In this episode of pplpod, we explore the complicated life of Wyatt Earp, the man Hollywood turned into one of the cleanest heroes of the American frontier. The episode begins by pulling apart the familiar image: the fearless lawman of the OK Corral, untouched by bullets, standing for justice in the dust of Tombstone. The real Wyatt Earp was much messier. Born in Illinois in 1848, he drifted west, tried to run away to join the Union Army as a boy, worked as a teamster, learned to box and gamble, and briefly seemed headed for respectability as a constable in Lamar, Missouri. But after his pregnant wife, Urilla Sutherland, died of typhoid fever, Earp’s life collapsed. He abandoned his post, faced lawsuits, was accused of stealing public funds, was charged with horse theft in Indian Territory, escaped jail through the roof, and resurfaced in Peoria, ...