Homestead Application for Virgil W. Earp
This document comes from the homestead application file for Virgil W. Earp, a Civil War veteran and deputy U.S. marshal. Earp is best known for his role in the 1881 gunfight at the OK Corral saloon. This brief shootout took place in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, between law enforcement officers and members of an outlaw group. The fight has been popularized in film and literature depicting the American West.
In 1898, Earp applied to the U.S. government under the Homestead Act for 160 acres of land near Prescott, Arizona Territory. Because he had served three years in the Union Army, Earp only had to spend two years on the land instead of the usual five years before the U.S. government issued him a patent. This document from April 11, 1900, certifies that Earp met the requirements for receiving a patent.
The National Archives in Washington, DC, has homestead applications and other land entry case files in Record Group 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management. These files document the initial transfer of public lands from the U.S. government to private ownership. Learn more about land entry case files and related records
Homestead Application for Virgil W. Earp. National Archives Identifier: 595307
View and download the Homestead Application for Virgil W. Earp on the National Archives Catalog. You can explore more of our holdings by visiting our online Catalog or by visiting the National Archives in Washington, DC. This record is located with Record Group 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Series: Homestead Final Certificates, 1871–1905. Many of the records in this collection have yet to be digitized. We encourage researchers to visit us onsite to explore these records and learn more about the archival collections held in the National Archives in Washington, DC.