Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp: Wyatt Earp's Common Law Wife 

No one can say Wyatt Earp was lazy or afraid to take risks, either with gun and badge or trying to make living. Its incredible how many different directions and diverse activities he was involved in. From real estate to frontier lawman to cat houses to movie advisor, Wyatt crammed in more controversy and fame in his 80 years than dozens of people combined. That, I think, is part of his enduring fame and our fascination with his life. Great episode, I learned a few new things as I always do from THG.

In the late 1960s I occasionally took care of a 96 yo man who was born in California and had worked for Wyatt Earp, mainly with his horse racing in the 1880s

We tend to think of Wyatt Earp and the Wild West as existing a long time ago. But it's interesting to note that he died in a suburban bungalow that had electricity and indoor plumbing. It really wasn't all that long ago.

"On such small hinges does the door to contentment swing" … I like that quote.

I live in Arizona and grew up near Superior, AZ. After leaving Wyatt, Mattie Earp eventually ended up in Pinal, AZ. PInal no longer exists but the cemetery does, and it is there that Mattie found her rest.

In a world filled with divisive messages, it is wonderfully refreshing to get a good dose of history that is well presented. You are more than a historian, you are a raconteur of the finest order. Thank you.

All of a sudden RU-vid is much more interesting with my discovery of The History Guy. Must share this gem!

Wyatt Earps's story has always fascinated me because it delineates a point where the old west bleeds into our modern times. Earp lived in the old west and survived to consult on Hollywood movies. Thank you for adding this extra texture to his story and for honoring the memory of Josephine.

This is my favorite way to start the day, make my coffee, sit down and hear a neat anecdote for a few minutes and off I go. Thank you History Guy!

The history guy. He's deserves to be remembered!

Thanks for remembering the women behind the men of legend.

I am a history nut and just swerved into your channel. It is refreshing to see someone who portrays history as it occurred and not some variation of history that was rewritten by Hollywood. Nice job.

I live in AZ and went to Tombstone for the first time last year and you get a vibe there that I have never felt before. It is almost like you are walking into the past since the town hasn't changed too much. The Birdcage is so cool, packed with antiques and you can see bullet holes and old wall paper. The stage is so much smaller than I had envisioned. Thank you for todays video as I am obsessed with Wyatt Earp and Josephine. Have a great weekend.

I love this guys channel. Simple, straight forward and interesting. Keep up the good work.

May the memories of the Earp's live long in our minds and books. Great men in great times.

Fascinating History .. never realised that Wyatt lived till 1929, and Josephine until 1944, three years before I was born!! Loved the story 👍

Your closing line punches me right in the feels every time. Thank you for all the great content, sir!

Another great episode H G. You sir are one of a kind ! And I just love the way you explain the little things of the story. Thanks again!

There aren't many videos detailing the "women behind the men" in the old West that keep up the interest. This video was one of the exceptions. You did a fantastic job and the information was very informative and interesting. Thank you for a job well done.

Amazing bit of history. Wyatt Earp happens to be my favorite historical character of the period! Thanks for the great insights!

History Guy you are a national treasure!!thanks for sharing Your knowledge and with with us all!!

Strong woman, did what was needed to survive and truly loved Wyatt, even after his death she protected him. We should all be so lucky.

And in just a few short minutes the History Guy presents the life and times of people long gone, but that deserve to be remembered. 👍🏻😉

Absolutely fascinating. Recommend "Mrs Earp: The Wives and Lovers of the Earp Brothers" by Sherry Monahan for an overview of Wyatt's several "wives" as well as his brother's wives. Would very much like the History Guy's perspective on the other wives (brief as the relationships may have been...)

Virgil Earp is buried not far from my home in Portland, Oregon. I commute past the graveyard that contains his remains every day on my way to work.

I live near Tombstone and to this day it is one of my favorite places to visit. Thank you for this historical minute.

When John Wayne was a scenery mover at a Hollywood movie studio he met Wyatt Earp who served as a technical advisor for Western movies.

Respect & Gratitude Professor!!

I hated history in school,but in the 7th grade I had a teacher,Mrs.Cox,that could bring things alive through different activities.I loved her and it was the only time I made A+! She had a daughter that was born blind and I thought,later on,if that was the reason she taught like she did,because she wanted to bring things to life for her daughter that couldn't see. Anyway,I enjoy history now that I'm much older and enjoyed your video!

I was happy to see this video published by The History Guy! I've read most if the history books I've been able to find on Wyatt Earp and the history of his time in Tuscon and beyound. Thanks for posting this video Histiry guy!

LOVED the story of Josephine Marcus & Wyatt Earp- - just wish it was So much longer!! Thank You...

History...so little of it taught in schools today. Thank you for creating a place, where, people can come and hear about lives past.🌷🚍

That was really good!! I’m glad this popped up in my feed!!!

I absolutely love your videos. Especially the ones about the old west. Well done sir.

Early Western movie star Tom Mix was a pall bearer in Wyatt Earp's funeral.

