work. A book in which he the Author had written to defend his own reputation. It was a really astounding moment in my own life, to realize that any person would be compelled to complete such a lengthy and detailed account of his work. I have to accept the Earp curse at face value. Especially considering the deep political national experience that we have been going through for many years now. After reading The Earp Curse, I realized that it was well placed, in that, it was in the exact order of reading it juxtaposed with the book Vendetta. I highly suggest, that if you choose to read Vendetta, that alongside it, you also read The Earp Curse. It will bring the situation into focus.
The Literary device
There is some controversy about the book Vendetta, in which the Author, Glenn Boyer, was accused of falsifying information in the book. Though there is very little traction here in the way of true evidence that was presented by Glenns detractors. There does not seem to be a clear finger of blame to confirm that Glenn lied ,or contradictory evidence presented that proves Glenn wrong. It must also be stated that Stuart N. Lakes book was also a controlled and embellished book. There are twenty six letters in the Arizona Historic from that were written between Stuart Lake and his publishers, and the control of Wyatts story is very apparent in these documents. So, it appears that accusation and character assassination seems to be the only avenues of approach to attack his works.
One point that they attempted to attack was his characterization of his narrator Ten Eyck. Which Glenn states " The core of it is the "Ten Eyck Papers" As I call them. (sic). This appears on page VX of the Editors notes which seek to explain the foundation of Vendetta. The following paragraph tells the reader the story of an Author who is attempting to protect the descendant of one of his sources from the wrath of the Ghosts of the Cow-Boys, and those who seek to be the king of the hill in western lore and the oligarchs of Earpania.
Page XV Editors Foreword
I am now under few constraints. Therefore, what follows is a very frank account at last. The core of it is the "Ten Eyck papers" as I call them. Theodore Sr. demanded never to have his true name made public. One of the major restraints under which this book must be presented. Naturally the same must apply to his son, who gave me the material, or it would be simple to identify the father. The public may therefore conjecture that this approach to relating history is a literary device.
-Glenn Boyer
The last sentence clearly tells us that Ten Eyck, was a literary device based on his informant who wished to remain confidential. One thing is clear, and that is that Glenn Boyer had something that no one else had, and that something was the plain and simple fact, that Glenn had an intimate relationship with members of the Earp family that went back many years. And in the world of Earpania, this a thing that can generate a lot of jealousy. I had no idea that this state of mind even existed until, I myself started asking questions of my own. During my own research, and I was told by people very close in the circle in Tombstone, that my information would not be well received, because people would become jealous and angry, because they themselves were not in possession of what I had. This IS the FOUNDATION OF THE EARP CURSE. And it's very important to understand this before reading Vendetta.
One thing about Tombstone that I came to clearly understand was that the range war between factions, the image and story of Wyatt Earp, and those feelings related to the long and bloody history of Tombstone were still alive. I came to that conclusion, when I stood at the foot of the graves of the Clanton's and McLaury's at Boothill Cemetery. The grave there was built up, decorated and memorialized As in... Not to be forgotten. "Murdered on the Streets of Tombstone"
In a 2009 Wild West Magazine interview; Boyer was asked about his relationship to the Earp family, and Boyer told of the beginning of his extensive relationship with the Earp Family,
Question; What is your family connection with the Earps?
Answer: My father was operating a shovel and rocker in Nome, Alaska, in 1901, on the Golden Strand. He was in the employ of a woman looking for her own fortune, whose husband was a saloonkeeper. Pa also worked for her husband as a “swamper,” or janitor, in his saloon. This couple was Wyatt and Josie Earp. My father paid little attention to the fact that Wyatt had earned a reputation as a dangerous lawman. Later on, Pa, again working as an itinerate laborer, was thrown together with Earp in San Bernardino, Calif., while working orange groves owned by George Miller, a close friend of Wyatt’s. The two had met as teenagers in San Bernardino in 1864. Dad hit it off with Miller’s son, Bill. Given the closeness of George and Wyatt, it provided an opportunity for courtship between Bill and Estelle Edwards, the daughter of Adelia Earp Edwards, Wyatt’s sister. Bill and Estelle married a year later. Eventually, they became a second set of parents to me; likewise, they thought of me as a son.
ref https://www.historynet.com/not-married-to-wyatt-earp-glenn-boyer-interview/
In the opening pages of Vendetta, Glenn unveils the people, which he refers to as "informants" who helped him reach the pinnacle of his work. In his reveal, Boyer shows the reader, the portraits and names of those who came from the Earp lines and researchers, people who spent their life pursuing the Earp story. This section of the book covers sixteen pages. In other words, sixteen pages of references. I thought it was worth noting that these informants also included a researcher from Iowa by the name of Esther Colyn who was from Lenox Iowa, she passed away in 1973. Her timing and proximity to the story of Wyatt Earp is worthy of mention, because of the fact, that unlike modern day researchers, her time, place, proximity and unbiased position may have given her the best tools in which to research Wyatt Earps genealogy. I located her highly detailed obituary (see below) from the following source;
https://iagenweb.org/taylor/obituaries/lorelei3/buckley.html
Mrs. Chas. Colyn, 67, died at her home in Lenox after a lingering illness Tuesday.
