...it was a hot October day in 1881 in the SouthWest...dusty and quiet.
He'd just finished a beer in the saloon while playing some billiards. Word came thru the saloon doors that the McClauries and Clantons were threatening to kill him and his brothers...
so he and his brothers and one old friend went out the door to hunt them down (NL tournaments thru out the year, one winner here, another winner there, many different 1st place winners...
many braggin about their 1st place, challenging all others...an ole Texas country boy named TJ just bided his time and kept racking up 2nd and 3rd places)
Wyatt knew that the element of surprise was deadly...he and his brothers and John Holliday took the game right up to the McClauries and Clantons, not waiting for them to catch them first. They threw the challenge down, "give up your guns boys, or face the consequences" (these first place guys had all the bravado and aggressiveness...TJ played it safe usually, being content with laying down an AQ or JJ when the pot was reraised, or on the bubble. He rarely got himself into an all in situation on someone else's terms)
Wyatt and Doc and the 2 brothers had them surprised and on their terms. It was a lopsided surprise. The outlaws panicked, the Earps and Doc mowed them down...Wyatt came out of it without a scratch... He made it to the final showdown and survived. All the other famous gunslingers of the day died in their 20's and 30's...Doc, WildBill, BillyTheKid, Johnny Ringo, Wesley Hardin, and more... But Wyatt live to be in his 80's. Died an old Man, who'd survived countless adventures and times. . . Amazing!
(TJ took more 2nd place tournaments and more big money winnings than anyone...why? Because he survived...didn't get his ego mixed up with 1st place finishes...He still knocks'em down today, placing in the money...laughing all the way to the bank...how many times is the last thought thru your mind, to bluff at a big pot all in, and you lost...how many times where you on the bubble, could have blinded your way to the money, but some last thought went thru your mind, and you acted rashly on it, and it cost you making it into the money... you could have blinded your way into the money... and who knows, been patient until you got the big hand, and ended up 2nd...instead of one out of the money...take all the 2nd's you can get...and laugh all the way to the bank.)