The votes have been cast, the results tallied, the hanging chads carefully scrutinized one by one. You, the McBoners, have spoken, and today we enshrine one of the great moustaches ever to hitch a team, deal a card, or pistol-whip a ne'er-do-well.Wyatt Earp (1848-1929) was a true renaissance man of the Wild West. Lawman, gunfighter, gambler, teamster, farmer, miner, occasional boxing referee, his travels took him from Kansas to Alaska to California. He counted legendary gunfighters Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson as his friends, and he lived with an opium-swilling prostitute whom he ditched for an actress. Countless books and movies have been made about him and his exploits in the untamed frontier towns of the west.
Above all, the world remembers Earp and his brothers for the famous gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, but what would Earp have amounted to without his trusty moustache? Don't think it would have made a difference? Think again. The McBone investigative team unearthed this rare photo of a clean-shaven Wyatt Earp from his early days as a lawman:
Needless to say, he was run out of town. Thankfully for him and the town of Tombstone, Earp had long put away his razor when he took on Ike Clanton and his cowboy gang of thugs in October of 1881. Months later, Earp, his moustache and his posse would embark on his immortal vendetta ride, in which he avenged the murder of his brother Morgan by killing four more members of the ruthless cowboy gang.
Today we honor Wyatt Earp as the newest member of the Northern Ohio Moustache League Hall of Fame. Like any NOML Hall of Famer, Wyatt Earp's moustache both defined and transcended an era. Long, lush, well-maintained but not without an unruly side, Earp's moustache was a worthy reflection of the man who grew it. He and his facial hair left an indelible mark on the history of this country, and for that he will live forever in the halls of moustache excellence.
nwb
