Why was Wyatt Earp buried in a Jewish Cemetery?

He’s a legend – an icon of the colorful Old West – and not Jewish.

Craig Hensley: I’ve been told that I resemble Wyatt Earp, and if you go by a certain famous photograph of him there’s something to it. We have similar height and build . . . though my weight is a bit more than his, even though he religiously had vanilla ice cream at 3pm every day while living in Tombstone. Must have been all that controversial activity that kept his weight down. I also appreciate the difficulty of eating ice cream, or soup, with a large mustache, so in that aspect I feel a kinship with him!

JJ: There have been so many conflicting stories about Wyatt Earp. What was the man  really like?

Craig: Wyatt was best known for the gunfight at OK Corral. What many people don’t know is that afterwards, Earp became the center of a storm of controversy. Who was right – who was wrong? He went on a rampage when his brother Morgan was killed in an ambush. By [Earp’s] own admission, he executed several cowboys whom he believed to be guilty without the “benefit of the courts.” To escape a murder warrant, Wyatt left Arizona and never returned.

Wyatt Earp, 1869. Photo in public domain

JJ: It’s shocking to think of Wyatt Earp as a common gunslinger.

Craig: Wyatt wasn’t famous or well-known before the O.K. Corral Gunfight. He was a sometimes lawman, buffalo hunter, railroad laborer – evidence exists of possible pimping and horse thieving.

JJ: When did his reputation change?

Craig: After the gunfight he was famous across the nation and even in various parts of the world. Wyatt Earp was a microcosm of a bigger picture of political upheaval engulfing the American Southwest at that time. The controversy has kept interest in him alive for all these years.

JJ: How did his reputation get whitewashed?

Craig: Josephine. She was Wyatt’s third “wife” and greatest love. Josephine was also Wyatt’s greatest advocate after his death, pushing tirelessly for his story to be told in a sanitized version that made him into a hero – leaving out any doubtful activities.  According to some people there was a strong basis for the hero; others had only bad things to say. Josephine fought for the heroic story. In the end she succeeded with the help of Hollywood but not until years after her own death.

JJ: Tell us more about Josephine. I know she was Jewish, born Josephine Sarah Marcus and known as “Sadie.”

Craig: Yes, Josephine was Jewish. She and Wyatt were together for 47 years. She stuck with him through many adventures, some of them rather rough. He stuck with her through thick and thin. They were deeply suited for each other and became over time two halves of the same whole. Wyatt was not a demonstrative man but he treated her with adoration . . . which was, for him, a sincere version of romanticism.

JJ: Wyatt Earp was a romantic?

Craig: Wyatt was a romantic even on his deathbed. When he died, he was with Josephine and still planning another one of their many trips to the desert. They were living in Los Angeles when he passed away but their escape was to go prospecting in solitude.

JJ: Wyatt was 81 years old when he died, Josephine by his side. Eventually they would be buried together.

Craig: Yes. I’m sure Wyatt Earp is quite happy with the final resting place he shares with his beloved Josephine.

JJ: Wyatt Earp died in 1929 and Josephine buried him in the family plot at the Jewish Hills of Eternity Memorial Park in Colma, California. Since her immediate family had all passed away, there was no one to object. Years later, after her death in 1944, Josephine was buried next to Wyatt. Today there’s a tombstone with their names, dates, and the quote:
“. . . That nothing’s so sacred as honor, and nothing so loyal as love!”

Check out Jewish Hills of Eternity Memorial Park in Colma, California.