Even tho the movie Tombstone, is not completely factually correct, it's still one of my favorites!!

One of the most credible sounding Earp accounts I've ever heard.

I love this channel for teaching me about all the little stories about all the people history may otherwise forget. It's beautiful.

On such small hinges does the door of contentment swing.... poignant and true.✌🏻🇺🇸

Great episode. To think that these two spanned the Wild West, the Gold Rushes and 2 world world wars ending up side by side is mind boggling. I also appreciate your research to bring these stories to us Sir! Thank you 😊

You make history well made well told, thanks again History Guy!!

Awesome thanks so much! Your Chanel by far is my favorite! Thank You!!

Terrific research, Wonderful work, you bring history to “life”! So greatly appreciated👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻😃

Always enjoy listening to one of The History Guy's episodes. Not only do I get a nice piece of memorable history, I get even more education reading through the commentary. Thank you, HG!

"The only second class saloon in Alaska". Gotta love that marketing.

Outstanding! 📜

Wichita Kansas is very proud of their history when Wyatt Earp is concerned, and so is Dodge City.

Beautiful narrative.... I'm so very glad you told this story. -Freda 💛

Though I always enjoy your historical "snippets", this particular one touched me. Thank you.

Interesting to hear the other half of a famous couple. Thanks for that.

THG; during this time of C19, I have been assigning your material to my students. Thank you for the good work, it is appreciated.

Excellent, History Guy! Excellent! Keep up the great work!

Jospehine Marcus was my Great Grandfather's cousin. The correct family name is " Marcuis " which is the Lithuanian version of Marx. SO she would not technically be Prussian but Litvak ( Jewish Lithuanian ). For the most part we lived in an area called "Memelland" but are originally from Kaunas and Vilnius. I knew my Great Grand parents, mostly my Great Grand Mother Ona. She spoke Lithuanian (Cursios dialect which is closer to Latvian), Polish, Platt Deutsche, Hoch Deutsche (mostly for reading), some Russian and a little English. She never used Yiddish with me so I don;t know what her knowledge was there. We were forced to move to East Prussia before and after the period of the 1863 uprising. We already had family in the area. The family business mostly related to making and using glass. I know we supplied clear and stained glass used in the Königsberg Stock Exchange building which still stands. We still have the samples, little glass disks the size of a coin which you hold up to the light to gauge the shade. Our whole family has a reputation for risky and eccentric behaviour as well being fairly clever. One of our family is said to have convinced the Japanese in 1905 that he was a German who had been pressed into service in the Russian Navy. They released him and he via Hong Kong found his way back to Europe and eventually Konigsberg. Strangely his decedents live in Vladivostok and work for a Japanese owned fishing company.

This is probably one of my favorites. I had no idea of her life besides how the movies portray her. Well done!

👍👍👍👍👍👍 Thank you for a REAL ACCOUNT of what actually happened to Wyatt Earp & Josephine.

God I love your channel! This is the perfect formula and your delivery and tone and always looking respectful makes you very interesting to watch. Really great topics too. Thank you.

I never realized I grew up so close to where Wyatt Earp was buried! Another excellent episode!

History has always been my thing too. I've always thought you had to know where you've been to know where you are going. Great history telling History Dude

This is the best. Greatly done . Thank you!

EXTREMELY well done!!! Being a history fanatic I enjoy your informative videos. You really pack a lot of information in a short amount of time.

Wonderful video. I always wondered how Josephine supported her self after Wyatt passed. I've been to Tombstone, and it fantastic to walk on Allen Street, where Wyatt Earp walked.

I love your channel. I wish you would put them all on a podcast. I think people would enjoy them there.

Bravo. Well done. Thorough, yet measured. Characters from history deserve such regard and I thank you for that. One character from history who has been mistreated and virtually unrecognized is that of Blanche Barrow, wife of Buck Barrow. I read her book and numerous other references and interviews and nowhere did I find the character portrayed by Estelle Parsons. In fact, Blanche often protected Buck while under live fire. I think if you look into her with the same degree of deference that you afforded Josephine, you will find a woman who lived a lifetime in a few months and went to prison simply because she loved "the wrong man."

I really liked the inflections of voice in your story telling. It’s so important to bring out the excitement and passion of feelings in the story telling and history is an exciting pot of gold for this. I appreciate your telling.

How I love reading the comments! No trolls.

3 items - 1) *CONGRATS on hitting 300K subscribers! * 2) I looked up the Hills of Eternity Cemetery, and was surprised to see it's only about 1/2 hour away from me in the SF Bay Area. So, one of these days, with camera in hand... 3) Every time I hear or read about Tombstone or Wyatt Earp, I can't help but remember an old TV show I saw as a kid in 1968, none other than "Spectre of the Gun" from the original Star Trek series.

Wow, this is one of the greatest stories yet! This channel publishes the very best content on RU-vid in my humble opinion. You guys totally rock!

I just hope she enjoyed her life. Love strong women!

