Wyatt Earp was a person.
Wyatt Earp . He was at different times a constable , city policeman , county sheriff , Deputy U.S. Marshal , teamster , buffalo hunter , bouncer , saloon-keeper , gambler , brothel keeper , miner , and boxing referee . In 1870 , Earp married his first wife , Urilla Sutherland Earp , who contracted typhoid fever and died shortly before their first child was to be born . In 1876 , he followed his brother James to Dodge City , Kansas , where he became an assistant city marshal . Wyatt , Virgil , and their younger brother Morgan held various law enforcement positions that put them in conflict with Tom and Frank McLaury , and Ike and Billy Clanton , who threatened on several occasions to kill the Earps . Earp was a lifelong gambler and was always looking for a quick way to make money .