Survivors include her husband, Charles, 2 step-daughters, Mrs. Avis Crawford and Mrs. Olive Ranck both of Portland, Oregon, 3 step-sons, Charles, David and John and their families all of McPherson, Kansas, 14 step grandchildren, two sisters, Miss Josephine Hulpieu and Mrs. Margaret Robb both of Dodge City, Kansas. Funeral services will be held this (Thursday) afternoon at 2 o'clock from the Salem. Church of the Brethren with Rev. Elmer West officiating. Burial will be in the Salem Cemetery. [Listed as buried in Fairview Cemetery, Lenox] Lenox Time Table, Lenox, Iowa Thursday August 30, 1973
Colyn, Esther Hulpieu Irvine -Final rites were held at 2 pm Thursday, Aug. 30th for Mrs. Charles Colyn, who died Tuesday, August 28th at her home in Lenox after a lingering illness. Mrs. Colyn was born April 15, 1906 at Dodge City, Kansas, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Hulpieu. She attended Dodge City public schools through high school, later receiving her BA degree from Southwestern College at Winfield, Kansas. She received her Master's Degree from the State University of Kansas at Lawrence, Kansas.
Mrs. Colyn worked as a laboratory and x-ray technician at Springfield, Mo., at Grace Hospital in Hutchinson and later at Eugene, Oregon. For a time she was micro-photographer for the Bonneville Power Administration at Portland, Oregon. An avid genealogist, she was an active member of the Genealogical Society in Portland, Oregon, while living there. Numerous papers and researches done by her are in genealogical libraries around the country. She published the book, "The Click Family Scrapbook."Mrs. Colyn had been very active in the Lenox area with handicapped and blind persons for a number of years.
She married William Q. Irvine in Eugene, Oregon Sept. 3, 1943. They lived in Portland, Oregon, where he died April 29, 1959. She married Charles A. Colyn Feb. 4, 1962, and the couple made Lenox their home,
Survivors are her husband, two step daughters, Mrs. Avis Crawford and Mrs. Olive Ranck both of Portland, Oregon, 3 step-sons, John Colyn, Charles Colyn, Jr., and David Colyn all of McPherson, Kansas, 14 step grandchildren and 4 step great grandchildren. Two sisters, Miss Josephene Hulpieu and Mrs. Margaret Robb, both of Dodge City, Kansas, as well as a host of friends also survive,
Glen Boyer states in the book "Vendatta"
"She traveled far and wide in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s, interviewing Earps of Wyatts line, and compiled a genealogy and journal of recollections without parallel, which she gave to the author to perpetuate".
-Glenn Boyer
Vendetta
Vendetta, is the closest that any reader will ever get to know the truth about what happened in Tombstone, before, during and after the gun fight at the OK Corral. Vendetta does not have an index, the book is meant to be read from start to finish. It is also recommended that the reader review the Authors end note, and appendix. These are critical notes to pay attention to.
- Gene Stevens
Authors note;
Glenn Boyers Obituary
Glenn G. Boyer, an internationally recognized expert on the life of Wyatt Earp and other notables who swirled in the old lawman’s wake, died Thursday in Tucson. He was 89.
Boyer’s lengthy and thorough research brought the Old West to life for thousands of readers in a trilogy that culminated with “I Married Wyatt Earp,” the never-before-published story of Earp’s last wife, Josephine. The book, published in 1976, drew from family manuscripts and notes and remains popular today.
The trilogy also included “The Suppressed Murder of Wyatt Earp” and “Wyatt Earp’s Tombstone Vendetta.” Boyer also uncovered the existence of Doc Holliday’s paramour, Big Nose Kate, and details about Earp nemesis John Behan.
“Boyer was a giant in the field of Earp history,” said Ben Traywick, historian emeritus of Tombstone and noted Old West author. “Nobody could touch him.”
Boyer was born in a log cabin in Wisconsin and, influenced by the attack on Pearl Harbor, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943. In 1944, he was commissioned a second lieutenant and pilot. In 1947, he joined the Alaska Air Command and served there until 1949.
Over his 22-year military career, Boyer held several posts, including training officer of airborne radio officers for the Air Defense Command, Management Analysis, Air Operations Officer in Greenland and with the Pacific Air Forces. His most significant contribution was a statistical analysis of the F-100 aircraft that proved that overuse was leading to accidents and the planes needed more down time. The Air Force took his suggestions, resulting in saving an estimated 24 aircraft and an undeterminable number of pilots.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1965 as a lieutenant colonel, Boyer started his long quest in the field of Wyatt Earp. His childhood fascination with Earp culminated in a 40-year journey of exhaustive research. His many Earp contacts in California provided insights and history of the fabled Western hero. His closest contact was with Wyatt’s niece and husband, Estelle and Bill Miller, who provided previously unknown information and memorabilia.
Boyer didn’t stop with Wyatt. His research took him through the entire Earp family, including Wyatt’s brothers, Virgil and Morgan, who along with Earp cohort Doc Holliday were participants in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Boyer lived in Tucson at the time of his death but also had lived and did research in much of Cochise County. His quest left nothing to chance and along the way he cultivated hundreds of sources dealing with the Earp story. One particular contribution was the details and background of Mattie Earp, Wyatt’s second wife, whose real name was Celia Blaylock.
Over the years, Boyer expanded his writing to include the popular “Dorn” series, a fictional Old West character. He also wrote several books relating to Gen. George Custer, including one popular fiction offering, “Custer, Terry and Me.” He also was a significant contributor to several Western magazines, Arizona Highways, Popular Mechanics, Retired Officer and several scholarly journals. His last book, “Where the Heart Was,” is a fictional semi-autobiography depicting much of Boyer’s childhood. It was published in 2009. Mr. Boyer is survived by his wife, noted poet and novelist Jane Candia Coleman; a son, Donald, of Hawaii; and a stepson, Daniel Coleman, of Arizona.
Ref Noted Earp historian Glenn Boyer dies in Tucson | Local News | gvnews.com
Additional short article found on blogger about Glen.
WYATT EARP'S QUOTES AND AUTHOR/EXPERT GLENN BOYER'S REMARKS (rogershideout70.blogspot.com)
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