Well said...! 🕊🙏🏻😎 this was really good 👍🏻thank you for sharing 💃🏼

I throughly enjoyed this and will be looking forward to seeing more.

Rewatching this episode after sometime, more insights being learnt, thank you as ever.

What a great narrator you are. So well written and presented, as we expect from you. Thanks again!

Thanks for another interesting and fascinating historical video!Wyatt Earp,his brothers,the events in tombstone,and this interesting story about Josephine have always been interesting to read and hear about to those of us who like to hear about the old west and it's history!

Thank you so much for making the topic of Josephine Earp fresh and still mysterious. So many people have written her as a bad character that it is refreshing to see her as human being who had strengths and weaknesses as we all do. Well done!

Good one. Very good. Thanks for sharing this fascinating bit of history.

The history of the Earp family is a favorite of mine. Thank you for more!

Thank you again for such a wonderful informative video.

Outstanding ! There will always be speculation in a biographers ink.

Thank you Tamas for adding to a great story.

It's amazing how often they moved, especially in a time when travel was not easy... Pella IA to Wichita KS, then to Dodge City KS, then to Tombstone AZ, then to San Francisco CA, then to Eagle City ID, then to San Diego CA, back again to San Francisco, then to Yuma AZ, on to Nome AK, then to Tonopah NV and finally to Los Angeles.

The photo of the camp tent was near their mine across the Colorado River from Parker, Az., in Earp, CA., named in 1929. For a time they resided in a hotel in Parker, Arizona, overlooking the Colorado River. The photo of them sitting to be together as I recall is in their wood frame winter home in the desert, approximately 15 miles west of the Colorado River.

Greetings from Clay County Missouri! Great as always! CONGRATS ON 300K!!!

This is now my favorite episode of The History Guy. The details provided illuminate one of my favorite movies, "Tombstone" with Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp. Because I am also a fan of Dana Delaney (she played Josephine in the movie), this episode resonates strongly. As for the movie, no adult thinks it's a documentary (LOL)> But there must have been some effort made at plausibility because the actor who played Sheriff Behan (with just the right makeup) really looks like the real Sheriff Beehan. Thanks - I give this episode five stars.

Love this station and though I know my history you shine light on great unknown facts and story's. well done and thank you!!

Thanks for the history lesson. I really enjoy your videos. Have you ever heard of the daring escape from Corregidor in WW2? My Grandfather’s brother Glen Swisher was one of 18 sailors of the USS Quail that escaped to Australia. Their Skipper even wrote a book about it “South from Corrigedor”. Would be great to have you talk about it one day.

I really appreciate this education on someone i knew little of...Thank You

Excellent and very well presented. One of the very few subscriptions I consider worth my time. I was a pistolero myself in my youth and Wyatt’s experiences were always an inspiration.

This is first of your videos I have watched and it is excellent. Your delivery is clear and animated making it all the more enjoyable. Ever since learning of the resting place of Wyatt and his wife, I have wanted to visit there. So close to my sister's home, but haven't gone yet. My daughter is a college librarian at Cochise College and I visited Tombstone while visiting her. Thank you for this. I will watch more of them.

Thank you for an original and accurate video on the wild west history! Ten Stars!

Best biography I’ve heard yet!! Thanks - it’s a fascinating subject with fascinating characters😀

I love the Wyatt Earp's History, thank you for sharing!

300,000 subs...and, all before the (predicted-goal!) of the weekend! Congrats, and, of course I'm a subscriber! Best-education I've gotten in more than 50-years, and being 67 now? Ironically, I've lived through more than one of your reviews...and just now have found out what I ..."missed"! Thanks, History Guy &/or History Gal...!☺

I was in the saloon called the Board of Trade in Nome three years ago , this saloon is said to have been Wyatt's and Josephine's . There is a painting of each on the back bar. I had a drink and saluted each. Nome hasn't changed much the gold rush as it is still going on!

Ok. You've written an episode that I didn't find interesting. I haven't _found_ that one yet, but I'm sure you _must_ have put one out that I won't enjoy. ;-) This definitely puts a new light on the events at the OK Corral and the life of Wyatt Earp. A nice start of the morning.

Damn good....Thank you sir for taking the time to post.

Wish you history shorts were on CD. The way you present the information makes history interesting and enjoyable. Thank you .

Learned something new today. Thank you History Guy.

I met an Earp Great Grand daughter in high school. My girl friend was her friend who introduced us. How about this for history, my girl friend was a Doolittle. Her second cousin put together the raid on Tokyo. 20 years later I installed cable in the home of the navigator for the raid.

Perfect timing. I watched "Tombstone"(1993) just the other night! Well told. Clears up a lot of the Hollywood myths

Thanks so much for this one. I live in Tucson and visit Tombstone once in awhile. It's fun, if you like walking up one side of a street and down the other. That's it folks, but there are great shops and eateries there. I personally like to go to the Birdcage Theater. It's rather worn, but the history is amazing. I know a woman who remembered being there in another life, knew who she was and details of going there. It was spooky. Her first visit. It gave everyone the chills hearing about it.