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OK Corral

A recreation of the OK Corral, site of the gunfight

The Battle at the OK Corral (also called the Gunfight at the OK Corral) was a skirmish in the Ancient West that took place on October 26, 1881 in the town of Tombstone, Arizona on Earth. The gunfight became well known in the history of the United States of America, regarded as a key event in the opening of the western frontier in the early days of United States expansion.

The gunfight was fought between two factions who were seeking to control the town, mainly being the Earps, led by Wyatt Earp backed up by his brothers and Doc Holliday, against which were pitted the Clanton gang led by the gunfighter Ike Clanton.

Battle at the OK Corral

The Enterprise crew experience the gunfight, first-hand

That day, the Clantons and the Earps "had it out", with the Clantons losing the battle. According to some accounts, the local county police, led by Sheriff Johnny Behan, did nothing to prevent the fight and actually were counting on the outcome, hoping that the Clantons would "get rid of the Earps for him".

In 2268, the gunfight was recreated by the Melkot as a means to punish a landing party from the USS Enterprise for violating their space and intruding on their planet. The Melkotian version of the gunfight was noticeably different from the original, with the setting being a partial and fragmented town on the American frontier set against an alien desert backdrop with a blood-red sky. The Melkotian version also was to have a more horrific ending, with every member of the Clanton gang dying at the hands of the Earps, when in fact at two members of the gang, William Claiborne and Ike Clanton, had survived the original battle. (TOS: "Spectre of the Gun")

Spock refers to the gunfight as the "Battle at the OK Corral." In reality, the incident actually took place in an empty lot behind the OK Corral and occurred at 3:00, not 5:00.
DeForest Kelley previously played Ike Clanton in a 1955 episode of You Are There and Morgan Earp in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957).

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